Hi @heisenberg34
Your situation (and probably your age) is much closer to my son (he is 41). Big fit smart guy who's life was destroyed by a back injury. He was young enough to believe medicine was a science, when it remains a debate, and he went for the quick 'big fix' of back surgery - he just wanted his life back. Understandable but not something a 29 year old should do (IMO).

Sad news is there are no quick fixes and no miracles, no 'one size fits all'. He found the surgery failure, removal of the hardware and the daily pain was only the tip of the iceberg once the depression hit. Once 'the boy most likely to succeed' he is reduced to researching medication and had a huge battle with (prescribed!) oxycontin addiction 10 years ago, and on-going juggling of anti-depressants and their side effects.

He did look into a tens machine and at an implant. He got quite serious about doing that but thankfully I discouraged him from implanting anything. The saying that 'surgery is good for surgeons, not necessarily good for patients' has a lot of truth.

He is lucky to have parental support - we can give him a house, but his physical and mental journey is his alone to travel. He studies and reads a lot. We are in Australia and he has excellent specialist support but its your own demons that are often the hardest to tackle. Down days, (feeling helpless, hopeless) are all too common.

I spoke to my own doctor about back surgery (I had a major injury 50 years ago) and he said "100% of people that sit in that chair and discuss their back surgery with me, regret having it done". OK that is only one doctor's experience but 100% is a pretty astonishing statistic.

My son has had recent success with pain patches. He doesn't welcome my curiosity or input so, as hard as it is, I have to stand back and watch.

My own journey is with neuropathy caused by B6 toxicity. I have bought the B6 levels down in my blood stream but the 'toxicity' has been like a wildfire going through my nervous system leaving charred remains where some nerves will die and some will regenerate - my challenge with ataxia (in all its forms - swaying like I'm drunk, hands shaking, I can't put a cup to my face and find my mouth!), and brain malfunction (slurring words like I've had a stroke, memory loss and constant fog), skin itching and feet burning. All of my peripheral nerves appear to be affected.

You possibly have sciatic nerve pain. Possibly pinched in your fall, if you landed on the base of your spine. The sciatic nerve originates in the lower back (lumbar spine - L4 to S3), travels through the buttocks and down the back of each leg, and splits into smaller branches near the knee all the way to the feet.

A lot of people on this site are talking and sharing (from all over the world). This has got to be healthy - to work as a global community for the health and support of one another.
Good luck on your journey