Herniated Disk

[165r]

Well my worst nightmare came true. After bareing the pain of what I thought was a pulled muscle I found out today that I have a herniated disk in my lower back. I'm so depressed. The thought of seeing what I worked so hard for dissappear while lying on the couch is making me sick to my stomach. Has anyone had this problem and how long did you take to recover?

 

[Mudge]

I know someone who doesn't do deads anymore because of it, but he could not afford to see a chiro he said. They should be able to get you back on track after a series of visits, at least partially if not fully.

 

[JerseyDevil]

I would check in with a good sports medicine doctor that specializes in orthopaedic injuries. First thing you need to do is take care of this injury. Number two is to find out how the injury occured. Could be you were using improper form, or simply were predisposed to a herniated disc.

I had something close to a herniated disc. A lumbar disc is compressed, but luckily did not rupture. Deadlifts are out of the question for me, but I can still do squats if I focus on good form, not so much heavy weight (which you should anyway).

 

[plouffe]

Don't do decline bench --

 

[aztecwolf]

i had a herniated disk in the lumbar-5 vertebrea, it caused a pinched nerve that rain down my whole leg, i tried everything, from rest, to medication, to therapy, to chiropractors, to anabolic steriod shots(don't get these, they were the most painful thing i have ever had). Finally i had to go the surgery route to remove the herniated disk. It was a scope surgery and i was out of the hospital the next day, although walking like an 80 year old man, it took me a couple months to recover from the surgery fully and i started to workout and lift after about 4-5 months after surgery, i still had some pains from the nerve damage, but now they have completely subsided( it has been about 5 years since i had surgery). Doc told me not to do any heavy lifting such as squats and deads, but i have decided to screw his advice for better or worse. It sucked i had the pain for over a year, senior year in high school and freshman year in college, coudln't workout/lift or do anything, i balloned up to about 185-190 lbs. by the time of my surgery, by the time i started my sophomore year in college i was a lean/muscular 160-165 lbs.

 

[iMan323]

Brother! You need to give Peter Egoscue a call. There's a good chance that he might be able to help you. This man literaly does miracles when many other options fail.

http://www.egoscue.com/

 

[barc77]

I had a herniated disk L4/5 for 3 years, that would get better to a point but never heal. For 2 of thoes my doctor kept saying is was a strained ligament. So I switched docs after reinjuring my back again. My new doc sent me for an MRI which showed the herniated disc. I finaly decided to have the microdisectomy surgery. I went about 4 months with out lifting before the surgery because it was 2 painful. Now 2 months out of surgery most of the pain is gone, still stiff and some pinching with bending forward. I feel your pain about loosing gains. It does suck to see all that you worked for slowly go away. But my advice is take it easy, don't make it worse like I did by trying to lift thru the pain. The gains will come back in time when you get better and get back in the gym.

axtecwolf, I know what you mean by the 80 year old man walk. I was walking like that for a little over a week post op.

Good luck with the recovery

barc