To those with herniated discs...What caused it?

[tmuscle]

Just out of curiosity...Was it heavy squatting/deadlifting or something which involved moving heavy weights (or light weights for lots of reps) or was it pretty out of nowhere (ie you throwing a frisbee to your dog...)???

To those who have herniated discs...is it degenerative and/or genetic?

 

[banana joose]

I suffered a herniated disc a little over a year ago. It gave me warning signs. When I did heavy squats, it would burn for almost an entire day. Finally it put me down. My brother was in the military and he had this same problem a few years back (not from doing heavy squats, but rather carrying around a 100lb pack all day through a desert), he was told by the military docs that he was genetically prone to this. Sure enough, not even a couple years later, I reaped the benefits of these great genes. I hurt my back again this past August, again doing heavy squats. This time the chiro told me it had started to bulge. I can't prove it, but sometimes I think I could've avoided both injuries by focusing more on keeping my core tight during my squats. However, now I only use the smith machine, no more taking chances.

 

[cm]

after using a split bench for declines for a while, (top moves, seat is stationary) the pressure it put b/c of the unnatural bend wore it down to the point where one day squating, bottom, rep 9 pop goes the disc.
I narrowed it down to the bench, but the squats were the final straw.
So I guess that would make it for me degenerative, not genetic

 

[Lysphen]

The problem with a herniated disc is that except if the pain happens in the very moment while you're doing some sort of lifting, you can't find out since when you have it.

For instance, as far as i remember i've always had lower back troubles. Since i was a teen... i remember the pain after doing some exercise. (not permanently, it just comes, then goes away for a few weeks and comes back)


I've recently done some exams that showed i have 2 herniated discs.
Doctors told me to stop lifting any weight above 100 pounds (lol). They said it might naturally go back to normal by itself, within a few years, if i totally stop working out.
But as i told 'em, i might have these two injuries for several years !
To me, its "only" 2 little injuries after many years of training.
So there's no way i quit.

My father definitely also has lower back problems.
So I probably have a genetic weakness. But i am now trying to go over it by improving my core.


Eventually, the weight you carry does not matter that much, tension and concentration are both way more important.

But i still go heavy :headbang::headbang::headbang:

 

[phatrr]

You can't tell what caused it.

Stewart McGill (backfitpro.com) is one of the world's authorities on low back disc herniation. His studies show it's a repetitive stress injury, and can be caused by improperly sitting down, standing up, bending over - with only body weight - over the course of years.

Many people have herniated discs with no symptoms. The Cleveland Clinic recently did a study of 300 NFL players between 24 and 28 years old who weighed over 250lbs. Something like 90% of them have herniated discs. Only a few display any symptoms.

I have herniations at L2-L3 and L5-S1 (confirmed MRI); I found out about them because I've been having a lot more back pain than normal, and problems with my legs. Turns out I have severe nerve damage to L5-S1. Now, I've known that I have degenerated discs in this same regions for years, confirmed via x-ray in 2006 - but I have experienced low back pain / difficulty in walking in 2003.

When did they herniate? I'll never know.

 

[jblair]

Poor form for a split second on stiff-legged deadlifts. Did not keep my head up, back rounded a bit, and then I heard what sounded like a shower curtain being ripped from the rod. Back was sore but it hit home later - moving in bed, tipping hips down and creating arch while on my back, generated pain. A lot of pain. Slept in a recliner for months. Reverse hyper movement and a glute kick-back machine has helped.

 

[Lysphen]

When did they herniate? I'll never know.

This was exactly my point.
Even more, if you hadn't had more pain, you'd have never known about them !

so what matters is actually not to make them be a pain in the ***

 

[anabolicscuba]

Mine is in the C5-C7 region, both of them bulging and C6/C7 one a little herniated. Mine is from doing dumbbell military presses. The warning signs were there for me just like someone else mentioned earlier. One week I did this exercise, then the following morning my neck was stiff. After a few days it went away and short of put it out my mind. The following week I really went heavy on shoulder day, but this time i really screwed it up (herniated disc).

 

[Chevytrks]

I sustained a central protusion 8mm about 11 years ago in the L5-S1. I underwent what was at that time called VAX-D, now I believe its just called decompression. Doctors were telling me to get a fusion, but I looked for other alternatives. After completed the 20 sessions on the VAX-D I have been nearly paid free for the last decade. I am able to do any and all exercises and weights in the gym, I choose. Only once in a while when the disc degenerates a little do I feel pain for a couple days.
I sustained my injury in 1999 while I was changing spark plugs and wires on a corvette that was on a dyno. I straightened up one time and felt severe pain.

 

[eroc613]

Years of racing motocross. (1) Broken vertabrae (1) cracked vertabrae both from racing. My L5 is is bulging about as far as it can bulge, along with my sciatic nerve being pinched, (hurts all the way down to my ankle)

Funny, lots of guys say they hurt it lifting weight, I'm pretty sure lifting weights is the only thing thst has kept me falling apart. I squat over 500 lbs for reps, and yes it hurts, but giving up because it hurts will only make me/it weaker.

My chiropractor is a bodybuilder, and Dexter Jackson's chiroprator, and he feels the lifting has kept me from getting any worse than it is.

It always makes me smile when guys talk about how they don't lift heavy because of their back problems.

 

[BIGNUTZ]

4 Herniated. 2 in lumbar, 2 in cervical. head on collision followed by rear ended 4 months later!