Any of y’all have a disc replacement?

[Marty Champions]

I’m not sure about all, but he been in and out of PT for five years and have had a few injections, one of which lead to some pretty serious complications that have made it worse. Hopefully it’s just a bad stretch here and it will get a bit better. I will say, I’m wondering if it’s the chiropractor I have been seeing the last month or so that’s made it worse. I’ve also been doing dry needling twice a week the last two weeks as well. Tingling in both lower extremities with pain in the low back. I don’t do any narcotic pain management either, though there are times I wish I did, which is exactly why I’m glad I don’t!

your chronically dehydrated possibly low on magnesium

[mac33]

If surgery is not urgent, try to not do it. Find a good kinesiologist and strengthen whatever you need to help your back heal and become healthier. Walk, don`t sit too much at a time, basically you need to move in a way it helps you. Avoid things that hurt and cause issues, strengthen your body. Most importantly, leave ego behind and heal, all that matters.

Never stress your back for up to two hours after you woke up and started your day. After sleep, your discs are most hydrated and prone to injury.

Stuart McGill wrote some nice books about back and its problems, worth looking into.

Chiropractors I would avoid like a plague...

[jpm101]

At 22 years of age I had spinal fusion. All due to a football injury while playing during a game. The college handled the operation and rehab cost. They had a prime medical center and very qualified doctor/surgery staff and still do. I'm 46 years old now. I do have occasional discomfort, but can't honesty say they cause me any serious pain.  Maybe I'm lucky that way, we all respond differently. Of course the older I get, I will probably feel that more often.

 A gave rehab a good six to seven months before returning to any form of heavier lifting. I did, and still do, get rolfing/deep tissue massages which really helped the lower back area. Also took up Hatha and Kundalini yoga, which I though was somewhat useless at first, but some good friends of mine insisted.  I was very wrong about that, those stretches and hold also helped the lower back and whole body in general.

I liked to train heavy, it's in my nature. I like the rattle and clang of a loaded BB. I returned to heavy training within a year of surgery. Have not had a major injury since that time., back or otherwise.  Just have to apply a bit of caution and reason to any exercise and the lower back. I did find that the Goodmorning exercise helped the lower back very well, for me anyway.  Have even done heavier partial reps with GM'ings.


Good Luck.

[Irongrip400]

At 22 years of age I had spinal fusion. All due to a football injury while playing during a game. The college handled the operation and rehab cost. They had a prime medical center and very qualified doctor/surgery staff and still do. I'm 46 years old now. I do have occasional discomfort, but can't honesty say they cause me any serious pain.  Maybe I'm lucky that way, we all respond differently. Of course the older I get, I will probably feel that more often.

 A gave rehab a good six to seven months before returning to any form of heavier lifting. I did, and still do, get rolfing/deep tissue massages which really helped the lower back area. Also took up Hatha and Kundalini yoga, which I though was somewhat useless at first, but some good friends of mine insisted.  I was very wrong about that, those stretches and hold also helped the lower back and whole body in general.

I liked to train heavy, it's in my nature. I like the rattle and clang of a loaded BB. I returned to heavy training within a year of surgery. Have not had a major injury since that time., back or otherwise.  Just have to apply a bit of caution and reason to any exercise and the lower back. I did find that the Goodmorning exercise helped the lower back very well, for me anyway.  Have even done heavier partial reps with GM'ings.


Good Luck.

Thanks for the input

Check with your doctor if ozone therapy or optic fiber? Therapy can help you instead. Much more less invasive. Did it in two of mine cervical disc and it worked wonders. A bit expensive thoug.

Checking into this next week. Thanks.

[gmflex]

I been avoiding surgery ..
I'm pretty messed up.. 2 herniated discs ..
My Dr. Who is also my brother in law..
Recommended to lose weight and muscle mass.
It reduces the strain on the back..I
Being focused the last year on more cardiovascular exercise vs.. Bulking...
No more squats.. More smith machines..

   

[oldtimer1]

If surgery is not urgent, try to not do it. Find a good kinesiologist and strengthen whatever you need to help your back heal and become healthier. Walk, don`t sit too much at a time, basically you need to move in a way it helps you. Avoid things that hurt and cause issues, strengthen your body. Most importantly, leave ego behind and heal, all that matters.

Never stress your back for up to two hours after you woke up and started your day. After sleep, your discs are most hydrated and prone to injury.

Stuart McGill wrote some nice books about back and its problems, worth looking into.

Chiropractors I would avoid like a plague...

I agree with you that modern man sits too much. How many exercise sitting in machines and benches. You have to be on your feet to create muscles that support your spine.

[ESFitness]

For whatever it's worth, I've had dozens of clients with back surgeries over the years, most being disc-replacements (handful or more with cages/fusions) and I can think of only 1 (I'm sure there must've been 2,but I can remember just 1) who were happy they did it & most regretted it.

Not looking forward to the time when my neck is bad enough to where I have to either make the decision to fix mine (degenerated disc disease in my neck between c6-c7, c5-c6 and as of 2013 c4-c5 was going as well). Numb bottom half of my right forearm & pinky and ring finger are numb & muscle between right index finger & thumb lost like 75% of the strength out of nowhere one day and it's only gotten back about 40% since then. For a long time I couldn't turn a doorknob or turn my car keys/ignition. Had to put the key between index and middle finger to twist the ignition key. Annoying as fuck.

Oh, and had a noticably bulging disc in my lumbar for years, but doesn't give me much trouble. Maybe once a year my back "goes out" (those who have it know what I mean), but other than that my lumbar is surprisingly "ok" (despite a herniated disc). Suffered from a "pinched nerve" in my mid-back/t-spine since I was 12. Initial injury was from wrestling and hurt whenever I would breath for weeks after. That was part of the initial "re-injury" that got me on painkillers (tramadol) in 2013/14. Had I just "sucked it up" and not said anything to the Dr, I never would've gotten a script for Tramadol/Ultram, and never would've gone to Heroin. :/

Better off just dealing with the physical pain, rather than dealing with physical withdrawal.

[Primemuscle]

For whatever it's worth, I've had dozens of clients with back surgeries over the years, most being disc-replacements (handful or more with cages/fusions) and I can think of only 1 (I'm sure there must've been 2,but I can remember just 1) who were happy they did it & most regretted it.

Not looking forward to the time when my neck is bad enough to where I have to either make the decision to fix mine (degenerated disc disease in my neck between c6-c7, c5-c6 and as of 2013 c4-c5 was going as well). Numb bottom half of my right forearm & pinky and ring finger are numb & muscle between right index finger & thumb lost like 75% of the strength out of nowhere one day and it's only gotten back about 40% since then. For a long time I couldn't turn a doorknob or turn my car keys/ignition. Had to put the key between index and middle finger to twist the ignition key. Annoying as fuck.

The muscle at the base of the thumb atrophies as a result of untreated carpel tunnel. This muscle is atrophied in both my hands, the right is worse than the left.

[ESFitness]

The muscle at the base of the thumb atrophies as a result of untreated carpel tunnel. This muscle is atrophied in both my hands, the right is worse than the left.

It happen over night. One day to the next. I had carpel tunnel when in the early 00's, writing for various bbing websites (biggerbodiesonline, anabolex. Peakmag.com among others,) when I was in prison, typing everyday (state board of nursing, state board of accountancy, historical society, etc..), and it was ok for a while... Then one day "boom", conceal the bottom half of my forearm from the elbows down, my ring finger and my pinky finger on my right hand as well as that muscle between the index finger and my thumb on the right hand. All seemingly overnight.

[Kwon]

It is not clear why someone as wonderfully educated at you spends so much effort and time on a site like this

It's the wonderful community of course!


Been here for many many years, and it is still one forum where you have free speech and can speak your mind without getting banned.

[Primemuscle]

that sad - you not having any friends (in the flesh) that you can speak your mind to

?

[falco]

It's the wonderful community of course!


Been here for many many years, and it is still one forum where you have free speech and can speak your mind without getting banned.

Agree.

[IroNat]

Agree.

Reported!

[wes]

that sad - you not having any friends (in the flesh) that you can speak your mind to

[oldtimer1]

Sorry to hear it Rich.....I hope your wife recovers as best as can be expected.............bet ter in fact.

All the best!!

Thank you Wes.

[oldtimer1]

Was there any injury which caused the damage?

None that we can see. Doctor explained with age comes arthritis and worn out disks that can press on nerves. It appears the disks are compressed on nerves and arthritis bone growth is pushing on nerves.  He also explained with age you can just move wrong and a vertebra can go out of place pushing on a nerve or compressing it. He explained it could be lot of causes.

I often wonder why I know people my age that have had hip replacement, back/neck pain and knee replacement who haven't done any exercise since grade school. Then you have the joint problems of those that have too much wear and tear through a life time of exercise. I think as we age maybe 55- 60 or maybe younger you have to be careful with your joints. Look at all the lifters like big Lou, Grimek and Paul Anderson that had horrible joint issues. Last time I saw film of Chris Dickerson it looked like he could barely walk. Dickerson competed in the AAU where you had to get athletic points through Olympic lifting. So there was a time when he lifted heavy. Then again you have guys like Danny Padilla who appear to have very few joint issues. Maybe his moderate weight volume method saved his joints.

I don't think most can lift for four plus decades and not have joint issues. 

[IroNat]

It's hard to explain why.

We could blame heavy weights but then, as you said, people who never lifted also have these problems.

Could be genetic.

[oldtimer1]

It's hard to explain why.

We could blame heavy weights but then, as you said, people who never lifted also have these problems.

Could be genetic.

I think it's both. Exercise will make bones and the connective tissue stronger but any athletic activity carries risk. People who have never exercised have soft bones and weak connective tissue that leads to these joint replacement problems. Too much of the wrong athletic exercise will cause the same problems through over use. So it's genetics, lack of exercise; too much exercise and too much of the wrong exercise as we age. I don't have the answers but only speculation.

[ESFitness]

None that we can see. Doctor explained with age comes arthritis and worn out disks that can press on nerves. It appears the disks are compressed on nerves and arthritis bone growth is pushing on nerves.  He also explained with age you can just move wrong and a vertebra can go out of place pushing on a nerve or compressing it. He explained it could be lot of causes.

I often wonder why I know people my age that have had hip replacement, back/neck pain and knee replacement who haven't done any exercise since grade school. Then you have the joint problems of those that have too much wear and tear through a life time of exercise. I think as we age maybe 55- 60 or maybe younger you have to be careful with your joints. Look at all the lifters like big Lou, Grimek and Paul Anderson that had horrible joint issues. Last time I saw film of Chris Dickerson it looked like he could barely walk. Dickerson competed in the AAU where you had to get athletic points through Olympic lifting. So there was a time when he lifted heavy. Then again you have guys like Danny Padilla who appear to have very few joint issues. Maybe his moderate weight volume method saved his joints.

I don't think most can lift for four plus decades and not have joint issues. 

x2
Only took 2 decades to destroy my back/neck.
*Think some of my neck issues got worse when I was doing behind the neck push-press In prison, going back to one day in particular. Push-pressed 250 one day and when it went up, I hadn't considered how heavy it was & how I was gonna get it down, so it came crashing down behind my head on my neck and could hear a loud (training partner kid heard it as well surprisingly) *crack* in my ears, and my whole right arm went numb and tingling... Seriously thought I'd broken or cracked a vertebrae in my neck. Walked around a little, afraid to turn my head, but tried a little and seemed fine. That was the end of the training session and sat the rest of the rec-session sitting in the 90% humudity 98° sun thinking my training carer was over. Believe that was 2009, so would've been a decent 13½yrs lol. Wasn't till 2012 the I found out I had "degenerative disc disease" after a bunch of MRIs when I hospital for "thyrotoxic periodic paralysis" when I fucked up on t4/t3 doses (was given 200mcg/ml t3 labled as 100mcg/ml t4 & was using 1ml  [200mcg t3] /day for 9minths n dropped 60lbs lol...  Felt like shit, but could see striations in my face-muscles despite taking in a good 4500kcals+ /day haha.... Anyways...)

[joswift]