Pool Player.......Health Question

T

tom mcgonagle

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Has anyone out there had back surgery on their discs. In particular 13-14 discs.

I have a facebook friend-pool player- that's facing the surgery and wants to know what to expect.

Please help if you can.
 
tom mcgonagle said:
Has anyone out there had back surgery on their discs. In particular 13-14 discs.

I have a facebook friend-pool player- that's facing the surgery and wants to know what to expect.

Please help if you can.
Click to expand...

There are many types of disc surgery, from microdiscectomy to spinal fusion. Every case is different, and there is tremendous individual variation in surgical outcome. Your friend should seek the advise of their physical therapist and surgeon as they progress through rehab after the procedure.
 
Tom
Sorry to hear that but there are so many different types of back surgery these days it's best for your friend to talk with his medical staff. I have generally found that these days if you ask the question "what results can I expect from this surgery, best and worst results" they will give you an honest answer.
 
I agree with the other posters, each and every situation is different, and only the doc's looking at the specific case can give you a reasonable answer.

That having been said, I had surgery to correct a herniated disc in my neck several years ago, C4 I believe. (Maybe C5, can't remember.) They didn't fuse it in my case, as they often do, which I believe has worked out better for me given the descriptions I've heard from others. They did, however, find several bone spurs that didn't appear on the MRI's, which compliated the surgery and recovery a bit. Still, my guys did a great job, and I was back at work within 4 weeks (too early, but I forced the issue due to leave of absense issues with work at the time) and back doing pretty much anything I wanted within 6 months or so.

It has acted up on me a bit over the years, but it is usually related to some other issue, mainly stress. I consider it a "complete" recovery, though I expect I will be able to "feel" it occasionally the rest of my days.

Best of luck for your friend.
 
I have had back surgery and from everyone i have talked to once you have been operated on, your never the same. Mine was done about 12 years ago and i have had pain almost ever since .
I also used one of he bes surgeons in the world.
That's just the way it is.:frown:
 
Dead Crab said:
There are many types of disc surgery, from microdiscectomy to spinal fusion. Every case is different, and there is tremendous individual variation in surgical outcome. Your friend should seek the advise of their physical therapist and surgeon as they progress through rehab after the procedure.
Click to expand...

I agree. As a retired Ortho nurse I've had 100's of patients after surgery and the rehab was right next to are unit. Depends on a lot of things. Overweight, smoker, very tall, poor shape, how involved the surgery is, and how good the doctor that does it is. You can't get lazy on the rehab. Back surgery today is a piece of cake compared to 20 years ago. Again, the skill of the doctor is a very big part of how it will turn out. Johnnyt
 
i had a spinal fusion at L5S1 13 years ago, they did the surgery that used donor bone from my hip area. after rehab i was playing league softball 5 months from the date of surgery. the reason i quit softball and took up golf was sore knees and ankles. i have been playing pool seriously for about a year and a half with no problems other than what i cause by not exercising and stretching that they told me would be a lifetime thing. when i follow instructions i feel fine. BTW, i am 51 and the only real concession i have made is that i can no longer lift heavy objects like i used to, which probably caused the back problems to begin with.

give up tobacco, watch your weight, do the exercises and the problems will be kept to a minimum. JMHO

Mike
 
I've had 2

My first surgery wast at L4-L5 and I had also damaged L3-L4 and L5-S1 (both were bulging). To be honest, after the first surgery I gave up pool completely for a few years - not just because of the surgery, more because I was a banger and I never took lessons. Then I played again, at about age 35, I had the second surgery at L5-S1 and was off pool again for only a couple of weeks.

You can certainly recover from back surgery well enough to return to playing pool. The biggest thing you must worry about after the surgery is not to lift anything heavy and to protect your spine.

It's also VERY important to do the required physical therapy and home exercises as prescribed. Daily exercising will help strength the muscles and stretch them out. These exercises are not time consuming and do not require equipment.

My surgeries were due to broken discs and were simply to remove the broken pieces that were leaning against the spinal cord. This is the most common.

If your friend has to have something more severe (fusing, for example) - it might be more difficult.
 
Pool Player Health Question

I have herniated discs in the lower back and a sports medicine doctor I went to told me about trying a saddle block like women giving birth get , if it works and no more pain they just go in and burn the same nerves for permanent relief? Anyone ever heard of that ?

I saw too many people 15 20 years ago have back surgery and wish they had not. I will have to do some research to change my mind on that.
 
In my opinion, back problems mainly come from dehydration and muscle weakness. Your vertebrae only receive fluid when movement pumps it into the disks. Anyone considering surgery (I'm not saying it might not be necessary for some) should first eliminate all causes of dehydration - caffeine, sugar, alcohol, painkillers - and drink at least a gallon of water a day, get plenty of salt and potassium and do back and neck exercises for at least an hour a day while avoiding stillness in a standing or sitting position like the plague. In other words, try the rehab first, before the surgery. It can produce amazing results with consistent effort.

http://watercure.com/

Chronic dehydration is a major cause of many, if not most, degenerative diseases, since water is the major nutrient and supplier of energy in your body.
 
JamesJ said:
My first surgery wast at L4-L5 and I had also damaged L3-L4 and L5-S1 (both were bulging). To be honest, after the first surgery I gave up pool completely for a few years - not just because of the surgery, more because I was a banger and I never took lessons. Then I played again, at about age 35, I had the second surgery at L5-S1 and was off pool again for only a couple of weeks.

You can certainly recover from back surgery well enough to return to playing pool. The biggest thing you must worry about after the surgery is not to lift anything heavy and to protect your spine.

It's also VERY important to do the required physical therapy and home exercises as prescribed. Daily exercising will help strength the muscles and stretch them out. These exercises are not time consuming and do not require equipment.

My surgeries were due to broken discs and were simply to remove the broken pieces that were leaning against the spinal cord. This is the most common.

If your friend has to have something more severe (fusing, for example) - it might be more difficult.
Click to expand...

i have l3 l4 bulge l4l l5 bulge and my spine is bvraking down due to ms and have fluid around my right kidney
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top