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jcruver · 07-28-2007, 08:20 AM

A brief history - (I am a 40yr male - 5'11 170lbs - in very good shape - was working out 3-5 days a week for many years)

I have had lower back issues on and off for awhile. Last year about this same time I injured it and went to general doctor. He had me take advil and rest. The issue lessened and I proceeded to workout once again (I was lifting heavy..mostly compound moves..NROL..ect).

This year a few months ago I aggrevated it again (deadlifting). I went back to the same doctor and he prescribed a steriod (prednisone (sp?)) to reduce swelling and loritab for pain. After a week the pain lessened and he had me off the steriod. A few days later the pain was very VERY intense and went down my entire left leg as well. I could not move and was in the worst pain of my life. I went to the ER and had a catscan and was immediately referred to a neurosurgeon. He had me in for a MRI that day and gave me the news that I had a severely herniated disc that required surgery. (I also had circulated my catscan results to a number of doctor friends of mine who all said the same based on what they saw).

The nuerosurgeon showed me the type of surgery he would use which was a newer (relatively) kind that uses the METRX tool (http://www.sofamordanek.com/patient-minimal-metrx.html if you are interested) and he goes in through a small incision (he expained it as like scoping a knee). The surgery was very successful and he saved 80% of the disc and told me everything else was very healthy. (side note - this surgery was amazing - I went under the knife at 730am and walked out of the hospital at 130pm that day with only pain from the surgery..my back/leg pain was totally gone).

The surgery was 2 weeks ago yesterday. I feel virtually no pain and am very happy with the results.

While I know I need plenty of time to heal properly and will follow the surgeons orders for the upcoming weeks I was hoping I could get some feedback from members here who may have had similar surgeries on what to expect when I am healed.

I would also like to know the opinions from the experts (based on the limited info I have here) on the types of excercising I might be doing to properly rehab and the types of things I may want to avoid. The doctor has already told me there is only a 10% (or so) chance of this reoccuring but did say I probably will want to avoid things such as deadlifting and squatting (my 2 favorites).

Thanks in advance for your opinions or experiences.

07-28-2007, 08:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
jcruver Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 16 My Profile	rehab after lower back surgery A brief history - (I am a 40yr male - 5'11 170lbs - in very good shape - was working out 3-5 days a week for many years) I have had lower back issues on and off for awhile. Last year about this same time I injured it and went to general doctor. He had me take advil and rest. The issue lessened and I proceeded to workout once again (I was lifting heavy..mostly compound moves..NROL..ect). This year a few months ago I aggrevated it again (deadlifting). I went back to the same doctor and he prescribed a steriod (prednisone (sp?)) to reduce swelling and loritab for pain. After a week the pain lessened and he had me off the steriod. A few days later the pain was very VERY intense and went down my entire left leg as well. I could not move and was in the worst pain of my life. I went to the ER and had a catscan and was immediately referred to a neurosurgeon. He had me in for a MRI that day and gave me the news that I had a severely herniated disc that required surgery. (I also had circulated my catscan results to a number of doctor friends of mine who all said the same based on what they saw). The nuerosurgeon showed me the type of surgery he would use which was a newer (relatively) kind that uses the METRX tool (http://www.sofamordanek.com/patient-minimal-metrx.html if you are interested) and he goes in through a small incision (he expained it as like scoping a knee). The surgery was very successful and he saved 80% of the disc and told me everything else was very healthy. (side note - this surgery was amazing - I went under the knife at 730am and walked out of the hospital at 130pm that day with only pain from the surgery..my back/leg pain was totally gone). The surgery was 2 weeks ago yesterday. I feel virtually no pain and am very happy with the results. While I know I need plenty of time to heal properly and will follow the surgeons orders for the upcoming weeks I was hoping I could get some feedback from members here who may have had similar surgeries on what to expect when I am healed. I would also like to know the opinions from the experts (based on the limited info I have here) on the types of excercising I might be doing to properly rehab and the types of things I may want to avoid. The doctor has already told me there is only a 10% (or so) chance of this reoccuring but did say I probably will want to avoid things such as deadlifting and squatting (my 2 favorites). Thanks in advance for your opinions or experiences.