Be it tennis, horseback riding, jogging, or even gardening, ultimately only you will know when you’re ready. The obvious answer is you’re ready when you’re no longer in pain. More specifically though, you’re ready when you’re able to bend over, flex, extend and twist your back in a controlled manner without pain or discomfort; you’re ready when you’re aware of your core naturally engaging when doing the aforementioned motions;  you’re ready when you can honestly say to yourself you’ve diligently been doing your core strengthening exercises for at least a few months in order to strengthen your core, and you continue to do so.

Remember that pain is simply the symptom of an underlying cause. In the case of a herniated disc, the cause may have been a weak core. As I’ve addressed above, diligently doing core exercises will strengthen this area and protect you from future injury.  Lower back injury may also be the manifestation of a psychological challenge you’re dealing with, as discussed in the book You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay, as well as in the eBooks Back In Shape Naturally and Guidebook to Healing Visualizations available at www.HowToHealMyBack.com.  Even if the physical pain is gone it is imperative that you uncover and address the underlying cause in order for you to be ‘healed’.

If you’ve been pain free for a while, there’s no reason why you can’t get back out there and do activities. The key is to start off very slow, light, and controlled, always being aware of engaging your core muscles. For activities such as tennis or golf which create a lot of torque on the spine, I’d suggest going to the gym for a month or more beforehand and doing core rotation exercises using cables. Start off with very light resistance and as long as no pain is felt you can gradually increase your speed and resistance.

It’s possible you’ll feel some soreness the day after using your back for lifting or for a sport. This doesn’t need to be cause for concern as long as the pain is modest and goes away in a day or two. The fact is you’ve sustained an injury to your back, and even though you’ve healed, your body will never fully be at 100%.  With the awareness of proper spinal alignment and core engagement however, I’d encourage you to challenge yourself and try the activities that call to you.

I herniated both my L4-L5 and L5-S1 discs, and I subsequently healed myself naturally. Within 2 years of  my injury, contrary to what doctors said I could do, and even to an extent contrary to what I myself thought I could do again, I’d been: back in the gym power-lifting, paragliding, surfing, playing tennis, combat fighting and doing martial arts, extreme mountain hiking, horseback riding, zip-lining, landscaping, and performance level dancing….all pain free!

Many people give up on their recreational passions simply because of a limiting belief that they can’t do those activities anymore. If your pain is gone however, it’s time to get back out there and start living again. Start off slowly and go from there…you might just surprise yourself with what you can do and how much you’ve healed.

A back or herniated disc injury does not mean your passion for riding horses needs to end. Like any injury, a recovery time is required and it may be a lesson in patience, but there is no reason why you can’t eventually get back on a horse again.

After herniating my L4-L5 and L5-S1 discs causing severe sciatic pain, I was told surgery was my only hope and that there’d be many activities I wouldn’t be able to do again, horseback riding being one of them. I instead chose to heal myself naturally (using the exact techniques from www.HowToHealMyBack.com), and within 16 months was I not only living life pain free, but I was also back on a horse. I was actually doing a lot of other activities pain free a lot sooner.  The key for me though with horseback riding was making sure I had fully healed first, and not to take unnecessary chances.

After a disc injury your body will never be completely the same as it was before, and you will have to make some adaptations. Your body has sustained damage, and your goal should be to be the best YOU can be. Both during and after recovery, building up strong core muscles is one of the most important things you can do in order to protect yourself from re-injury. For anyone with a herniated disc injury, and even for people without injury, strong core muscles and core stability will protect your spine while on a horse. Exercising your core muscles needs to be an ongoing part of your lifestyle, not something you stop doing once the pain is gone.  Even after a disc injury, a person who learns and gains good core stability and proper spine alignment can actually further strengthen their back and core stability by horseback riding.

In fact, more dangerous than the act of riding itself are the throwing and twisting motions involved in the care of your horse (putting on a saddle, carting feed, lifting the tail ramp of your truck, etc).  An equal or even greater amount of attention to your back and core needs to be given to these activities.

As the repetitive jolting of riding can aggravate underlying back problems, it is important to always stretch before getting on your horse. While riding you should be wearing some sort of a back brace or lumbar support belt. CoreShorts are highly recommended.  In terms of stirrups, the Herm Sprenger System 4 stirrups soften the impact on cartilage and ligaments, relieving tension in the hips, knees, ankles and calves, and thereby reducing referred pain and tension in the lower back. Choosing the right saddle can also make a big difference. If one saddle doesn’t feel right, try another. After the ride, a moist heating pad placed against your lower back may be helpful.

Remember to start off slow and ease back into your riding. Expecting to ride full gallop again immediately out of a disc injury is not only unrealistic but also foolish. Start off walking your horse for a few days. If no pain is present, work your way up to a light trot, and so on. Avoiding jumps would be recommended due to the sheer impact.  Ease into posting, and only post if you are very comfortable doing do. Mis-timing a post can cause greater impact and compression of the spine.

Horseback riding can be a wonderful pastime, and the bond riders often share with their horses can be just as wonderful. This is not something that needs to end with the disc injury. In fact, as mentioned above, riding, when done properly and carefully, can actually be beneficial to your back. Be patient with yourself. Focus on your healing first, building up your core strength and stability. Then, get back out on the range. Hi-yo Silver!