Spinal Surgery Success Stories

In this episode, Jack Barton, who works in construction and is also a CrossFit Coach shares his experience of surgery and recovery. After his back injury impacted on the movements he could make and he took the decision to have Microdiscectomy surgery to resolve the issue. He discusses the process leading up to the decision and the surgery along with what it was like in the 6 week initial recovery period and beyond. This is a good opportunity to hear from someone who has been through a surgery, undertaken the rehabilitation and returned to an exercise regime successfully.   KEY TAKEAWAYS CrossFit is functional based training and includes weights, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning so the movements are varied I tried physio and went through 2 rounds of injections which had little impact and were uncomfortable before deciding on surgery. It was challenging to accept the need to have surgery and know that as an active person I would have to go through a 6-week recovery period with a restricted exercise regime. The course of physio was based on stretches and as a fit person, I was able to successfully move through the recovery sequence fairly quickly. My biggest fear when I started to exercise again was that there would be a relapse. I took things slowly and benefitted because I was healthy and had a high level of fitness, I also understood my body and knew how to move. I’m 85% better than I was and if I could adhere daily to the stretching and other exercises I would be even better. Good body awareness makes a huge difference along with understanding how to move and stretch your body. If you are considering surgery you need to understand that the better you go into surgery the better you will come out of it.   BEST MOMENTS ‘I knew the difference between gym aches and pains and pain or an ache that is an indicator of something to worry about’ ‘You don’t have to stop doing exercise you just have to vary what you are doing’ ‘You have to go into surgery as strong as you can’   VALUABLE RESOURCES The Back Pain PodcastFree Sciatica guide: www.thebackpainpodcast.com    ABOUT THE HOSTS Dave ElliotDave is the owner of Advanced Chiropractic, a chain of Chiropractic and massage therapy clinics in Essex, UK. Dave still sees patients during the week but has been working hard to talk to as many experts in the field of back pain as possible to help distil all the information and bring it to you in this awesome podcast. You can find Dave on any of the Advanced Chiropractic social media platforms, or you can contact him @ [email protected] if you have any questions for him.-Instagram   Rob BeavenRob owns and runs a multidisciplinary clinic, The Dyer St Clinic in Cirencester Gloucestershire. His team of Chiropractors, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths, Doctors and podiatrists all collaborate on thousands of back pain patients every year. Alongside Dave, he has worked hard to bring to the table experts across all industries to give you the low down on back pain, with steps you can implement today to start feeling better.-Instagram -Twitter CONTACT METHOD Instagram Twitter Facebook [email protected]  Support the show: https://thebackpainpodcast.com