Any of you guys had to have back surgery? Last year I had 3 herniated discs in my lower back that haven't healed. Physical therapy only did so much. The last resort is surgery. Curious of how long it took to heal from it and if you were able to continue doing day to day tasks as usual.

 

Older guys?

Heh,.
I have 2 discs in bad shape like yours. Mines from working 20yrs in construction and lifting my disabled brother for the last 23 years,.. and as the years progressed,.. he went from 160lbs,.. to now he's probably close to 280lbs and has been over 225lbs for the last 15 years or so. My doctor told me not to lift him anymore,. but sometimes thats not an option.

I'm terrified of surgery so I've chosen to deal with the pain. I'm on 300mg of Tramadol daily. Tramadol is non narcotic and I prefer it when the pain isnt too bad. But I also have oxycodone for when I cant even lay in bed. Only thing is that the oxycodone knocks me out for hours. Then I feel liek I'm in a stuper when I wake up,.. really dont like it,.. but its about the only thing that kills the pain.

I have a Teeter board that I hang upside down in. My wife got it for me last year and I have to say my back has been much better since I've been using that thing.

Hurst

 

My back problems are minimal...only when I do something stupid...but I want one of those Teeter boards. I just wanna play Bat Man and hang out...maybe I can get to 6'0" one of these days. But seriously, I think the theory behind it sounds pretty good to me. Of course with my knees I'd probably pull apart at the knees before I got any benefits in the spine.

 

The one I have you can set positions to stop at,.. you dont have to hang completely upside down. My wife uses it and doesnt like to hang completely upside down like I do. She had knee surgery 2 yrs ago and she does ok on it.

We got ours off ebay for $350. Its rated to 350lbs. Be careful of the ones only rated for 200 - 250 lbs.

Hurst

 

My dad has been having back problems the last 6 months or so. Herniated a disc and found out just how bad all the others are. Lately he has been getting some relief, but ya know it is still fubar.

And Damn, I thought I was an old guy on here. I just turned 46.

I am doing pretty good, but the milage has been rough. My knees and neck worry me the most.

 

I had a boken spine a few years ago when I got fucked up, I have some vertebre that have no cartelage between them anymore and the buldging discs. I dont know how you fell about surgeries, but everyone I know that has had them, wishes they hadn't got it.

This is gonna sound alittle wierd, but hamstring stretches has helped me a little with my pains.

 

My knees are still in good shape.

My lower back from all my lifting,.. and I've been getting real bad migrains lately,.. but I think thats just stress related. My lower back has been an ongoing love affair for about 5 years now.

When I was in my 20's I used to lug two 100lbs sacks of concrete on my shoulders,.. sometimes to show off I would get someone to throw 2 more on me. Carrying bricks,.. lugging sod,.. lifting furniture,.. bending over and crawling under my cars for almost 30 years now,.. you dont think about it when your younger,.. you think naaah,.. I'll be fine,.. nothing will hurt me. I'm paying for it now. And no matter what,.. if my back were in good shape today,.. I'd probably still repeat all the dumb stuff I did when I was younger,.. I was destined to have a bad back. I did it to myself. Baaah.

Hurst

 

200+ jumps out of a perfectly good airplane

1 bad car wreck

countless falls being me

It's taken it's toll on my back. My step dad says I shouldn't get anything done since he's had 3 surgeries. I'm no good with pain pills as Tylenol 3 knocks me out for at least 8 hours. I just want to ditch the shooting pains in my legs.

 

I feel your pain. For me it was:

1000+ jumps out of a perfectly good airplane w/ one bad ass ground smack riding in a non-steerable WWII POS reserve after a total malfunction.

Been rear ended by drunks while waiting at a stoplight 13 times in my lifetime.

One good crash in a Corvair that flipped at 70 and hit another car head on while we were sliding on our top.

5 years as a running back in football resulting in old style knee surgery where they cut the whole thing open and scrap out the bad stuff with a piece of knapped flint.

Oh yeah, and just in general surviving for 62 years.

In my next life, I'm gonna be captain of the chess team AND the debate team.

 

DrDirt.

I have nothing to bitch about after reading that!

Damn.