Lower back pain and getting back in the water, over 40

General Discussion
1

Hello Gentlemen (I havent seen Rachel in a long time, so I figure that’s safe),

Obviously my first post in a long time - I took some time off to focus on a return to school and deal with some skin cancer issues, but should defend my thesis in November and have more time to get back to the serious stuff: building boards and surfing more.

Anyway, today’s topic is lower back pain. I’m 42, 6’5" and about 195lbs., pretty lean at that. After increasing amounts of back pain and repeated chiropractor visits, I had an MRI done yesterday which revealed 4 herniated discs, some sciatic issues and disc degeneration allowing the vertebrae to touch - ouch.

As there is lots of contradictory information out there, I thought I’d ask here. The tradition of good avice is a strong one: Bill’s ear drops have my ear canals looking good, and Huck’s aloe energy drink, well, it works.

So: non-surgery treatment options? Stretches, exercise routines, diets? I tend to be pretty serious and I’ll stick to whatever routine is required. Best way to ease back into the water? Right now I couldn’t pop up to save my life. Maybe my daughter’s, but mine? No way;

And, I was thinking of shaping a lighter, big board to ease the knee paddling issues. Pretty standard 9’6" to 10’ with plenty of volume, lowish rocker not to push too much water, with fairly modern longboard rails (I like the old-school stuff at times, but think that a more precise positioning on the wave would allow me to work my back much less than getting all slip-slidey…).

Thoughts, insights, observations on any or all of the above are greatlyappreciated.

Mahalo.

2

Been there. Physio helped get reduce pain, and a good six months, then core strengthening once it settled down (recommend Taylor Knox dvd for strength and flexibility). I find exercise e.g. swimming, flat water SUP, attention to posture, stretching (lots on interweb) keep it under control. Good luck.

Karl

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yoga

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Thanks guys for the quick responses.

I’ll definitely be looking into yoga in September - France pretty much shuts down in August so progressively lots of stretching until then.

A buddy is going to loan me a flat-water SUP and the closest lake is only 15 minutes from home (beach is 35 and rarely flat in late August/September - something I’m usually fired up about!). Lake and bay swimming are easy to integrate - no pools since I can’t really handle the chlorine with the skin cancer stuff - I light up like a Christmas tree.

Keep the suggestions coming, I appreciate it.

5

http://antranik.org/how-to-get-rid-of-knots/

6

http://paddleair.com/testimonials/

 

been thinking pf getting one for my brother to protect his healing rib cage when he gets back to surfing

they started out as an old guys back saver

7

Jeffrey,

Glad to hear that the ‘‘ear drops’’ have been beneficial to you.       As to the lower back issue, it can’t hurt to do a little ‘‘inversion therapy’’ in conjunction with some physio.    Helps keep the spaces between the spinal elements open.

 

For your longboard, consider natural rocker of 4 inches nose and 4 inches tail.      Use a crowned deck, to a soft low rail, with a tucked release edge.  While this is considered modern by many, it was the norm, in the late 50’s balsas, with the exception of the tucked release edge.  Just a thought.

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Core strengthening for sure.  At 65, I’ve got some L-5 issues, but the better muscle tone I maintain in my abs and upper back, the less trouble I have with my lower back.

For general conditioning, I use one of these religiously:

The cool thing about this device (as it applies to anyone trying to recover from injury) is that it uses your own body weight for resistance.  The incline can be adjusted to facilitate “easing into” a program of exercise.

Of course, proceed with caution and consult your therapist and/or MD before embarking on any new exercise regimen.

15+ years ago, my back got so bad that I could barely get in and out of my car.  Nowdays,  I’m able to surf whenever I can find some waves, which usually averages out to be every second or third day.  So don’t despair: you may yet stage a comeback!

As far as everyday, non-surfing activities go: face the fact that you’re no longer a young, macho stud with something to prove.  I employ every means known to man to avoid throwing my back out when moving/lifting heavy stuff: ramps, block and tackle, come-along, dolly, wheel barrow…whatever mechanical assistance it takes to avoid plunging myself back into that nightmare of L-5 pain.  Sometimes it’s as simple as sliding something on a piece of cardboard instead of lifting it.

Best of luck and 2 thumbs up to you!  Never give up! 

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One of the best things you can do is Stand Up Paddle. If your stroke is proper you’ll get the best core workout ever and be feeding a lot of blood into the affected areas. I started (flat water) about a year ago and by back/sciatica issues improved in a week.

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One of the best things you can do is Stand Up Paddle. If your stroke is proper you’ll get the best core workout ever and be feeding a lot of blood into the affected areas. I started (flat water) about a year ago and my back/sciatica issues improved in a week.

11

6’3 x 185#, so similar body type, first encountered back problems in early 30’s with two partially herniated discs.  At the time my wife was a practice nurse with the SF 49ers sports medicine doctors, so had a thorough workup with them.  Decided against the surgical options, and working with their best  physiatrist (essentially non-surgical rehabilitation orthopedists) and top notch physical therapists began working on ways to manage the situation which I’ve been doing for  3 decades now.

First off, forget the inversion tables and like.  When a herniated disc is stretched, it opens the tear points, the disc leaks and signals the body to create an inflammatory condition, which is the body’s way of immobilizing the damaged area to prevent further damage.

For pain, obviously  NSAD’s, and invest in a couple of PT quality flexible ice packs.  Routine icing is an imperative to minimize inflammation and reduce pain.  At peak pain periods, I used to ice 15 mins on the hour whenever able to.

Work with a good PT to strengthen your core.  Modified crunches - bent knees just enough so your feet are flat on the floor, hands lightly touching the ears, not pulling on the head, look up at the ceiling, lift your shoulders up towards the ceiling in one smooth pull until the shoulder blades clear, hold then release.  A couple of hundred a day is the goal.

Hamstring stretches, vital as tight hamstrings pull on the hips which puts pressure on the SI joint and lower spine.  The safest and most effective stretch is the wall/open doorway stretch.  Put your heel against the wall, push for a count of ten, relax ten, repeat for 4 to 6 cycles.  You will eventually be able to stretch your leg at 90 degrees, with your entire leg flat against the wall.

Work with a PT on strengthening your core which includes proper weight training and body mechanics to always stay within your ‘box’ when moving, lifting, etc.

I was lucky, managed to avoid surgery, kept surfing 200+ days a year, endured painful flare-ups as they came and went.  Last time I had x-rays on my hips (need replacement) my surgeon pointed out that my two herniated discs had fused themselves over the years, which is why they rarely bother me any more.

If you try the non-surgical route, give yourself at least 6 months to a year to see if you can manage the condition.  If you just can’t, surgical options may be the only solution.  Either way, make sure you’re working with sports med doctors and sports physical therapists, they are used to working with injured athletes who want to return to their respective sports.

good luck…

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Hi Jeffrey -

Your MRI report indicates a potentially serious situation.  Aside from obvious pain, you might be facing other complications. 

Your doctor is best able to assess risk of stuff like permanent nerve damage, paralysis, parasthesia, etc.  If you aren't particularly stoked on what he recommends, I'd say get a second opinion from a specialist who hasn't a clue as to what the first doctor said. 

I.E. - get a 'fresh' second opinion. 

Your problems sound too serious for you to be seeking advice on a surfboard design website from a bunch of guys who don't have a complete clinical picture and haven't seen your scans.  There are some good suggestions posted here but seriously... are any of these guys doctors? 

 

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John is right. 4 herniated discs is a serious problem. You can be risking the chance of becoming paraplegic. I had 2 damaged cervical discs and opted to do spinal fusion of C4-5-6. It was that or risk being quadraplegic or death from a bad fall.

I have one bad lumbar disc that I’ve had for a while, at least since 1997. It flaired up again a year or 2 ago and I had another doctor run tests. I was just about to start PT a year or so ago but after a surf session on a windy day and getting bounced around the pain went away. I figure that I was lucky and my spine was realigned when I was getting knocked off my board. Not the best way to fix the problem but it worked.

I had 4 way bypass heart surgery in May and was layed up for a while. I am trying to get myself stronger, but all I can do now is walk. I can feel the pain in my back during and after my walks, but until I get my core strong again, I just have to live with it. I have several belts to keep the stomach tight, but that’s more a crutch than a solution.

Keeping your core strong is important, but getting it strong enough to do strenuous activity seems to be the holy grail. Then you have the lifelong issue of staying in shape. That’s been my problem, keeping the stomach down.

You need to start slowly, and do things safe. Definitely look for someone or some place that can get you started the right way.

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Let me start by saying that I give this advice without knowing anything about your health history and you may do with it what you wish.

 

I am a physician who specializes in chronic pain, primarily of the spine.   I see countless people with disc herniations and people who have undergone spine surgery.   Spine surgery is the worst possible fix for minor degenerative disc disease because in about 40 to 50 percent of cases it fails, meaning the person is left with the same or more pain following surgery.  Spine fusion rates have gone up astronomically in recent years with no improvement in outcomes.   Also, what typically happens after several years in a fused spine is the levels above and below the fusion begin to deteriorate and you need more surgery.  There are only two reasons to jump toward surgery: 1- you have an unstable spine or 2- there is immediiate impending neurological destruction/damage.  Short of those two I would stay clear of surgeons and please for the love of god if you do see a surgeon go to a neurosurgeon as they have better skills and morals.  Ortho spine surgeons will typically operate on anyone and have little interest in the outcome.   I have seen people in my office after a multilevel fusion who had completely normal MRIs before they went to a hack spine guy.  It sickens me.

Now for what does work for spine health.  Physical therapy is the mainstay of getting people back to 100%.  In PT you will learn how to strengthen your core and take the load off those discs.  As others have said yoga and stretching is highly beneficial.  Non-narcotic pain meds can help if pain is your main complaint and epidural injections can also help in acute flares of back pain.  In general there are three things that destroy backs and those are being overweight, smoking and heavy manual labor.   If you smoke then stop and if you are overweight then drop the extra pounds.  Feel free to PM me if you like.

15

It’s all about finding what works for each individual.

I found that lap swimming really stretches my spine and the freestyle swimming action strengthens all the back muscles around my spine.

I swim with a snorkel so there is no spine twisting (when breathing) which would irritate the T10/T11 vertebrae where my pain issue is located, and I use a foam rubber float between my upper legs which helps my body to float more horizontal.

My chiro/nutritionist swears by magnesium he recommends 2 tablets with each meal, when I visited him yesterday he squeezed my calf muscle and asked me if it hurt, I said yes, so he has recommended I take magnesium for a few weeks or more, then when there is no ‘calf squeeze pain’ stop.

The better chiros give you a good massage before spine manipulation.

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Hi pinnypinny,

Can you post a link to the float or describe it as per, “and I use a foam rubber float between my upper legs which helps my body to float more horizontal”

I think this may prove to be of significant advantage for me.

Cheers

MrT

17

First of all, a huge thank you for the response and insights.

As I said in the beginning, there is so much contradictory advice out there, but it is really helpful to hear how others have dealt with similar issues. Not that I was hoping for a miracle cure, but it definitely gives a sense of scale.

I was able to get an appt. with my primary care physician for later today (a near miracle in an dof itself on the 16th of August in France), then will start the process of finding a god PT. I’ll let you know how that goes. It sounds like this will be a longer process, which is fine. What I don’t want to do is to mess things up or end up on a limited mobility situation because of a few foolish decisions right now.

In all cases, it sounds like stretching and core strength are where I need to focus at present.

On the bright side, spent an hour just moving (floating, slow backstroke) in a lake yesterday and being in the water was sweet.

Stoked on the response, thanks again.

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And Bill, the lowish downrail with a tucked-under edge in the tail sounds just about right, as does the natural rocker. The 4/4, with slight variations, has been a staple for years on my all-arounders. Might not get around to shaping this one for a little while, but am already playing with ideas…

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First, everyone's condition is different (obviously) so what works for me might not work for anyone else.

I'm 72 and still getting decent rides.  I almost had to hang it up last year; four sessions in a row I would get one wave and then be subject to crippling back pain.  Twice I had to leave my board on the beach and crawl up the path to the top; if someone hadn't been kind enough to bring the board up I would have left it there.  I actually solved this problem by working out less.  I was doing a full workout every morning and if I went surfing afterwards my muscles were just too tired to hold the vertebrae in place (I have severe spondy in L4-L5 and L5-S1; also stenosis and pretty badly degenerated discs).

You might take a look at "The Surfers' Workout".  I do these on a daily basis (pick from the workouts and design a package that works for you, or use the package that is in the book.  Amazon.com.  Disclosure: I'm the author; I created the book after being out of surfing for almost 25 years due to back and other issues.  I'm sure I sound like a missionary, but this set of workouts gave me back my surfing life and has helped me come back from some fairly severe injuries even at my age.  To avoid any appearance of profiteering, send me your mailing address and I'll be glad to send you the book.

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Here is a photo of the float that you can put between your upper legs, which helps hold your spine more horizontal when swimming.

Sports stores sell them.