Today marks two years post lumbar discectomy surgery. I love how it has changed my approach to training. I appreciate the pain experienced through it all. Most importantly, the operation helped me gain a new perspective for people who are either in pain or have experienced pain.
What Is A Lumbar Discectomy?
Lumbar is the area of the spine known as the low back. Discectomy means “the surgical removal of part or all of a disc that has herniated.” A herniated disc occurs when the gel-filled nucleus escapes through a tear in the disc and compresses the spinal nerve. (Figure 1) Think of a jelly donut being squeezed. The pain is debilitating and intense. There’s typically back and leg pain, but a person with a disc herniation will have leg pain, which is worse than their back pain. You’ll also experience muscle numbness and weakness. Deficits with any of the lumbar discs will manifest as pain anywhere from the hip area down to the big toe and lateral foot. More on the procedure here.
Before going into the three lessons back surgery has taught me, let’s explore in brief the “inner” and “outer” units responsible for a healthy, stable spine.
The “Inner” Unit
The inner unit consists of muscles whose primary function is to stabilize the spinal column. “The inner unit muscles are designed specifically to prevent disc or ligament injuries and any subsequent development of excess joint motion.” There’s much debate around what these muscles are. Still, I found most experts agreed on – the transversus abdominis, pelvic floor muscles, multifidus, and the diaphragm.
“The inner unit muscles are designed specifically to prevent disc or ligament injuries and any subsequent development of excess joint motion.”
Spinal Stabilization: The New Science of Back Pain, 2nd Edition, Rick Jemmett
Unfortunately, many people today still trash their abdominals with generic crunch type exercises. Their low back pain intensifies, and the conditioning of their core continues to diminish.
The “Outer” Unit
The outer unit consists of muscles whose primary function is to move the spine. Basic movements such as pulling, pushing, twisting, bending, squatting, lunging, and gait (walking, jogging, & running). That said, some of the outer unit muscles include- internal and external oblique abdominals, rectus abdominis, adductors, gluteal muscles, latissimus dorsi, hamstrings, and quadriceps. The outer unit muscles are viewed as movers of the spine by most due to their size and ability to generate more force than the inner unit. However, they provide crucial stabilizer functions for the body as well.
Three lessons I learned:
- Recovery is an essential yet undervalued factor for all health and fitness-related goals. Are you properly nourishing your body? How’s your sleep routine?
- The power of tuning into yourself and listening to your body. Simple but not easy. Have you tried a 5-minute body scan? How about 3 minutes?
- Pain is the best teacher (Paul Chek talks about the pain teacher. Check him out) Whenever pain is present, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental, we have a choice to either listen or ignore it. The “no pain no gain” approach is a misleading mentality.
Back pain is something most people will experience in their lifetime. The problem is, most approaches to rehab and low back conditioning are conventional and aren’t working nearly as well as they could. Seek to educate yourself on the basic principles of exercise and nutrition. In essence, value and chase recovery, listen to your body and respect pain. I didn’t and paid for it, literally and figuratively.
Until next time.
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