A 1-2 centimeter longitudinal incision is made in the midline of the low back, directly over the area of the herniated disc. Special retractors and an operating microscope are used to allow the surgeon to visualize the region of the spine, with minimal or no cutting of the adjacent muscles and soft-tissues. After the retractor is in place, an x-ray is used to confirm that the appropriate disc is identified.
A few millimeters of bone of the superior lamina may be removed to fully visualize the disc herniation. The nerve root and neurologic structures are protected and carefully retracted, so that the herniated disc can be removed. Small dental-type instruments and biting/grasping instruments (such as a pituitary rongeur) are used to remove the protruding disc material. All surrounding areas are also checked to ensure no additional disc fragments are remaining.
Recovery.
Most patients are able to go home the same day or early the next day after surgery. Before patients go home, physical therapists and occupational therapists work with patients and instruct them on proper techniques of getting in and out of bed and walking independently. Patients are instructed to avoid bending at the waist, lifting (more than five pounds), and twisting in the early postoperative period (first 2-4 weeks) to avoid a strain injury or recurrent disc injury. Patients should try to avoid sitting in the same position for more than 45-60 minutes in the first few weeks after surgery.
Patients may return to light work duties as early as 1-2 weeks after surgery, depending on when the surgical pain has subsided. Patients may return to heavy work and sports as early as 4-6 weeks after surgery, if the surgical pain has subsided and the back strength has returned appropriately with physical therapy.
It's actually good news if there was a structural reason that can be fixed.
Given the timing of the operation. JPP should be full go by the ides of July. You can expect the Giants to be very careful with him in terms of contact.
This is a common surgery for regular people to go back to their desk jobs after a short amount of time and back to the treadmill after 6 weeks.
Football is just a whole new ball game and I don't care how fit and athletic these guys are. This just isn't good news at all.
remainder of ota's, training camp, and pre-season are out for jpp per this report
For comparisons sake Steven Jackson had the same procedure in may of 2010 and played in all 16 games-- rushed for 1200 yards.
It all hinges on JPP's recovery but based on other recoveries he should be back playing in September. This isn't a good thing but its not the worst thing. What we all should hope for is that the surgery centered on L5 S1 -- my doc said that this area is the best spot to perform the surgery on. The MIcro procedure is Taylor made for L5 S1 - my doc's exact words and he also said one of the better case scenarios for a back injury is the L5 S1 disc.
With that said, back surgery aren't necessarily one time deals. They can lead to future surgeries. JPP has to adjust his workout and routine from here on out. It's a different ball game for him now.
My guess is this will be an ongoing problem that will affect him to some degree for the test of his career. Hope I'm wrong.
Granted football recovery is different. But most of the articles on this type of surgery say that folks are back to normal and can play sports after 4-6 weeks. That means six week is the slow recovery.
The surgery itself is cake to perform. It's pretty easy to recover from and get back to normal. But it's alarming that its happening to a 275 pound athlete with a prior history of back pain. Micros don't correct structure; it's a pain reliever only and only cures sciatic pain, usually not the back pain.
This isn't good, plain and simple.
Why are people comparing the normal recovery time of regular people to a 275 pound football lineman?
This isnt an ACL surgery where being a freak athlete will help. This is a back problem that said athlete already had for a while and hasn't gotten better.
12 weeks is extremely generous and I'm highly skeptical.
What's the biology behind giving rest a chance? Do discs unbulge all by themselves? If I understand it correctly, it's not that the disc is out of place, it's that the disc is damaged. Seems to me once a bone is out of shape, it's out of shape. So, for the average joe, rest would allow all the support system (muscles/ligaments/etc) to reduce inflamation/swelling/out of whack, and then resume a moderate lifestyle. For a harsh physical lifestyle, though, I'm having a hard time getting behind the biology of how not correcting the root cause is going to be a fix.
additionally, if JPP's been resting it, it means he's already out of shape, unless he hasn't truly been resting (which defeats the whole purpose of giving it a time out). Additional resting is going to mean he really will be out of shape, by which I mean a back with weaker muscles/support system. Maintaining weight is different from maintaining tone/strength.
Look at it this way. NFL players collide with each other 50+ times a game. 60%-70% of normal people walk around with bulging discs everyday, with or without pain, most of which had no accident or high impact. It's just what happens in the human body.
JPP took the correct route. He tried pain management, rest, core training, etc. That's why I'd do, and anyone else one here would do. Surgery is the last option and although i'm sure he'll be fine and recovery quickly, there is a huge risk with his back moving forward which is why i think 12 weeks is BS.
Additionally, these surgeries don't fix the structure. Only fusion does that (Peyton Manning), and lumbar fusion is far more intense with more drawbacks than neck fusions from what I understand.
Take all these reports with a grain of salt, but I expect him to be out for a while.
Anyone else?
Nope.
And i'm not whining. People are blaming backflips, dunks, him eating, or even breathing at this point to his back problem. Yet this has been an issue for some years now. Who sounds like the idiot?
Let me know what you'd do if your kid had a back problem and how you'd go about fixing it. I bet you'd go with what JPP tried and use surgery as a last resort, but then again, i'm not telling you what to do since i'm not a parent.
Very little logic on this thread, and it isn't my doing.
Again, a back issue can take down the best athlete's on the plant. I hope this doesn't happen to JPP.
Basically the same idea.
It's a concern. whether it continues to be a concern is yet to be seen.
Whether he's ok at age 50 is another story.
Otherwise, why would it be ok now, but not later?
and, you're posting here as a quasi person in the know, so what about my 'naive question' as posted above?