Small news today: Anthony Sanneh of 1.FC Nürnberg now can't avoid a surgery. After continuous back problems the defender of the Franconians will undergo a surgery on Tuesday at club team doctor Dr. Bernhard Drummer. According to Dr. Drummer the 31 year old will be able to play in two weeks already. Sanneh couldn't play for relegation endangered Nürnberg after the winter break.
Olaf, do you know what the surgery is on? If it's a disk, it's hard to believe he'll be able to play in two weeks. I've had two disk surgeries, one major and one minor, and it took at least a month to feel right again. It was a week before I could go up and down stairs. He might be able to resume light training in two weeks, but I can't believe he'd be game fit.
FCN homepage says that he will get a cortison injection in the iliosacral joint, which is the cause for the problems. The doc said that he can return home after one night and will be able to play after two weeks. http://www.fcn.de/aktuelles/detail.php?id=3456
Thanks, Olaf. That makes sense. It sounds like he's having the first, least invasive procedure to take care of a degenerating disk (at L5-S1, the lowest disk on the spine). It's an injection directly into the disk. I had this done and left the hospital about an hour later. It didn't help me, but it can be effective from what I understand in minor disk problems. It's not going to solve his problem so much as attempt to shrink the bulging disk.
I'd like to send Sanneh the title of a book I'm using for my back. The problem is not the disk itself but rather the muscles allowing it to bulge. Surgery rarely works, so I've been using this book and it's helped out 100%.
If its just a bulging disk, then flexion/extension exercises work quite well (I used a book called something like Treat Your Own Back). If its a rupture, which tend to get worse over time, the exercises can help the pain, but can't overcome the underlying structural problem which is the torn disk material protruding into the nerves as they come off the spine. FWIW, I've had surgery on two different disks, both ruptures, and I have nothing but good things to say about the surgery. It's much less invasive than it used to be and they even do it as an outpatient procedure sometimes. I hardly play anything at a professional level, but I do play soccer twice a week in the summer, basketball about the same in the winter, and ski moguls and steeps without causing any increased problems.
I didn't think you injected cortisone directly into the disk... I thought you injected the steroid into the pinched nerve to calm it down. That's what I had. It didn't work for me. Thankfully, a microdiskectomy did the trick.
I had this procedure performed 4 weeks ago. My doctor injected the cortisone into my spinal canal (otherwise called epidural space) to reduce the inflammation of nerves that were being inflamed by pressure from bulging disk(s). I've been pain free since. I'm not a world class athlete like Tony but I would think that with 2-3 weeks of conditioning, he could play again.
In Tony's words... http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=28772&itype= A story from www.ussoccer.com - Tony thinks it's 50-50 as to whether he'll be ready by the weekend plus some description of the procedure. Put Tony down in the column of Euro-Yanks who want to play against Japan March 19.
If Tony makes it back for this weekend (and even if he doesn't), the Kaiserslautern/Nurnberg match will be live on FSW on Sunday at 11:30 Eastern in the US.