Recovery from Microdiscectomy

[slingshot]

I am two days post-op for a large herniated disc at L4 - L5 and planning to follow my doctor's orders to a T, including wearing a brace, holding off on PT for a few weeks, etc. I know some here have returned to serious riding following similar procedures and I am interested in hearing your stories and advice. I know everyone's recovery is different but hearing success stories or even tales of caution might help me guide my own thinking. So, who here is riding/racing again following a microdisc?

[slingshot]

Ha, perhaps the heavy drugs haven't worn off yet. :) Can someone move to General Discussion?

[WFSTEKL]

How much for your L4 and L4 and will you include shipping in CONUS?

[WFSTEKL]

Good luck with your recovery!

[slingshot]

How much for your L4 and L4 and will you include shipping in CONUS?

I'll let you know when I receive the final bill from the surgeon...

[JTC33]

Curious. What symptoms did you have? How long were you symptomatic? Did you do PT and cortisone injections prior to surgery? Were you riding up until the time of surgery and did riding cause increase in symptoms, or were you symptom free while on the bike?

[slingshot]

Curious. What symptoms did you have? How long were you symptomatic? Did you do PT and cortisone injections prior to surgery? Were you riding up until the time of surgery and did riding cause increase in symptoms, or were you symptom free while on the bike?

PM sent. In short, sciatic pain down left leg and low back pain. Herniate disc confirmed by two MRIs. Did injections and PT to no avail. Here I am two days post surgery and bored as hell.

[ned]

I think our spine docs say about 6 months before riding. How's your hamstring flexibility? It's going to be very important for you to be able to sit on the bike without excessively flexing your lumbar spine. I know the PT didn't keep you out of the OR before; but I think you'd benefit from quality PT now, especially with someone who knows what it's like to sit on bike.

[steve garro]

I'm fused C4/C5 and T11/T12/L1
Lemme know if you have any questions........
- Garro.

[bellman]

Due to the nature of my herniation at l3-l4-l5 (both crushed to the right side) the only relief I got from the pain (low back and sciatica down the back of the legs and wrapping around the front to the shin in a long, angry, red, burning, tunnel of absolutely unrelenting hell that terminated in the feeling of walking into a trailer hitch except that the hitch didnt go away) was to sit hunched over at the kitchen island in a postition that looked like i was riding a bike or simply to go ride my bike.

My surgery was on a thursday and I rode 12 miles or so with my wife on that sunday 3 days after and it felt great. It was instant relief for me, the surgeon assured me that the incision was sewn in such away that bending would only snug it up and it was not in danger of ripping out.
Background on me, 5-10 185-190# of heavy, developed, muscle on muscle with 10-11% avg body fat. I simply may have had more supporting structure to guard against re-injury than most. I took it easy but was back at work framing houses in a week or so, full speed in a month, full strenth in 6 months, leveled off at 'normal' in 2 years. As time went on the inner stitching didn't agree with my body and it spit it out by working it's way out the new scar and i pulled it out and trimmed it off as it showed up.
As far as racing goes, I found myself 4-5 weeks later off the front of a 70 mile gravel roubaix type race when i took a wrong turn and got lost and last. Sure it was a cat 5 race but I had dropped my breakaway companion and kept going when misfortune struck.

It really depends on how well you know and listen to yourself. You know your limits, you've been hurt before and come back. before the surgery you knew what it took to make your back spasm and how to avoid it. You will know now what makes you tired or twingy and when to stop. Take it slow but pay attention to what your body says. Make sure you are concious of sudden movements like jumping up from the table and turning away fast as you head to the kitchen to clear plates or grab the milk, those are the instances that do the damage when you've let your guard down, not the workouts where you are really paying attention.

jake

[slingshot]

Thanks for those words of wisdom. I am one week out and wondering when I can start low intensity trainer work. I will know more in a week...

[steve garro]

Thanks for those words of wisdom. I am one week out and wondering when I can start low intensity trainer work. I will know more in a week...

Let that stuff really, really cement itself back together.
True terror is thinking that you have re-jacked up your spinal work - squirmy, barfy feeling.
Listen to your doc & have him x-ray you & give you the A-OK.
Heal well, man!
- Garro.

[JTC33]

Based on what you have been through and what you have experienced and what you know now, would you still have cortisone injections (how many did you have) and go straight to the surgery? Do you think your spinal surgeon would have done the procedure if you told him or her that you wanted to do that instead of injections?

Hope your recovery is going smoothly and pain free.

[bcm119]

I had a microdiscectomy at L5/S1 in 2009. I would recommend doing all the PT you can, and most importantly, keep moving around. I had some scar tissue develop, which caused nerve adhesions in the area of surgery, which still bother me. I think that risk can be minimized by moving as much as you can. Get on the trainer as soon as your doc thinks its ok; riding a stationary bike is one of the recommended exercises for post op recovery. Walk a lot too. I worked part time at home for about 6 weeks and walked all over town every day, which seemed to help. My doc thinks I was "too cautious" in my recovery and that contributed to nerve adhesions, so keep that in mind. It's a fine line between being too gentle and overdoing it. No matter how aggressively you want to recover, get in the habit of being conscious of your back when doing routine little things around the house that involve bending and twisting, and do them in a steady and controlled way, not quick and jerky.

[slingshot]

Based on what you have been through and what you have experienced and what you know now, would you still have cortisone injections (how many did you have) and go straight to the surgery? Do you think your spinal surgeon would have done the procedure if you told him or her that you wanted to do that instead of injections?

Hope your recovery is going smoothly and pain free.

I think injections are worth a shot (pun intended) but it all depends on your particular circumstances and the advice your doctor gives. I had two injections prior to committing to surgery and neither worked. That said, some people get relief from them and they are part of the standard conservative treatment protocol.

In my case, I was a "candidate" for surgery for some time before I tried injections and so I do think the doctor would have done surgery without first trying cortisone. I am glad I went through with surgery because doctor said the herniation was larger than it appeared on the MRI and was skeptical that it would have resolved satisfactorily on its own.