 Poster: A snowHead
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DAMN !!!
Had some severe backache last sunday, jst seen consultant, likely to be a slipped or prolapsed disc. MRI tomorrow to confirm.
I am due to go to La Plagne on 16th Jan 2011...... will i recover in time. Cons said 6 weeks average. So, with a week already gone, thats four weeks left to recover in time...... what are the things i should do to give myself the best chance of recovering in time?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Depends on the severity of the slippage, obv, but I can offer my personal experience. I had a "semi-herniated disk" diagnosed 8 weeks before going skiing a few years ago. I had 3 weeks virtually immobile, then I started moving around slowly and carefully to get some movement back and lots of physio sessions. The first couple of days skiing were very gentle until I got my confidence. The next step was falling over, to see if I'd screw it all up again. I was lucky and it all worked OK. Not had a problem since then, but I've spent a lot of time (and money) with a personal trainer. It's worth it though, if the other option is never skiing again.
It's very difficult to tell because each case is different, but if you look after yourself you might be al-right., You'll know yourself if your ready for it, but you have to be honest with yourself otherwise you could make things a whole lot worse.
I know exactly how you feel, my sympathies are with you. Good luck.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thamks Dr John, possitive stories are a mental help to me right now.
I have trips booked for feb and march, so the sensible options are to just wait until feb, but who wants sensible right now !!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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My sympathies.
A quick summary - I've had exactly this back problem (caused by a skiing fall) for about 30 years...and (the good news) have managed to ski pretty much every year since it first occurred. No real problem when I was younger but over the last 8 or so years it has become worse which is exactly what medical folk said would happen way back when it first occurred.
It does make me more cautious in skiing than I would like to be and I really try extremely hard not to fall so I pretty much just don't. The bending/unbending process of picking myself up after a stonk can be a fairly painful experience and getting my boots on in the morning can also be a symphony of grunts, gasps and squeals at times. However, you will find your pain threshold does increase.
I would recommend trying all the options as they all have helped me in various ways over the years - Ibuprofen, acupuncture, osteopathy - but by far the most effective (and cheapest!) and really marvellous thing has been Pilates which I practice all year round - about 4 hours a week. It's a gentle, slow build exercise regime which can take a few months to really kick in (I realise that's perhaps not the best news for your 16 Jan date but bear it in mind for a long term solution).
I also do a few of its basic moves morning and evening (before apres!) when skiing and that helps. It is not a fix or a cure (there is none - sorry) but it will help you manage the problem so that it doesn't stop your enjoyment of a day on the hill. I can still bootpack and skicarry and now only get a very small amount of spinal payback in the evening.
A sauna if possible, is also a must. You'll be prescribed physio and most of the excercises will be very similar if not identical to those practised in Pilates.
If you take it easy in the meantime (no lifting heavy stuff, shovelling snow etc) keep your exercise discipline ( Now is the time to forget macho notions of high-impact, big sweat exercise) and pop some Ibuprofen each morning when on the slopes, I reckon you should be OK for Jan 16.
Corse the other good news is you'll never be a boarder now 
Good luck
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hmmm. Another fellow skier wanting medical advice from a bunch of total strangers on a forum! How much use is it to you, Libertine, to know that I suffered a ruptured disk nearly 40 years ago? Is that the same thing as a slipped or prolapsed one? - I haven't a clue. Then, the treatment was about 6 weeks bed rest. Now, I understand, the patient is encouraged to get up and get active as soon as possible.
So on the basis of that experience, and that level of medical knowledge, may I give you advice? Of course I can. After all, you can see that experience had made me an expert. So emboldened by all of that, let me advise .......
.......... that you consult with your consultant and go by what he/she tells you.
(Don't get me wrong - having been through a great deal of pain in the past, I have total empathy with your pain and frustration.)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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4 months for me. Luckily my ski hol was 4.5 months after my prolapse.
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Dear snowHeads - I have this piece of string... how long is it?
I've seen some people take 2 weeks to recover, and some people not right a year after surgery. Good luck though. Bummer. When you are recovering get "treat your own back" by Robin McKenzie and keep doing the exercises.
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I have bulged my disc twice in the past year. Not herniated though.
I second the Mckenzie book and also recommend the jim johnson book
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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If it's prolapsed - it will cause problems until your back stiffens up naturally and loses so much flexability you no longer nip any nerves.
However, it can be controlled with excercise. Seeing an osteopath worked better for me than standard NHS physio regimes.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ibruprofen and osteopath -and core exercises -
I always go to see my osteopath for a clicking session before i go skiing!
Never had any problems !
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