Torn QL in september followed by a full herniation of L5S1 and partial in the L2-L3. Its been five months and I’ve recovered very quickly. Almost back to 100% but still avoiding any sort of deadlifting and also avoiding heavy squats.
This is a temporary thing but I dont think I will ever go heavy on the deads again. There are plenty of alternatives. I recommend lots of stretching of the hips and hamstrings and plenty of core stability work like bird-dogs and planks to help strengthen the surrondng area.
I had/have a bulging L4-5 and herniated L3-4. I’ve been in pain since 2008 but this last year was the worst. Every 3 months I’d have a spasm that would put me on my ass for 2 weeks. I couldn’t recover from the last one on Feb 10th. They got me into surgery ASAP and removed the L3-4 disc. I went the physical therapy/chiro route in the past and it didn’t help for shit.
A simple solution to doing leg presses with a bad back is to do them 1 leg at a time. You’ll be humbled by the amount of weight you can do and you’lll feel almost no stress on your lower back. Regular leg presses kill my back regardless of the stance or technique.
[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
I had/have a bulging L4-5 and herniated L3-4. I’ve been in pain since 2008 but this last year was the worst. Every 3 months I’d have a spasm that would put me on my ass for 2 weeks. I couldn’t recover from the last one on Feb 10th. They got me into surgery ASAP and removed the L3-4 disc. I went the physical therapy/chiro route in the past and it didn’t help for shit.
A simple solution to doing leg presses with a bad back is to do them 1 leg at a time. You’ll be humbled by the amount of weight you can do and you’lll feel almost no stress on your lower back. Regular leg presses kill my back regardless of the stance or technique.[/quote]
Holy shit, a lot of stuff in this thread. Sorry guys, but i’m glad there are so many of us fucked up by this…one thing i’ve found with clients is EVERYONE hurts SOMEWHERE…Most people deny the shit out of it…but fuck me do people ever hurt. I definitely must admit I haven’t squatted/DL’d or done a significantly loaded leg press in a year.
I’m lucky that my legs always grew fast, but I must admit switching to a lot of unilateral work and LOTS of TV plane stuff has been awesome. I’m shocked at how much lateral movements have challenged me.
L3-L4, L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc herniation with protrusion of nerve root at L4-L5, had ESI (epidural steroid injections) at all three levels. They wanted to do a 3 level fusion and make me 2 inches shorter. Now I just have to keep the weight down and keep core strong. I still DL, but one small mistake and I am in serious fucking pain with radiation and numbness to left leg.
[quote]Derek542 wrote:
L3-L4, L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc herniation with protrusion of nerve root at L4-L5, had ESI (epidural steroid injections) at all three levels. They wanted to do a 3 level fusion and make me 2 inches shorter. Now I just have to keep the weight down and keep core strong. I still DL, but one small mistake and I am in serious fucking pain with radiation and numbness to left leg. [/quote]
[quote]X-Factor wrote:
I’m not posting this to complain about my back injury, or to seek advice on how to deal with it. I’m just curious who else has gone through one, what it was, and how it effected their “athletic” career after that.
Personally I had a bulge between L4-L5 with no focal protrusion. Biggest issue i’ve dealt with is little tweaks which scare the shit out of me and last a few days, but the most annoying is the feeling of eternal fragility.
It actually happened on a push day, I irritated doing deadlifts, then went to train out of town 2 weeks later, looking for the 110s for incline press, but they’re on the floor. After looking around for someone to lift one to my lap…I pull a dumbass move, squat between them, (which is fucking low). Get up half way I felt like I got shot on the back. Proceeded to lay down which was the worst move ever. Then drove 1.5hrs home. I couldn’t sit for literally 10 days. It was standing or lying down…that was 1.5 years ago and it still blows…
Found good chemical relief via lyrica though when its really bugging me…[/quote]
Lyrica will make you fat as hell, watch out! I watched my friend put on 30 lbs of blubber in a month…
Fuck that, go with opiates. They work better anyway.
[quote]X-Factor wrote:
I’m not posting this to complain about my back injury, or to seek advice on how to deal with it. I’m just curious who else has gone through one, what it was, and how it effected their “athletic” career after that.
Personally I had a bulge between L4-L5 with no focal protrusion. Biggest issue i’ve dealt with is little tweaks which scare the shit out of me and last a few days, but the most annoying is the feeling of eternal fragility.
It actually happened on a push day, I irritated doing deadlifts, then went to train out of town 2 weeks later, looking for the 110s for incline press, but they’re on the floor. After looking around for someone to lift one to my lap…I pull a dumbass move, squat between them, (which is fucking low). Get up half way I felt like I got shot on the back. Proceeded to lay down which was the worst move ever. Then drove 1.5hrs home. I couldn’t sit for literally 10 days. It was standing or lying down…that was 1.5 years ago and it still blows…
Found good chemical relief via lyrica though when its really bugging me…[/quote]
Lyrica will make you fat as hell, watch out! I watched my friend put on 30 lbs of blubber in a month…
Fuck that, go with opiates. They work better anyway.[/quote]
[quote]X-Factor wrote:
I’m not posting this to complain about my back injury, or to seek advice on how to deal with it. I’m just curious who else has gone through one, what it was, and how it effected their “athletic” career after that.
Personally I had a bulge between L4-L5 with no focal protrusion. Biggest issue i’ve dealt with is little tweaks which scare the shit out of me and last a few days, but the most annoying is the feeling of eternal fragility.
It actually happened on a push day, I irritated doing deadlifts, then went to train out of town 2 weeks later, looking for the 110s for incline press, but they’re on the floor. After looking around for someone to lift one to my lap…I pull a dumbass move, squat between them, (which is fucking low). Get up half way I felt like I got shot on the back. Proceeded to lay down which was the worst move ever. Then drove 1.5hrs home. I couldn’t sit for literally 10 days. It was standing or lying down…that was 1.5 years ago and it still blows…
Found good chemical relief via lyrica though when its really bugging me…[/quote]
Lyrica will make you fat as hell, watch out! I watched my friend put on 30 lbs of blubber in a month…
Fuck that, go with opiates. They work better anyway.[/quote]
Some jobs you can not do on opiates Pat[/quote]
Sure you can… Hell, I think I do better.
[quote]X-Factor wrote:
I’m not posting this to complain about my back injury, or to seek advice on how to deal with it. I’m just curious who else has gone through one, what it was, and how it effected their “athletic” career after that.
Personally I had a bulge between L4-L5 with no focal protrusion. Biggest issue i’ve dealt with is little tweaks which scare the shit out of me and last a few days, but the most annoying is the feeling of eternal fragility.
It actually happened on a push day, I irritated doing deadlifts, then went to train out of town 2 weeks later, looking for the 110s for incline press, but they’re on the floor. After looking around for someone to lift one to my lap…I pull a dumbass move, squat between them, (which is fucking low). Get up half way I felt like I got shot on the back. Proceeded to lay down which was the worst move ever. Then drove 1.5hrs home. I couldn’t sit for literally 10 days. It was standing or lying down…that was 1.5 years ago and it still blows…
Found good chemical relief via lyrica though when its really bugging me…[/quote]
Lyrica will make you fat as hell, watch out! I watched my friend put on 30 lbs of blubber in a month…
Fuck that, go with opiates. They work better anyway.[/quote]
Some jobs you can not do on opiates Pat[/quote]
Sure you can… Hell, I think I do better.
[/quote]
Lol I actually do that for a living now, I screen people to make sure they are not on these meds.
I had the full meal deal. My issue was genetically born, lifting may have exacerbated it, but it was not the cause. I did not have an acute injury, over the years I just started having more and more pain in the lower lumbar area. When I finally got it fully checked, I two herniated discs and stenoses caused by bone spurs in the nerve canal.
I did everything, injections, physical therapy, saw a trillion dr’s, and got a trillion different advice’s. It kept getting worse, it was chronic, and I was getting to be able to to less and less, not just lifting but in life. I had to plan activities based on how long I needed to recover from it. I couldn’t DL at all anymore, I couldn’t squat really anymore. I had to do single leg squats to keep the load off of my spine.
The consensus was that I was going to have a to have a fusion no matter what at some point. But the stenoses was the main culprit of the pain. The idea was to have one surgery, not multiples.
So I got L4-S1. That part is fine, but he butchered my lumbar musculature and it’s not healing. It’s still swollen like an egg 9 months after the fact, which is unusual. So while all the other issues are gone, I have a new chronic pain making my life miserable.
I think he cut through it with a chain saw or something. Or he left his watch in there… In any event I am betting I am going to have to get scar tissue removed to get this swelling to go down… I am not happy about it. I should be lifting full bore by now. I can do dips and chins, and pussy cardio…
It’s really hard to drag yourself to the gym when that’s all you can do. I tried to push it, but it’s a little much. It’s one of those maybe I can, but I shouldn’t. So until I can get it fully resolved I am on light duty…
Lol I actually do that for a living now, I screen people to make sure they are not on these meds. [/quote]
Legally or illegally? I.E. are you screening for illicit use, or anything at all. I mean, if you have a legit script, you’d just tell you. No need to test for it.
You got to do what you got to do…
[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
Good luck with shitting if you take opiates for very long…
Hello impacted bowels!
And you thought that “Uncle” made you uncomfortable…[/quote]
Lol I actually do that for a living now, I screen people to make sure they are not on these meds. [/quote]
Legally or illegally? I.E. are you screening for illicit use, or anything at all. I mean, if you have a legit script, you’d just tell you. No need to test for it.
You got to do what you got to do… [/quote]
I screen for both, sorry but some jobs and job sites prohibit the uses of narcotics. You can not operate a crane and be on insulin or narcotics period. If you lie on your pre-employment physical and then have a + drug screen then you are terminated. Again we are talking about jobs that have safety sensitive issues.
