Tiger Woods coming back to win a major tournament in golf after multiple spinal surgeries appears to be a sports miracle. Most physicians wrote Tiger off once he developed low back problems. Performing at the level of a professional athlete with any physical dysfunction, especially with lumbar disc problems, is extremely difficult.

To compete at the highest level of any sport usually requires excellent physical and mental fitness. Anything that is less than perfect usually generates only average results and not the level necessary to be at the top of a sport, especially in golf, where even tiny issues with your swing can cause the ball to end up far away from your intended target. Aside from the physical aspects, there are also significant mental components, and one must not have any distractions like pain.

Tiger’s Journey

News reports with regards to Tiger Woods have clarified his struggle over the last several years. Tiger has had a single L5-S1 disc problem for several years. This is the bottom disc in the lower back and often takes the most force from activities. It is also the disc that most likely will go bad over time and degenerate or have a disc protrusion. For the last several years, Tiger has struggled with treatment, doing extensive conservative options to no avail. Additionally, he has had multiple surgical decompression operations with removal of parts of the herniated disc. Despite all the work, he still had pain and difficulties related to the L5-S1 disc. Ongoing symptoms impaired his ability to mentally and physically play golf.

The last option for Woods was for a lumbar fusion at L5-S1. He underwent that surgery with an extensive anterior interbody fusion type intervention. After removing the offending disc, the L5-S1 disc space was restored with a spacer device and packed with bone so the L5 vertebral body becomes fused to the sacrum. Once healed, the hard work of rehabilitation began with extensive strengthening and conditioning. Fortunately, everything went well and his strength as well as his coordination returned. The fusion healed and his pain improved.

So far for Tiger Woods, everything has gone well after his surgery. Unfortunately, this probably isn’t the last we’ve heard about his spine. The lumbar spine is incredibly well balanced, and every single level is important to control motion properly. Golf requires a lot of twisting of the back with some bending. These motions put an extreme amount of force through all of the segments in the lumbar spine. Now that one segment does not move in the normal way, forces that once went through the bottom level now are transitioned to the next level, as well as the forces that naturally occur at the L4/5 level.

This level will likely have a degree of premature degeneration and could easily start causing problems within a few years. Having good body mechanics, range of motion and strength is key to a good outcome. Tiger has spent a year rehabilitating his back and strengthening it in order to play golf. If he is lucky, the stress of golf will not cause further back problems. Avoiding overstressing a surgically repaired area is often key to avoiding re-injuring, but Tiger will be testing that theory every time he tees it up from here on out.