i had a question about swimming and recovering from back surgery. i just wanted some input from anyone that is in or has been in my position. i am 30 and had a microdiscectomy in december 2007 on l4/l5. i was a competitive swimmer until college and that's when the back problems started. ok so enough with the boring stuff, i have finished therapy after about 9 months and i began swimming again. my questions are more related to fears about rehernaition as i am not really sure how my back got messed up so bad in the 1st place. do i need to be worried about reherniation by swimming hard or doing flip turns, or really anything i used to take for granted in the pool? i have had some back spasms this past week on my 'good side' so i am beginning to worry a bit. its been tough because i literally think about every step or movement i make on dry land because i dont want to end up back on that operating table. as you could imagine its stressful :)
any input is appreciated.
I had microdiscectomy surgery on L3-L4 and L4-L5 in December 2000, the L4-L5 was actually ruptured and not realized until the time of surgery. I had been basically incapacitated for three months prior to surgery, not able to walk due to the crushing pain and then numbness in my left leg. It was very very painful, prior to and immediately following surgery. In February 2001 I was allowed to start walking in the pool, arms down at my sides. Once I was totally off all pain meds I was allowed to swim again and according to the surgeon "let pain be your guide." Thanks doc. I spent that entire summer swimming approx 4x per week long course and did a lot of kicking, with a board, no board, on my back etc. I felt a lot more flexible in my back after that summer and returned to swimming/training as much as I wanted. I am now swimming a lot faster than prior to back surgery. I won't say it never hurt again because it did, I had to learn to differentiate between pain I needed to push through and pain where I needed to stop. I think you have to push through some pain because if you stopped every time it hurt you won't progress. But only you will be able to make that decision for yourself. Swimming was/is the best thing for me personally, physically and mentally. The sooner I got back in the pool, even if I had to walk around like a water aerobics lady, the better.
I had microdiscectomy surgery on L3-L4 and L4-L5 in December 2000, the L4-L5 was actually ruptured and not realized until the time of surgery. I had been basically incapacitated for three months prior to surgery, not able to walk due to the crushing pain and then numbness in my left leg. It was very very painful, prior to and immediately following surgery. In February 2001 I was allowed to start walking in the pool, arms down at my sides. Once I was totally off all pain meds I was allowed to swim again and according to the surgeon "let pain be your guide." Thanks doc. I spent that entire summer swimming approx 4x per week long course and did a lot of kicking, with a board, no board, on my back etc. I felt a lot more flexible in my back after that summer and returned to swimming/training as much as I wanted. I am now swimming a lot faster than prior to back surgery. I won't say it never hurt again because it did, I had to learn to differentiate between pain I needed to push through and pain where I needed to stop. I think you have to push through some pain because if you stopped every time it hurt you won't progress. But only you will be able to make that decision for yourself. Swimming was/is the best thing for me personally, physically and mentally. The sooner I got back in the pool, even if I had to walk around like a water aerobics lady, the better.
