I recently had sciatica, radiating down first one leg and then both, it lasted 7 agonising weeks, with me becoming housebound. Eventually, following tests, I needed emergency surgery to protect the cauda equina nerves. No frost or snow was to be seen, I was in a centrally-heated house, and had originally been told by GPs and A&E to rest and take Ibuprofen and this would pass in under 2 months as the inflammation recedes, as is the case with most people, but unfortunately for me it turned out to be caused by something else entirely.
You may have experienced long-term complications and repeat flare-ups without surgery, but that doesn't mean Yuri Yudin did so at a young age, he may have made a full recovery and that, seven years on, gave him the confidence to continue.