Slipped Disk Surgery Recuperation

[akrama]

Please someone help...

I have had a slipped disk surgery 13 months ago on my L-5 vertebra due to an extremely painful sciatica problem cause by years of heavy squats. Immediately after the operation, my sciatica symptoms have disappeared and I felt wonderful again. Soon after, I returned to the gym but delayed squats for a couple of months but started lifting regularly doing leg presses and hacks. Although my lower back still ached, I kept of training and didn't let it affect my life style. As a matter of fact, I have competed last year and did well in a couple of bodybuilding shows.

Lately, I am getting really concerned and pissed off sometimes as my back doesn't seem to go back to normal. I still have extreme stiffness in the morning and the pain is so intense sometimes that I can't even bend forward let alone doing stiff legged deads. My lower back hurts when I sneeze. I really hate this. Can anyone tell me why my back doesn't seem to recover like I want it to. The most I've been squatting lately is 185. I go deep and parallel but I hate that I can't do my old usual squats before the surgery 315 and beyond.

Does anyone out there have such a similar experience? Can someone tell me what's going on with me?

I went back to the doctor a couple of months ago and he said everything is normal. maybe normal to regular non lifter people. If I didn't love lifting so darn much, I would be complaining as it doesn't hurt doing regular daily shores but it is setting me back with my lifting.... It makes me angry just talking about it....

Help....

 

[Fatty4You]

Sorry to hear about your back. Try talking to ThaiBox, he did some heafty damage to his back and he may know about this kind of thing.

-Fatty

 

[rjl296]

i also cannot bend over, and my back hurts a lot in the morning.As wel, I cannot reeallly squat either. I do not know why this is, but I find out my tests from my bone scan tommorrow. This has been a problem of mine for 15 mos. And i really need some answers

 

[akrama]

rjl296,

Please keep me updated with your test results. I am dying to uncover the mystery behind my lack of true recovery...

Anyone else??? Please ??

 

[akrama]

Come on guys... Anyone else with similar experience out there???

Thank you..

 

[jeremys]

i tore something in june/july. still recovering.

i plan on doing lots of reverse hypers and weighted ab work, plus stretching hams, back, and hips a couple times a day.

 

[Zyglamail]

Come on guys... Anyone else with similar experience out there???

Thank you..

I dont have a similar experience with back injuries but im almost certian that your problems could have been fixed without going under the knife and haveing to undetgo the months of rehabilitation you have faced and will continue to face. All I can say is keep an open mind and start by reading this..

 

[rjl296]

got my test results back. I had a bone scan, and everything is fucking normal. I am now referred to a rheumatologist. more waiting. So far I've seen 2 fam docs , 2 chiros 2 p. therapists , 2 massage and 1 ortho and i still know dick.
anyways check this out- great site and the docs answer questions pretty fast, and there is a lot of info
spineuniverse

 

[Zyglamail]

got my test results back. I had a bone scan, and everything is fucking normal. I am now referred to a rheumatologist. more waiting. So far I've seen 2 fam docs , 2 chiros 2 p. therapists , 2 massage and 1 ortho and i still know dick.
anyways check this out- great site and the docs answer questions pretty fast, and there is a lot of info
spineuniverse

The most common injuries are tendon/ligament strains and sprains and these are nearly impossible to identify with all this fancy equipment but simple palpation can almost certianly identify the inured area. Lay off anti-inflamatories and let the tendons/ligaments heal. If its been a long time check into prolo and get on the road to recovery.

 

[rjl296]

simple palpation can almost certianly identify the inured area. Lay off anti-inflamatories and let the tendons/ligaments heal. If its been a long time check into prolo and get on the road to recovery.

what is prolo - its been 15 months
what is palpation

 

[b fold the truth]

IMHO...you should be nailing the rev hypers in a recouperation phase often...

strengthen those abs with full ROM lifts and work those rev hypers. I believe the louie simmons had major back surgery and came back to squat 800 or more recently...

B True

 

[jeremys]

yeah, i remember reading louie had broken his back and came back and squatted that, using reverse hyper for rehab and doing ab work, etc

 

[akrama]

Well.. I went in the gym yesterday and did some deadlifts but not too heavy.. only up to 185 pounds and it felt good... I did a bunch of ab work.... Somedays I feel positive about my recovery and other days I feel like shit.. Maybe it's all in my head. However, I know that my back is not like it used to be...

I am going to check out the prolo page you refered but can it help me with my current situation now that I went under the knife and it's over with??

 

[Zyglamail]

what is prolo - its been 15 months
what is palpation

What happens so many times is after an injury we jump on anti-inflamatory meds to deal with the pain, often times these injuries are simply strains/sprains in tendons/ligaments and would normally heal on their own. However as avid lifters we aften do not ease up while they heal, this coupled with the fact we load up on anti-inflamatories to deal with the pain means we circumvent inflamation which is critical for healing and in turn the injury becomes chronic which it sounds like yours is. Even those who opt for sugery to have cartiledge/disks trimmed/removed are NOT dealing with the problem but a symptom. If the tendons/ligaments are damaged they can not hold the bones in proper alignment and thus wear away at the cartilegde or allow disks to bulge etc. CUtting out offending cartilegde or trimming disks may ease the pain but the underlying problem of joint laxity (ie sloppy joints) remains and will continue to plague most people long after sugery.

Prolotherapy is a simple visit to a trained doc where your bodies own healing process is encouraged by injecting the tendons/ ligaments with a solution to encourage inflamation and spur on healing. I have had it done for some chronic pains and it works wonders but still takes some time to work. Palpation is simply pressing on the injured area. When getting prolo done, often times a whole area is treated which can included the injured as well as non injured tendons or ligaments. You can tell right away on your first treatment which ones are injured. WHen the needle hits an uninjured tendon you really cant feel it at all but when it hits one that in injured there is usually an involuntary response in the form of a twitch and it is a bit painfull.

You can learn more about it at prolonews.com

 

[Thaibox]

akrama, sorry to hear about your back problems man. Does your sciatica problem include other discs being abnormal? I just had two of my discs cut last week, but I still have several that are about 1/3 the capacity of what they should be. So, if you have a similar back to mine, and you didn't know about those others, you may be in for a recurring problem. I think a single disc problem is actually pretty rare. Its usually several that are symptomatic. Sort of like shocks in a car. If you've had problems with one, even though you've dealt with it, you'll almost inevitably have problems with others in the future. I will have to have several surgeries over time because the damage in my back was cumulative. Hopefully this isn't your case, but I would have a new MRI done to see where you stand, so you know whats up now and in the near future.
Good luck bro