Rowing with a herniated disk

[adam]

Has anyone had experience rowing with a herniated disk?
Is it safe?
Is there any danger of further damage from rowing?

Thanks, any thoughts would be appreciated...

a

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[Walter Martindale]

Must be a lawyer, asked "yes or no questions"
Yes,
No,
Yes.

However, a good physio may help, but if you've a herniated disk, you've got a
long time of rehab and possibly surgery ahead.
See a GOOD doctor who knows an athlete from a sedentary person, and who knows
something about rowing.
Walter

[sue t.]

Gee, I would have answered:
Yes.
Maybe.
Possibly.

Factors I found relevant were:
- sweeping or sculling?
- location of "herniated" disk
- technique
- following doctor's advice?

..................
sue

"Walter Martindale" <wmar...@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
news:3CA2013A...@telusplanet.net...

[Andy and Abbe Lynch]

Yes.
"Safe" is a relative term and is widely open to interpretation.
Most definitely, especially if it was caused by rowing in the first place.

I sweep rowed on a herniated L-4,5 disc for about 6 months in college,
mainly because I was misdiagnosed during that time. I didn't surpass
anyone's clinical threshold of suspicion for a disc bulge - no strong
neurological signs below the buttocks. I only had low back/butt pain. It got
progressively worse over those months until I couldn't even sit down for 5
minutes in class. My erg scores got progressively worse too while the rest
of the team was improving, mostly because of increasing weakness, not so
much because of pain. I eventually had to quit rowing that season and I
redshirted the year. I gained about 20 pounds after that because I couldn't
do any form of exercise other than swimming and I hate swimming. Over the
summer after not having improved after 3 months of not rowing, I was able to
convince a different doctor to set me up for an MRI and there it was - the
disc. I went through a bout of physical therapy with no improvement, so my
choice was either surgery or wait it out for a year or so and then go back
to rowing, although I would then lose a year of eligibility. I chose the
surgery mainly because I wanted another two years to row and I figured it
was more likely that I would later reinjure an already weak disc than it was
that I would have a bad outcome from the surgery. For the average patient
that's not really the case, but the average patient doesn't do a sport
that's as hard on the low back as rowing is. The surgery worked out very
well for me and I'm glad I did it - I was back to my pre-injury performance
level within 6-8 months. But I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. If you
have a bulged disc and you're still rowing, I would take several weeks (like
4-6) completely off from rowing, erging, weights that use your back,
running, stadiums, or any other high stress or high impact activity. I would
do the stationary bike, swim, and use an elliptical trainer (this is the
best of the three in my opinion and I wish it existed when I was hurt) to
keep from losing too much aerobic base. I would also incorporate a hamstring
stretching and torso strengthening exercise program into your daily
workouts - you can get these exercises and stretches from any good physical
therapist. After that period, ease back into your rowing routine (ie 1st
week 50-60% of your previous training volume, 2nd week 60-70%, 3rd week
70-80%, etc) and if you're not having problems that's great. If your pain
returns, then you may have to reconsider your options. When and if you
consider surgery as a treatment possibility, keep in mind that most bulged
discs are asymptomatic or close to it within a year, but also keep in mind
that most bulged discs belong to people that don't row.

Andy