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By: David Ostrow, PT
FitGolf Enterprises, LLC
Let me ask you this: Do you know anyone who has or had a herniated disc? Chances are you do even if you are not aware of it. There is data from the medical world that shows that 80% of us have them. There is also data which shows that of the 80% only a small portion of those people have pain that is related to the disc. So then what the heck is the big deal about the herniated disc? Well, when they are the cause of the problem, they can cause BIG problems.
Golfers are known to have back problems, and by extension of the data, we have herniated discs. Back pain will affect the golf swing. Heck pain in the back can stop you from playing if you don’t take care of it. Ask Tiger Woods. He even had surgery for it.
Treatment for this problem costs billions, yes billions of dollars annually. The typical gradient for treatment is conservative measures like physical therapy, chiropractic care, rest, exercise, acupuncture, and a host of other modalities. If those fail after a short attempt many will end up with epidural steroids.
Epidural Steroids is an injection of steroids into the spinal canal or the disc to help get rid of the inflammation and shrink the disc. This can be a successful mode of treatment for many. In combination with the proper exercise, epidural steroids are curative for many. For some, that is not the case.
When all else fails (conservative treatment, and the injections), the next step is surgery. There are many types of disc surgeries. The most popular one and least invasive is the microdiscectomy.
Now where in golf have I recently heard about this surgery. Oh yes, it is the procedure that Tiger Woods recently had for his bad back.
In a microdiscectomy, a small portion of the bone over the nerve root and/or disc material from under the nerve root is removed to relieve neural impingement and provide more room for the nerve to heal.
A microdiscectomy is typically performed for a herniated lumbar disc and is actually more effective for treating leg pain (also known as radiculopathy) than lower back pain.
Impingement on the nerve root (compression) can cause substantial leg pain. While it may take weeks or months for the nerve root to fully heal and any numbness or weakness to get better, patients normally feel relief from leg pain almost immediately after a microdiscectomy spine surgery.
For an athlete like Tiger he will participate in post surgery rehabilitation for a while to get back into shape and promote proper healing.
As reported on ESPN for his rehab and return, Woods stated: “I really don’t know. I’m doing everything I can and listening to my doctors and working on a strength program, and then we just have to see how my back is. Some people heal up in three months, some people take longer. I just don’t know.”
That probably sums it up better than I can. Tiger is being smart about this.
For the rest of us mortals, post-op healing is 30-45 days and rehab generally is another 45-60 day process. Most golfers I have seen with this procedure are cleared for golf in 90-120 days.
Listen to your back and your doctor. If you have leg pain, following the physican’s or therapist’s recommendations will make your recovery faster and more effective. If you have microdiscectomy, listen with even more steadfastness. You will be happy that you did.
THERE IS LIFE AFTER MICRODISCECTOMY. You probably will play golf again, and probably just as well, if you deal with the issues in your body or swing that got you into the debacle in the first place. A well designed exercise program that addresses imbalance, weakness and tightness are the key to longevity of the repair. That is what we do.
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