Tried skipping a pain pill. Bad idea. Back on schedule.
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Tried skipping a pain pill. Bad idea. Back on schedule.
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I had two discectomys. The first one the nerve came right back after the surgery. The second one took 3 months.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4matic
Thanks. Setback today. Went for a walk and move around the house. Feels like spasms. Ouch.. Laying still now.
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A couple rough days after the numbing agent wore off. Mild fever with severe nerve pain. Spoke with the surgeon who said normal. That’s all I needed to a hear. Today is four days post op and still need to stay ahead of the pain and try to avoid muscle spasms. I may have forgotten about pain for a minute or two. The road is just a bit longer and tougher than I thought it would be.
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Stay strong and allow your body to heal. Better days ahead!
Thanks. Right now is not much worse than pre-op so I’m almost on house money.
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Ha--whatever they get from Panera will last about 5 minutes. OR people will eat anything--someone's leftover cold soggy fries, 5 day old donuts, anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4matic
One of my hernia operations something they gave me made me talk uncontrollably. I knew I was making no sense but I couldn't make myself stop. Finally they got sick of me and gave me something that shut me up.
There were patients I could joke with and patients I couldn't--I think I was a pretty good judge of which was which, at least I hope I was. I certainly enjoyed seeing and operating on the former.
Went for a short walk today. I’m weak and tired but did not have the creeping numbness in my leg.
I also need to stop taking the Norco. It’s been one week on it. Last night I started having hearing hallucinations and half asleep strange dreams that were too real. It’s cool though. I can stop cold as long as pain is reasonable.
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Longer walk yesterday and lot of sitting. My leg pain is 90% gone. I have low back weakness but the nerve pain is mostly gone. Only a week out of surgery. I did take a couple norco this morning because the low back muscles were pretty tired and sore and wanted to avoid spasms. My legs had a nice warm feeling this morning and especially my numb leg which is still weak but the tingling and numbness is clearly better. So far so good. Typically after a walk my left calf would be a painful knotted mess. Today not sore at all.
I was on a shit ton of oxycodone after my recent crash and I started dreading falling asleep because I would wake up in a panic. I was glad when I was able to start cutting back. Being able to shit is nice too.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4matic
Keep after it 4matic. I’m with OG...being able to shit is nice!
Thanks Moose, I'm on my third box of Dulcolax in ten days. It definitely helps and let that be a warning to anybody that needs to use Oxy and the like. Plan ahead! Still a struggle if you don't watch what you eat. Mostly off the Norco but yesterday was a full day on so I could rest and sleep. It worked. Feel good today. I did wake up in a panic once though..lol. A cocktail of a Norco and a couple Aleve seems to work best. For today it's just Aleve. Still having trouble getting my left leg to work right but it's way early to worry about a separate neuropathy and the lower leg pain is gone.
https://4.imimg.com/data4/UG/CA/MY-4...ar-500x500.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by 4matic
Nothing notable on my first follow up. PA recommends take it easy a couple more weeks so no serious rehab. Stationary bike, walking, careful with even lite weights. No twisting mostly due to the wound not completely healed and can still tear open.
Take it easy for sure. Let that wound heal, you do not want an infection. Congrats on the promotion to lite weights. Celebrate the victories. Happy healing!
Good luck with your recovery. I know you are an avid golfer and that has to really suck. I have had recurring episodes of back pain for years and have heard too many nightmare stories about back surgery to go to the doctor. Had to limit golf, and almost quit basketball. I lost 30 pounds and have been doing a lot of yoga but I have to very careful about my posture and chairs and car seats or the pain comes back like a freight train. Weirdly zero rise shoes have helped a lot by keeping my calves loser which has helped with tight hammies
Thanks. Golf is a luxury I miss but I had largely stopped playing to stay functional for other things...like walking and ski which I could still do. Had I been able to stay functional I probably would have just quit golf. For me it was leg pain. “Sciatica”. Back pain was not a major problem. The nerves got so bad I just couldn’t walk. Being in athletics for so long I know pain and I knew two years ago that no therapy was going to fix it. The final straw was I couldn’t feel my foot in the boot. Ski and Snowboard just wasn’t fun anymore. So lucky to find a doc that believed me and willing to fix it and insurance for easily approving. Go to a Neurosurgeon for back pain!
I renewed my Ikon Pass today and I’m going to start putting tomorrow. If I get second chance I’ll be forever grateful and will surely find a way to pay it forward
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Second the prunes. My colorectal surgeon partner considered them the best treatment for constipation. Bulk + laxative.Quote:
Originally Posted by skaredshtles
Senna is good if the dulcolax alone isn't enough.
They had me on dulcolax, plus senna, plus miralax, and other stuff too disgusting to mention in a family forum and it still took 5 days for a decent shit.
https://media.giphy.com/media/PElXDwE4dF4sw/giphy.gifQuote:
Originally Posted by old goat
Today, I had probably the best (3 mile) walk in 3+ years. Still some weakness in my calf but mostly on flat surfaces. Virtually no back pain. Yesterday I went to the gym and did an almost a complete weight circuit for upper and lower, arms and legs. It really helped!! It seems to have stabilized some of the weak muscles from surgery. I have to be very careful with amount of weight and range but I'm really optimistic.
Bigger. Plugged the sewer, had to dig it out and replace it, first day home from the hospital. (OK, it was mainly roots in a broken cast iron line but the giant shit didn't help any.)Quote:
Originally Posted by skaredshtles
One month post surgery. Left Lower leg still numb but no real pain. I think this is called Radiculopathy. The nerves aren’t talking to the muscle so they just don’t work. It can get better or not..
I’m getting gym strength back with the exception being leg press or squat. I can only do 30 pounds assisted squat comfortably. Low back structural strength is still very weak. I more fatigue and I’m back to near full strength on upper body workout. The wound still hurts and has to be padded and taped.
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Congrats on fewer restrictions and getting back to strength training! Hopefully with time those nerves will start firing again. Keep after it...slowly!
Slow, steady...
Keep moving that leg in the squat movements (no weight of course)...those nerves will get the idea eventually
I’m doing a lot of walking. The lower leg is getting better (sometimes). It just feels so weak. I know that I need to keep trying to walk and exercise those muscles to train, prevent fibrosis and further atrophy. I was able to roll my bad foot in a normal walking gate yesterday. It was tough but I maintained balance.
For a few years I’ve been having recurring problems with tingling and twitching on my whole left side. Face included. The symptoms are similar to onset of MS. Lucky me too old for MS. I suspect my whole nervous system has been affected. Of course I was hooked on Ambien at the worst point.
Also, my reading said that nerves regenerate down their path at about an inch a month. So it could take a while but I remain optimistic.
One way massage down the nerve also helps relieve the muscle spasms from the nerve not firing correctly to the muscle. It’s crazy sometimes when I squeeze my calf the whole lower leg is quivering.
Back is good. No pain on extension. Leg pain is 80%+ better. It even leaves my mind occasionally. Can’t remember the last time that was.
Thanks!
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The nerve regeneration thing is mainly about severed nerves and from a practical standpoint applies to nerves farther out from the core--injuries closer to the core don't well, the regenerating nerves just have too far to go. In the case of compressed nerves--you're situationthe nerves beyond the compression are mostly intact, it's mainly the compressed segment that has to heal. Months at best, a year or even longer at worst for whatever recovery there's going to be.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4matic
30 minute spin went well. Can’t remember the last time I had good sweat. Maybe a year... After 20 minutes some aerobic balance came back and it was a good crank for ten minutes. Weight routine went well to. Added 10 pound inverted leg curl and 30 pound leg press. That’s about all the weight I can do comfortably that focuses lower back.
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Lower leg started having pins and needles, mild spasms, and a weird vibration feeling. Hoping that’s a good sign for nerve function returning.
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Five week follow up:
Clear for weight training with no spine compression or twisting
Clear for swimming
Clear for cycling
My numb lower leg "should" get better and 5 weeks is "nothing" in the healing of nerve compression. Continue with strength. He said it's a weird combination of strength and nerve recovery so stay after it.
Don't even think about golf swing for 4 months bu chip and putt ok.
Next follow up in 8 weeks.
It's great you're so motivated. Great to see. I cringe when I hear you want to get back to weightlifting so quick though. The only weight training I did or would do would be heavily biased to focusing on stabilizers muscles. Retraining the brain to intuitively fire those muscles. Lots of repetition. When I did weights it was warm curls or military press or bench press but with low weight and consciously firing the core before each rep. I did military or curls first with the exercise ball between the wall and my back then eventually was sitting on the ball, then lifting one leg or the other off the ground alternatively. The focus was fire the core, lots of reps and low weight. Core and reps being the most important. Not what you want to hear but I wouldn't think about building to heavy lifts for 2 years. At that point your tendons will have shrunk to normal and you'll have gained a ton of stability from that and your program. Daily safe stretching is crucial. Emphasis on safe. Pre workout stretch is great for preventing muscle pulls and reinjuring and resulting spasms. Apres stretch is great for muscle regrowth. People that train tend to focus on the apres stretch but because of injury I focus on the pre exercise stretch(8/10 I still do both)
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Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I don't do shoulder press anymore. Too much strain. I've been doing weights since week three post-op and was in pretty good strength shape before the surgery (my problem was nerve compression). I was careful to experiment around and see which exercises could handle stress and which couldn't. Can: pull downs, rows, bench, curls, leg extension and very light leg curl. All these were approved by doc yesterday with common sense caution. Can't: Squat, leg press, dead lift, cleans, twisting obliques, dumbell pullovers. Full Yoga is out for at least three more months. I suppose heavy weight is subjective but for the most part on upper body I work at about 75% to 100% of body weight depending on the exercise
I will use swimming and cycling for full body strength and small muscle work as well as more stretching based on your excellent recommendations. I do have to be careful stretching because many stretches are just that and involve some twisting and stress on the core. Just simple stretches like knees to chest and back bridges require caution at this point.
I agree with you that working the big muscles will create an imbalance but ironically it's easier to work those than fine tuning as you probably know. My routine is circuit training. Warm up>3-4 sets of reps to failure starting with 15-20 reps down to 8-12. It's fairly HIT and I'm sweating and taking very little rest. After that I fiddle around with some fine tuning and then stretch and done. About an hour total. Swimming and cycling is adjunct.
You know your body the best. I just hear nerve pinch and generally that’s an injury that starts around the spine. An injury to the stabilizers resulting from a compression or herniation . That causes the mis alignment that pinches a nerve. The stabilizers once injured to a point where you pinch a nerve will stop firing the stabilizer muscles intuitively. Every weight bearing exercise , whether weight lifting in a gym or daily life movements, require the stabilizers to flex intuitively first before you consciously use your major muscle groups to do the actual lifting. After an injury the current from the brain that is supposed to fire the stabilizers intuitively aren’t firing because of the impingement . As a result of the stabilizer muscles not firing for a prolonged period the stabilizers will suffer from atrophy leaving you susceptible to further injury. You’ll be susceptible to further injury until you build those stabilizers back up and have the fire intuitively , with exercises directly focused to first and foremost focus on those stabilizers. I’m not saying weight bearing exercises are bad but more that I would gauge how much weight bearing exercises are done by the level of core stabilizer strength I have. The injury is there and will remain to some degree. It’s important to reinforce the stabilizers around that area. Let that be the barometer for how much weight you lift or major muscle groups you use.
The muscles surrounding that area are the hamstrings, quads, glutes, hip flexors, stomach and lower back muscles. I stretch them all. How much I stretch them depends on the day. I have a routine where I’m perfectly aligned and I’m not pulling with my upper body so I don’t aggravate the injury. Hams I keep the hips level and elevate one leg on my bike seat(use something lower to start or if I’m sore like a padded foot stool), quads again I use my bike/seat by bending my knee and putting the top of my foot on the seat and letting my body weight stretch the quad rather than pulling my foot with my arm/upper body, hip flexor is hard to keep the hips level so I support my body with both arms on a chair on either side and then one leg back and knee bend squat with the other. I don’t worry about getting super low or giving it a major stretch just loosen it up a touch. This one is more important to keep the hips level. Glutes are leg crossovers with my knees to my chest while I’m on my back. I have to pull with my arms across my body to stretch the glutes so I’m cautious to outdo to much and laying on your back will give you more control of it. Cats and dogs for stomach and back and I usually do 3 sets holding for 25 seconds of those and 2 sets of all the others. I find it’s more important that I do them then how deep I do the stretch, especially initially. After 20+ years I can gauge how much I should or shouldn’t push it.
When I was weightlifting it was only to build the stabilizers and the weight would probably be minuscule to what you would categorize as weightlifting. 10/15/20lb dumbells. The priority was the stabilizers, so I only moved up as it became apparent that the stabilizers were long past the point of stabilizing. The goal was as many repetitions as possible to retrain the brain to fire the stabilizers intuitively. Huge major muscles groups and minimal stabilizers only increase the likelihood of reinjury and those injuries are cumulative in their acuteness
Stabilizer exercises should focus on the trans abdominal muscles. The muscle that attaches the lower stomach to your lower back. If you lay on your back , put your finger on your hip bone on either side of your stomach, then move each finger 1” in and 2” down, that is your trans abs. Basically the same muscles you see in the weightlifting rappers Thant need to pull their pants up. 9/10 exercises usually focus on those. I’ve been to a shit ton of physios and only one should me “la piece de resistance “ of exercises. It keys on each individual muscle that connects one vertabraeto the next. There is a muscle on each side of the spine that is the size of one section of your finger. At every vertebrae it has one on either side and they stabilize the vertebrae. The only physio and exercise that Ive ever learned to key on these has made an immeasurable quality of life and stability. To do it, all you do is lay face down on a mat with legs shoulder width and arms stretched above your head shoulder width. Lift one leg and the opposite arm one inch off the mat and hold for 25 seconds, then the other leg and arm. That’s one set. Start with 3 sets of 5, or maybe 2 sets. I have found no other exercise to use they stabilizers. Again, it’s repetition but this one is a great add on to a bunch of trans ab exercises
Sorry for any repetition in there. I probably bounced back and forth
/\Good stuff! I was doing some of those exercises pre-surgery but they weren't helping. It was frustrating. Good idea to go back to those now as they will probably work. It's hard to do those stretching exercises when they aren't working.
My back feels great! Supple might be too strong a word but it's been numb for many years even before the pain started. Still some minor shooting pain in the right leg that was not there pre-surgery. Lower leg numbness is not getting worse and maybe, slowly, getting better.
Mental disposition is so much better even though my movement and activity is still quite limited.
Well good luck. Stay safe and itll improve. Definitely a slow process developing the right routine to safely build. 2 years was the milestone. Ski touring after 3-4 months of physio was great. Walking is what we're designed for so that loosens everything up and balancing on the skin track finding traction is a continual stabilizer muscle workout. Also ez meadow skipping down through pow is ez on the body. No sudden dynamic moves or pounding on hardpack like the ski hill. Pounding from hiking downhill is bad bit skiing down through soft snow is more than good. It's always the sudden dynamic move that risks reinjuring the herniation. Posture is crucial
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Definitely. I haven't been able to navigate ski chatter for years and don't plan on starting. Just go slow.
We better not see you posting in the carpal tunnel thread. ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by grinch
Haa dont get me started. Literally! I held off because no one ever listens but alas I got started
#wordsalad
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I started back on the stretching/strength stuff today per grinch. Down dog, cobra, up dog, the hand leg extended thing, planks. Also did my weights. Finished up with mile swim. Swim felt great. I've been out of the water for months and surprised how strong I felt. It was tough before because I could not be in prone position with back extension required for normal swimming. Need to be careful with the flip turns for a while...
Nice! Please dont over do it. We'll both feel like shit lol
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