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Lower Back Injury...

I'm sorry to hear of your back issue.
Just please be careful.
I have a bulging disc in L4-L5 and physical therapy saved me from surgery in 2002. One day I will need surgery but every year the procedure becomes less invasive.
 
Several years ago, I herniated a disk in my lower back. My back never hurt me, but the pain in my legs made life extremely difficult because the disk was hitting the sciatic nerve. My primary care physician had me get cordisone (sp) shots and referred me to physical therapy. Each did provide some temporary relief, but only temporary. Eventually, the wife made an appointment for me with a neuro-surgeon that she knew at the trauma unit where she works. I ended up having a rather minor surgical procedure and (knock on wood) have not had a problem since. While I could straighten up almost immediately and the pain significantly diminished, it did take some time for the nerve to heal and for the pain to totally go away. The important point I like to make is that the surgeon told me that if I had continued with the therapy and manipulation, it could have resulted in permanent nerve damage. I was starting to get what was called "drop foot" and I was not that far away from a chronic problem. Be careful my friend, don't fool around with a back problem. (Note: I was only prohibited from playing after the surgery for 6 months).
 
I am another who has suffered with lower back pain following a slipped disc just over 3 years ago, which was followed by a relapse about 9 months later when I sneezed as I was leaning over to grab something

Every day I am stretching to try and strengthen the muscles in my lower back and limit the chance of it happening again, but I think my badminton playing days are seriously close to being over now unfortunately

Don't ignore the pain or warning signs as you could do yourself more harm than good (speaking from experience here)

Hope you recover soon
 
Been there, hope you feel better soon. As others have said, slow is the way to go.
 
Sorry about your back. Bad disks and golf are a painful combination. About a year and a half ago I herniated four disks, mostly lower back. That coupled with stenosis made doing much of anything excruciating. Physical therapy, many injections, daily exercises and a swing change has enabled me to be golf again but I'm not as long or consistent as I was. Don't push it or healing will be impossible. Strengthening, stretching, and time will hopefully get you better.
Co-incidentally, I was hitting balls yesterday and typical early season swing, wasn't turning my hips enough, and re-injured my back. I'm totally hunched over and in drastically more pain than usual. This less flexible old guy with a bad back needs some hip turn.
 
Sorry to hear you re-injured your back bmong.

Like you and most everyone says: let it heal. The game will still be there.

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks without hitting a golf ball for me. I could probably physically do it now, but, I can feel it's still healing, so I have to stay away.

Next week I'll start putting though. I don't want to bend over at the waist right now and put any more stress on it...so I'll give it a few more days.

Thanks for all of the advice and concern everyone; it is very much appreciated!
 
Giving it time to heal is much harder than you would think. At first you really can't move but as you begin to heal, it's quite easy to push too much and re-injure yourself. I found myself trying to begin swinging a club yesterday. I'm obviously a slow learner. Be sure you are really ready before you begin doing too much.
 
Slow and steady. Don't rush it just ease back into the swing a little at a time
 
Golfin Rev said:
I've started going to a chiropractor this last month, and let me tell you, it's helped out a ton! Check on out!
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This! I have Spondyloslisthesis due to breaking my back in a motorcycle accident. While I still have flair ups, this is what keeps me in the game and able to get out of bed each day...
 
cornerjunkie said:
This! I have Spondyloslisthesis due to breaking my back in a motorcycle accident. While I still have flair ups, this is what keeps me in the game and able to get out of bed each day...
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Wow, golfing with a spondy would be tough.
 
bmongi1 said:
Giving it time to heal is much harder than you would think. At first you really can't move but as you begin to heal, it's quite easy to push too much and re-injure yourself. I found myself trying to begin swinging a club yesterday. I'm obviously a slow learner. Be sure you are really ready before you begin doing too much.
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You got that right.
Im not going to do it, but this am as I was still laying in bed, I told myself I can go to the range and start taking some swings. I came to my senses though.

I think I'm going to give my clubs to my wife and tell her to hide them on me, and not give them back for 2 more weeks.
Actually, better not: they'll probably end up gone for good.
 
I was feeling a bit better and couldn't stop myself from hitting balls yesterday. I almost couldn't get out of the car when I got home. The older I get...the dumber I get.

Thanks,
Brian
 
You have to put your clubs away Brian.
You are going to miss out on a lot of golf if you don't take some time away.

Maybe your injection(s) are wearing off???
 
I think I'm going to make an appoint tomorrow for another injection. They aren't pleasant but I feel like superman for a few weeks after.
 
Feel your pain, my back is a wreck. Most of it stems to getting hit by a car when I was a kid and landing hard on a curb right at my lower back. Last week my wife I went for a body scan we do every other year and I asked them to look harder at my back and on my spleen and spine there were large calcium deposits which were related to trauma suffered in the area. Anyhow, the back is good one day, bad the next, I've just learned to deal with it and except there isn't much I can do about it provided in appropriately stretched myself out. Good luck to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My biggest piece of advice is let it rest and go see a doctor.

I had extreme lower back pain and just kept downing pain medicine, going to chiropractor, massages and kept playing. It bothered me for about 2 years or so. I remember it vividly... New Years Day 2014, hole 1 2 at my home course. I had just made a par on #1... step up to the tee box and take a rip with the driver and I lost ALL feeling in my legs and everything. My playing partners had to carry me back to the car because I could not walk or anything. Went to the emergency room and I had "cut/severed" nerves in my lower back, including my sciatic nerve. Needless to say... not being able to control when you had to use the bathroom for half of a day was zero fun.

My best advice is go to the doctor and make sure it is just a small herniated disc and do not try and battle through pain.
 
Just getting back to playing again after a couple of years hiatus due to lower back injury.

What finally helped me was --- Yoga !!! I finally listened to my girlfriend and attended a few Yoga basic relaxation and stretching. At first, I did not really notice improvement. Lucky for me, my girlfriend bought me a 10 classes card otherwise I would have walked away, yes she is very sweet.

Then after the fifth session.....magic happened. I woke up the following morning --- No Pain !!!

So I started to go to the drivng range for light swinging of the clubs. Great...great.

Then after I finished up the card, I stopped going to my Yoga classes. Soon enough, my back pains came back.

So one day, I went to purchase a years membership for both my girlfriend and myself.

Stretch, stretch & yes... Yoga !!
 
bmongi1 said:
Sorry about your back. Bad disks and golf are a painful combination. About a year and a half ago I herniated four disks, mostly lower back. That coupled with stenosis made doing much of anything excruciating. Physical therapy, many injections, daily exercises and a swing change has enabled me to be golf again but I'm not as long or consistent as I was. Don't push it or healing will be impossible. Strengthening, stretching, and time will hopefully get you better.
Co-incidentally, I was hitting balls yesterday and typical early season swing, wasn't turning my hips enough, and re-injured my back. I'm totally hunched over and in drastically more pain than usual. This less flexible old guy with a bad back needs some hip turn.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen your swing, but try rolling your left foot through impact. It may not be too little hip turn, but you may be braking your swing the wrong way.

You can see this left foot rolling motion in swing videos. If your left foot remains planted though impact, the force of the turn will go to your spine.
 
That is certainly a factor. A little hip turn and more roll to my outside left heel really helps. Hitting off mats at the range is also a recipe for pain. A grass divot is much less stressful than a mat over concrete.

Thanks,
Brian
 
theoverswinger said:
Hope it gets better sooner than later.

Find a swing that your body likes and doesn't injure itself.

Take the time away from the golf swing to lose some weight and strengthen your core muscles. What the muscles can't absorb goes to the joints and bones.

You can always practice putting while waiting to get better.

Good luck!
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Getting stronger will definitely help. In general, there isn't much that getting stronger won't help.
 
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