Hi,

Considering doing a fusion or disc replacement at l5-S1 after 2 years of failed rehab. Has anyone gone back to the water after low back fusion or disc replacement surgery ?

Thx

Sorry to hear. I had the microdisectomy which luckily lasted 8 years of kiting and wing foiling. Now it's time to fuse or replace the disc for me.

i generally feel kiting is easier on the low back than winging.

Rleshem said..
Hi,

Considering doing a fusion or disc replacement at l5-S1 after 2 years of failed rehab. Has anyone gone back to the water after low back fusion or disc replacement surgery ?

Thx

Man 10 years ago when I was 30 I had some gnarly L5S1 action with a doc ready to go and do the surgery but I had friend tell me not to. I was MISERABLE for like 6 months. I had just come off from a Cancer scare the year before and I remember thinking Id rather have the cancer and be dead in a year than that back pain. Listened to my buddy the doc telling me not to cut, did PT, I took it "easy" for probably 6 months, cut some activities(racing sailboats, running) modified others(seat harness and foiling saved kiting), focused on core strength and how to listen to my body - thsts why sailing had to go when your on the water with 6 other people you can't just be like "Ok, back is telling me to slow down I'm gonna go now just drop me at the dock".

weekly "incidents" turned into monthly, then once a year or so, now 10 years later it's all a total non issue I'm 100% don't even think about it. Those discs - when they end up somepace they're not supposed to be, they kind of dessicate and shrink because the blood flow isn't right. When they dissect cadavers like 90% of men have ****ed up discs, it's just most of them aren't symptomatic. For me some lifestyle changes gave me some small improvement and just Time gave me the rest till I got to the point u could see it getting better.

if you talked to someone who cuts all day of course they want to cut. Talk to someone who doesn't want to cut also - I'm not saying thsts 100% the right decision but let Another doc argue the other side.

Is you weight under control and fitness high? Tracking calories and dropping extra lbs isn't gonna hurt it. Core strength is #1

My partner works in medicine and said you'll see scans of old tradies and have no idea how they're still walking. It's to the point where you don't really want to discuss it with them, as being aware of the issue may make it worse

larsdegroot said..

maxpwr said..
My partner works in medicine and said you'll see scans of old tradies and have no idea how they're still walking. It's to the point where you don't really want to discuss it with them, as being aware of the issue may make it worse

Exactly this. New Science show, that in most cases those disc problems are not causing back pain. If you put 100 people of age 30+ in an MRI scan, you will see this. Those are just the grey hairs of the spine. The way you respond when the pain shows itself is the cause. Fear and attention fuel pain. Scary thoughts like ; what is going on or, what if i cant surf anymore. Start looking here : unlearnyourpain.com/ . People are recovering from back pain everyday. Including myself (neck pain)

First thing you have to do is, stop all physical treatment for the pain, as you are reinforcing the brain that there is a problem.

This take is.aggressive. I don't think it's all psychological.I do think lots of things that are a product of TIME are easily attributed to bull****. Herbs, magical thinking, positivity, magical exercises.it's easy to say the last thing you did worked but the real mover in the equation for lots of things related to your body is just time.

Thanks all for the advice. I have been dealing with the disc for many years. Kiting since 2010 and had a good run. 2016 had a herniation (bending down to pack a suitcase ) had microdisectomy as calf muscle was not activating. Great recovery and kited winged mountain biked till 2024. I then reaggrevated it winging and biking and have not been able to recover enough to go back to the water tried PT, foundation training and mind body stuff, chiropractic.all helps but not enough.

MRI finding correlate with pain so I am now going for surgery.