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Herniated disc recovery time...?

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BristolMike

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Hi all,

ive recently been diagnosed with a herniated disc after a month or so of playing golf in severe back pain/sciatica (shot my best ever score in that time though) and have been told to avoid all golf related activity until it's healed.

Have any any of you had the same thing and how long did it take to get back to playing again? I'm quite young (32) but golf is the only sport I can play due to a serious knee injury. Being away from the game is driving me mad
 
What did they prescribe you for treatment? PT/NSAIDs? Or are you having surgery? My wife had a pretty severely herniated disc in her back that PT didn't fix and she had to go under the knife. I want to say it was 4 or so months before she was swinging a club again.

My advice: under no circumstances try to rush it. I know it sucks being away from the game, but after watching someone go through a herniated disc get worse, let it heal completely and get your Dr.'s OK before you swing a club, even chips and putts, again.
 
mpeterson said:
What did they prescribe you for treatment? PT/NSAIDs? Or are you having surgery? My wife had a pretty severely herniated disc in her back that PT didn't fix and she had to go under the knife. I want to say it was 4 or so months before she was swinging a club again.

My advice: under no circumstances try to rush it. I know it sucks being away from the game, but after watching someone go through a herniated disc get worse, let it heal completely and get your Dr.'s OK before you swing a club, even chips and putts, again.
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At the moment I'm on ibuprofen, cocodemal and seeing a chiropractor. They are trying to avoid operating which I'm pleased with. So far they have said 4 weeks with restricted activity and then go back to check progress/book in for an MRI scan. The most frustrating thing is I'm booked in at sunningdale on the 25th May for my birthday, I know that won't be happening now.

I know what you mean about coming back too soon, I did that with an ankle injury when I was younger and snapped my ACL/PCL/MCL in my first match back. I will give it what ever time is needed, just hoping it's weeks rather than months.
 
I slipped a disc 4 and a half years ago and have issues with the sciatic foramen and even now I still see a sports physiotherapist every now and again to manipulate the joint and nerve when I have a flare-up to release it and ease the pressure (and subsequent pain) on the nerve

If you have been advised to refrain from all golf, I would heed that advice and if you have been given exercises / stretches to do then do them, because if you don't you will take a lot longer to heal. The biggest problem due to the injury is you could find that the muscles in your lower back are not up to the job they are supposed to do for your body, and by then putting the strains of a golf swing on them could do more harm than good

I was fortunate that my problem didn't prevent me from completely swinging a club, but due to the pain and stiffness I struggled with my swing for a while as I couldn't turn through the ball properly - although once I got the joint/nerve problems sorted I still had issues as I had more mobility in my back which threw me just as much.....

A good physiotherapist should be able to give you good advice about what you can or can't do, and help with fixing the problems - my physio is actually the physio for a local football team and plays golf as well so I consider myself lucky that he understands the mechanics a bit more than some physios might
 
TheDoctor said:
I slipped a disc 4 and a half years ago and have issues with the sciatic foramen and even now I still see a sports physiotherapist every now and again to manipulate the joint and nerve when I have a flare-up to release it and ease the pressure (and subsequent pain) on the nerve

If you have been advised to refrain from all golf, I would heed that advice and if you have been given exercises / stretches to do then do them, because if you don't you will take a lot longer to heal. The biggest problem due to the injury is you could find that the muscles in your lower back are not up to the job they are supposed to do for your body, and by then putting the strains of a golf swing on them could do more harm than good

I was fortunate that my problem didn't prevent me from completely swinging a club, but due to the pain and stiffness I struggled with my swing for a while as I couldn't turn through the ball properly - although once I got the joint/nerve problems sorted I still had issues as I had more mobility in my back which threw me just as much.....

A good physiotherapist should be able to give you good advice about what you can or can't do, and help with fixing the problems - my physio is actually the physio for a local football team and plays golf as well so I consider myself lucky that he understands the mechanics a bit more than some physios might
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That's pretty good advice. I was going through a TPI assessment recently to try and improve so had a lot of exercises from that, mainly yoga/Pilates type exercises and have been trying to keep that up even while injured. im going to keep the chiropractor going but may add a physio in too.

I made the decision to take the game a bit more seriously this year and have really upped my practice etc. It's really helped my game (shot a net 59) but seem injured a lot more. This year so far I've had a torn rotator cuff and now this. It makes me think I'm not cut out to play the game. Well it's that or I need to add a gym routine in somewhere too
 
Nett 59......where's your mask? :alien:
 
TheDoctor said:
Nett 59......where's your mask? :alien:
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Haha I couldn't believe it either. I was playing off 10 in a friendly tournament (usually play off 14) and everything went perfectly. Dropping 4 30 foot plus birdie putts did help, but that was just a freak day. with full disclosure the par of the course was a 70 rather than 72 though so not as much of a bandit :)
 
Recovery time should be whatever your doctor tells you it is. What did your doctor tell you?
 
Smallville said:
Recovery time should be whatever your doctor tells you it is. What did your doctor tell you?
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He said 4 weeks rest and then come back for a further assessment. Next step is scan then decisions made around ops.

Was just hoping for an idea as not playing is killing me
 
People are vastly different with healing from a disc injury. Weight plays a big role. But what I found out is to keep your legs, particularly the hamstrings as flexible as possible. Stretch as much as you can throughout the day. Even when you feel great keep up the stretching. It's the only thing I know that keeps me active.

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Popeye said:
People are vastly different with healing from a disc injury. Weight plays a big role. But what I found out is to keep your legs, particularly the hamstrings as flexible as possible. Stretch as much as you can throughout the day. Even when you feel great keep up the stretching. It's the only thing I know that keeps me active.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
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Great advice. Stretch the IT bands as much as possible too.

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I had lower back surgery for a herniated disc from a car accident when I was 31. It was hitting my nerve do they had to clip it out. Took two months until I felt decent. 1 year until I was "healed". Surgeon told me no weights, heavy work outs, etc... for a while. Everyone is different of course so hope you have a speedy recovery!


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BristolMike said:
Hi all,

ive recently been diagnosed with a herniated disc after a month or so of playing golf in severe back pain/sciatica (shot my best ever score in that time though) and have been told to avoid all golf related activity until it's healed.

Have any any of you had the same thing and how long did it take to get back to playing again? I'm quite young (32) but golf is the only sport I can play due to a serious knee injury. Being away from the game is driving me mad
Click to expand...

Yes, and...never haha. JK that's just me. I've had it for over a year and a half now and it won't go away (for me) without surgery most likely.
 
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