I never saw an orthopedic just had my Chiro call in for and MRI which showed herniaton at L5-S1. Maybe I should schedule an appointment and see if I'm a candidate. Great to hear you had such good results. You're not in Jersey are you ?
No I'm not, I'm in NC (had my surgery in OH where I'm originally from).
What is your definition of "full" flexibility? Can you do the splits? Can you touch your elbows to the ground? Can you bend over backwards?
Surgery is the worst thing you can ever do. The scar tissue build up from the surgery alone is going to limit what you can and can't do. I definitely would have tried to find a better chiro or PT.
I can pretty easily flatten my palms against the ground. Elbows? Probably not, but I'd say that's pretty excessive unless you're a professional gymnast.
Not sure what you mean by "bend over backwards". Splits have nothing to do with spinal flexibility, so those are irrelevant to this discussion.
By "full flexibility", I meant I regained every bit of flexibility that I had pre-injury. My health, strength, and flexibility have not just reached, but have exceeded where I was at prior to the herniation. I experience
zero pain, whether I'm on a 12-hour road trip, running, playing sports, or deadlifting & squatting.
Your last comment is just completely, 100%, incorrect. Blanket statements and generalizations are ignorant, and this one is no exception. For
many individuals, surgery is a very effective, attractive option. Sometimes it's the only treatment that will be effective in any way. As long as the medical staff taking care of you isn't completely incompetent, they're going to minimize the amount of scar tissue left behind by the surgery, in my case to the point where it's not noticeable at all to the patient.
This was especially true for me. I was incredibly lucky (or unlucky I guess depending how you look at it) to be 18 years old, so my body was able to heal very well and very quickly. Older individuals might not see quite the same success, and I would highly recommend attempting other forms of treatment first because of the expense and risks of surgery. My family is full of doctors, including both of my parents and my dad's father. All of them fully recommended and supported my decision and the decision of my surgeon to go forward with the procedure. After everything I'd already tried, it was a no-brainer.
I was a college student at the time, and had access to excellent PTs (we have a very strong athletics program) and one of the best hospitals in the country. Their work helped minimize the pain I was in (I could actually make it through a 75 minute lecture while seated without needing to leave part-way through to walk around due to the leg pain). However, even after 6 months, I was still unable to bend over far enough to touch my knees, let alone my feet (my friends helped me tie my shoes). I couldn't make my body run, jog, or even jump more than an inch off the ground. I was a varsity basketball player before, so those things used to be second nature to me.
edit
Oh, you're the guy who was arguing that squats should only be done with feet pointing perfectly straight forward, otherwise it's cheating and you're inflexible, and that foam rollers are BS. This all suddenly makes a lot more sense...
