L4-L5 Microdiscectomy Anyone return to Tele as well as regular skiing?

[surfrat66]

Hey all,
Been on Gimp Squad since January 2011. Missed all of last season, save 1 day at the Bird with ruptured L4 and 5. Have not felt my right leg from knee down since January 25th. Did 3 cortisone injections with mild relief, Physical therapy and gave up running, cycling, surfing and climbing all summer. Got off pain meds bc was a nightmare. Out of options and am having microdiscectomy after consulting with 2 diff Boston neurosurgeons. I ski on regular skis and also occasionally tele so my wife and I can ski same pace. Confident I can ski on my fat boards again, I hope...but has anyone returned to telemark after this surgery?? Wondering if it is easier or harder on lower back? Any insight appreciated.
T

[BraddA]

There is hope! I don't tele, I snowboard, but I'd venture to guess that snowboarding places more strain on the lower back than tele'ing. Just a guess. But to answer your question: Yes, I think you'll be just fine. Disectomy was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Seriously. My L1 and L2 were ruling my world. I know you can relate. Weekly cortisone to make work possible really isn't what life's about. That being said, you're surely well aware of the risks involved. I did my share of homework, but at a certain point I would have done anything to get my life back. Good luck. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

[::: :::]

i've had it
i run, i do everything i want
(i don't tele)
don't expect much this winter except building back your core

[surfrat66]

How long until you returned to skiing?

[::: :::]

i had it done end of october back in 2004
my son was born in dec
i took that winter off from skiing (see baby above) but i was running (light) again by end of january
had i been skiing, it probably would have been march/april before i tried it out due to mitigating the risks of falls and even then it wouldn't have been all out

i would say you've got 6mos min of just recovery training then another six til you might feel "normal"

that said, i knew as soon as all the swelling and stitches etc were done that the surgery had "worked". in my particular case, it was the right thing to do. it probably saved me 5yrs of acting like an old man until my discs shrunk enough to lessen all the pain

[SkierChicNYC]

The last thing I told my surgeon before going into the OR, "Make sure I can ski by December". I have suffered from herniated L4-L5 since March. I managed to ski in Italy in February (2012) with sciatic pain, but was manageable. The pain kicked in with a vengeance in March. So, as you all experienced since March my life was on hold. Had 2 Epidurals which did nothing, tried acupuncture and ever tried Dr. Sarno. NO LUCK! Something happened in June where I had to have surgery or no joke I would be dead from the pain. The nerve from my hip down to my tiny toe was on fire. It felt like burning acid was flowing in my leg.

So, I am 3 weeks out of surgery and I feel it is the best thing I ever did and I start physical therapy on Thursday. I am confident, as I had it done by a top neurosurgeon at NYU and my PT will be at RUSK Rehab (division of NYU). Now my question to you all, what are the probabilities of me skiing in the coming season. 2012-2013, and obviously beyond. My life and my sanity is skiing, I wait for the winter so I can ski. Any Feedback and positive encouragement is greatly appreciated.

[::: :::]

The last thing I told my surgeon before going into the OR, "Make sure I can ski by December". I have suffered from herniated L4-L5 since March. I managed to ski in Italy in February (2012) with sciatic pain, but was manageable. The pain kicked in with a vengeance in March. So, as you all experienced since March my life was on hold. Had 2 Epidurals which did nothing, tried acupuncture and ever tried Dr. Sarno. NO LUCK! Something happened in June where I had to have surgery or no joke I would be dead from the pain. The nerve from my hip down to my tiny toe was on fire. It felt like burning acid was flowing in my leg.

So, I am 3 weeks out of surgery and I feel it is the best thing I ever did and I start physical therapy on Thursday. I am confident, as I had it done by a top neurosurgeon at NYU and my PT will be at RUSK Rehab (division of NYU). Now my question to you all, what are the probabilities of me skiing in the coming season. 2012-2013, and obviously beyond. My life and my sanity is skiing, I wait for the winter so I can ski. Any Feedback and positive encouragement is greatly appreciated.

do what they tell you

you will ski

[Burrrr]

This was my post from another thread:

I had a major herniated disc b/t my L4-L5. Had severe back pain for two years before I found out. I would just grit my teeth and push through the pain thresh hold during activities. It was bad, especially on the chair lift ride up, skinning, and straightening out after sitting for over 5 minutes. <br />
<br />
I was recovering from an Achilles full rupture repair, when all of a sudden the physical therapist found a bone growth on my tibula (benign). After the bonectomy, my back pain disappeared, but the pain shot down my left leg. Hence, CT scan led to discovery of the herniation. I went under the knife for the micro discectomy (gold standard procedure) and had immediate relief of all existing pain that nagged at me for 2 years. Recovery from the back surgery was roughly 2 weeks. (2007/2008 was a bad year for me)<br />
<br />
Feel 120%, ski 60+ days a year, mountain bike and fly fish another 100 (this is with ACL repairs on both knees).<br />
<br />
This is not advice, just a personal experience that had a successful outcome.

[bendtheski]

Had my surgery March of '03, was skiing by mid-november and skiing bumps by mid-dec. No real problems other than muscular and that's usually associated with over-exertion. Running bothers my right leg a little, which is the side that was most effected by the herniation, but still heads and shoulders improvement over pre-surgery.

Tele VS downhill? Both have equal potential to bother your back if you don't ski smoove IMO.

[Meathelmet]

L5/S1 micro done june 2006. started skiing a bit march 2007, after that have racked up 70-80 days per season doing alpine.took up telemarking this winter and got down 10-15 days of it as well..

xc skiing, mtb riding and best of all, have been running 1000-2000km/year for the last years as well. no probs.
occasional mild flare ups , so constant working out,stretching & massage is part of my life.


Edit: not a hemilami, but a micro like boatbound...

[BoatBound]

I had a slighly different micro where they dialated my back muscles (Dr. Mark McLaughlin) so there was no cutting of muscle. I had surgery for a blown out disc. the surgery was in August and I was running on trails within 3 weeks and skiing that december. Do your rehab! That was several years ago. It does take about a full year of being aware of your back, correcting posture and fully healing but no issues since then. that was about 5-6 years ago as posted above, proper maintanence is now part of my life.

[surfrat66]

3 months