Disc protrusion

[Abraham Vandiver]

Disc protrusion L4-L5, Major disc protrusion L5-S1 with Nerve root contact.

Age: 23

No previous back problems.


I'm assuming this came about from squatting. I can recall an incident where I SLAMMED into the bottom of the hole and I couldn't walk properly for 3-5 days. That plus a slow degeneration has resulted in what it is now.

My symptoms are essentiallynonexistent unless I attempt to bend at hips while maintaining locked knees. Something that would look like this http://www.rayandterry.com/images/stretch-ham.jpg

Psiformis stretch will tend to aggravate it as well.

Sitting for any prolonged period of time will mimic the symptoms of a sciatica (Shooting pain while standing).


My question to you Rip: Ever dealt with this sort of thing personally or with your trainees? What were the results?


I'm being referred to a Spinal specialist. The options are what you'd expect: NSAID's, Cortisone short, or Surgery.



With the amount of symptoms I'm having right now, I'm inclined to choose none of the options. My main concern is long term damage. I REALLY REALLY don't want to stop squatting or deadlifting.

[Cambero]

My thread was also moved. Thing is when dealing with our pain and diagnosis, I think we tend to forget how to use the search tool in the forum. In my case I was using the wrong keywords, a little panicked and in a rush to get to the bottom of this.

Anywyas, here is my thread, hope that helps: http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=25811

Also, a good chiropractor/therapist will make you feel better, but more importantly time/patience will heal you.

Lastly, I lasted a while working out as part of my rehab, avoiding the cortisone shot, but I sit at work 7 hours a day and it was driving me crazy. I gave in and got it...lifting with no pain now, slowly and cautiously restarting linear progression against the wishes of the chiropractor and pain management doctor, and the stronger my back gets the more mobility I gain and less kinks I feel. Avoid the cortisone if you can, my work outs were progressing fine without it.

I feel 99% and I am very thankful that I found the advise here to guide me into continued lifting.

[Abraham Vandiver]

My thread was also moved. Thing is when dealing with our pain and diagnosis, I think we tend to forget how to use the search tool in the forum. In my case I was using the wrong keywords, a little panicked and in a rush to get to the bottom of this.

Anywyas, here is my thread, hope that helps: http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=25811

Also, a good chiropractor/therapist will make you feel better, but more importantly time/patience will heal you.

Lastly, I lasted a while working out as part of my rehab, avoiding the cortisone shot, but I sit at work 7 hours a day and it was driving me crazy. I gave in and got it...lifting with no pain now, slowly and cautiously restarting linear progression against the wishes of the chiropractor and pain management doctor, and the stronger my back gets the more mobility I gain and less kinks I feel. Avoid the cortisone if you can, my work outs were progressing fine without it.

I feel 99% and I am very thankful that I found the advise here to guide me into continued lifting.


Thanks for the thread. Really, I'm asymptomatic and the disc injury is an old one. But I appreciate the thread nonetheless :).

[Clay84]

If it ever gets really bad, I hear that this stuff is on the cutting edge:

http://www.spinalkinetics.com/international/

Disc REPLACEMENTS

[shaddix]

Wow if this can happen from squatting I am inclined to stop training altogether......

[Roy]

I've dealt with herniated disc at l5-s1, with sciatica. It's not the end of the world, so don't get overly excited and in a fit about your injury, but you'll have to make some changes in the short term to get past it quickly. Surgery is your last option, so get that out of your mind. You want to treat it with conservative measures and give it the time it takes to heal before thinking about more invasive stuff.

Basically, if you rest, walk, refrain from running, lifting, etc...for at least a month and better to be two maybe three, along with NSAIDS at levels which will be prescribed by your doctor, you have an excellent chance for this to heal up and be able to resume lifting sports and whatever else with little problem, so long as you ease back into things at the end of your healing process.

Backs suck and take a long time to heal, so be smart about your recovery and don't screw it up by getting antsy and jumping back into things before your sciatica is gone. That will only make it take longer to heal and can turn what might be a three month healing into 6 or a year, or forever if you're really stubborn.

Go for the easiest, least invasive fix first...rest and NSAIDS at levels from your doctor. If that doesn't work after a couple of months, only then think about something more invasive like the shot in my opinion.

Google Robin McKenzie and pick up a copy of his book 'Treat your own back'. Its about 15 bucks I think and will serve you better than 200 in copays. Good luck with it, and just remember to keep your common sense around...

[Cambero]

Wow if this can happen from squatting I am inclined to stop training altogether......
Lots of people injure themselves without ever squatting or working out. Do the program correctly, which means correct form and safely and you will not be one of those injured while doing mundane acts, a la tieing your shoe laces.

[Abraham Vandiver]

Here's my question. This injury probably occurred a 6-7 months ago. The symptoms have declined without any rest. I've been deadlifting and squatting for about 4-5 months now.. HOWEVER, I would like to be sciatica free.

Should I

A) Lay off for 1/2/3 months with NSAID therapy + ____ in order to rid myself of it?

B) Continue the program as I have been.

C) ?

[Roy]

Here's my question. This injury probably occurred a 6-7 months ago. The symptoms have declined without any rest. I've been deadlifting and squatting for about 4-5 months now.. HOWEVER, I would like to be sciatica free.

Should I

A) Lay off for 1/2/3 months with NSAID therapy + ____ in order to rid myself of it?

B) Continue the program as I have been.

C) ?

After my initial injury my initial "jesus my back is broke in half" symptoms subsided after just a couple weeks and I worked back into my routine of judo/weights/running. But sciatica persisted, and after about 6 months I was mentally drained from it. Then I took a break for 3 months or so and it was all gone. Then back to lifting and everything else, no problems since.

I think when you get injured like this if you take a sufficient break early, you can skip the months of pain 'trying to work through it'. Maybe if you keep up with the program it will eventually go away, but its very likely to go away if you just take a break. If it doesn't, well that's life and you at least gave it a shot before resigning to live with pain forever or move on to more invasive measures. And you can always go back to lifting, 3 months won't kill you.

My problem was, and probably yours too, was not resting enough initially have the repair be as good as it can get. Again, good luck with it.

[Abraham Vandiver]

Thanks for the post, Roy. At the moment, I've resetted the weights significantly, and I'm progressing with the program. As long as I keep my posture in balance, life seems to be ok. If the conditions worsens, however, I definitely will stop all together and just give it a break.

[TravisRussellDC]

The natural history of a disc herniation is to be pain free in 8-9 months doing nothing. Here's the caveat, a disc herniation (protrusion, extrusion, or sequestration) cannot occur without misalignment of the vertebrae. The structural design of the joints lend themselves to be able to handle a great deal of stress when axially loaded, this includes compression of the disc which they were meant to handle. When the vertebrae are not aligned correctly, that is when an axial load will apply asymmetrical force into a disc and cause bulging or rupture.

The moral of the story is this: even when symptoms subside, if you don't fix the biomechanics of the spine, position and aberrant motion, other problems will come up in the future. Increased rates of degeneration and osteoarthritis, facet joint injury, recurrent disc problems, etc...

Fix the problem and the symptoms will go away for good as well as prevent future issues. Only cover up the symptoms and other problems will occur down the road.