Back Pain Surgery and Tiger Woods’ Career
Image by Keith Allison CC BY-SA 2.0 from Wikimedia Commons
Back pain surgery Tiger Woods involved the removal of a damaged disc in his lumbar spine. Tiger Woods’ back pain has a long history. The Champion golfer has won many major titles in his career. Woods is one of the most popular golf players and has millions of fans around the world. Undoubtedly, he has a successful golf career.
However, Woods had experienced many health issues in the past, which affected his golf career significantly. He had to withdraw from major tournaments due to problems in his arm, knee, and back. Tiger underwent many surgeries, including spinal surgeries, when he was at the peak of his career.
Tiger Woods’ Back Pain
In March 2014, Tiger Woods withdrew in the Honda Classic’s final round, citing lower back spasms and pain. Glenn Greenspan, Woods’ spokesmen, said that the champion golfer had experienced discomfort and pain during warm-ups.
In April 2014, Tiger announced that he would not participate in the Masters’ tournament for the first time in his professional career. He also said that he underwent back surgery for a pinched nerve in his spine.
In August 2014, Tiger withdrew from the final round of the WGC Invitational, citing pain in his lower spine. It was his third major tournament since returning from the spinal surgery in March.
In February 2015, Woods withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open due to his back injury. Woods told the media that the injury stemmed from multiple fog delays. Woods explained that he could not keep his glutes activated.
Tiger complained of severe back discomfort and pain. In September 2015, wood announced that he had undergone a second spinal surgery. It was a microdiscectomy procedure that involved removing a damaged disc fragment, which was pinching his nerve.
In October 2015, Tiger announced on his official website that he had undergone a successful follow-up procedure after his second microdiscectomy surgery. The purpose of the follow-up procedure was to relieve discomfort. The follow-up surgery was performed by the same surgeon who carried out the microdiscectomy procedure.
Back Pain Surgery Tiger Woods
In February 2017, Tiger withdrew from the Omega Dubai Classic tournament before participating in the second round. Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, told the media that he had to withdraw from the tournament due to back spasms.
Woods announced that he would not participate in the Genesis Open and the Honda Classic due to his lower back pain. Likewise, Woods missed the Arnold Palmer Invitational as he continued to recover from his spinal spasms.
In April 2017, Tiger announced on his official website that he had undergone a minimally invasive spinal fusion surgery. Back pain surgery Tiger Woods was for alleviating the ongoing discomfort and pain in his back and leg. The severely narrowed lower-back disc caused sciatica and severe lower spine pain.
Tiger Woods underwent anterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery, a minimally invasive approach that usually involves making an incision in the front to reach the damaged disc. His surgery entailed removing the disc and re-elevating the damaged sic space to normal levels.
In other words, Dr. Richard Guyer restored the alignment between L5 and S1. The surgery allowed one vertebra to fuse with the other and turn them into a single, solid bone. The goal was to relieve pressure on his pinched nerve.
Tiger Woods’ back pain was alleviated with ALIF surgery. He came back after two years and won the Masters tournament. It was a miracle for Tiger Woods and a dream come true for his fans.
Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion Surgery
It is a minimally invasive approach that uses an anterior approach to fuse the lumbar spine vertebrae. Interbody fusion means removing the intervertebral disc and replacing it with a bone graft material or metal spacer. The anterior approach is often recommended by our surgeons when there is a need for multiple spinal fusions.
ALIF can be performed in conjunction with posterior laminectomy or decompression surgery. The ALIF approach is useful for sparing the delicate muscles, tissues, and nerves in the back.
Although it is an anterior approach that involves retraction of large blood vessels and the intestines, there is a good exposure of the damaged disc without retraction or neurological structures and spinal nerves. So, ALIF is an excellent approach to fuse the bones and decrease the risk of neurologic injury.
MINT has qualified, experienced, licensed, and skilled neurosurgeons who can perform anterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery to relieve pain. Like Tiger Woods’ back pain, which was alleviated with ALIF surgery, MINT surgeons use ALIF to treat various spinal conditions, including instability, spinal imbalance, deformity, spondylolisthesis, and painful disc degeneration. Contact us today!
