The prevalence of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation (LDH) in athletes can be as high as 75%. In addition to this extremely high rate is the pressure that most athletes are looking for ways to return to play as quickly as possible.
Often, the thought is that surgical intervention with a discectomy will decrease the return to play time and “take care” of the issue. However, research indicates that this is false. In this systematic review, the return to play time for nonoperative management was faster than surgical intervention. Additionally, nonoperative management avoids the risks and complications inherent to surgery.
Not only was the return to play time faster, but the percentage of athletes who returned to play was nearly identical between the groups. Exploring nonoperative, movement-based care will often be the best option for athletes with symptomatic lumbar disc herniation.
“…most cases of LDH (lumbar disc herniation) can be treated successfully with nonoperative treatment.”
“…there were no significant differences between microdiscectomy and nonsurgical treatment in terms of quality of life after both interventions.”
“There is no significant different in RTP (return to play) rate between elite athletes treated with operative or nonoperative management of LDH’s, nor did operative management have a faster time to RTP. Despite this, LDH’s in the athletic population are treated surgically with a discectomy 2.5 times more often than non operatively.”
We believe patients have better outcomes when
their health professionals work together.
