Posts
740
Joined
1/19/2018
Location
Crofton, MD
US
Edited Date/Time
5/24/2018 6:51pm
Wondering if any of you guys have had to deal with a bulging disc.Its been almost 4 months of going to the chiropractor and pt multiple times a week with no real progress. Im 23 so this is really frustrating not being anything I like to do. Any thoughts?
Paw Paw
The Shop
I was getting ready to go for shots until I started to improve...
He has a spinal decompression table. Not many chiro's have it since its so expensive. He raves about its effectiveness with clients for back issues.
Super nice guy too.
https://kinncare.com/
Oh, and on a side note, my surgeon told me that it's more common for folks in their 20's and early 30's to develop disc issues versus guys in their 50's and above. He said by the time your get to your 50's the disc actually becomes tougher and more like gristle.
Sorry...Having had L4-L5 and L5-S1 herniated disc surgery (Laminectomy) I know it's no joke! I spent 4 months in Chiro with no relief, inversion table with no relief, PT with no relief and finally had the Laminectomy surgery. Unfortunately, waiting that long with the amount of nerve pressure I had, resulted in permanent loss of the muscle group in my right leg that allows you to get up on your toes. So I can no longer jog/run (without looking like a total gimp and creating hip pain due to my messed up gate). My recommendation is to take a surgeons advice seriously. I was 40 when it happened. Now 19 years later... I sure wish I had listened to my surgeon early on when he warned me about this possibility. I probably would not have lost the leg muscle use for all of these years. Good luck, and hope you find success with which ever path you choose.
I suggest seeing a sports specific doctor/surgeon in your area if you can. They will understand what you do and what you want to continue doing.
Like said above, I have tried everything and nothing has really worked. Prior to the sciatica pain I could get the back pain to subside, but my back would go out at least once or twice a year to where I could not really even walk for at least a week. So it was always in the back of my mind. I am actually looking forward to having the surgery and not being in pain all the time!! I was told I will be off the bike for at least 3 months.
My advice would be the surgery.. You literally walk out of the hospital the same day.
Within about a month, the shooting pains down my arms diminished and in
a couple more months, they were all gone.
Yoga is absolutely part of my routine these days. Nothing fanatical- I go about three
times a week and it has been hugely beneficial.
Pit Row
Not sure how much you know about discs, but from what I learned from my full summer dealing with it is that 1.) Your disc will never "heal" or regenerate. 2.) Bulging is the first level of a damaged disc, for some stretching, strengthening, and posture adjustments can be made to relieve some if not all issues, second level is protrusion, this can be seen as a bulge, but internally the inner support walls of your disc are damaged allowing the inner gel like fluid to protrude through them into outer shells causing it push out like a deflated balloon (bulging disc is the same thing but without the inner walls being broken, think of a full balloon being pushed on), and the third level is full herniation 3) Disc injuries are unpredictable and anything from bending over to tie your shoes can trigger a damaged disc
Prior to my protruded disc, I had back issues in general (mild case of scoliosis), and PT/Inversion tables really helped my issues. However. with my damaged disc, the inversion table, chiropractor work, and PT made it ALOT worse without my injections. I actually bought a pretty nice inversion table for home use to see if it would help me and I used it maybe 5 times before I realized it's making it worse. I still have it, if you are interested in purchasing one, feel free to look into them and give me a message if interested, I will make you a deal just to get it out of my place.
Long story short, once I received my epidural, I could finally get to working on strengthening my back and addressing some of improper posture habits I had accumulated due to my back issues without that damaged disc causing a bunch of pain. Usually back injuries cause ATP (anterior pelvic tilt, strongly recommend looking into), which causes many problems in itself. To combat this, strengthening your core, making conscious efforts throughout the day on posture, and sleeping with a pillow under you hip area can help reduce ATP.
My general core/low back exercises usually involve back squats, dead lifts, planks (side, normal, and RKC), russian twists, and leg lifts. If I do anything with weights that is back related, even if light, use a support belt, it will help assist you and keep you from doing the exercise in bad form. If you think you possess ATP like traits, definitely do hip flexor stretches. If you have bulged disc, especially in the low-mid back region, DO NOT do any bending of the back exercise likes sit ups or crunches. These exercises in general promote a motion in the back that intentionally bulges your discs by pinching one side over the other due to the flexing of the spine, it will only make it worse.
I'm no expert by any means and I'm only talking from personal experiences, so take it with a grain of salt everyone is different and every back is different. From the experts I have seen, they all view back injuries differently, and they all have their own way of dealing with them, so my general knowledge is kind of a complied amount of information.
One thing I've learned is that almost everyone you speak to has a different theory about how to cure it. It seems like different things work for different people.
I started going to a Thai massage therapy where they do the massage with their knees and elbows. She cured the pain by working on my back and my big toe getting more movement in it.
It took a lot of work but it sure was better than the thought of needed surgery that was expecting.
I heard good and bad things about surgery, mostly good. So I pushed for surgery and I'm so glad I did. Only issue I have now is hard impacts while sitting down, like a deep square edged hole, I'll get a quick jolt up my back then it goes away. If I keep my core strong though, that doesn't happen. I've just been tired and lazy lately haha
I was riding at least once or twice a month before I originally got injured. Now with two kids and all, I get to ride once every 2-4 months
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