Startig over from Herniated Disk

[DrichMX]

Hi all,

I've fully recovered from a herniated disk between C6 and C7 (upper neck). I did not have the surgery. I was fortunate enough that the disk went back in place after a few months. So now here I am fully recovered but have no clue where to start again. I have my diet down pact. I haven't been at the gym in over a year because I wanted to make sure I was fully recovered. I don't even remember my routine. Can anyone recommend a training program that would get me started. I am not looking to lose weight, more like changing body definition. I'm currently 6'3 and weighing 205 lbs.

Thanks all,
Dan

[gregl515]

I'm recovering from slipped C7 affecting C8 nerve so I'd be interested in this as well!

[anniehall]

I'm just a new personal trainer so i hope i get back up from the more experienced ones here.
If you haven't been to the gym for a year, I'd say start out slow. I wouldn't jump to the weights just yet. Instead start with body resistance exercises focusing on the core muscles to get some balanced strength in your back and abs. I've never tried Pilates but they focus on core body strength. You might want to check out an intro class.
Walking would be a good start to getting some cardio and it's not too straining on the back.
Hope that helps!

[Jean-Paul]

Bill will most certainly have better advice, but I have a couple of things to mention. First, I don't think it was an actual herniation if it is now back in place as you say. Perhaps a bulge? A herniated disc in that location would more than likely require surgery because ruptures don't just heal.

That doesn't mean that you aren't suffering though. I have pretty chronic pain in my neck that shoots down my right arm, causing me to feel like my shoulder, elbow, forearm and wrist are all injured. As it turns out, at least according to my last MRI, I have no herniation in that area (I do in my mid thoracic area, but they can't really correct that surgically), so that means that my problem is more than likely muscular. The only effective treatment I have found for it is active release therapy. It must be inflamed right on that nerve root because the pain is immense. Thankfully I can manage it, but when it knocks me out, I'll be out for weeks/months at a time.

What city are you in? Perhaps we can locate an ART practitioner near you. Good luck finding some relief from the pain. I know its a bitch.

From here I leave it to the real expert on injuries...

[DrichMX]

Hi again,

Annie: I did check out the Pilates class but I'm not sure if it's for me or not .

JP: The disk definately wasn't ruptured. The official doctor's diagnosis from my MRI was "a Medium to Large Herniated disk between C6 and C7." I did have a meeting with a sugeon and I was scheduled for surgery but decided against it as the recovery time was months. A couple of months later the pain was too severe I thought I'd take a chace on surgery (pain was so bad I was up to 10 percocets a day) I called the surgeon to reschedule but a couple of weeks before the surgery I got up from bed an slipped on clothes that were on the floor an landed wierd on the floor and felt a sharp pain in my neck and have been pain free since. I was sore for a few days but there is no pain at all. Now getting off the freakin' medication is a whole other story. But you're right, you've never experienced pain until you've had back pain. .

Thanks again all. Can't wait to hit the gym though [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Jean-Paul]

How weird and fortunate. Just goes to show that those butchers are all too eager to get their scalpels in us!

What is interesting is that when I am in all that pain, all it feels like that I need is just what you said... A sharp pop to release it. Glad to hear that you are recovering from that experience.

If you had an actual herniation, the recovery isn't as long as you think. All they do is fuse the vertebrae together, and they don't even have to cut any muscle to get to it. They go in from the front of your neck so all they have to do is move stuff out of the way and they can get clear access to your spine. If that is what you wind up doing eventually, take the doner bone and DON'T let them take bone from your hip. That is usually why those surgeries take so long to recover from. The neck incision is superficial.

[DrichMX]

Hi again JP,

You're right the actual initial recovery isn't that long. He said I'd only be off work for about 2 weeks but after that he told me to lay off the gym and sports for at least 6 months after the procedure. The surgery happens exactly the way you described it. He was more than generous with all the details of the procedure . He said the only side effect would be about 15% of the people who have the surgery this way there is a chance their voice would change in a Clint Eastwood type voice. The only other thing I had a hard time with is the nerve was pinched badly so it took a while to get the feeling bad in my arm and fingers. It's all back now though.

Dan

[russ]

Bill will most certainly have better advice, but I have a couple of things to mention. First, I don't think it was an actual herniation if it is now back in place as you say. Perhaps a bulge? A herniated disc in that location would more than likely require surgery because ruptures don't just heal.

While the disc itself doesn't heal (discs aren't well vascularized), the herniated material can retract over time and the inflammation surrounding the nerve will abate. From what I've read, it's the inflammation around the nerve rather than the actual compression of the nerve which results in symptoms. About 80-90% of cervical disc herniations can be effectively managed without surgery. The remainder are stubborn.

Just goes to show that those butchers are all too eager to get their scalpels in us!

I might agree with you if I were in certain parts of the US, but the poster is from the province of New Brunswick. In most parts of Canada, access to operating time is sufficiently limited that I would argue that many surgeons in Canada aren't aggressive enough, i.e., they only operate on the worst cases.

If you had an actual herniation, the recovery isn't as long as you think. All they do is fuse the vertebrae together, and they don't even have to cut any muscle to get to it. They go in from the front of your neck so all they have to do is move stuff out of the way and they can get clear access to your spine. If that is what you wind up doing eventually, take the doner bone and DON'T let them take bone from your hip. That is usually why those surgeries take so long to recover from. The neck incision is superficial.

There are newer techniques which don't require fusion, actually. Some people , unfortunately, have sufficiently bad degenerative disc disease that anything short of fusion won't help very much.

[gregl515]

My buge has fully recovered except some numbness in the last two fingers in my left hand and some weakness there. My neurosurgeon said that recovery from surgery would take about the same time as it was taking foer recovery naturally. I couldn't lift for 3 -4 months but I have been cleared. I started to work to try to lose fat, but my hand would tire to soon. I ask Lou and he gave me some tips re: workouts for core and doing as much as hand would let me do with dbs and bar. So far it seems to be working.

[Bill Hartman]

DrichMX,

Do you have an deficits in neck or shoulder range of motion?

Have you had PT? Did they indicate anything from a postural perspective that you may need work on?

The basic premise is start slow and easy which is no big secret.

Limit loads, speed, impulse, etc. and remain pain-free during and after exercise (not to be confused with normal muscle soreness).

Of primary importance will be maintenance of neutral cervical postures during loading. Avoid things like hard retraction that often occurs during exercises like bench pressing and any neck activities that involve repetitive flexion. You may want to avoid exercises that provide "artificial stabilization" or direct loading to the head/neck (i.e., back squats).

There really aren't any magical exercises to start off with. Basic pulls, pushes, lunges, etc. just make sure you have adequate range of motion to avoid compensations that may alter posture or overload the shoulder and neck.

Bill