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Hello bros.
It's been a while since I posted here. I wasn't a frequent poster back then either so not many may recognize me.
Anyway, I needed to get input from bros who are dealing with injuries like herniated disks in the back and neck.
I had 2 severe injuries back in 2008. Around January of that year I herniated my L5/S1 disk with a bad deadlift (I was only starting to warm up, I had 2 80lbs dumbells in my hands, but I arched my back and that did it). The herniation wasn't severe. There was a protrusion but no actual tear. I had moderate back pain for about 3-4 weeks, and then the pain subsided. I stopped deadlifting, but continued to work out heavy in other areas.
Around August, I tore my left tricep tendon 80% with dumbell tricep extensions. This injury benched me for a long time. It took 6 months from the time I injured myself to the time I was on the operating table. Tendon was successfully attached, and it took another 6 months of physio just to get range of motion back in my arm.
I stopped working out completely for two straight years. I had the very weak tendon in my left elbow, and severe tendonitis on my right elbow (It didn't tear, but got hit HARD). Neither injury was healing, so I started looking for help, and on this same board I read about prolotherapy. Thank God for that! I found a doc who started the procedure on me. My right elbow went from maybe 30% strength to 95% with 6 shots every 2 weeks. My left elbow went from 10% strength to what I would say is around 50-60%. This is where I am now.
I started working out again last year, and have regained some of my strength, maybe about 50% of what I could do before. I also gained about 40lbs of fat that I have been unable to lose, but I haven't really tried dieting hard enough yet.
Now I made the huge mistake of reading up everything I can about these injuries, and a lot of what I've found seems to point particularly to spinal discs not being able to heal/regenerate, and severe cases can easily lead to paralysis.
Needless to say, I have become scared shitless now. I will not run. I will squat instead of bending over to pick something up. I find I can lift up to 70lbs of something comfortably as long as I keep my body straight. Things like bumps on the road while driving scare me (that they will further damage my back, and possibly damage my neck).
I feel like I've become paranoid and afraid of becoming an invalid. I don't put much trust in doctors. They all seem to treat these problems with "conservative treatments" ("take these pills and go home" attitude).
I read about the latest breakthroughs, like artificial disk replacements, and stem cells for spinal cord regeneration, but other than the 45mins of light work outs I put in twice a week right now, I've become sedentary, afraid to damage myself further.
What advice could you guys provide me? Could you share your stories with me? I appreciate it in advance.
It's been a while since I posted here. I wasn't a frequent poster back then either so not many may recognize me.
Anyway, I needed to get input from bros who are dealing with injuries like herniated disks in the back and neck.
I had 2 severe injuries back in 2008. Around January of that year I herniated my L5/S1 disk with a bad deadlift (I was only starting to warm up, I had 2 80lbs dumbells in my hands, but I arched my back and that did it). The herniation wasn't severe. There was a protrusion but no actual tear. I had moderate back pain for about 3-4 weeks, and then the pain subsided. I stopped deadlifting, but continued to work out heavy in other areas.
Around August, I tore my left tricep tendon 80% with dumbell tricep extensions. This injury benched me for a long time. It took 6 months from the time I injured myself to the time I was on the operating table. Tendon was successfully attached, and it took another 6 months of physio just to get range of motion back in my arm.
I stopped working out completely for two straight years. I had the very weak tendon in my left elbow, and severe tendonitis on my right elbow (It didn't tear, but got hit HARD). Neither injury was healing, so I started looking for help, and on this same board I read about prolotherapy. Thank God for that! I found a doc who started the procedure on me. My right elbow went from maybe 30% strength to 95% with 6 shots every 2 weeks. My left elbow went from 10% strength to what I would say is around 50-60%. This is where I am now.
I started working out again last year, and have regained some of my strength, maybe about 50% of what I could do before. I also gained about 40lbs of fat that I have been unable to lose, but I haven't really tried dieting hard enough yet.
Now I made the huge mistake of reading up everything I can about these injuries, and a lot of what I've found seems to point particularly to spinal discs not being able to heal/regenerate, and severe cases can easily lead to paralysis.
Needless to say, I have become scared shitless now. I will not run. I will squat instead of bending over to pick something up. I find I can lift up to 70lbs of something comfortably as long as I keep my body straight. Things like bumps on the road while driving scare me (that they will further damage my back, and possibly damage my neck).
I feel like I've become paranoid and afraid of becoming an invalid. I don't put much trust in doctors. They all seem to treat these problems with "conservative treatments" ("take these pills and go home" attitude).
I read about the latest breakthroughs, like artificial disk replacements, and stem cells for spinal cord regeneration, but other than the 45mins of light work outs I put in twice a week right now, I've become sedentary, afraid to damage myself further.
What advice could you guys provide me? Could you share your stories with me? I appreciate it in advance.
