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I started having pain in my low back arojnd Memorial day and gradually got worse. I went to the doctor and she ordered an MRI. My worst fear came true, 2 herniated discs L5 & L4. I am hoping to get a epidural in the next week or so. I am also going try IDD therapy which is a decompression of the spine. I am trying to avoid surgery as long as possible. If everything goes well I may be able to get back on the wakeboard around labor day.
Very sorry to hear this. Hope you have a speedy recovery. If you end up needing surgery, do a lot of research and ask a lot of medical professionals their opinion. Also get a second opinion. All Back/Spine Surgions are not created equal and its too important to get wrong.
I totally agree with Salyers. I know few guys who had to get surgery to fix their disc issues. Research research research before you agree to go under knife. My cousin had a back surgery yesterday and I still got to check with him, how did it go.Quote:
Originally Posted by Salyers
Good Luck man.
Samsung S4...
sounds like you need to take on a little wake surfing rehab and take the summer off from wakeboarding
Thank you for the well wishes. I have already been doing a lot of research about surgery if needed. I am short of lucky in the fact that the surgeon I would have is the best in the region. I am still trying to avoid surgery at all cost. I will try everything before I oppt for surgery. I have already been looking at adding about 1500 lbs to the boat to wakesurf, if I have to give up my wakeboard. Just really disappointed because I was only able to wakeboard behind the OBV twice this year.
Same issue that I have identically. Three years ago I spent three days in bed and two ambulance rides. I get a tweek every now and then but I have been doing core strengthing and restrict my movements and very little pain. It took the three years to get to that point. I travel with ibuprofen (800mg) and valium just in case. Get a good PT and one that does sciatic messages as that is where my pain travels as I don't get it directly at the lumbar anymore.
Get ownership of a good TENS unit through your insurance. It didn't help me with the back as it masks the pain with muscle throbbing but it does help with other parts of the body.
My water ski season may never start as I've had orthoscopic surgury on the knee and it is taking longer to heal than I want. Being 56, I have to do many work arounds and my game is off but I still play.
If you walk in to see your back doctor, more than likely they would not recommend an operation. I wish you the best Gabby and PM me if you need any more info.
Been there done that all minus the surgery. Lots of rehab, core strenghtening ,massage and chiropractic care and as mentioned a TENS machine and lots of Advil got me back to Almost normal. I waterski harder than i did when i was 20 yrs old etc, Just take time and care of your body and absolutely STRETCH before anything big.
I tryed the injections as well , Did nothing for me. Time ,patience and therapy are what worked for me. Surgery should be your last option, i know two others that went that route and both regret it now.
Good luck and keep us in the loop,surely we can offer some sound advice.
My season may not be totally over. I had my 1st epidural since January 2011, when I originally herniated my disc. I am feeling pretty well Dr told me to go ahead and wakeboard this weekend. I am going to see how I feel, may or may not. I will however not be able to wakeboard for at least 3 weeks because of the IDD therapy (spinal decompression) I will start on Tuesday. If things go well they say I wil wakeboarding in 4-5 weeks. That will give me fews weeks of the season to wakeboard. :)
I'm very surprised he's telling you to wand board. An. epidural is just pain management. You will make the injury worse even if it doesnt hurt.in the short run. No different than taking a bunch of oxy feeling no pain and deciding to.board just the results of it takes longer to come to the surface
I was surprised to, but the MRI results showed improvement on one of the disc and no change on the other since 2010. I herniated both disc in October 2010 and was wakeboarding the summer of 2011 & 2012. I still would go out and jump a little now and again but would not try anything crazy. I feel a lot better after the epidural the other day and may try to ride the kneeboard for little and if I have pain I will stop. I start IDD therapy (disc decompression) on Tuesday and won't be able do anything for about 3 weeks. After 3 weeks I will be able to go back to some normal activities.
Update... We'll I couldn't avoid surgery any longer. The pain became so bad in my leg and nothing helped anymore. After spinal decompression I had full relief for about 2weeks after the treatment ended. Looking back on it I think it was a waste of money, but at least I can say I tried it and didn't work for me. I also had 3 steroid injections from June to October and last one I got in October I knew I was in trouble. I had more pain after the 3rd injection then before I walked in. I decided it was time to have it surgically corrected. I did my homework and got 3 different opinions. I talked to a lot people and got a lot of recommendation for the Dr that finally preformed the surgery on November 22nd. I am just 8 days post op and I feel pretty good. Doctor told my wife and me(I don't remember even seeing him after surgery) that surgery was successful and that the herniation was very large. Still have a several weeks of recovery and PT but, 90% of my leg pain is gone. Could take year till the nerve heels and all the pain is gone. I think i am going to be very nervous to go out on the wakeboard this summer and just take the summer off to strengthen the core and get ready for the following year. I do however think I am going to be setting the boat up for surfing this year... I may have questions on that later.