UKC

OK, so 10 months ago I burst a disc between my C7/T1 vertebrae. This resulted in excrutiating pain, eight months off work and a slow return to what passes now for normality. This means no running, no road biking and no mountain biking. I can rock climb (up to a fairly lowly grade), use my sea kayak for a couple of hours and go hill walking provided that I take it easy going down hill. Being a miserable b*****d I want to go back to running as I love it so much. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, did you recover enough to start running again? And if so, how long did it take? I should mention that I am, ahem, the wrong side of 60....

In reply to pamph:
The medically inclined on here will need to know a bit more about what was done! Fused vertebrae? Fixators?
The problem with running is that it is pretty harsh on the skeleton unless you have very good gait. And with fused vertebrae (I am guessing?) the gait will not be so good.
Also, the boatloads of muscles that attach to your spine and hold you upright will be somewhat wasted, so will need to be strengthened. This will take a long time. At 60-ish (I know!) muscles have a habit of deciding they aren't needed any more......
Is swimming allowed? an excellent, although mind numbingly boring (IMHO) exercise.

In reply to pneame: In the end, no operation was carried out. By the time I had an appointment for surgery (more than seven months after it happened) the surgeon recommended that with the mobility I had, it was too risky to remove the damaged disc and replace it with an insert. I suppose that for most people my age, with a fairly sedentary life, the movement I have would be adequate for normal living. But being an active sort this isn't what I wanted to hear! He managed to talk me out of the operation anyway, but I was just wondering if I could ever be able to run again. The surgeon would not commit himself (understandable), he just said that it might be possible. It might be possible that one day I win the lottery as well! I realise that it is a piece of string type of question, but if someone out there had had the same problem, and had managed after a year or two to start running again, I would like to hear from them.

In reply to pneame: Oh, and yes I agree about the swimming being a tad boring!

In reply to pamph:
Any chance of getting a second opinion? 60 by todays standards is pretty young - 30 years ago, maybe it wouldn't be worth it, but given that you've likely got another 25 years in you, it would seem that it would be worth the surgery. As you obviously feel!

While I'm normally a huge fan of the NHS, I can't help feeling that this smacks of ageism.

In reply to pamph:
One thing that often dictates the risk / reward equation for surgery is whether there is peripheral nerve involvement - pain in limbs, numbness in limbs, reduced strength in limbs. These are often more indicative of the seriousness of things. So if you are getting limb involvement, that's usually an indication for surgery. Otherwise, the herniation isn't considered so serious and may resolve somewhat with time.

The risk of surgery, of course IS serious - inability to walk would be an outcome that is entirely possible although not especially likely.

In reply to pamph: I had a badly herniated disc (requiring surgery) on L5/S1 and also have something iffy going on in my C-spine (not entirely sure if it's disc related or brachial plexus) Anyway, I'm happily running (though I never actually used to run pre-surgery cos I was a 40 fags a day kinda gal and running would give me a near heart attack
Quit the fags 3 months before surgery and started running 4 months post surgery.
Have to say though, running *does* hurt my back and neck and I just can't run fast (although I did manage a 5k in 21 minutes with lots of training, back in the days when I was also doing lots of back strengthening exercises/Pilates type stuff) Ran a half marathon a couple of years ago (not breaking any records mind!)

Remember, you have only got one back though so look after it!

Use your body and your pain levels as a guide. If it hurts too much then don't do it and if it hurts just a little then either take some painkillers or just man up and run anyway. I don't put much faith in what doctors say tbh and use my own body as a guide (actually that's shite, I'm always ignoring warning signs and hurt quite a lot but I can't help myself

In reply to pamph: PS - with upper disc problems you've always got the risk of cord compression as well if the herniation is really bad and you probably want to avoid that.

In reply to pamph:

I feel your pain mate. I'm a runner at heart and it kills me that i can't run as i've torn my L4/L5 disc. The disc is now disintegrating and makes all kinds of weird noises when i walk. I've strictly been working on strength exercises especially legs and recovery is coming along, but very very slowly. Along with my physio exercises i started to concentrate on isometric strength training and resistance band training. Once i started feeling strong i began using machines in the gym that didn't incorporate me using my lower back. Bench press, lat pulls and leg presses were ok. Eventually building up to lunges and sumo squats with very light weights and good posture.

I've just started jogging for a few minutes - walk - jog etc for about 15 -20 mins. This has been difficult as the first time i did it i came home did the dishes and my back totally went, spent the evening on the floor. Very frustrating. I've been doing this for about 4 weeks now and i pay for it the next day but it is getting easier and my back hurts anyway so i wont be giving up. I've made a decision to run as i get depressed when i don't. Swimming just doesn't cut it and cycling is a no-no. I'm 40 by the way and injured my back just over 12 months ago. Credit to you for wanting to keep the running up - great attitude. I was told by my GP that my back will calcify when i get older and the pain will subside.

In reply to Sebastian Fontleroy: Thanks for your support everyone, it is always nice to hear from people who are positive and optimistic. I am just going to give my back a few more weeks rest, and then maybe try the walk/jog routine. It is interesting that physio has been suggested as there has been nothing from the NHS about it. I suppose the problem is getting a physio who understands the particular problem I have. I have to admit that about five years ago I pulled a muscle in my back at work, and the physio I went to compounded the problem quite severely. In the end I had remedial massage to undo the damage the physio caused, so I'm a bit reluctant to go down that route. Anyway, thanks again to you all for responding to my moans!

In reply to pamph:
It's not moaning at all - there's nothing better than to be able to have a mutual whinge about the problems of getting old *. My issue is my lower back - probably from having a 12 hr day stuck largely to a chair for the last 12 years.
I wish I could get to like swimming......

*I think they are called "support groups" or some such newfangled term.

In reply to pamph:

Keep us posted as to how you get on.