UKC

So, the doctor told me the "good" news yesterday. If I want to continue an active life I want a surgery! One of my discs is fractured and is pressing onto some nerves in the lower back. Most of the time it is "just" a back pain, but sometimes I cant even walk. Did anyone have any experience with this? Is there a climbing life after back surgery???

In reply to benky1979:

Sorry, can't add personal experience but a good friend had major back surgery for scoliosis a couple of years ago. She's back climbing now and is currently training for the jungle ultramarathon.

In reply to benky1979:

I've had both a discectomy (6yrs ago) and revision discectomy (3 yrs ago) (managed to do the same injury twice) on my L4/L5 disc. I started climbing a few months after the first op, and continued after the second. I find climbing helps as it is a good core workout (especially steeper ground) but I now also supplement this with Pilates. I've been advised that while the chances of me doing the disc again are diminished, it'll be pretty serious if it does happen. Therefore I try to keep a good level of core strength to prevent further injury.

In reply to benky1979:

I can back up what Kingborris wrote. Having had an L4/5 Discectomy some 9 years ago i had to take a serious look at how i trainned and also how i lived my life in general. Substitute swimming for running, focus on core stability, bit of yoga and absoluely stacks of climbing!! For me it was all about reducing inpact, mainly through running. Spending less time sat at the desk, swiss ball when i have to though.
I remember how it was before surgery, pain,pain,pain!
Now it's Climb,Climb,Climb!!
Low impact activity like climbing is absolutely awesome for the ongoing good health of my back.
Waffled on too long there, but you get the picture.

In reply to benky1979:

To add to what the others have written already, a few years back I ruptured 2 discs seriously, with a third disc bulging, and was pretty much immobile for a month and in extreme pain. Was strongly advised to have a discectomy, but after a 2nd and 3rd opinion I chose not too, and decided simply to make similar changes to exercise as mcphillips391 detailed. Found quite a bit of research that showed that there was little difference in recovery from disc ruptures between people that had op/didnt have op >2 years after the injury. I also believe its all about reducing impact and core strength. Climbing/cycling/swimming et al now (but no running).

Not sure about a disc fracture though...

In reply to mcphillipsa391:

I presume you're talking about lead climbing rather than bouldering? Falling or jumping off at a bouldering wall absolutely b*ggers my back.

In reply to benky1979:
I fractured L1 and T12 and ruptured the surrounding ligament about two years ago. I was on the borderline of needing surgery but after consultation opted not to have surgery so my experience is slightly different to yours.

I've been able to return to nearly all the activities I did prior to my injury such as lead climbing, mountain biking and skiing but rehabilition hasn't been easy. After a year I'd recovered most of my strength though after two years my back is still improving.

I'm not sure from your post if the doctors "good news" is a first or second opinion. If it's a first opinion I'd advise getting a second opinion before opting for something as major as back surgery.

In reply to Ava Adore:

Yes definitely. I always down climb at the bouldering wall, not that i do a lot really.

In reply to benky1979:

Hi, I fractured my L2 last august, and had fusion from L4-Th12. I started climbing again in February, mainly seconding. Started leading in April, and some bouldering, though always down climbing. Because my surgery was a result of an accident, the only issues have been mental; a little bit scared when I'm run out. I nearly always avoid committing myself to going through stuff that I'd normally try. I still haven't taken a lead fall, but I do feel at this stage, 11 months after surgery that I'm almost at full strength. I did loads of core work, though never too much, listened to what my body was saying, and although I wanted to get back climbing at my normal level, I've tried to enjoy the process of getting back to normal. Good luck and enjoy!
Andy

In reply to benky1979:

Hi, I had my C7/T1 disc rupture two and a half years ago,, went as far as going to the hospital for the op (bed ready, surgeon talking me through the procedure) when I decided not to have it. The surgeon was actually relieved and said that I would recover as well as could be expected after about two years. Surprisingly true! I can't run any more (used to be a mediocre but keen hill runner) but climbing is excellent for my back. As is sea kayaking. I have dropped a couple of grades as I still have to be sure not to fall and hit anything, but I am grateful that I still have mobility. So, I suppose that I am saying that if you did decide not to have the operation, you may still recover a large part of your life.
Oh, and I can entirely sympathise about the pain and suffering!

In reply to benky1979:

I fractured T11 (I think), took chunks out of the vertabrae above and below and tore a lot of the surrounding ligaments. I had to have surgery to fix the fractured vertabrae in place and took about 6 months off climbing and all other kinds of excercise. This was about 3 years ago. Since then I am climbing about 1 or 2 trad grades harder than I was and could probably push harder if it wasn't for residual headgames from the accident that caused the damage. On bolts I was climbing about 6b/c before the surgery and now I'm redpointing 7b on occasion and feel pretty comfortable at 7a/+.
I don't find climbing ever has any negative impact on my back although I can't sit still for long without pain and some day-to-day tasks like bending over a sink to wash up does hurt like hell after a few minutes.
If anything I think that the recovery process made me a better climber since I came back to climbing with massively reduced strength which made me concentrate on technique a lot more than I had when I first started climbing. Thus when the strength caught up again my technique was better and I had learned to pay more attention to continually improving it.