i also have a bulging disc and subluxation of a vertebrae in my neck both from a football injury
my mini-story
First off, I’m a defensive lineman. I had been playing for the first 4 weeks of the season last year with this subluxed vertebrae and didn’t even know it, I started noticing it when I would come home from practice on a daily basis and have numbness all down my left arm. 2 MRI’s and an x-ray later we found out that I had a subluxation of a vertebrae in my neck and was placing pressure on a nerve bundle leaving my spine.
In those MRI’s we also found that i had a bulging disc, which was common with all the stuff I was doing. Came back this season…didn’t miss one practice, and played every game with no pain. there was a period of time when I didn’t think I was going to play football this season, but I was convinced otherwise with it being senior year and knowing I probably wasn’t gonna play in college, so I played and had the time of my life, and don’t regret any of it. so, cheer up, things could always be worse.
major shoulder injury from overuse in tennis put me out for half a year or so. no upper body work or squatting or dl’ing. PT’s saved my shoulder though thank god.
also to add something for everyone saying PT’s suck most of the time: while it may be true there are also many very good ones who might even be better than going to chiro’s. In my experience a good pt will help you overcome the injury while a chiro really only masks the pain for a while. But this all depends on if you do your research and find a good pt who has actually put the work into it and not just gotten a shitty certification from some crap program. just my 2 cents.
After I had my back injury it took alot of time to settle down. I went to a few doctors but they were very unhelpful unfortunately(the healthcare system here in canada is bad for long-term problems). I spent alot of time doing stabilization work, like overhead squats. I tried working on the rings in a gymnastics gym doing different horizontal holds(even though i’m pretty bad it was of good benefit). Another big thing was eliminating stress in my life in the form of a foul relationship. After that, my back wasn’t bothering me from day to day, but I still would reaggravate my injury if I deadlifted.
What really did the trick for me was getting recommended to a good chiropractor. The mainstream health care system up here gives chiropractors a pretty bad reputation unfortunately, so I was very skeptical. Anyway after muscle tension scans/nerve activity scans it was pretty clear i had a nervous system imbalance, causing the left side of my lower back to take about 60% of the weight when I was lifting anything. This also caused problems with symmetry in other lifts like squats etc. From years of lifting this caused some actual muscle imbalances as well, which bothered me because I couldn’t seem to get them to go away.
After a few months at the chiropractor my lower body strength had improved alot, and I was lifting with no pain. I’ve still got some muscle symmetry problems, but they’re going away. I think the key is to continue going regularly, but decrease the frequency as you continue so you don’t spend too much money. If there weren’t any unilateral movements in life you could probably get away with not going at all, but if you carry a briefcase, a bag always in one hand, always kick a soccer ball with one foot/not the other, you’ll probably get some kind of imbalance as time goes on. Mine was probably caused by curling, the most unilateral sport ever.
I also used to get alot of pain in my right knee, and left hip. Those issues have both cleared up as well.
Needless to say, I was extremely happy that it turned out to be something that wasn’t so serious. It definitly felt serious when I’d have to lay on the couch all day from the pain!
Its good to have a thread like this lurking around, It definitely helps to know that not everything is as serious as it feels.
Of course everyone’s injuries are different. Best thing is to find someone experienced and honest enough to either know the solution or know someone who will. Good luck!
I can only say the advice people are giving you is spot on…the solution is a bunch of multiple things ART,strengthing core,stretching,learning about mobility and dont think its just going to fix itself cause its not.
I’ve had herniations and buldging discs in my lower lumbar plus the thoraic…needless to say I was pretty messed up for a bit.Honestly never stopped training though just worked around it with movements that I could do.Went to see my ART guy weekly and learned about decompression.I honestly have beat the snot out of my core with all types of resistance and core strenghting movements.You want to make this section bulletproof,all the way around.
It still bothers me from time to time and probably always will,the key is though learning to manange the pain when it arises.Also never slow down or slack on your core very underated section for athletes to train.Good luck and best wishes
I came back stronger and with better technique. Honestly blowing my L5-S1 was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Vasily Alexeev has mentioned this before, how he thinks all great lifters need at least one major injury in their career to be successful long term.
For me, it changed the way I train, the movements I can and can’t do… I didn’t back squat for almost 2 years, and to this day I probably only do it about once a month not counting DE box squats. Prior to this, I squatted pretty regularly and didn’t do nearly enough ab work. Now, ab work makes up the bulk of my lower body accessory stuff.
You’re going to learn a lot, you’re going to be frustrated a lot, but ultimately, you’ll come back stronger than you were.
Winter of 08 I had a pilonidal cyst. Surgery, two months of total inactivity, and another month or so before any serious leg training. I was healthy for a few months in summer, and tore my hamstring. Two months later, it wasn’t even close, but I had to go to football camp, so I added another month to the recovery. That brought me to the beginning of the season. Week two, tweaked it, and it was on and off for the whole season until I had my really serious injury. Week six, ruptured the flexor tendon in my right ring finger. That was the end of football and wrestling senior year. That was october. I started VERY gently lifting again in mid January. By the end of February, I was back into it.
It’s been about 3.5 months of real lifting now. When I started, squat was about 250, bench 250, and I wasn’t deadlifting just yet but I would bet it was around 250. Now I’m back to 315/305/355. My all time records are 365/305/365. So, over the past two years, I’ve actually regressed, but not as bad as it appears at first glance. I’m almost 30 pounds lighter than I was when I made my PR’s. Pound for pound, I’m actually stronger.
Does anyone have any experience with spina bifida occulta? My 15 year old son just had an x-ray that showed he has this. He’s been lifting. Deadlifts cause his back to hurt. I always assumed it was bad form and was working on his form with him. She Say has had 3 back surgeries and is suggesting he stop lifting. He’s not in love with lifting, but has been at it for almost a year.
Just found out this was an old thread, and I’ve replied to it before, and I also see that the person who started this thread healed up! GREAT! Anyway, I’ll still let the text below stand!
I was heavily injuries in the back from a squat session, and I could not lift anything heavy for 3 months, and had pain sleeping. Took me another 9 months before I could start back squatting again, and then another 3 months before the deadlifts felt okay again.
I tought I could never more in my life squat heavy.
I had no financial resources to visit specialists, nor would anyone care about my condition. Luckily time did it’s thing, and I finally healed.
I hope I NEVER will have to go down that path again, I do not want this to happen to anyone, but if it happens to you, and you become ok again, you will have a completely new appreciation of the lifting.
Far to many people are very complacement and take everything for granted.