Tiger Woods’ Golfing Injury
Image sourced from Canva
Talking about Tiger Woods Golfing Injury, the champion golfer had suffered from many injuries throughout his career. In 1994, he underwent his first surgery that involved the removal of scar tissue and benign tumors from his left knee.
Woods underwent another surgery in 2002, which involved the removal of a benign cyst from his knee. Pain in the shoulder was another Tiger Woods Golfing injury that happened in 2006. A year later, Tiger Woods ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the left knee.
In 2008, Wood finished second at the Masters’ Championship. People think the poor performance was due to problems in the knee cartilage. So, he underwent an arthroscopic knee treatment to clean out cartilage.
Two years later, Tiger Wood had withdrawn from the “Players Championship” due to a neck injury. An MRI scan revealed that Tiger had an inflamed facet joint in the neck. In 2011, Woods withdrew from the Players Championship due to injuries in the knee.
In 2012, another Tiger Woods golfing injury occurred when he started suffering from Achilles tendon. The damage caused him to withdraw from the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Two years later, Woods withdrew from the Honda Classic because this time, he had problems in his back.
The injury marked the beginning of Tiger’s challenging years of spinal issues, which significantly affected his golfing career. Although no player has dominated the world of golf like Tiger Woods, he was worried about his back and leg pain that could cause him to lose rankings.
Tiger Wood golfing injury and back pain causes made him undergo three surgeries in 2014 and 2015. He still had back spasms, pinching, pain, and sciatica. He underwent conservative treatment, which includes medications and physical therapy. The micro-discectomy followed by conventional medicine did not do well for Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods Golfing Injury and ALIF
ALIF stands for anterior lumbar interbody fusion, which is a minimally invasive procedure to approach the spine from the abdomen. Unlike other surgeries such as lumbar discectomies that use a posterior approach, in 2017, Tiger underwent ALIF, a procedure that involves reaching the spine from the front.
Tiger’s victory at the Masters’ Championship one year ago was the most surprising sports comebacks in the history of golf. ALIF was the 4th surgery that Woods underwent in 2017. Unlike other operations, the procedure was lumbar fusion. In the ALIF procedure, the surgeon made a vertical incision below his bellybutton through the abdomen to carry out the dissection to anterior of the lumbar spine.
Back pain causes, in general, include ligament and muscle strain, bulging or ruptured discs, skeletal irregularities, osteoporosis, and arthritis. Anyway, the surgeon removed the disc and packed a cage with bone graft; then, he placed it between the vertebrae. The bone graft is secured into place using screws. They are inserted through the cage into the vertebrae below and above the interbody cage.
Benefits of Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF)
Generally, the procedure provides 90-95% relief to the patient suffering from chronic lower back pain. ALIF surgery can successfully treat back pain causes and symptoms. Just like Tiger Woods Golfing Injury, which was treated with ALIF, you can also relieve pain with it.
The ALIF procedure is performed to eliminate the motion at the spinal level and create more space for the nerve roots. This minimally invasive surgery has been found useful in reducing a recurrent disc herniation, as the disc is completely removed, and then the surgeon places the bone graft to fuse the two bones.
The minimally invasive procedure, such as anterior lumbar interbody fusion, can provide excellent relief to the patient with back pain. After the process, the patient can return to his or her daily activities.
The ALIF procedure solved the Tiger Woods Golfing Injury problem and made his return to golf. Recovery from ALIF ranges from 6 months to 1 year. Research shows that it takes 6-9 months for the fusion of vertebrae to solidify into a single, firm bone. It is essential to undergo postoperative rehabilitation for lower back musculature.
Back pain causes severe problems for both men and women. It can interfere with your daily activities and affect your quality of life. So, you take medicines, rest, and do physical therapy to cope with back pain. However, when these treatments fail, you have only one option, and that is to undergo a minimally invasive procedure called ALIF.
Similar to Tiger Woods Golfing Injury, which was treated with ALIF, you can get rid of pain and other severe back problems at the Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery of Texas effectively. Contact us today!
