Herniated Disk -- Do they ever Heal?

philodox said:
Hi everyone, as promised, here's a picture of the work done on my neck.

I had my 6 week follow up with the surgeon today. I'm looking good to go, need some light PT to strengthen my arm and neck/shoulders. I can resume light workouts (bodyweight, light weights, no Olympic movements) and slowly ramp up over the next 3-4 months. About 6 months out from the surgery date (which will put me at ~April 2014) I'll be able to resume activity 100% effort in everything.

This means I can start doing heavy lifting, Olympic movements, running, climbing, whatever. The ONLY thing he said I shouldn't go back to is BJJ/grappling due to the torque placed on my neck :( But there is a possibility of returning in 1-2 years if everything "scars over properly".

The scar is fading nicely. It's about 6" long down the back of my neck. I'm still 95% symptom free, I still get small twitchy spasms and have recently gotten a sensation of warmth in my hand -- surgeon is chalking this up to nerve regeneration. Apparently during the renervation process (which occurs at the rate of about 1 mm/day, so imagine coming from your spine all the way back down to your finger tips... takes a while) your nerves will fire off all sorts of weird signals, so what I'm experiencing is normal.

You can see the three titanium brackets holding open my lamina from C4-C6. He completely removed the lamina at C3 to preserve motion when I look up. 6 weeks out I'd say I have 90-95% range of motion from before, and am hopeful that I can get to 100% ROM with PT.

Anyway, wanted to let you guys know what was going on. I feel great, even though I am very very bummed out about not being able to train jiu jitsu for the foreseeable future. The one bright spot is I can train boxing/Muay Thai, so I may be visiting The Wat in the next few months. :D

OuSWnqj.jpg
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Congratulations on making it to the other side. Your xray looks great. I had artificial disc replacement at c5c6 a few months ago and am doing great besides some occasional tension. I'm told one year for full recovery. Take good care of your spine and keep the PT up.

For anyone considering surgery, I had a great experience with it. I was nervous of course but the results are better than I hoped for, and the recovery pain really wasn't bad. Waking up from surgery and not having that trademark pain you've grown accustom to is amazing. I'm basically back to my full routine already. I wish I did it sooner.

Good luck. :)
 
I hurt my neck 4 months ago from bad guillotine in training.i did mri which showed nothing ,expect I have forward head posture which I knew before.I also felt pain in my upper back (between spine and shoulder blades on right side),but i never did MRI for it.After 4 + months my neck is ok,but i still have weird pain in my upper back.Its not strong pain,but more like some sneaky evil feeling between spine and shoulder blades,and I even feel it in chest ,and rib cage.It doesnt hurt a lot but I still dont want to return back to training cause I feel i might injure it again.
DId anyone had symptoms similar to these?what might it be?
 
I got a new bed, memory foam, which has helped my back improve considerably. I got the one off amazon which had the really good reviews. I figure if my back isn't in a good position while I'm sleeping, there's no way I'll ever heal. I went through the same thing with my neck (and finding the right pillow).

I'm sure time passing has to do with it too, but being able to sleep and rest my back for several hours every day has really helped. My messed up mattress probably contributed to my back injury in the first place.

Good luck to everyone.
 
tk99 said:
Congratulations on making it to the other side. Your xray looks great. I had artificial disc replacement at c5c6 a few months ago and am doing great besides some occasional tension. I'm told one year for full recovery. Take good care of your spine and keep the PT up.

For anyone considering surgery, I had a great experience with it. I was nervous of course but the results are better than I hoped for, and the recovery pain really wasn't bad. Waking up from surgery and not having that trademark pain you've grown accustom to is amazing. I'm basically back to my full routine already. I wish I did it sooner.

Good luck. :)
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Thanks man, good to hear your surgery was successful. I, too, was totally blown away by the lack of pain/issues the moment you wake up from surgery.

Good luck to you too, let us know how it goes. Are you going to return to training?
 
Hey guys, I read an interesting article today which I think may help some of us: http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/low-back-pain-exercises.html

The main point which I found interesting is that it is not a lack of core strength that is an indicator for back pain (or short hamstrings, or other common suggestions), Rather, the most reliable indicator for lower back pain was lack of muscular endurance.

This suggests that stuff like planks and other isometric holds are more useful than simply strength building workouts.

Interesting, if nothing else.
 
Just reherniated a disc at c5-6 along with a minor fracture. Looks like third time is a charm and probably won't be rolling again.

Was really feeling like my Jits were finally coming together. Damn shame.
 
That sucks TSO.

For myself, I'm happy to report that my herniated c5-c6 is almost completely resolved, without needing surgery. It's been about 4 years since I injured it, and I had constant slow improvement every year. It's around 90% now. The stabbing pain in my neck is finally gone, which was the last remaining symptom.

Things that helped:

(1) cortisone steroids
(2) avoiding all situations where I might get stacked
(3) switch to very small memory foam pillow.
(4) assload of time

That's about it.

Good luck to everybody dealing with this bullshit.
 
How long after injury did u start training again ?how was it?Im scared of reinjury
 
StevenCrowder said:
They can semi-heal themselves, but as a general rule once they're herniated, they stay herniated. It's no fun, I know.

As a longtime advocate of heavy, compound lifting, I've had to change my training significantly.

I'll still do high intensity, compound lifts but nothing that involves serious compression/overload of the spine. Everything is bodyweight and heavy band resistance (up to 300 lbs).

For example: squats, are now single leg squats.
Good mornings are now Glute Ham raises.

Pull ups, dips and other lifts that involve decompression of the spine (particularly if combined with additional band resistance hanging from the hips) have been immensely helpful/therapeutic.

Do what your rehab specialists/doctors tell you, but when it comes time to get back into serious strength training, these approaches have worked wonders.
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what compound lifts do you use? Your post said bodyweight and bands after you said you do compound lifts...also what bands do you use and can you link me
 
Resurrecting this thread for all of the hurt back guys (and gals) out there...

Hopefully a bright spot for some of you, as I know it was a huge bright spot for me.

Had my 6 month follow up a couple of weeks ago with the surgeon. X-rays looked great, everything healing up nicely, my left bicep and forearm (which had atrophied significantly over the past 2 years) are slowly returning with focused workouts. The size and strength gain is noticeable.

To give you an idea, about 3 months ago I could BARELY complete 3 sets of 8 reps of bicep curls using a 15 lb dumb bell (super easy with my right arm, it was like I was using a Shake Weight). Now I can complete those sets easily and have graduated to 20 lbs for 3x8. Sounds weak, but each curl is a concentrated contraction of my left bicep, which still "shudders" due to lack of signal from the nerve, which is also improving.

He said it generally takes the same amount of time for the nerves to recover as the length of time I had the injury, which was 2 years.

Anyway, the best news was that he said I could go back to 100% activity -- in EVERYTHING. Overhead presses, Olympic movements (I had been doing basic compound movements like DL and Squat), and... JIU JITSU.

I couldn't believe it when he said it. I thought he said I would most likely never be able to do Jiu Jitsu again, but given my X-rays and nerve recovery he said I was good to go. I had to ask him 3 or 4 times just to make sure.

It's now been about 2 years since I have trained regularly due to this injury, and now I'm on the other side and so stoked. Looks like the mats of Marcelo's gym are in my future :D

I won't be stopping lifting/bodyweight conditioning since I need to make sure my entire body, especially back/neck/arms are very strong, but it was like my life had been given back to me.

No more guard attacks for me (for fear of getting stacked), but at least I can put a gi back on.

Hopefully this is encouraging to some in this thread who are dealing with this extremely frustrating obstacle, especially one that affects a significant part of their lifestyle.

Thanks to everyone in this thread who have been awesome about sharing their experiences.
 
Diablo Ryu said:
what compound lifts do you use? Your post said bodyweight and bands after you said you do compound lifts...also what bands do you use and can you link me
Click to expand...

Well like I said, variations of squats, pull-ups, overhead press, good mornings, rows, weighted push-ups etc.

As long as I can still achieve maximal loading capacity with minimal spinal load/compression.

Lifeline TNT cables are the best.
For closed loop bands, EliteFTS.

Cheap and adjustable up to 300lbs of resistance.
 
this is what my back looked like in 2012. Disectomy L5-S1 in May 2012.
ibsgPm9zfZBdtC.jpg

I have been able to return to BJJ twice a week. I know to some that is nothing but I have to be able to function at work. there is hope if you stay on top of your exercises.

I really feel like Cod Liver oil has helped as well.
 
Ladder Master said:
this is what my back looked like in 2012. Disectomy L5-S1 in May 2012.
ibsgPm9zfZBdtC.jpg

I have been able to return to BJJ twice a week. I know to some that is nothing but I have to be able to function at work. there is hope if you stay on top of your exercises.

I really feel like Cod Liver oil has helped as well.
Click to expand...

What are the discs supposed to look like? I recently suffered an injury to my L5, been very painful at times.
 
Your discs in your spine are like a jelly donut. If you sat on a jelly donut, you can't just put it back together. Same concept. It's pretty much get a new one or minimize the pain/effects
 
Isn't modern medicine getting better almost faster than can be imagined?
 
What about Orthokine? Would that work on a disk?
It sounds promising
 
Last edited:
I think they can heal but if not surgery is needed...
 
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