I never did any one thing to injure myself. My disk apparently spontaneously herniated. I had a lumbar micro-d, and then a few years later, it hernitated again. I can pinpoint the exact time symptoms started again...I went to bed one night, and woke up in the middle of the night with dreadful sciatica. I also have scoliosis, but not bad enough to require surgery. I've got permanent nerve damage, and a numb foot. I can't really attribute this to bad genes, because no one else in my family has back problems. I guess I'm just unlucky that way.