Herniated disc - Back support when skiing

A snowHead

Hi Snowheads!

I'm going skiing this March for the first ever time.

I herniated a disc in my spine 2 years ago pretty badly, which was agony for about a year. It's ok most of the time now thankfully - mainly due to pilates!

I'm really worried I may damage it again when I go skiing (probably not the wisest thing to do I know!)

I've been looking at getting a back protector to try and prevent damaging it, but there are so many to choose from.

Happy to spend quite a bit of money if it will prevent an injury.

Could anyone help with this?

Thanks in advance!!

A snowHead

Dainese have a fairly beefy belt built in. Sounds like you might want some lumbar kidney belting as well as the primary protection.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Was thinking more ski specific but essentially the same (not sure if they are radically different other than colour from the moto/MTB stuff anyway)

I think I have the active evo

http://www.dainese.com/gb/en/christmas-gifts/special-backprotector/

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Dumbassery

You'll need to Register first of course.

I've been using one for the last two years due to the same problem. I'll post a link to the one I have (cheap from EBay) when I'm back from St Anton next week.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Are you looking for protection against impact, or something for support? I use one of these which is far and away the best back support I've come across. It provides support and keeps the lower back warm.

https://m.bonanzamarket.co.uk/listings/lrg-professional-choice-comfort-fit-neoprene-rider-low-back-support-heat-therapy/542114260?goog_pla=1&gpid=319078017589&keyword=&goog_pla=1&pos=1o2&ad_type=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyszSBRDJARIsAHAqQ4raeKMhNLgr45W9WRU3DRztDOubfMm1WscdUf_5qV2GeIPv02GzxUsaAi8GEALw_wcB

After all it is free

When I did the same some years ago I used the Ortovox Freerider backpack. A combination of back protector and thick lumbar support belt.

I don’t like wearing these belts and back protectors when not skiing so it’s nice to take them off at lunch etc which is why I recommend them.

I also used a compression shirt - under armour cold gear - to pull myself into a remsemblance of good posture!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I skied 6 months after a herniated disc. It was only in the last 4 weeks that I suspected i may be able to ski on the holiday. Lost of physio and exercise and I ended up being fine.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Also, I notice you're not going until March??
If I was you I'd talk to your Physio and gym instructor and devise a plan of intensive training on the muscles around your affected disc, lots of abs work, more pilates, core stuff etc...get yourself as 'Mountain Ready' as you can so you're not overly reliant on your brace/support.

Welcome aboard by the way!

snow reports

@agw, From someone who's knees are shot, I know all about getting 'Mountain Ready' !!!

Every October, I change the focus of my workout to intensively feature both my knees whilst incorporating cardio and core stability.

I've type 4 arthritis so as someone who doesn't want to go down the route of big heavy supports, I find it better to really build both the joints up, so I can ski pain free and I've no need for supports as my muscles will do the job.

Same should apply here.

You know it makes sense.

I have had a discectomy for prolapsed disc with resultant awful sciatica in 2009. Missed a couple of seasons. By far the only way I have managed my back pain has been exercise as per dazman. I work on it year round. Ski a few times a season and rarely have a twinge nowadays. Before I got into the exercise manner of managing chronic pain I would take paracetamol, diclofenac and codeine before venturing on the slope.

I did try on a couple of back supports with the same idea as yourself but found them uncomfortable. However horses for courses and will not cause a problem if you do the core exercises etc (sounds like you are). Like the Ortovox back pack idea although maybe expensive for a newbie skier.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@dazman, how do you build muscle with grade 4 Arthritis? and how on earth do you ski pain free? Just standing should produce pain with that level of arthritis

A snowHead

@hammo123, I had a massive disc prolapse at L3/4 last August, with severe nerve pain in my legs such that I couldn't stand or walk for more than a minute, and eventually had surgery to remove the disc fragments in November. I woke up post-op pain free and skied again, with no problems, in December, less than 4 weeks post op. This may sound a little risky, but was done in cooperation with my surgeon and physio, and I took a number of measures to stay safe:
- absolutely key is to develop enough core strength, not just via static holds (eg planks, bridges etc), but dynamically too (variants such as pike to plank, plank reachouts, Swiss ball jacknifes, 1 leg Romanian deadlifts (similar to yoga warrior 3 pose), so you can keep your spinal posture healthy under the 3D loads of skiing. Pilates is indeed great but you need to know where you are at, so if you're not sure then get checked out by a physio.
- ensure you have adequate mobility for skiing - I am well aware of this and knew by week 4 I was OK for easy piste skiing, but kept away from offpiste/bumps and high speed skiing. You are a new skier so again a physio is probably your best bet
- ensure you have enough general fitness so you manage fatigue on the slopes => I didn't ski too long into fatigue as its clear that is when problems may happen
- I had a huge warmup each day which was time consuming but well worth it - spinal warmups first, then core and glute activations, then pre ski dynamic mobility (off snow), then finally some more dynamic mobility at the top of the slopes. Then when skiing I would do a skills warmup in the first run, some balance work, then some edging, then some rotational turns, etc

In my case I didn't use a back protector - the surgery site was still sore and I wouldn't like to fall on it, but I was confident in my ability to not fall. However the surgery site concerns were to do with protecting the incision and healing muscles, nothing to do with the prolapsed disc, which is several inches under the skin and I don't see how a back protector would protect this, the only thing which will protect it is enough core strength to keep good spinal posture and avoid ejecting any remaining fragments. (Perhaps a weightlifting type belt may help add stability to your core, but that is itself a contentious topic...) In your case you didn't say you had surgery, so it all comes down to core strength...

A snowHead

@hammo123, PS welcome to Snowheads!
"...so it all comes down to core strength.." or to be more accurate, the ability to use your core strength to do ski specific movements whilst maintaining healthy spinal posture. This implies you should be doing the ski specific movements now to prepare for your trip...think things like 1L squats with your rear leg elevated, lateral lunges, lateral jumps, 1L squats on a balance board/BOSU with the support leg thrown out to the side (to simulate catching an edge...)

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

@hammo123, As you can see, there are a few of us who are/have been in the same situation. Here's my ha'penny worth....

A back support, as suggested by @Tom Doc, is IMO a much better idea than a back 'protector'. I have one and it works a treat.
Pilates is your best friend Smile

Skiing for me was completely pain-free. Sciatica used to get me when I was on a chairlift or in a restaurant, but no problem when actually skiing.
I've had a handful of falls, but they haven't done me any harm.
The only thing that hurts is when you get a sudden jolt. e.g. you go over an unexpected bump and drop a few inches and you aren't prepared for it.
Avoid any jumps and other general stupidity

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

@hammo123,

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Having had my fair share of back problems, including the same problem you've had, I can very honestly say only one thing will help prevent the injury... getting fitter and stronger. The god send for me has been running. The more I run, the fitter I get. I had my first ski day of the season at the weekend and I felt stronger than I have for any previous season in the past 10 years. I didn't enjoy the running at first, but have now grown to love it (ran my first marathon last year, got a good pb on the 1/2 marathon and am going for my first ultra this year) and see it as being part of my life that will keep me active for many years to come and contribute to my other sports, especially skiing, more than anything else would. For sure, wear a back protector or whatever, but for the best results, get out and get fitter. I'm not saying you are not fit, and you may already run, but this is from my personal experience. Haven't found anything that builds better core strength than running and supplementing it with exercises/gym etc.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

For people who have been symptom free for a year or so following an episode of sciatica, a return to normal activity (which would include first time and presumably quite gentle skiing) would be a pretty reasonable suggestion. 90% of athletes return to previous levels of sporting performance within a year after disc herniation.
For those with ongoing symptoms (leg pain, neurological deficit) most would advise caution with impact sports.
Back braces, whilst perhaps making people feel psychologically more secure, are unlikely to be of much use - disc herniation is a bit more complex than that and there is no evidence (that I can find) that they might prevent a recurrence.
If I had had an episode of sciatica due to a disc herniation and then remained without symptoms for a year, I would save my money, do what we all should be doing (stretch and warm up) and enjoy myself on the slopes Smile

You know it makes sense.

@hammo123, if you haven't seen a physio that should be a priority. Disc problems don't occur spontaneously and in isolation, after many years with little bother I started having pain again last year - my physio (who I hadn't seen in years) found the cause and gave me stretches which really help.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I started having back problems when I was 16. I kept it under control by keeping fit.

Around my 30s and 40s, it got a little worse..but would be OK with warm up and anti inflammatories....and was always fine when skiing.

I spent several years going to Chiropractors...but feel that they turn you into a "Crunch Junkie"...and will almost never tell you that they are not going to be able to fix you.

In my 50s, exercise (including skiing) started to jam up my back, rather than free it up. That was my trigger to get proper medical intervention. It turned out that I had a herniated disc (L3/L4)...after several lots of injections, with nothing working, I finally had back surgery in 2013 (Fusion).

Having missed 5 years of skiing, I was back a year after the op....lots of gentle training.

So, my advice would be:
- Keep muscles "soft" through deep tissue massage, from the likes of a Physical Therapist....and learn to work on your own tight spots, with a tennis ball and foam roller.
- Keep aligned with Chiro or Osteopath...but if you use the former, don't get sucked into going very regularly.
- Exercise cleverly, especially focusing on weak muscles...may take a physio, to isolate which these are. Remember, a weak muscle, is a tight muscle.
- I use a large lumber back support when skiing, a bit like this: http://www.alphabrace.com/Double-Pull-Lumbar-Sacral-Back-Support-Brace/productinfo/4700/
- I also take anti-inflammatories for the week, hot baths (morning and evening) and stay hydrated.
- I make sure I do gentle warm up runs in the morning.

IMO. While you can live your life as normal, by controlling your condition, then do so. Only consider surgery, when you have had to give up everything you enjoy (due to every other measure failing)...as being active simply cripples you. You will know when you have reached this point.

A snowHead

I think back pain affects up to 30pc of the population at some time in ones life.

Back surgery has come a long way in the last 25 years, since I first had 3 herniated discs. In those days, it wasn't feasible to do 3 fusions, so the surgeons told me to get used to it.

I went swimming a lot and found the problem eased slightly.

After a relapse 5 years ago, I had 2 microsurgeries to fix two disc problems, the other one having disappeared.

For the moment, touch wood, I'm fine. I've almost forgotten how good it feels to wake up each morning and live life without a back problem. Pity my knees are now cactus Happy

They tend to avoid surgery unless there's nervous damage - weakness in muscles, flappy feet, weak bladder etc. If you get any of this, seek surgery fast as the damage can be irrevocable. I still have no feeling in many parts of my legs and feet, but fortunately I can still hold several beers without breaking the seal.

The microsurgery is relatively minor, from my experience, but it doesn't always work. You shouldn't be afraid of it.

Until then, my advice would be to manage the problem. You need to rest it when it's severe and needs rest. Other times, you need to keep it moving to avoid it seizing up. After many months with the problem, you get good at knowing which is which.

Regards a back support, when you need to keep it moving, I'd avoid wearing one but try to avoid bumps or anything too challenging. When you need to rest it, I'd avoid skiing.

Do Pilate's and strengthen your core in the meantime.

A snowHead

Help!!

Herniated disc - Back support when skiing

snowHeads Forum Index >>> The Piste