I hurt my back years ago while pumping iron. I was laying on a bench and hanging a barbell in back of my head which I would raise over my head in an exercise called triceps extensions. During one rep something happened. It wasn’t dramatic but my back started aching. The aching eventually went away but I noticed that ever since, the aching would return if I arched my back. And it would ache for hours. I did some research and found that it’s an injury that is not uncommon in weight lifting. What happens is the small of your back arches causing the vertebrae to open at the top like an accordion, but the opposite happens on the other side where the two vertebrae come together where they can pinch the disc that separates them. Pinch the disc hard enough and it can cause damage or a herniation. It was a mild herniation and I never went to a doctor and just lived with it. What do you do? The idea of back surgery was terrifying! One slip of the knife and ??????
I lived with it for 40 years when another spot in my lower back – just below this one began to give me trouble. I would get pain across my left hip. I tried everything. Exercise, yoga, I bought a Teeter Hang Up. It just kept getting worse. I finally went to a medical clinic. I got x-rays and then an MRI. The 1st doctor I saw said my back was in good shape, but I was having a nerve pinched. He could give me a shot that might help for a while. He did and it didn’t. Next I was referred to a back surgeon who reviewed my MRI. He said I had a strong back but as you get older the space between vertebrae can decrease and some of the tissue gets calcified. The result is the pinching of a nerve. He said I only need surgery if the pain became unmanageable. It’s condition called Spinal Stenosis. Almost everyone gets it to some degree as they age - he said. He claimed he did minimally invasive back surgery. I asked him if he use the tubes and he said no. I figured I need to do a little more research.
I went to YouTube and quarried spinal stenosis surgery and discovered that everyone calls their surgery “minimally invasive” but the newest, most advance method is called “endoscopic”. They use a florascope to guide a wire to the correct place and follow it with a straw-line tube and then follow that with an expanding tube. They operate inside these tubes to remove some bone or hardened tissue to give you some room to take pressure off the nerve. I watched an operation done by Dr. Jeffery Hoe. It seemed about as minimally invasive as you can get. I made an appointment. Dr. Hoe read my MRI and told me he could fix both injuries at the same time using the same incision. Wow! A two-fer! Long story short – the operation took 1.5 hours and I walked out with a small band aid on my lower back. Hardly any pain and the Vicodin was enough. I got back to work too early as I felt pretty good and suffered a bit because of it but the chronic pain is gone. I can arch my back and not ache for the 1st time in 40 years. It’s been a little over a month now and I still get some inflammation when I use a shovel for any length of time. Will I ever be back to normal? My wife says not to expect a 30 year old back ever again, but I’m hoping after a few more months that I’ll be back. If you have chronic back pain perhaps my experience can help.
One more thing – this back surgeon is making about 10k per hour taking people out of their misery using state of the art equipment and techniques. If you are young and wondering what to do with your life and could hack the rigors of med school, this might be a way to go. I once worked with an ex-medic, who assisted a lot of doctors and he said that the residential general contractor work I do if far more complex and difficult than the procedures he has seen assisting doctors. The stumbling block would be the schooling. Fairly or unfairly, the medical profession screens out all but a few types of people. They seem to want Brainiacs that can memorize the Encyclopedia Britanica. I’m sure there are people with superior eye hand coordination who could be excellent surgeons – specializing in a few procedures, but will not be allowed into the profession. What I am saying is that I doubt performing the surgery is that hard – it’s getting through the schooling. But if you can, here is a great gig. Making bank - taking people out of pain. It’s a win/win. D-Tube endoscopic spinal surgery. If that doesn’t work you can compromise and go to YouTube.
