Anyone come back from a herniated disc?

[dej]

Gday,
Back in June my long time lingering lower back pain came knocking at 3am to wake me up with a whole lot of pain.
Turned out to be a herniated disc. Probably most pain ive ever been in and it lasted several weeks.
I've since been back on the bike after many physio sessions, mainly the roady to commute to work, past two weekends have done an 85 and 105k road ride pain free.

However a couple weeks back i did some of the yara trails on the mtb and started getting pain again after only an hour of riding.
I doubt it's a bike fitting thing as i was ok doing 50-100k rides on the mtb before the problem so i'm wondering if mtb'ing is just too hard on the back now that ive had this injury? I've ridden the mtb to/from work which is 42k and was pain free also, it just seems to be the bumps/jolts of offroad.
Anyone else come back from such an injury?

Ps, it really sucks having a nice mtb sitting there gathering dust

 

[cressa]

I have 2 ruptured discs - l4 and l5 I believe. Mine kept me off any bike for 9 months. The pain was the worse I think I have ever endured - the worse being referred pain into my hips and down the back of my right leg to the back of my knee.

I spent a shit load of time in the pool doing laps as my main mode of recovery along with a heap of different core strength work as prescribed by my Physio.

It took almost a whole year of being super nice to my back before it returned to (kind of) normal. That was about 4 years ago and it's still pretty good. If I don't treat it well and my core starts to fade the pain comes back. The stronger your core the less pressure on your dodgey disc.

So I think the key is to stop anything that irritates it immediately, get a good Physio, get a plan and commit to it until it all settles down.

Good luck.

 

[mittagongmtb]

Sure have.... at 54yo have battled with herniated discs for years (L3-4-5-6)... good news is though that pain will settle BUT you need to undergo not just physio but be in the hands of someone who can teach you properly the exercises that will help build your core strength again and who can helpyou through the debilitating pain/head mess that goes with pain. If you're near Wollongong - rehwork - John Booth phd- exercise physiologist. If you can't get to him - he will know someone in your area.

 

[adaib]

How did you herniate your disk? Sounds like the sort of injury one would want to avoid?

 

[my02]

Adaib is spot on. You really must determine the cause of the injury in the first place. I've had back issues in the past and have had limited success with several physios. Some pointed at tight muscles, inactive muscles, incorrect movement patterns and of course a weak core (turns out my core is actually very strong). In many cases, the problems that they said were the cause, were in fact just symptoms.

Its possible that your initial physio sessions certainly cured the issue short term but over time (the other rides you did), some movement patterns or postures have returned and started to stress the affected areas again. So you need to find someone who can identify what the cause of the problem is, then take appropriate steps to address it both initially and long term. Can you go back to your original physio and look at things more deeply?

Unfortunately I can't suggest anyone that I've seen locally as my last good physio moved to QLD. I've actually found more beneficial info on the internet and reading work by Stuart McGill (not the cricketer), Gray Cook plus a load of resistance training articles that focus on exercise technique.

Ultimately though, 100 people could all have the same pain in the same area but for 100 different reasons.

Best of luck with it.

 

[dej]

Thanks guys.
I've been doing various exercises which seem to be helping. I've also started going to a gym to do various exercises there (hadn't been to a gym in 15 years or so).
I'm expecting a long road to get it back in shape and manageable which is ok with me as i'd rather not experience that level of pain again

 

[Ridenparadise]

Don't panic. The US chiropractic association did a big study of disc herniation years ago that suggests there is no statistical difference in outcome over 5 years regardless whether physio, chiro, acupuncture, surgery or no action is chosen. Not to say there wouldn't have been any better outcome for some of those in each group, had they been selected for another treatment option, but most people do recover well - maybe with a weak link for the future though if you do the wrong thing.

Back pain is not caused by a herniated disk, but something affecting local back structures. Although the disc-casing tear itself does hurt, this is due to tearing affecting the nerves around the edge of the disc. Pressure or inflammation of the spinal nerves and the exiting branch nerves is the result of a herniated disc (slipped disc), which means that part of the hard casing and gel core have burst outward or ruptured, like a groin hernia.

Truth is it is very hard to determine the actual cause or site of back pain itself. Scientific American reviewed that years ago too. The presence of a disc injury on scan may be pre-existing or recent. That means it may not be the cause of the current pain. What is also true is that only the owner of the back pain can tell what hurts and what doesn't. Try to work out what movements exactly hurt. Bumps suggest irritability of nerves in muscles and connective tissue, imbalance and relative weakness after a month of reduced activity. This may be the more logical cause of pain coming on with different activities, given you can ride quite a long way in comfort.

What you need, apart from a decent sports med opinion, is probably to focus on your strengths and reintroduce MTB in small sessions designed to re-familiarise your back with the sudden balance and power variations. Just maybe also, you may be worried about falling and a bit tight.

Best of progress.

 

[Warwick]

A disc issue has been giving me grief for a couple of years now. Sometimes a ride will make it worse, and other days seemingly the same ride will make it better. Very hard to understand what's good and what's bad for it, though generally riding the 'ardtail seems to be better for it than riding the twin squishy. This seems to be because ridin the hardtail is for me a more active process. I'm more standing up and dancing round on the hardtail instaed of sitting down and pushing or copping the hits, which is more likely on the duallie.
Tough thing to deal with. Sleeping right actually seems to have as much to do for it as anything else.
You'd do anything to have those few seconds back and undo the damage that caused the grief in the first place!

 

[ghostghp]

I had and have a prolapsed disc in my L5 S1 lower back. I say had and have because 8 years ago was when I first injured myself. After surgery and 9 months out of action made a full recovery. I was always being told by my doctor that cycling would be good for my back so I started racing BMX not quite what my doctor had in mind but it did help I grew stronger fitter and lost alot of weight.
In may 2010 I reruptured the same disc had surgery in November only for the disc to collaps causing the two vertabre to rub together and slowly grind away what is left of the disc and yes it is as painfull as it sounds. The last 15 months has been pure hell. Some things that help are you can try are taking an anti inflamitory the night before going for a ride and after but don't take pain killers when riding the pain lets you know when your doing damage and like the other guys say any core strenghtening excersize you can do with out aggrevating it.
Most of all stay positive.

 

[m2o2r2g2]

I can also testify that you can do anything with a herniated disc. It is a quite common injury in elite rowing and many of us have come back to the highest level (going on to win olympic gold medals even) without too many problems. Although it will be something that needs to be taken care of for the rest of your life.

Pretty much everyone has already covered the important stuff.

Sleep well - invest in the BEST bed you can possilby buy (you spend 1/3 of your life sleeping, im sure if you spent 8 hours a day in a car you would splash out an extra couple hundred to be comfy. And sleep is when your spine decompresses and takes the load out of the disc.

Strengthen your core

Look at your movement patterns

Also look at how you spend your day. Ie if you have an office / sit down job, pay attention to posture more and get cushions / lumbar supports for chairs

The best analogy I ever heard from my physio (national team physio) was that the discs are like buckets and will have a limited storage capacity before they overflow (pain). Everything from bodyweight load to intense exercise adds water to the bucket. So you need to plan your day not to overfill it in any one period (ie dont do too much with a day) and if you do have a big day, try to empty it occassionally by laying down (preferably slightly upside down) for a short period eg 5-15min before you start to feel it. Wait until you feel it and it is too late.

and good luck!

 

[shakes]

Also look at how you spend your day. Ie if you have an office / sit down job, pay attention to posture more and get cushions / lumbar supports for chairs

The best analogy I ever heard from my physio (national team physio) was that the discs are like buckets and will have a limited storage capacity before they overflow (pain). Everything from bodyweight load to intense exercise adds water to the bucket. So you need to plan your day not to overfill it in any one period (ie dont do too much with a day) and if you do have a big day, try to empty it occassionally by laying down (preferably slightly upside down) for a short period eg 5-15min before you start to feel it. Wait until you feel it and it is too late.

and good luck!

Something I'll add to this, get a fit ball and ditch your chairs. Since doing this my general posture has improved out of sight and my core strength to a small degree. Mates who I've recomended it too have responded with the same. As does spending 10minutes on a foam roller after every ride/workout. BUT run anything like that past your physio before you start doing it!!!!!!!

I also remember being able to buy boots the you clip into and swing from upside down and it being part of elite martial arts training many moons ago. Have NFI if this practice is still common or not.

 

[m2o2r2g2]

Something I'll add to this, get a fit ball and ditch your chairs. Since doing this my general posture has improved out of sight and my core strength to a small degree. Mates who I've recomended it too have responded with the same. As does spending 10minutes on a foam roller after every ride/workout. BUT run anything like that past your physio before you start doing it!!!!!!!

I also remember being able to buy boots the you clip into and swing from upside down and it being part of elite martial arts training many moons ago. Have NFI if this practice is still common or not.

Second that!

I actually use a fit ball at work.
I also have an inversion table (one of these):

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BODY-SWING-BETTER-BACK-PAIN-INVERTER-/120742219023

which is basically a more advanced version of the inversion boots you talk about. Well worth the investment if you find one going cheap! I feel a million dollars when I am regularly using this.

 

[drew.d]

I'll add my name - and my experience - to the list. I'm going on 6 months now of dealing with a bulging disc (L5/S1) problem. I've found its important to know that others out there are going through the same $#@&

My experience of physios and specialist doctors has led me to the following:
- Don't sit down if you can help it. I now have a standing desk.
- A cortisone injection did wonders.
- It just takes time, time and more time. I sold my mtb. Upgrade when/if I get back to it.

But again, like everyone else here - this is all just me. Backs are so complicated, every injury is highly individual.

 

[vivalafica]

Regarding the fitball however, you need to build up to it, as it does take some effort. Start with 10 mins a day and work your way up to longer more prolonged periods slowly.

Because sitting on the fitball is harder than sitting in a normal chair, you will tire more easily and will probably end up slouching even more than you would've if you had been in the chair, therefore degrading your posture even further.

So if you notice a point in the day when sitting on the fitball gets too hard, or that you are excessively slouching, and your back is excessively curved, I would say it is time to put it away until the day after.