# Herniated Disc and Biking



## jbordwine (Jul 19, 2004)

Back in June I bent over to lift a television and about half way up it felt like something exploded in my back. Every muscle in my back felt like it locked up. I figured I had just strained it pretty good so took some Motrin and took it easy for a few days. After a few weeks the pain in my back went away but my right butt cheek started to hurt everytime I went from the sitting to standing position. When I would stand up it would hurt like hell sometimes for a few seconds and then I would be fine. This would come and go up until about mid September and the pain started moving down the outside of my right leg. It got to the point where I could only stand or lie down, I could not sit or my leg would ache like crazy! I continued to mtn bike at least once a week up until this point. Anyhow, Last week I had an MRI which revealed a herniated disc and also a bulging disc. The herniated disc is putting pressure on a nerve causing my leg to hurt. I'm not sure which discs but he did say it was in the lower portion of my back. I've been referred to a neurosurgeon but my appt isnt until Nov. 28. My doctor did say that at my age, 26, surgery would probably be the last option and in most cases a herniated disc would heal over time. Does this sound correct? I'm trying to find another neurosurgeon who can get me in quicker. 

I have noticed that when I lay around the pain actually gets worse and its seems like my back tightens up even more. So after about a month off the bike I got back on this past Sunday just to get out of the house. I felt fine standing up but when I would sit and crank it kinda irritated my leg a little. I took it easy but to be honest, I've felt better ever since, kinda like it loosened me up? 

How will all of this affect my biking? I'm guessing they will send me to physical therapy but should I stay off the bike all together? I rode a hardtail up until the injury but ever since I've been riding my buddys RM Switch S1. If and when I get back on the bike full time I going to try and piece together a FS bike for sure.

This really sucks! The emotional pain is almost worse than the physical pain itself!


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## preppie (Jan 14, 2005)

I have a slipped 4th and 5th disc, a.k.a. lower back hernia.
It took a long time to heal completely and I have visited the physio around 50 times. 
It will heal, but take it easy the first 2-3 months and ask the physio for exercises you can do at home or in the gym. 
You need to strengthen your (lower) back muscles and abdominal muscles and after a few months you're as good as new.
And indeed surgery would probably be the LAST option and in most cases a herniated disc would heal over time, at least with the people I know that had/have a hernia.

I had to sell my HT because it was too painful and it 'would' make things worse. 
So I bought a 5" Stinky and my back pain was 'almost' gone, after a year it was completely gone.
Right now I have an 8" Bighit and I can hit almost anything without any
back problems. I switched my DJ2 130mm for a Super-T and the difference between the SSV and the HSCV was a blessing for my wrists and arms.

It may hurt to sell your HT, but once you are used to a 7" FS you WILL love it....and still be able to walk and party in the evening.

A hernia is NOT the end of you biking career, it just takes some time to heal


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## Evel Knievel (Mar 28, 2004)

Many are having good results with accupuncture . 

If only more insurance companys would could cover this drug/surgery free option .


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## Jim Mac (Jun 29, 2004)

Go to a chiropractor, a good one. I hooked up with one who was also a marathon runner, so he knew about me not wanting to be laid up for too long. He did a lot of adjustments, ultra sound (to get the blood flowing to my herniated disc), gave me stretching and ab exercises (as I began to heal) as told me to ice my back every night to reduce the swelling on the disc. He also had me rest for a while to give it time to heal.

He recommended that I ease back into biking/DH little by little and let pain (or lack thereof) be my guide. You have to find a balance between staying active and doing more damage to the disc, and most DH/Freeride is pure compression on your spine and discs.

I figured that I got better after I fell off a 5 foot drop, jumped over the bars and landed feet first with no pain...told my chiro that and he freaked out (pure compression!) but agreed that I was getting better....HA!


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

see a specialist....go to where your local pro team is or college team and talk to a sports doctor and see what is best for you


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## shanedawg (Jan 9, 2004)

go see a chrio before any kind of surgery. They will probably be your best bet for long term, pain free, healing.


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## MT Road (Sep 26, 2004)

*I have had this issue*

I too have had this issue. My original doctor wanted to give me drugs and told me to not do anything. I was about 25 at the time, and surgery was an option but the last on his list. It hurt so bad to sit down I would almost cry while at work (yea manly I know but if you have not experienced near 24 hour pain that does not go away hush)

My friends dad was a Chrio and he said he would see me pro-bono.. and he did the ultra sound, abb and back exercises and he "snapped" my back about every other day. Within a month the pain was almost nonexistent.

I am now 33 and I still have issues every now and then but I do ride allot on a road bike and MTB this year I am at 1872 miles as of last night. I hurt on century rides on the RB but I had to give up the hard tail MTB.. I ride a Moment now and it is my 3rd FS. Actually once you get it you will not want to go back. I can rip all the trails and hit drops that are up to 5 feet no problem. Sometimes when I bunny hop hard it hurts my back, but I feel it the next day not so much on the ride.

Hope it helps go to a Chiropractor and save the surgery for later.. and no your ridding career is not over I plan to ride till I die..


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## Burkeman (Jan 23, 2004)

Good source of info for back pain

I battled this same problem from around this time last year until the spring and am not pain free and can do any type of riding I want to. I've done long road rides, DH shuttle runs, epic XC rides, and I even ride a good bit of the time on a fully rigid SS without any pain. Things to consider are that you don't want to even consider surgery unless you are in an extreme case where you are not even mobile. I definitely remember the pain, worst in my life, and it was absolutely excrutiating for the simplest thing such as a sneeze or a cough. I'd sneeze and practically be brought to my knees it was so painful. I did a combination of physical therapy and chiropractic treatments (chiro did some treatments specific to herniated disc problems). Probably the absolutely biggest thing I did that brought my months of pain to a minimum almost overnight was making a very conscious effort to change my posture. I found that my desk chair at work was absolutely terrible for my back positioning and I began to sit at the front of my chair with my back straight instead of using the backrest and the slouching that naturally occurred with this. This first day I began doing this brought about a night and day difference in how I felt as I went from somedays not even being able to complete a full day of work to being essentially pain free all day. From then on I was immediately able to get back to biking and I was very conscious of my positioning on the bike and not slouching on it and it didn't bother my back at all. Something you don't want to do is stop all types of physical activities. You do want to find some sort of exercise that you can continue doing in order to keep better bloodflow to the area and to prevent the muscles in the area from atrophying. If you stop exercising your lower back and abdominal muscles will lose strength and those are what you actually need to strengthen if you want to be able to heal and maintain your back health. I highly recommend physical therapy over chiropractics as physical therapy not only treats the symptoms of the problem by stretching the area, it also is actively strengthening the area which is essential to the long term health of your back. A lot of people prefer chiropractic though as they are very comfortable with it but I just had a better experience with the physical therapy than with the chiro.


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## budgie (May 14, 2004)

I'm with Burkeman on this: physios were much more help to me than chiros. I've been living with two herniated discs (L4-L5 & L5-S1) for 15 years now and the thing that seems to make the biggest difference is regular stretching and strengthening exercises. I also had the pain in the butt (which my doctor said was probably due to nerve pinching/damage), and with the PT we discovered that one of the contributing factors to this were really tight hamstrings that pulled my whole upper body forward, putting pressure on the disc. So I do stretching daily to work on these, and abdominals. This makes a huge difference. 
Also, I got in the habit of wearing a back brace, which works more as a reminder than anything else. There are certain movements/positions on the bike that can get me into trouble (eg: hammering on the pedals with my butt way back on the saddle, drops to flat), and the brace has helped me to develop different habits and really a different riding style. Otherwise I find myself tensing up to protect my back, and that's just bad for all sorts of reasons. Orthoathletic.com has some mesh versions that aren't too bad on a hot day. 
Lose the HT, develop a loose & relaxed riding style (if you haven't already), and stretch A LOT!
Good luck...


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## chuffer (Apr 15, 2004)

*wow....*

Wow! Lots of guys with fucked up backs in here.

As a member of the multiple (3) herniated disc club here is my advice:

1. No surgery.

2. Lots of PT.

3. Build and maintain as much muscular strength in your upper torso as you can.

4. Try accupuncture. (My insurance paid 85% of the price for 30 sessions.)

5. Stay well hydrated! This is an important issue lots of people overlook.

6. Learn how to do everyday things in a way that wont tweak your back. Nothing worse than tweaking your back doing something trivial like beating off at the wrong angle...

My biggest mistake after wrecking my back was laying off the exercise for too long.

You absolutely have to stay fit or it's a downward spiral. Now-a-days I roll outta bed EVERY morning and hit the crunches, backward crunches (for my back), pushups and dips. I've been doing that for three years and I am able to rock the hardtail with no pain. Well, no pain other than crashing, casing and landing in the flats. Those are my three best tricks.


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## chuffer (Apr 15, 2004)

jbordwine said:


> I have noticed that when I lay around the pain actually gets worse and its seems like my back tightens up even more.!


This is a big problem. See my post above. You have to stay fit and active without further injuring the back. Every orthopedist and sports doctor I visited insisted that I stay active.


jbordwine said:


> So after about a month off the bike I got back on this past Sunday just to get out of the house. I felt fine standing up but when I would sit and crank it kinda irritated my leg a little. I took it easy but to be honest, I've felt better ever since, kinda like it loosened me up?


Good. The reason you feel better is that the exercise loosened up the muscles in your back. When you do no activity and only sit around worrying about your fucked up back, those muscles get tight and tweak your back even worse. Downward spiral!

Have someone check your seated position on the bike. For this job a doctor of sports medicine or orthopedist familiar with bikes is probably way better than some LBS mechanic who thinks he knows how to use a fit kit. If your position is OK, ride your bike, but don't over do it. Do short rides without a lot hard climbing or endless hammering. Proper non-over-exagerated stretching and good hydration are also key.

Another option I went for was swimming -I was pretty desperate because I hate swimming. Although it is dorky as hell I used to go do backstroke laps for an hour 2 times a week. Super exercise with low impact!

Oh yeah, I am not a doctor (well, actually I am, but I am not an MD  ). So my advice may or may not be what's best for you.


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## Arek (Jan 27, 2004)

*Sciatica*

What you have sounds like a case of sciatica - something I just went through not long ago. What happens is your herniated or slipped disc pinches the sciatic nerve, which is the longest nerve in human body, starting somewhere at the lower portion of your spine, and going all the way down your leg. Sometimes the nerve is naturally in a bad position, where instead going in between muscles in your butt it is literally piercing the muscles, and any muscle inflamation in the area is going to affect it. In severe cases, like mine was, I had this shooting, "electric shock" pain starting in my right buttock, going down the hamstring, sometime affecting hip and knee joints too, at times going down as far as my calf. Every time I would bend down with my right leg straight, it would stretch my hamstring tight, and put pressure on the nerve, I'd get this shooting pain in the whole right side from butt to calf, like I was literally electrocuted. It was horrible. Like many others above, I couldn't sit normaly - pretty much anything that put pressure on my hamstring was killing me. So sitting at work and driving were the worst. At my desk I had to sit pretty much all the way on the front edge of the chair, and only on the left side of my butt, so there wouldn't be any weight on the affected area. The transition from siting to standing was another "fun" proposition, usually taking me 30-45 seconds to fully get up. There were days when it affected my whole right leg to the point when I couldn't fully control it, it was literally dragging a bit when walking.
I did probably 15-20 chiro sessions, which were actually more like chiro/physio combined - with stretching, ultrasound, laser, massage and electro stimulation (or whatever it's actually called  ) therapies mixed together. Every time immidiately after I left, I felt like new born, but within half an hour, the same sensation would be back. I was getting really frustrated after 2.5-3 months, actually wondering if it ever would go away. The improvement came so gradualy, that I didn't even notice it, until one day about 1-1.5 month ago I realized that I'm 95% better.
All the while I kept going to the gym, but avoided doing anything that would irritate the spine/disc - like any legs, abs excersises, definitely NO running. I actually was able to ride througout the ordeal, although not as often and intense as usual, and I'd concentrate more on getting off the saddle in any rough sections I'd normally go through seated. I feel the riding aspect actually might have helped me. I always felt better for a few hours (to a day even) after riding.
So the good thing is, my sciatica is gone now, the bad news however - once you've had it, there's a good chance of reocurring at some point. I can still feel tingling in my leg or butt sometimes, although I wouldn't describe it as pain.
Do a google search on sciatica, there's a lot of good info on it out there, with tips on excersises, how to get better and how to avoid it in the future.
Good luck, and I hope you get better soon! I sure know the pain you're going through (as do the others in this thread...)

Arek


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## jkish (Dec 11, 2004)

Have no fear. I used to have severe pains that migrate up and down my right leg and buttock but now, after making a few changes, I'm pretty much pain free except for occassional minor back stiffness. Here's what to do.

Get a full sus bike with really fat tires. If your going to piece one together, start with the stem, bars and tires. You can put those on your HT right now for a major improvement in comfort. Get a high rise bar, and a slightly shorter higher rise stem (Hope makes one with a 25 degree rise) This will get your riding position up and take strain off your back. Just don't go too short and high, making your back vertical with the ground. This will create more back problems. You'll have to experiment to find what works.

If you have a gut, loose it and learn to sit up straight. A protruding beer belly causes an overly curved spine. Get a good supportive bed and pillows. Don't sleep on the couch. Don't carry things in your back pocket (wallet).

Before you hit the trails, do a quick warm up and then stretch your hamstrings lightly. Do a more thorough stretch afterward. This is important to prevent further injury and will reduce/eliminate pain during rides. Tight hamstrings are a major source of continual daily pressure on the spine. Flexible hamstrings=no pressure=no pain. 

Core body exercises. Crunches, leglifts and back rows. All the surrounding muscle groups in your midsection provide support for your spine. You MUST get cleared from a doctor before you attempt any of these. The idea is to do them frequently but not too intensely. This way you will slowly build muscle strength without injuring your back, especially with the rows. 

As your probably figured out, lift with your legs, not your back.

I did/do all of the above. Two years ago I was hunched over in severe pain 24/7 and practically needed a walker to get around. Yesterday I rode 20 rugged miles without a hint of back pain.

Whatever you do, don't stop exercising and avoid surgery at all cost. That could be your demise. My overweight, sedentary sister is 10 years younger and decided to go the surgery route. (back problems are hereditary) She is now permanently on disability.


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## MTB_TDI (Apr 9, 2004)

*Thanks everyone*

I am going through this right now. It has been almost two months since I crashed and herniated a disc. The real kicker was that a hiker sabotaged the trail and I happened to hit it and go over the bars. (the trail was clean the day before). This really gives me more hope. I still have numbness in my calf and foot but it is getting better. I have ridden the road bike a few times and have had success with not having any pain while riding or afterwards. I am going to start commuting to work tomorrow and see how it goes. I figure I will do that twice this week and then 3 times next week, which is my norm.

I am pretty bummed out about this whole ordeal because I was planning on doing a 24 hour race in Sept. but that is obviously out. I want to do Leadville next year and that will be my goal. I have done the Brian Head 100 before and am just worried about the back but when Leadville comes it will have been 13 months so I should be good to go. You guys have given me more hope.

I am doing PT and it has helped. I plan on doing more core workouts than I have in the past.


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## sikocycles (Oct 10, 2005)

I went through it last year. Started playing golf again and then went to a week long hockey camp. Than the pain started on the 4th day. Lost all feeling and strength in my calf and a few toes. Real bad sciatica pain. real bad.
Went to a chiro for a while and it helped. Had 2 MRIs and had a L5S1 herniation. 
A year later I feel much better and did not have surgery.


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## keen (Jan 13, 2004)

Another Sciatica victim here. I was lifting a fallen fence one weekend the next week my hip kept getting really sore. I thought my hip was going out. Went to a general practitioner and was told I had lower back problems. Went to a Chiro. and was told more precisely my sciatic nerve was @ fault. Chiro wanted to session me @ over $1k - I skipped that. Went to a few classes on back / pain managment and really focused on avoiding further agrevation. Regular exercise & core strengthening really helped my problem which was probably a bulging disc form the fence lifting. I really pay attention to my lifting now I don't want to spend another 3 mo. in pain.


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## MTB_TDI (Apr 9, 2004)

Mine is an L5-S1. I rode the road bike to work today and don't feel to well right now. Maybe I need to ride the mtn bike to work. this sucks bad!!!!!!!


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## brian6037 (Oct 29, 2006)

mine was L5-S1. i had surgery 2 years ago now i'm back pain free on and off the bike (i ride xc 5x a week). surgery is still the last option. i had surgery because bed rest and pain relievers didn't work so my neuro advised to remove the herniated disc. mtbiking makes your back strong as long as your bike set up fits you. abdominal and back exercises are also great.


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## MTB_TDI (Apr 9, 2004)

I had an EMG test about a month and half ago. The results revealed blockage on both legs but no permanent damage yet. the doc wanted to wait 3 months and see if it improves and go from there. He wants it to heal on its own. I was taken off the bike again when we found out the results. It has been 4 long months without riding and now I am facing winter and still no sign of recovery. I have gained some weight but have been swimming instead of biking, it isn't near as fun. I have my next EMG test in December and I will have to see where it goes from there.


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## pinkheadedbug (Aug 16, 2006)

chuffer said:


> 6. Learn how to do everyday things in a way that wont tweak your back. Nothing worse than tweaking your back doing something trivial like beating off at the wrong angle...


The things you find with the search function. LOL.


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## buckoW (Feb 7, 2007)

The trick for me is every morning in the shower I put super hot water on my low back for 5 minutes then stretch the hamstrings while running hot water on them and then stretch the hips with hot water on them. It takes about 20 minutes of hot water stretching in the shower everyday to live again but it is a small price to pay for riding bikes and snowboards everyday. I got the back of a 70 yr. old and hot water in the morning makes me feel like I am only 55, although the rest of me is 28......


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## mzungo (Sep 14, 2004)

*Interesting thread,*

I have suffered bad back for 20 years (now 46) spent a fortune with the chiro get a good one and its worth it but watch out for bad ones go by reputation and referral.

I fractured my mid spine in 05 biking, and have various lower back injuries from years of physical activity..

Last year I purchased an inversion table, bear in mind at this point I was going to a chiro every month for like 10 years. Any way long story short, using the inversion table has almost eliminated my need for the chiro I have only been twice in the last year&#8230;do a search on the net for inversion table as one doctor said to me its just like traction stretching you under your own weight ..


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## MTB_TDI (Apr 9, 2004)

My EMG results in December revealed no change so the phsiatrist recommended surgery. This was the guy that said surgery was the last option. He said if I didn't do surgery the nerve damage would end up being permanent. I looked at 3 different options on the surgery and 3 different doctors. I decided on the microdiscectomy. My cortisone shots wore off and it became pretty painful towards the end.

The surgery was good but the recovery sucks. It has been 8 1/2 months without biking. I had surgery 2 months ago and am now doing physical therapy again. Mostly stretches and some strengthening excersizes. I was doing more core excersizes before the surgery. Swimming helps take weight off the spine so it is a safe excersize when you have a herniated disk.

I should be cleared to bike in a month and now it will be bittersweet. It is going to suck when I have to climb my first hill because I will see how much fitness I have lost. My goal it finish Leadville next year. I was going to do it this year but my back changed that. My surgeon is a roady but says that I should be able to do it next year. So, this year is all about getting back into shape.

*Don't neglect your body core*. It is very important. You may not know that you have a bad back until it is too late. If you are having back pain, listen to your body. It is hurting for a reason. Get an MRI, x-rays won't tell you anything about your discs because they are soft tissue. Don't do surgery unless you absolutely have to, and research you surgeon if you have to have surgery.

Overall I am glad that I did the surgery. I have much less pain and much less numbness in my leg and foot. It is almost completey gone. I was told when this first happened back in July that my back would never be the same. I can live with some aches and pains but I can't live not biking!


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## Speedwa (Oct 30, 2005)

I had a ruptured disc when I was 21 between L4 and L5. I had horrible Psychotic nerve pain in my but and leg. I was told by the doctor that I needed surgery which I declined. I am now 36 and have been doing all the sports I want to do. Although I do get occasional sorenes. It does take work on your part to rehab though. For me I have used a combination of:

Yoga, the best thing I did was get into yoga.Usually 5 days a week

A yoga inversion sling. Hanging upside down helps realign your back and feels great.

Stay Hydrated. Discs are mostly water

Accupuncture and/or Chiropratic if you fall out of allignment or have a good wreck.

Stay possitive and know that you can overcome this injury. From the yoga my spine is more flexable than before the injury.


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## Huck Banzai (May 8, 2005)

I havent had time to read this voluminous thread, but having a good history and a severe injury, I wanted to give my 2c.

I had 2 instances of injury to put me where Im at!

#1 - I had a car wreck in 1990 and broke my neck, compressed and herniated 2 cervical vertebrae; I generally dont have issues, but there is occasional nerve impingment and corresponding sensations and pain in my neck and left arm. These were not diagnosed or treated until 10 years later!

#2 - 2004, doing some big tables on the snowboard, decide to sky the biggest (15'x45") available to me; mach at it nail it, rotate back into the wind and short the jump to the top on my ass at ~35mph -- Instant sever herniations; I was unable to effectively sit down for FIVE months even with the aid of Percocet.

PHYSICAL THERAPY PHYSICAL THERAPY PHYSICAL THERAPY! This does not get 'fixed' per se, but requires that you maintain a strong core and balance it to support the area. If you slack off - issues WILL return.

A mantra I repeat frequentyly is that '95% of back issues are derived from weak core strength/imbalance' - especially as cyclists who receive alot of back excercise for ridinng, the balance between back strength and abdomen is thrown further off, by focusing primarily on abdominal and oblique strength (but not overlooking back excercise) you can mitigate and alleviate the symptoms.

You will also perform better at any physical task if you are in balance, and moreso if you are and are strong as well.


Short story: put the PT and time in, you'll be OK.


PS - despite some regular and intense sciatica, I still ride a HT primarily and take it off anything thats <=10' (real 10' - SMT/WCH standards, sometimes known as 408' pinkbike feet) - and Im 6'8" 220....

Screw a fully.. lol (so what I have a few...)


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## rallyfox (Jul 21, 2005)

How many of you are doctors?

Go see a friggin doctor. And don't rush the healing, I speak from experience, you don't want to be in your 30's and having trouble to just walk.


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## Huck Banzai (May 8, 2005)

rallyfox said:


> How many of you are doctors?
> 
> Go see a friggin doctor. And don't rush the healing, I speak from experience, you don't want to be in your 30's and having trouble to just walk.


While I am not a doctor, I do have plenty of exposure to sports injuries and relevant specific and extreme experience on the subject. Personal experience, friends in the profession, etc...

He DID see a doctor, IS going back AND _asked_ for feedback; I perceived him to be a nervous fellow unsure of what to expect who is doing his due diligence, and seeking some support. Thats the same thing I did while I was enduring my injury and was in treatment!Like many, I am wise enough to question everything to some extent, to not accept professional opinions solely because they are from a 'professional', and seek the best possible feedback and certifiable information possible. 25 opinions including my own based on research! That includes peer feedback, web research, library, family networking, so on and on....

Aside from having already revelaed the primary diagnosis, take mine (or any other) comment in hear, and present it to the doc - who will agree that it is consistent, good advice.

L1 burst impinging sciatic nerve, L2 bulge possible impending burst and possible minor impingement of sciatic nerve branches.

Most in this forum appear capable of making judgements and decisions of our own - yourself included - and dont need to be chided or derided - that is rarely, if ever, the way to get people to cooperate.

Some might respond to being spanked, but probably not in the intended way.......

:eekster: :eekster:


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## MTB_TDI (Apr 9, 2004)

I'm not a doctor either. However, I think people really need to understand that if you go see a surgeon they are going to want to operate. You have to ask yourself why! Well, because they want your money!!!!! That is why I saw a physiatris that specializes in spinal injuries. He doesn't do surgery, but knows who the good surgeons are. He says that surgery is always the last option. I feel VERY confident that he in not just after my money because of the way he has been treating me and the conversations we have had. The nerve testing that I had done was very evident that it wasn't going to heal and he felt bad that he had to tell me that I needed surgery. The surgeon I went to was a good surgeon and I did my due diligence to make sure he was. I got second and third and forth opinions because once they go in they success rates of following procedures is much lower.

See a physiatrist that specializes in spinal injuries. They know how to help you without surgery. They physical therapy helped tremendously with the pain. The doctor said that most herniated discs heal on their own but there are a few that won't heal without surgery. I was one of the few that didn't. I don't regret surgery (at least not yet). I have much less pain, and numbness. I waited almost seven months before doing surgery. I gave it as much time as possible to heal.

Before and after surgery the doctors recomended that I do physical therapy. They said that I need to become a back athlete. But as a poster said before, see a doctor. There may be excersizes that work for my injury that may be dangerous for you to do. They excersize program needs to be tailored to you! Listen to the doctors but you need to find out if they have you or their wallet in mind first!

Good luck!!!


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## Madmaxx (Oct 12, 2005)

Mobilize mobilize mobilize. Before and after every ride you should be doing low back exercises and stretches. To take pain off your lumbar spine you need to free up your hip flexors (always tight on bikers). Do lunges, forward, sideways, and backwards (with trunk rotations if you can). Look up "the world's greatest stretch" online and do that too. Ice after each ride (never use heat, that causes inflammation and pain!). I did the same thing a over a month ago and am already getting back into the swing of things.


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## ehansen007 (Sep 8, 2006)

Even if it's so bad and does require surgery, fear not. I have degernerative disc disease whereby my discs don't retain as much water as some do. I herniated both L4, L5 and L5, S1 and had them both repaired via microdiscectomy. Believe it or not, it was an outpatient surgery. I woke up after being in surgery for about 2 hours and actually getting into the car myself about 2 hours later. Now, I'm not saying this is a first option because as many people have said here and many doctors will tell you "try everything else first" PT may just as well help. My discs just weren't going to heal and after they fixed the first one, we knew exactly what to do on the second one. 

If you end up in so much pain after all the PT, Acupunture, stretching, and even epidurals as I did,get that neurologist to fix you up. DO NOT LOOK AT DOING A LAMENECTOMY. Any doctor who suggests that is practicing medicine in the 1980s. 

Best of luck.


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