spinal fusion and return to surfing
Gday Spoonerism
Going well as far as my back' it's great! I do try to keep on top of stretching etc but I'm working as much as before with stone and landscaping but not going as hard which I don't want to do anyway.
As far as surfing,well my foot hasn't recovered from the nerve damage so I have numbness top of foot to my big toe with residual weakness. It is way better than pre surgery but I would say Its around 70% to normal. Pre surgery movement in my foot was zero so still a great outcome.
So my foot is causing me a bit of grief when surfing and due to the numbness it doesn't like cold water and will cramp quickly. Back is fine as far as pop up etc but mentally I'm thinking about my foot when i go to stand up rather than looking down the line thinking about what I'm going to do on the wave.
I did surf well last year around April and then as the water got colder the foot came into play. I stayed out of the water and concentrated on a lot of exercise to try to fire up the nerves to my foot. It is slowly getting better but I think I'm fighting a mental battle against it now and probably need to surf more. Very frustrating as I was surfing at a good level when my back felt good pre surgery.
I think 18 months post surgery is what you should aim for re surfing again. If you have little or no numbness you should be fine.
There's not a lot of info out there re surfing and spinal fusion so I hope I've helped. I definitely haven't given up. Good luck.
I'm unfortunately booked in for spinal fusion L5/S1 in just over a week. Freaking out but have no choice as I have drop foot due to severe compression of my L5 nerve root.
Basically, no surgery and I wont be able to walk properly for the rest of my life. No surfing, my work as a stonemason/ landscaper would be difficult and lot's of things I enjoy would become a chore.
Has anyone had spinal fusion and still surfing at a reasonable level? I`m still surfing shortboards at a good level 5`10 twinny with stabilizer for most days. I`m scared shitless I wont be able to surf as good. I`m no expert on spines but I`m hoping fusion being so low in my back, I will still have the mobility through the rest of my spine to surf ok.