Its been a long time between posts but given the high traffic to my site I thought it worthwhile on updating those interested on my personal journey with back/leg pain and a severe lumbar disc herniation. Essentially (big touch wood here…) I made a full recovery with the following landmarks over the past 5 years:
Return to full training for surf lifesaving ironman racing in 2015
Winning the state surf lifesaving ironman title each year from 2015-2020 and top 10 in national title ironman as well as 2 bronze medals in teams from 2015-2019 (2020 event cancelled)
Repeat MRI at the end of 2015 showed ongoing severe disc herniation despite marked reduction in back/leg pain
I continued to be careful with pacing, heavy lifting, repetitive bending and sitting in an unsupported position. Over a 3 year period these provocative activities became progressing less painful
My foot numbness continued to slowly improve, eventually resolving completely in 2019
With high intensity activities (eg trying to perform aggressive surfing manoeuvres/turns) the numbness still can return… I still need to be careful!
The limp I developed from the weakness in the left leg resulted in other injuries due to compensation (eg my right hip) which I continue to manage with good results (although this is at time frustrating…)
For me this experience supports my research and clinical focus on respecting pathology when developing a rehabilitation and return to sport program in certain cases. It also shows that a positive response to rehabilitation can occur even though my MRI scan didn’t change. The scan is important information, but severe injuries on MRI are not a life sentence and people can improve without any change on the scan!
Injury resolution and tissue healing in disc injuries is slow and continues over many years. The application of rehabilitation principles is important long term. I have no doubt if I didn’t pace my symptoms would have returned.
The overall recovery of people with severe back problems is likely to be positive if carefully managed! An important caveat… every person with back problems is different. My case is only one example and there are many different scenarios and rehabilitation approaches required for individuals. The input from expert practitioners in working out an individualised rehabilitation program can be helpful in this regard.
I look forward to hopefully closing off the back pain aspect of this blog and focus more on my clinical and research pursuits. There is a lot going on with new plans for a range of clinical trials and ongoing improvement of our clinical performance at Advance Healthcare.
