I'm not a doctor but I've had a herniated disc for 23 years. Your mileage may vary. Let me tell you what didn't work first. Pain meds didn't work. NSAIDs will

I'm not a doctor but I've had a herniated disc for 23 years. Your mileage may vary. Let me tell you what didn't work first. Pain meds didn't work. NSAIDs will tear your stomach up even with short-term use. Don't use them for more than a few days. Being careful didn't work. No amount of being careful works because your muscles will always atrophy to make you a little weaker than you need to be to go about your daily routine. It took me, 10 years to figure that out. You need to go full tilt the other direction. As another fellow said here, walking, and then running. Will build strength gently. But even with diligence, I would still injure my back twice a year during the course of normal life activities. Then, someone told me about a TENS machine. Get one that can output 100mv (I can recommend one if you'd like), and use it when your back is hurt. They are miracle workers. The thing that freed me from pain was this-- the "stiff-legged deadlift". I very slowly worked my way up from no weight, to about 125 which seems to be all I can reasonably do. You can't do this in a vacuum, you need to do it as a part of a whole program. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.