Injuries/back keeping you from golfing?

[Clubswinger21]

For the past 6 months I've been struggling with back issues and seeing my chiro regularly, its gotten to the point where i dont even want to play a full round. My MD retired to make matters worse. And im the process of finding a new one so i can get some X-rays and possibly Physio and or surgery. (keep in mind im only 23)

I think I played 3 full rounds all summer. I probably would've played through the pain (more often) had it not been for poor summer weather.

Anyone else going through this? Its pretty depressing not being able to play when you want to. Or playing with a pathetic swing and poor distance when you do. =/

[c_mack9]

im a massage therapist that works in a chiropractic office. if you think back surgery is gonna get you back on the links, you are wrong. one surgery usually leads to a lifetime of surgeries with zero success. i say find yourself another chiropractor, and find the best massage therapist in town, one that specializes in therapeutic work such as deep tissue and trigger point therapy. medicine/surgery will not cure back pain.

[The Rambler]

well in the beginning of the summer i had severs in my heel and that was very painful. Lots of asprin and shoe lifts

[keiyoz]

sorry to hear that you're having back problems at such a young age.

i'm 25 now, and when i was playing competitive soccer, my back used to hurt after a match. now, i try to protect my back as much as i can (correct sitting positions ect)

backpain is one of the things i don't really want to face next time. please update your progress so that others may learn from your experience.

good luck

[Saks]

im a massage therapist that works in a chiropractic office. if you think back surgery is gonna get you back on the links, you are wrong. one surgery usually leads to a lifetime of surgeries with zero success. i say find yourself another chiropractor, and find the best massage therapist in town, one that specializes in therapeutic work such as deep tissue and trigger point therapy. medicine/surgery will not cure back pain.

Incorrect.

I am not a doctor but am someone who has had back surgery. I have gone from being unable to do anything more than hobble around in extreme pain to: 3 months: running around, 6 months: playing top level cricket (much harder on the body than golf) and now 3 years later I am an avid golfer having played for 6 months. While I am certainly not advising that everyone goes straight under the knife but there are definately situations where medicine/surgery is able to fis a problem. It all depends what is wrong with your back. I had 1 prolapsed disc and two bulging. The bulging discs (which is what most people with "real" back pain suffer from can be resolved by massage therapy and strengthening exercises (dont get me started on chiropractors!). However, when the disc has prolapsed and squashes the nerve only sometimes will you get lucky and have the disc retract and harden away from the nerve leaving you pain free. Think of the massage versus surgery debate like this...If the club head and shaft part company while you swing, no amount of rubbing is going to put it back together, it will require surgery (of the club repairer kind!) I understand your need to knock surgery as there are a lot of horror stories out there but, as I say above, certain conditions will really benefit from surgery. I was 25 when I had my operation and 3 years later on have never felt better. The 3 months recovery was hard work but beneficial to mind and body. In saying all this, I dont think I have been as scared as I was being wheeled in for the operation but it has changed my life for the better! Clubswinger, what is actually wrong with your back? Do you get pain down your legs?

[i-Guy]

Back in 2001 I played on the American Amateur Tour (which I think was purchased by the Golf Channel) and won 3 times (C flight 10-14 handicap). However, I injured my back. I had an MRI and they diagnosed me as having a slightly herniated disk and L4 & L5 were degenerative. I would play in a tournament and hurt my back. I would have to do nothing for two weeks (basically lie on the couch) in hope that I could play in the next tournament. This Tour puts on a Ryder Cup type event and this year it was at Champions Gate in Orlando. Well the Director of my Tour kept calling me wondering if I was going to play because the Orlando Tour had some strong players. So I decided to go try. First event was Foursomes (Alternate Shot) and we were up against their best C Flight player would broke 80 quite a few times during the year (sand-bagger) and me and my team-mate beat them 2 & 1. Anyway the next day was Fourball and I woke up and could not get out of the hotel bed. I hobbled to the GC and tried to warm up but had to pull out. So I went back to the Doctor and they decided to do these shots right into the disk. I had a series of three (every two weeks) and I kid you not I felt like I was 16 again (was actually 41 at the time). I was scared to hurt my back again so the clubs went into the closet and I did not swing again until last summer. I really missed the game but was too scared to hurt my back again. I have been playing now for over a year and for the most part pain free. I am 48 now so after a round or hitting a lot of balls I wake up feeling stiff but the key to my current success is this. I religiously stretch before and after every time I do anything golf related. Whether it is practice or playing and I think it has been the difference. So my recommendation before Surgery, Chiropractor, Massage Therapist is to get yourself on a serious (approved by an MPT or PT) stretching program and stick with it. It is boring I know but the benefits are well worth the effort. Just my 2 cents.

[Augusta Hacker]

I am now 34 and have had back problems for years. I struggled through with bulging disks in my lower back for years. In order to play, I would have to load up on Advil before I left and take more at the turn. By the end of the round I could hardly walk but I love to play so I struggled on. After the round, I was stuck on the couch for the rest of day hardly able to move. Eventually, I had a diskectomy at age 30 to remove to trim back a now ruptured disk. I still have a bulging disk left but it was not repaired at the same time because they would have to fuse my vertebre and I didn't want that. So I still have a ticking time bomb in my back ready to go off. However, after the surgery, I felt like a teenager again. I still have not had any problems and can play as many holes in a day I can and then play with my 3 year old at night with no problems. I would see a back doctor to look over your problems and let them fix it. Back surgery wasn't bad at all and was ready to go after 2 weeks. The doctor even told me (and repeated it to the wife) that golf was good for my back now. Go figure.

[$2 Nassau]

im a massage therapist that works in a chiropractic office. if you think back surgery is gonna get you back on the links, you are wrong. one surgery usually leads to a lifetime of surgeries with zero success. i say find yourself another chiropractor, and find the best massage therapist in town, one that specializes in therapeutic work such as deep tissue and trigger point therapy. medicine/surgery will not cure back pain.

I disagree with this 1000%. Although different things work for different people, in my experience chiropractic care results in very temporary relief, if not more long term discomfort.

[NM Golf]

I (knock on wood) have been lucky enough to have only very minor soreness of the back. My father, on the other hand, had severe back pain. He went to several message therapists and a ton of different chiropractors and they did not help at all. He had heard all the horror stories about people having back surgery and it not helping. Finally as a last straw he went under the knife. He will be the first one to tell you surgery was much more beneficial in helping the pain than the message and chiropractic sessions were. He does go weekly to a message therapist that his doctor prescribed, but he says he'll never visit another chiropractor again. Medicine has made great strides in back pain therapy, don't be afraid to see your MD.

[Lemay427]

i am 24 and have back problems only in the morning. i cant seem to find a comfortable mattress. i am almost ready to go to a chiro. its weird how its only at night and doesnt hurt any other time.

[Diggitydog]

it could be your sleeping position. If you sleep on your stomach, rare but happens, that is very unhealthy for you back.

Sometimes my lower back is stiff in the am when I wake up but usually clears within a few minutes.

I sympathize with you guys having back issues, they are no fun at all!

[iacas]

it could be your sleeping position. If you sleep on your stomach, rare but happens, that is very unhealthy for you back.

I prefer to fall asleep on my stomach and I believe I wake up on my stomach, and I do okay. I like to have one arm under my pillow and my head on top of that...

Then again, I have a Tempurpedic mattress and pillow, so perhaps they let me get away with it.

[geezer]

I prefer to fall asleep on my stomach and I believe I wake up on my stomach, and I do okay. I like to have one arm under my pillow and my head on top of that...

Thats how I get to sleep most of the time! But I don't always wake up again on my stomach. BTW I live in student digs in Belfast, so, no, I don't have a tempur whatever mattress (sounds expensive) and I don't have any back pain.

[Diggitydog]

I prefer to fall asleep on my stomach and I believe I wake up on my stomach, and I do okay. I like to have one arm under my pillow and my head on top of that...

Maybe I should revise my statement about stomach sleeping.

If you have back pain AND sleep on your stomach it might be worth looking into changing your sleeping position. I was just in for a physical and my GP mentioned the stomach sleeping thing to me when I said I was a little stiff in the am for about 30 seconds. Then I told her the stiffness was morning wood.

[Clubswinger21]

Incorrect.

To answer your question when i was 12 i was diagnosed as having a back injury sustained when i was very young. The doctors just gave me some stretches to do and sent me to a chiropractor. I didnt suffer from discomfort or pain untill i started golfing. I know something has yet to be diagnosed as repeatedly aggressively going after a golf ball will do damage over time.

Yes the pain radiates into the legs. My legs will also fall asleep in some sitting positions. My chiro believes i have a pinched nerve. Pain is relieved after a chiropractic treatment but returns after any physical strain (mainly golfing). Im in the process of getting my files transferred to a new MD, so im not going to know any details untill i can get a refferel. It sucks to say the least.. poor Freddy Couples.

[c_mack9]

ok yall are misunderstanding what i said in my first statement. i said find a GOOD chiropractor. almost all in my town suck but i have 2 in my office that are awesome. they do a different type of chiropractic, we change your spine permantly. proof is in the x-rays. most chiros treat back pain instead of the disorders in the spine, we fix the disprders and that leads to less pain and people not having to have back surgery/meds. i totally agree there are as many chiro horror stories as there are back surgery stories. to all you who posted your success with back surgeries, congrats for being in the 18% who it helped.

[azgreg]

I've suffered lower back pain off and on for most of my adult life. I just work throught it. As of last week however, I have a new problem: cracked ribs. I have a tournament this Sunday that I already paid for. I figure a couple of Bud Lights and Vicoden for breakfast should take care of it though. lol.

[Saks]

Yes the pain radiates into the legs. My legs will also fall asleep in some sitting positions. My chiro believes i have a pinched nerve. Pain is relieved after a chiropractic treatment but returns after any physical strain (mainly golfing). Im in the process of getting my files transferred to a new MD, so im not going to know any details untill i can get a refferel.

Sounds like a classic case of a prolapsed disc. It wasn't so much the back pain but the leg pain...It is almost undescribable. When the doc said before the operation that the worst case scenario was that I would lose feeling in my legs, I would have accepted that result! Incidentally, I would like to know where that 18% success rate figure comes from. My surgeon has a 9 out of 10 success rate for people regaining their normal life after surgery. I believe alot of the success (assuming of course that the surgeon does the surgery correctly) comes down to how you get through the rehab period. I had a strict month of nothing, then a month of walking and general house bound activities and finally a month of 4 days a week in the gym with progressive loading. This was all based on being able to play a physical sport again. This was all at the governments expense as well...gotta love the free health systems here in New Zealand.

My problem with chiropractors is this. In most cases a misaligned spine will cause a suspect disc to push onto a nerve (this is for serious back pain). So you get your back "cracked" back into line and the pain goes away. Great. So then you do pretty much anything and that causes the spine to go west again. Back to square one. So, off to the chiro again. Sounds like a license to print money if you ask me. What do they charge over there? Back problems are 99% caused by a weakness in the back or a surrounding area. So unless the area is strengthened, the back will always slip back into a bad position and cause you more pain. My problems all started with tight hamstrings which caused me to end up with a funny angle in my back. This was combined with a job that was hard on my back (mechanic). Massage can give excellent relief as it loosens up the muscles and allows your back to get in the right areas. However, it like a chiro will not fix the underlying problem. As with anything, prevention is the best cure. If you get onto back problems before they get out of hand, then massage and strengthening exercises will help. Also look at your daily activities. The amount of youngsters I see lifting the wrong way is amazing. I just show them my scar and they get the message pretty quick!!!! Clubswinger, make sure that your new doc organises an M.R.I scan. From there you can make a decision as to the treatment. If the disc are just bulging the the future is bright. They will settle if you take it easy for 3 months and get a proper rehab programme. Bulging discs do settle if you are lucky and find out why they are bulging (something will be causing misalignment somewhere) and get everything sorted. If one or more are ruptured then it could be another path. Sounds like many people on here have had success with operations. All depends on the surgeon and your rehab I guess. If you were in New Zealalnd I could recommend an excellent one! The point made about stretching is vital. It will increase flexibility and build muscles. Both these will lessen the chance of a back injury. Maybe I should write a book on this!!!