Bad news - diagnosis on my back

H

Hovis_and_SidsMum

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 January 2007
Messages
2,711
Location
Lincolnshire
Visit site
I went last night for the results of my mri scan and its not the best news (although could be worse).
The bottom 2 discs in my back are masively bulging out to the side with one pushing on the nerves that run down my right leg (that explains why it hurts!!).
frown.gif
My surgeon is hopefully that intensive spinal physio might sort it out without the need for an operation but he has said I can only ride 1 /2 times a week MAX and he'd prefer i didn't at all for three months.
Well i couldn't not ride at all but even cutting down to 1/2 times a week is not good.
I've had Hovis since October and was starting to up his work to get him fit and work on his schooling. He's only 4 and I really want to get him working.
So do i a) see if i can find someone else to ride him a couple of nights a week for me or
b) Just ride him twice a week and do lots of ground work with him the rest of the time?
I don't want to set his development back.
Another girl rode him for me on tuesday ngiht and he went lovely for her but I'm not sure if she's in a position to ride him more than that.
I want to do the best for him and the timing of this is pants.
 
Don't panic about your back. You might be better having the operation. I had one done 11 years ago and was told not to ride horses again. Well after the intial recovery 6 months I have ridden ever since and have no problems.

Hope it all works out for you
 
echo gypsycob, I had mine done 13 years ago and never had a twinge until a fall a couple of years ago (non horsey), I was told by the surgeon I could never ride again and am riding even with the bulging discs Im still recovering from this time. I wouldnt recommend you do the same if your surgeon has told you not to but do the groundwork if you are able with a rider when you can get one to keep him going. It is awful for you at the mo but there will be an end to it either through the surgery or the physio, which helped me massively this time but did nothing the first time. Keep yer chin up and get well soon.
 
I'm afraid I don't really have any advice, but I would think spending time doing lots of groundwork will be really beneficial. Hope things work out ok for you.
 
Poor you. I have a slipped disc and it presses on my sciatic nerve. I did it a year and a half ago and it is now quite a lot better - in my case, riding has really helped, but I guess it's different for everyone.

Hope you get everything sorted for him - if you defo can't ride much maybe it would be better to find someone to ride him for you some of the time? No point making your back worse as it'll only take longer to recover.
 
I'd really not beat yourself up about not riding - if he's 4 maybe a bit of a holiday wouldn't harm him - has he been turned away yet? Three months isn't nearly as long in reality as it seems from where you are sitting. Do the sensible thing, get better and you and he will be happier for it in the long run!
 
I have had this with 3 discs for 7 years and they have not got worse than they are for the past 3.I have alot of probs and take medication all the time but I ride 7 days a week and have done for years. I find riding keeps me fit and active which really helps I have seen a surgeon in harley street , The Royal orthapedic and Guys and I have never been told not to ride.
PM if you want to know more
 
Don't mess with a back injury.

While it's heartbreaking to consider undoing the progress you've made, if you don't rest you could end up being in a position where you could end up being unable to ride at all.

I once loaned a cob gelding because its owner had fallen from a different horse and damaged her back. She was told she was not to ride for 6 months...AT ALL, which is why I ended up having him. However, she didn't take the advice and kept riding. After 5 months, refusing to accept she couldn't ride any more, she frequently kept trying and she turned up to ask to ride her horse to see if she was now fit enough to take him back. After less than 5 minutes in the saddle she had gone as white as a sheet from pain, tears streaming down her face...we had to call her Mum (who had driven her to us...she struggled to drive because of pain) to collect her and I walked back leading the horses.

It's not worth the risk, get a rider and make your recovery your number 1 goal.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Do the sensible thing, get better and you and he will be happier for it in the long run!

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure if this is implying the same...If you're suffering with pack pain, there is a risk you could end up crooked or unbalanced, doing the same to the horse! Definitely not worth it!!
 
I had that 6 years ago and had an opp done as i lost all the feeling in my left leg , the same bulging disc have the opp , i ride now but i still cant feel my left leg but the op worked for me no pain for me now
 
I know how tough this can be as I had the same problem about three years ago now.
I did what I was told, (possible wheelchairs were mentioned if I didn't), and didn't ride for what was about nine months in total. For the first month or two I paid someone to keep the horses ticking over for me but when it became obvious that I wasn't going to be riding in the foreseable future and would need an op, I roughed them off.
Obviously the op is probably the last thing you want but all I can say is that thanks to my amazing surgeon, I woke from the op with all that sciatic pain gone..........completely gone............and when you've lived with it constantly for nine months, you just can't remember what it is like to be without it!
I was in hospital for just the one night after the op and back riding after 6-8 weeks.
Apart from having a very slight loss of sensation in my right foot, I am absolutely fine. I compete two warmblood horses in dressage so have to sit to their big trots and can do so with no more problems than I had before my discs slipped!
blush.gif
smile.gif


Take heart, you will get better. I think I may have been somewhat lucky in that riding is what I do for a living so the docs took me seriously. I do think sometimes they don't understand how devastating that is to be told not to ride, thinking 'it's only a hobby, what's the problem?'!
 
I think all the opinions here are valid, and you must remember that everyone is different. What works for one person may not work for another.

I am a Physiotherapist and I think the surgeon knows your individual case and it is best to listen to his advice. Keeping active to a degree is good for back pain.

I think the comment above with regards to you being crooked and this impacting on the horses way of going is valid here. Pain inhibits your muscles and with a lateral disc problem you are likely to have a change in posture these adaptations will be picked up by the horse. Therefore if your ultimate concern is the horses development it may be best for you to be involved purely in the ground work with someone else riding him. Or perhaps ruffing him off til the summer may be an option. Hope this helps.
 
My back is a war zone. Cracked vertebrae, bulging discs, degenerated vertebrae and discs, damaged discs, you name it and I've probably got it.

I was in constant pain, sometimes so bad I literally could not move. Went through all the hoops with the physio etc and whilst things improved, they were never fixed. I was to have operations on my neck and lower back, but as a last throw of the dice I went to a chiropracter.

By pure chance I chose a chiro who treats the Scottish Rugby Team, and who won International Chiropracter of the Year from an American organisation. In other words he's good.

First thing was the x-rays where he talked me through all the problems and what they could do to help. I started on a regime of 3 treatments a week, and now 15 years later it's once every 6 weeks. It transformed my life. I have to be careful, but apart from not lifting daft weights there is nothing I can't do.

There are some problems they can fix, some they can't. If you get a good one (and don't go near one who doesn't get x-rays taken) they'll be straight with you. If you've not tried already, give it a go. Nothing to lose, but possibly might help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top