Looking for people who ride that have also had Lumbar disc problems/surgery.

Do you do anything special? Stretches? Certain things you dont do? Do you ride at all?

Just looking for someone who has been there.

Sooner or later I will have to get back on something and ride,,,,,but I am nervous. (dont want to hurt my back again).

I have a ruptured L5S1 w/pinched nerve.

 

Bing, I hear you, I have damage to my spine from T6 to T8. I do stretches, visit a chiropractor regularly. I don't ride on the extreme end of our sport. I like to trail ride, so alot of my riding is cruising[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]When the back starts hurting, it's back to stretching and alot of Ibuprofen. If I have to I take a break in riding. This doesn't bother me, as I enjoy watching my daughters ride. It really is a great family sport. Lt. Dan

 

If you had a surgery..how long ago was it ? Did they just fuse L5 to S1? if it was recently i wouldnt do anything too soon. Fusions take a while to heal. Once healed it should be as strong/stable as before, just w/o some of the motion. Basically a fusion makes 2 vertebre into one big vertebre.


as a chiro...if you must get on I suggest you dont get too extreme and stick w/ some easy riding and dont over exert yourself. Adjustments are always good if you have had plenty of time to heal.....dont be afraid to take breaks and move around, the biggest thing that can aggrivate a disc is bending &/or bouncing ......remember that the disc is basically a shock absorber...but I wouldnt see a problem if you took it easy. It just depends on you.

 

I have not had surgery. I hurt myself 9 weeks ago.

 

do yourself a favor.. Find a good chiropractor that does "Diversified" adjusting. You will thank me later... and IMHO paying $30 every once ina while to feel better is way better than getting cut on.. Most people i know w/ fusions are not happy. But if your symptoms are that bad & chiropractic has not helped then surg may be an option.

 

I have been seeing a chiropractor for 7 weeks,,,and a massage therapist for the last 2 weeks. Also doing some electromuscle stimulation and ultrasound. sorry i didnt mention that

is there any way to treat the problem other than surgery? All I have been doing is trying to relieve symptoms.

 

>>>>>>>Time<<<<&l t;<<< heals a lot of things and this could be a year long project for your body to heal itself.

My last resort would be the knife and what's sad this might not help you long term.

 

Bing:

Several years ago I did a dumb thing and crushed a couple of disks and cracked two vertibri. The Dr. I went to was considered to be one of the best in the PNW. He advised me to try therepy and water arobics. I was unable to tolerate the pain of the sessions. His next act was to advise me of my options. He said I could have relief from the discomfort and be able to walk without a cane in a matter of a few weeks by having my spine fused. He said the downside was that a high percentage of spine fusion cases had further problems five to seven years later due to the added strain on the back just above and below the fusion. The second option was steroid shots in the spine to reduce the nerve irritation and improve mobility. Problem with this one was my damage was severe enough that it had to heal some before this could be done. Long story short it was over a year before I could have the shots. When I was able to have them it worked great.

During the time I was off work I met a number of people with similar back problems. The ones that had had the surgery to fuse their spine several years prior had, without exception, had further problems. Those that had just waited it out and then had the shots had faired much better. Nothing against Chiropractors, I go to one quite often for other problems, but I never met a person with severe back problems that was happy with the results they had had having their spine manipulated.

In my case I damaged my back again two years ago by exceeding my design limits and had a couple of bad months. Again, shots and I was good to go.

You will probably find, as I did, that your lifestyle is going to be somewhat different from now on. You will learn to watch for things that will jar your back. I no longer jump off anything, I step down. No more picking up really heavy items. I get help. I ride horses yet but avoid cutting horses or green broke knotheads. Some big old fat mare is more my speed. I ride our quads but kind of mosey along and don't get in a big hurry. You get the idea. You gotta learn to take time to stop and smell the roses.

Good luck, I know it hurts like hell.

I would suggest you talk to your Vet and see if you are a candidate for the injections. And don't get in a hurry, time is the greatest healer.

 

thanks guys

 

tencubed,

That was a good post!!!

Bing,

If at all possible and I am going to put this as simple as I can keep all your meat because once its removed or welded together there's no going back.