returning to cycling, post lumbar disc surgery...

Quoted message said:

how long, in weeks, was it for you from surgery to:
- easy spinning on a stationary trainer
- moderate training on a stationary trainer
- easy spinning outdoors (what kind of bike did you start on?)
- moderate training outdoors
- intense training

No personal experience; the only person I know who has undergone
lumbar procedures of the type you describe has yet to move off his
recumbent bike and resume riding his road bike. It's been two years,
if I recall correctly. (There may be some age-related issues; he's
over 50. There may also be another reason involved; he has found that
he *likes* the 'bent.)
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Quoted message said:

for any cyclist that have undergone a lumbar lumbar
discectomy/laminectomy, i'd like to get an idea of the range of time
people have gone from surgery to returning to various stages of cycling
activity.

how long, in weeks, was it for you from surgery to:
- easy spinning on a stationary trainer
- moderate training on a stationary trainer
- easy spinning outdoors (what kind of bike did you start on?)
- moderate training outdoors
- intense training

ps. i am working w/ a physical therapist and physiatrist, so no
lectures on listening to my doctor! this is purely an intellectual
(ha!) query!

Tim Foster (elite rower) apparently took something like a month and a half
between a (second) discectomy and getting out on a bike in rehab; source:
Four Men in a Boat. Not much other detail there (unless you want to be told
that it hurts).

Peter

Quoted message said:

for any cyclist that have undergone a lumbar lumbar
discectomy/laminectomy, i'd like to get an idea of the range of time
people have gone from surgery to returning to various stages of cycling
activity.

how long, in weeks, was it for you from surgery to:
- easy spinning on a stationary trainer
- moderate training on a stationary trainer
- easy spinning outdoors (what kind of bike did you start on?)
- moderate training outdoors
- intense training

ps. i am working w/ a physical therapist and physiatrist, so no
lectures on listening to my doctor! this is purely an intellectual
(ha!) query!

In 1989 I had a discectomy/laminectomy after the disc between L4 and
L5 imploded training for a weight lifting competition. It was
emergency surgery. I wasn't moving and my kidney function was
impaired.

The way that I came to cycling is that it was one of the exercises
recommended for my PT. I began on a road bike with triple cranks, 3x5
speeds. The surgery was in August. Walking within a week and cycling
within 3 weeks on flat roads within 3 weeks. 50 mile hilly but slow
ride by early Oct. Running in a swimming pool was the #1 recommended
exercise and swimming was #2. I disliked swimming pools. It took
more than 6 mos. before I was able to rid myself of toe drop and
tingling underneath the toe of my right foot.

I've been cycling >10,000 mi/yr since then and have had zero back
problems. I was very lucky. I have had my share of crashes and car
hits that necessitated surgeries and longer recovery times but nothing
related to the disc surgery.

Recently, FDA approved a surgery for a device that replaces the disk
and there are micro discectomies. I think that a different technique
would have been used than what I had in '89.

My wife had a micro discectomy for the same disc.and walked out of the
hospital the next day. She has/had a degenerated, bulging disc, which
is more common.