back injury advice wanted

[mmak701]

i herniated a lumbar disc rowing earlier this year
i have done physical therapy which helped relieve the pain of everyday activities
however, erging and rowing are still impossible without pain
anyone experience a similar experience?
advice on where to go from here?

[dustin]

Sorry to hear this - I haven't had anything this drastic but I do deal with recurrent sacroiliitis which is annoying. For some reason though, rowing helps make this better. Quite frankly, I think you simply need a tincture of time. Continue therapy and don't even think about rowing. A last resort should be a visit to a spine surgeon.

[Cayenne]

Hello MMack,

Best wishes on the journey to full function w/ minimal pain.

I offer the following not as advice but as ideas for you to consider.

FWIW: I'm 54 y.o. and I've had my share of back trauma and pain. (Some MVAs and athletic injuries, along with "simple" strains, etc.) Years ago, x-rays showed spondylolisthesis -sp?-, and although I've never had an MRI, (they were not utilized when I badly injured my back at age 20 and mylograms-sp?- were considered a high risk diagnostic tool that I passed on,) I wouldn't be surprised if the results of one were less than optimal

I like Bruce Lee's philosophy: “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”

In that spirit, and using a huge dose of common sense, you may find value in:

The works of Dr. John Sarno on back pain and on mind-body;
The works of Dr. Stuar McGill on low back pain;
Foundation Training;

(I have also found that "experimentation and exploration" of various approaches to breathing, eg; "Breathworks for your back" [Nancy Swayze -sp?-] and "Breathplay" [Ian Jackson] to be of tremendous benefit, not only in training to enhance my low back but for stress relief which cannot be discounted in the overall picture from a holistic POV.)

At 20 y.o., for about 1/2 a year, I was disabled due to back pain. I have had shorter and less intense but still painful and certainly inconvenient episodes since. But, with mainly a focus on the principles that Dr. McGill advocates, I do some combination of the following, daily:

Erg, swing a kettlebell, walk with poles wearing a weight vest or pumping HeavyHands, hit a tire with a sledgehammer or "Shovelglove" or swim laps. My back feels great most of the time and I am very grateful to be able to do the various movements described.

More specifically, I have found (as my understanding of McGill and Foundation Training reinforces,) that hinging at the hips and maintaining a neutral spine, rather than (for the most part,) flexing the spine, and "educating" the nerves and muscles that support that "dynamic posture" (see McGill's "super stiffness" ideas,) have been both rehab + prehab.

I used to get shooting pain from low back along a leg when I so much as stepped off a curb. Now, I can do the movements I mentioned for hundreds (or more) reps for extended periods of time. With super attention to form, I can do more intense low volume work. (eg, heavy-for me- deadlifts.)

As I said at the top, "Best wishes on the journey to full function w/ minimal pain". For me, it truly is a daily journey. In many ways the pain led me to practices (the ones mentioned and others,) that I see as gifts, that I might never have found otherwise. I hope your experience is a similar one.

Eddie

[Carl Watts]

Having rolled a car and injured my lower back, the rowing has helped the recovery rather than made it worse, however if I try and paddle a Kayak them I'm in agony within minutes.

The back is a strange beast and I would just say that if it hurts then give up that particular exercise, your body is sending you a message....don't do it.

[heroesfitness]

i herniated a lumbar disc rowing earlier this year
i have done physical therapy which helped relieve the pain of everyday activities
however, erging and rowing are still impossible without pain
anyone experience a similar experience?
advice on where to go from here?

I would not row until you feel like your back has fully recovered, a herniation is quite serious and you do not want it to be aggrivated, get more therapy and find a decent personal trainer