I havent't posted for a while. Last week I had severe back pain, and went to the doctor. He said I had a herniated disk in my upper back/neck. My first question, of course was when can I go back to swimming and biking. He said the disk could get better on it's own (until this morning it was).
Has anyone else had a herniated disk in their neck? How long were they down? The doc said I probably wouldn't need surgery.
And the biggie:
Does swimming help or hurt the condition? What about cycling?
I'm really bummed because I was supposed to do my first Alcatraz swim next week.
Parents
Former Member
I have been living with lower back pains since I was 20 years of age (I am 44 now). The first doctor I saw when I was 20 told me:
"Daniel, you have two options: you can have a surgery now and
-hope- to fix the problem or you can strenghten your core muscles to better sustain your body and minimize the pain."
During the years that followed, it was easy to see that If I practiced sport regularly and also paid attention to strengthen my core muscles, I would not have any back pain. As I would become sedentary again, for any reason, the back pain would come back.
Three years ago, while playing with my kinds in Lake Tahoe (sitting in a plastic disc and sliding down in the ice/snow), something went very wrong. Next day I was practically paralyzed because of a lower back pain.
I waited few weeks to see if the problem would go away. It got better, but the pain was still there.
After seeing the first doctor and having an X-ray I found out I had ".... Degenerative disk disease at the L4-5 level ... "
I continued to swim. For few months the pain seemed to have gone away ... until I decided to jump off the start block. The dive hit me badly and I remember asking myself "how am I going to compete now ? I refuse to start an event from the bottom ..."
I was getting depressed.
The doctor referred me to the physical therapist, who gave me a bunch of exercises to do regularly. I did, and the pain would not go away.
I finally did an MRI (a year ago) and the report showed this:
"1. Spondylolisthesis of L5 over S1.
2. Disk herniation at L4-5 lateralizing to the right and "
Today I feel FINE.
I will copy below what I read in the previous threads and agree 100%:
- "My advice is to find a good physical therapist (mine is also a strength and conditioning coach and chiropractor). "
- "I also learned not to give an opinion about what to do with a bad back unless asked. Mentally you can go crazy, b/c so many people have so many different opinions about what to do."
I will tell you what have worked for me:
a) Swimming is fine. I just don't abuse my body anymore with strong flip turns and dives.
b) I have established the goal of having great ab muscles, or being more generic: to strengthen my core muscles. This is not only helping me with my back issue, but is also a key aspect in swimming as we all know.
(yes ... I have been very careful on what type of exercise I can do ...)
c) I have been doing lots of stretch (and pull ups) using a fixed bar (I Just hang from the bar for a minute).
d) Now what really made the difference: a device called TENS (transcutaneous electro-nerve stimulator).
I first thought the device would only masquerade the pain, because the injury would be always there, and after all, I had a DEGENERATIVE disease (which implies that it can only get worse as time goes by).
Well, I found the following article on the Net the other day and it gave me HOPE. It says that the injury can actually REGENERATE:
www.spineuniverse.com/.../article805.html
I plan to have another MRI next year to monitor the injury.
Cheers,
Daniel D
Reply
Former Member
I have been living with lower back pains since I was 20 years of age (I am 44 now). The first doctor I saw when I was 20 told me:
"Daniel, you have two options: you can have a surgery now and
-hope- to fix the problem or you can strenghten your core muscles to better sustain your body and minimize the pain."
During the years that followed, it was easy to see that If I practiced sport regularly and also paid attention to strengthen my core muscles, I would not have any back pain. As I would become sedentary again, for any reason, the back pain would come back.
Three years ago, while playing with my kinds in Lake Tahoe (sitting in a plastic disc and sliding down in the ice/snow), something went very wrong. Next day I was practically paralyzed because of a lower back pain.
I waited few weeks to see if the problem would go away. It got better, but the pain was still there.
After seeing the first doctor and having an X-ray I found out I had ".... Degenerative disk disease at the L4-5 level ... "
I continued to swim. For few months the pain seemed to have gone away ... until I decided to jump off the start block. The dive hit me badly and I remember asking myself "how am I going to compete now ? I refuse to start an event from the bottom ..."
I was getting depressed.
The doctor referred me to the physical therapist, who gave me a bunch of exercises to do regularly. I did, and the pain would not go away.
I finally did an MRI (a year ago) and the report showed this:
"1. Spondylolisthesis of L5 over S1.
2. Disk herniation at L4-5 lateralizing to the right and "
Today I feel FINE.
I will copy below what I read in the previous threads and agree 100%:
- "My advice is to find a good physical therapist (mine is also a strength and conditioning coach and chiropractor). "
- "I also learned not to give an opinion about what to do with a bad back unless asked. Mentally you can go crazy, b/c so many people have so many different opinions about what to do."
I will tell you what have worked for me:
a) Swimming is fine. I just don't abuse my body anymore with strong flip turns and dives.
b) I have established the goal of having great ab muscles, or being more generic: to strengthen my core muscles. This is not only helping me with my back issue, but is also a key aspect in swimming as we all know.
(yes ... I have been very careful on what type of exercise I can do ...)
c) I have been doing lots of stretch (and pull ups) using a fixed bar (I Just hang from the bar for a minute).
d) Now what really made the difference: a device called TENS (transcutaneous electro-nerve stimulator).
I first thought the device would only masquerade the pain, because the injury would be always there, and after all, I had a DEGENERATIVE disease (which implies that it can only get worse as time goes by).
Well, I found the following article on the Net the other day and it gave me HOPE. It says that the injury can actually REGENERATE:
www.spineuniverse.com/.../article805.html
I plan to have another MRI next year to monitor the injury.
Cheers,
Daniel D
