Show Notes
If you've got back surgery booked in weeks or months away, you've just had a microdiscectomy or discectomy, or you've been battling lower back pain for years and are weighing it up, this session explains what the operation is actually doing — and the job nobody gives you either side of it. (This isn't for emergency cauda equina symptoms — sudden loss of bladder or bowel control, saddle anaesthesia — get that seen immediately.)
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We explain what a microdiscectomy or discectomy actually does (removing the piece of disc that's pressing on a nerve, not repairing anything), why fusions and disc replacements sit in a completely different risk category, and why the spine is not stronger immediately after surgery — if anything, less stable. We cover the two very different kinds of people who end up having back surgery, why the weeks waiting for the operation and the four-to-six weeks after it so often get spent doing nothing even though "don't bend, lift or twist" isn't universal advice, and why that's the real job nobody gives you. Along the way: the Roman chair versus the hip hinge, measuring load rather than feelings before getting back to sport, morning stiffness and foam rolling, matching your upper-body lifts to your hip hinge, red light therapy and unregulated recovery compounds, and why losing disc height isn't game over.
🔑 Key Topics Covered 🔧 What surgery actually does: a microdiscectomy or discectomy is a cleanup operation — removing the piece of disc that's irritating a nerve, not repairing anything. The spine isn't stronger immediately afterwards; fusions and disc replacements are a different, much higher-risk category entirely.
👥 Two very different surgery patients: someone with no prior back-pain history who has a sudden emergency, versus someone who's struggled for years and whose pain crescendos into an emergency surgery. The second is far more common — and likely has a harder road back without real rehab.
⏳ The window nobody prepares you for: the weeks waiting for surgery and the four to six weeks after it are so often spent doing nothing, while the strength that's meant to protect you quietly declines right when you need it most.
📊 Most people don't do their prescribed exercises: 30-60% of people given exercises by a clinician never do them. Following a program properly — same reps, same timing, same technique — is what actually moves the needle.
Chapters 00:00 What back surgery actually does — and who this live is for 02:00 Will surgery remove the pain? What a microdiscectomy really does 06:00 The two kinds of surgery patients — and why one has a harder road back 09:00 Quick-fire Q&A: hypersensitivity, lumbogenic leg pain and the "leaky tap" analogy 16:00 Why the Roman chair is an unnecessary risk next to the hip hinge 20:00 Getting back to BJJ, running or any hobby — measure load, not feelings 23:00 Spondylolisthesis, instability and why muscles adapt faster than ligaments 27:00 The window nobody prepares you for, before and after surgery 32:00 Why doing your exercises safely (even on a bed) beats doing them "properly" 37:00 Getting back to running the smart way — sets and reps, not distance 41:00 Morning stiffness, foam rolling and the massage gun 44:00 Matching your upper-body lifts to your hip hinge and squat 47:00 Red light therapy and unregulated recovery compounds 49:00 Losing disc height: why it won't reinflate, and why that's not game over 56:00 Weight loss and rehab: why starving yourself is the wrong move 58:00 Sauna, psoas release and contrast bathing for recovery 1:03:00 Why following the program exactly as written actually matters 1:05:00 Most people never do their prescribed exercises — don't be one of them
#BackSurgery #Microdiscectomy #HerniatedDisc #Sciatica #BackInShape #Spondylolisthesis #BackPainRelief #SpinalRehab
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