Back Surgery Post Op

[ta2dfreak]

I'm back......on the board at least I had a ruptured disc between L4-L5. Had micro discectomy on April 24th to remove the piece of disc that was pushing on the nerve which left me with pain, weakness, and some numbness in my right leg. 6 weeks after surgery and I feel great. Doc just released me to start squats, deadlifts, shoulder press, and hyperextensions all at VERY LIGHT weight with the ability to increase weight as my body tolerates!!! I had many people discouraging me from getting the surgery but it worked out amazing for me. Not all back surgeries have the good results so I am very thankful to be on my way back to the gym. If anyone else is in this position I would definitely recommend having the surgery. The pain relief was immediate and I am left with only minor weakness in my right foot which is improving slowly (prior to the surgery I could not hold my foot off the ground and walk on my heel, i.e. drop foot).

 

[Stickler*]

Heal fast, get strong... and thrive! .. welcome back to the board.. (even though you probably have no idea who I am.. LOL .. unless you read my old shenanigans!) .. (and very good articles i might add.. )

 

[Mountain_Man]

Welcome back heal up and get strong brother

 

[studmuffin]

Hope your recovery goes fast and heals well!

 

[MUCH BIGGER]

Take it slow and welcome back. Stay on the boards and keep your mind active. believe me it helps in recovery

 

[The Survivor]

Welcome back Bro, glad to hear yr doing well and hoping for a quick full recovery

 

[Presser]

good to have ya back with us brutha!

 

[ta2dfreak]

Thanks for the support. Almost exactly 3 months post op and feeling really good. No pain, no numbness, but a little residual weakness in my right leg when compared to my left (this is probably permanent nerve damage) on iso-lateral leg curls and extensions. I feel like I run (jog, cause I don't really run) with an awkward gate but it doesn't seem to affect me in a negative way so far. Going back to work at the beginning of August and we'll see how that goes. My blood pressure went up when my doc said he'd be clearing me to go back. Guess my body got used to not being at work Been taking things really slow in the gym, but I'm very happy that I can still lift. Getting ALL my strength back may not be possible but we'll see, gonna be a LONG process cause I don't feel like re-injuring myself. Anyway, looking forward to getting back on the boards and getting back to my normal routine. Talk with you all soon. Again thanks for the support

 

[The Survivor]

Bro I had 2 level discetomy on June 9th on upper back C5 and C6. Cadaver bones with synthetic discs put in and held in by titanium plates, so I am 6 wks post-op and like you, feel great. My Dr said he saw pinched nerves too but expected full recovery cause I had atrophy in left arm.

But glad to hear yr much better. Did yr Dr know that you lift very heavy weights? Not Planet fitness type stuff? I know he said light, but most Drs are clueless as to what we lift...If you had pinched nerves like me, you suffered from what therapist called "disuse atrophy" since the nerves are not allowing the muscle fibers to contract as much thus they shrink to some degree just because they're not working

My Dr cleared me to start back and I quote "Do anything you want to do" as of Aug 24th, marking 11 wks off since day one....are these numbers similar to yrs??

 

[BEASTZ6]

Bro I had 2 level discetomy on June 9th on upper back C5 and C6. Cadaver bones with synthetic discs put in and held in by titanium plates, so I am 6 wks post-op and like you, feel great. My Dr said he saw pinched nerves too but expected full recovery cause I had atrophy in left arm.

But glad to hear yr much better. Did yr Dr know that you lift very heavy weights? Not Planet fitness type stuff? I know he said light, but most Drs are clueless as to what we lift...If you had pinched nerves like me, you suffered from what therapist called "disuse atrophy" since the nerves are not allowing the muscle fibers to contract as much thus they shrink to some degree just because they're not working

My Dr cleared me to start back and I quote "Do anything you want to do" as of Aug 24th, marking 11 wks off since day one....are these numbers similar to yrs??

Did your doc say that you will regenerate the muscle atrophy in your left arm? You will recall that I have a similar issue.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry to go off topic OP. I am so glad that your surgery seems to be a success. Welcome back to MC.

 

[The Survivor]

Did your doc say that you will regenerate the muscle atrophy in your left arm? You will recall that I have a similar issue.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry to go off topic OP. I am so glad that your surgery seems to be a success. Welcome back to MC.

Yes I uttered the words "full rocovery" and he replied yes....both him and the physical therapist said 6 months, maybe longer....yes I recall you having same, how you doing?? Hopefully on the mend.

And yes sorry off topic, hoping OP a speedy and full comeback!

 

[ta2dfreak]

Bro I had 2 level discetomy on June 9th on upper back C5 and C6. Cadaver bones with synthetic discs put in and held in by titanium plates, so I am 6 wks post-op and like you, feel great. My Dr said he saw pinched nerves too but expected full recovery cause I had atrophy in left arm.

But glad to hear yr much better. Did yr Dr know that you lift very heavy weights? Not Planet fitness type stuff? I know he said light, but most Drs are clueless as to what we lift...If you had pinched nerves like me, you suffered from what therapist called "disuse atrophy" since the nerves are not allowing the muscle fibers to contract as much thus they shrink to some degree just because they're not working

My Dr cleared me to start back and I quote "Do anything you want to do" as of Aug 24th, marking 11 wks off since day one....are these numbers similar to yrs??

I had a ruptured disc at L4-5 and had a laminectomy and microdiscectomy. Fucking hysterical what doctors consider normal for a 38 yr old male. My doc started off with "Lift no more than a gallon of milk" which I followed for about a month. After going to a couple of PT appts and nagging my doc a bit he cleared me to return to my "normal workout routine".... until I defined my normal workout routine for him. He asked, "Why would you ever lift so much weight?", and I replied, "Cause I can." You're correct in saying that docs have no clue what we're about and what we can do. I had to keep reminding him that I'm not an 80n yr old man. I'll be cleared for "whatever I want to do" at about 14 weeks post op. I won't be going for broke, gonna slowly build back up and may never hit where I used to be, but only time will tell. It's gonna be hard cause I feel fine, but I do remember how much pain I was in just a few months ago. My doc said I will deal with this for the rest of my life and it will be easier to re-injure and to be very cautious when lifting. Glad to hear your surgery went well. Amazing what they can do now compared to 10 yrs ago. Good luck in your recovery bro!!

 

[ta2dfreak]

Did your doc say that you will regenerate the muscle atrophy in your left arm? You will recall that I have a similar issue.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry to go off topic OP. I am so glad that your surgery seems to be a success. Welcome back to MC.

My doc also said that I "should" recover the strength and size lost on my right leg, but he didn't give me an estimated time.

 

[The Survivor]

I had a ruptured disc at L4-5 and had a laminectomy and microdiscectomy. Fucking hysterical what doctors consider normal for a 38 yr old male. My doc started off with "Lift no more than a gallon of milk" which I followed for about a month. After going to a couple of PT appts and nagging my doc a bit he cleared me to return to my "normal workout routine".... until I defined my normal workout routine for him. He asked, "Why would you ever lift so much weight?", and I replied, "Cause I can." You're correct in saying that docs have no clue what we're about and what we can do. I had to keep reminding him that I'm not an 80n yr old man. I'll be cleared for "whatever I want to do" at about 14 weeks post op. I won't be going for broke, gonna slowly build back up and may never hit where I used to be, but only time will tell. It's gonna be hard cause I feel fine, but I do remember how much pain I was in just a few months ago. My doc said I will deal with this for the rest of my life and it will be easier to re-injure and to be very cautious when lifting. Glad to hear your surgery went well. Amazing what they can do now compared to 10 yrs ago. Good luck in your recovery bro!!

I guess I'm kinda hearing contradictory things form yr Dr (and prob same as mine) like do whatver you want, then stating be cautious rest of yr life as this may be yr weak point.....so which is it Doc? Back to the old me or the "new" me who has to watch it? I thought once fixed and 100%, back to the way you were...

11 yrs ago I had hernia and my Dr then said resume lifting any weight I wanted to do 2 wks after surgery (which involved mesh and plug)...he was right too, slowly went back at it, and never had issues with my groin since that surgery.

Do you have H plates installed?

 

[ta2dfreak]

I did not have any hardware put in, just removed the portion of the herniated disc that was pushing on the nerve root. My personal belief is that we can't do things better than mother nature. As good as my surgeon is, and as good of a job as he did, I'm taking it that I will never be the "same as I was before". I'm taking it supper easy on the squats and deadlifts. Started each at 135 for 4 sets of 12. I'll move up no more than 5 lbs a week and see how things go as I get closer to the 225 mark and then again as I approach 315 and beyond. Who knows I may never even get that high if I feel something that is weak or unstable. If that's the case then I will go back down and just do more reps to get the pump and volume for those lifts. Be careful and take it slow. Doctors have no idea about what we do or how we do it and how their techniques and hardware will fair against such super human specimens. Best of luck. Keep posting your progress every few weeks.

 

[The Survivor]

I did not have any hardware put in, just removed the portion of the herniated disc that was pushing on the nerve root. My personal belief is that we can't do things better than mother nature. As good as my surgeon is, and as good of a job as he did, I'm taking it that I will never be the "same as I was before". I'm taking it supper easy on the squats and deadlifts. Started each at 135 for 4 sets of 12. I'll move up no more than 5 lbs a week and see how things go as I get closer to the 225 mark and then again as I approach 315 and beyond. Who knows I may never even get that high if I feel something that is weak or unstable. If that's the case then I will go back down and just do more reps to get the pump and volume for those lifts. Be careful and take it slow. Doctors have no idea about what we do or how we do it and how their techniques and hardware will fair against such super human specimens. Best of luck. Keep posting your progress every few weeks.

Best of luck to you too Bro, keep us posted and I'll do same. I'm ok doing less weight, more reps after all I'm a BB not a power lifter....even yesterday I had to move a elliptical out from wall, only a few inches to service it and my neck was just a tad sore rest of day, today its fine. So that tells me although my xray says all OK, its not 100%....I go back in a month for I think is final check up and I will ask Dr if I ever will be the same, even in a year. Sucks, this is my 7th week off, by far my longest lay off in my 34 yrs of lifting. Seems like I'm skinnier in some places and fat in other, grrrrrrr, prob my imagination

 

[LeatherHead]

Glad to see everyone is healing well!

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