LTechtiger21

As a PT myself, I would suggest you find a PT that either understands weight lifting or has a background in sports medicine. Often times an MRI with those findings aren’t indicative of what’s causing your pain. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc ~10 years ago after feeling a sharp pain when I bent over to pick up a plate. Had an MRI that showed a bulging disc and Doc told me no more squats etc...ended up missing out on about 7 years of deadlifting, squats, and a bunch of other stuff I enjoyed all the while continuing to have back pain.

Turns out about 20% of 20-30 years have asymptotic bulging/herniated discs on MRI and that number goes up as we age. My issue was most likely due to something else. I’ve been back to lifting heavy on squats and deadlifts for 3-4 years now and rarely have any issues. When I do it’s usually due to overtraining.

Dr. Aaron Horschig has some good information on lifting and rehab. Here is one of his articles and a link for more of his articles. Let me know if you have questions I can help with.

LBP epidemics

LINK

if they aren't doing metal detectors, wear a hoodie and keep your flask in the hood. that's what i always do.