Hi all,
I was wondering if some of you guys could give me some advice regarding kitesurfing after spinal injuries.
Approximately 10 weeks ago I had a nasty accident and did some damage to my lumbar spine ( lower back ).
I've fractured the L1 vertebra and ruptured the L1 - L2 disc - correct medical term is disc herniation.
After a few days in hospital with severe pain ( in other words I went through hell and back ) and 6 weeks in a back brace I'm now almost pain free ( apart from some tension in my back ) and can already do some exercise with minor restrictions. My physio said I'm at the top end of my recovery and I'm already thinking of going kiteboarding again as soon as the neurosurgeon gives me the green light.
And here are my questions:
Has anybody experienced some similar injuries and could give me some advice?
On approach, harness type, what to look out for...
Has anydody ever used / seen a back protector for kitesurfing ( from downhill mountainbiking or moto-cross.... ) in order to restrict the movements and avoid furher injuries?
Any piece of advice is highly appreciated...
Cheers guys !
N.B. If you haven't got something nice / useful to say, better say nothing !
Ive got a vertabrae in my back compressing my spinal cord and 2 wedged discs in my neck,
I found going to a mystic warrior harness helped with the pain kiting caused me, was using the smaller dragon shield harness previously
In 2007 i blew out my L4 L5 disc , then pinched nerv pain right down to my toes . Operation in 2009. Spent over six months in the gym getting all my core strength back swimming running on the beach . Now I kite when ever I can which is lots live next to the beach just watch those heavy landings after jumps gives you a good shock up your spine .
I have non-healing fractures in my lower vertebrae and need two vertebrae screwing together as one is out of line and crushing my spinal chord and there is no disc left between them. I take a lot of voltaren and am continually making excuses to put off surgery as recovery is 6 months......I wear a standard waist harness, stretch a lot and have a daily spoon full of cement.....
I have no helpful advice, but I really do wish you the very best in your recovery Franz. Sounds optimistic, so that's great.
Col
I've had a L4 fracture when I was younger, got very close to rupturing the spinal cord. Had similar recovery time, avoided surgery and wore a back brace for a couple of weeks. Went back to wakeboarding and snowboarding shortly after, but by then I had spent lots of time in the gym. After about a year I was pain free and had full mobility. Best advice I can give you is to seek a professional trainer and aim to reinforce your core and back muscles with (eventually) exercises such as squats, power-lifting, etc. The more you strengthen your back the more you'll enjoy the sport with fewer restriction, pain, etc. So once you're done with the Physio, hit the gym and seek professional advice. Good luck and happy recovery.
Had L5 S1 discectomy after months of pain and no relief with physio and exercise. Recovery was reasonably slow but was back on the water after just 6 weeks. I wear a mystic warrior that is probably a tad big but works well. I find the more I kite the stronger my back feels. Avoid heavy landings as compression is the worst thing for discs. I'm still sore from mis-timed jump over a sandbar 6 weeks ago. Came down hard from about 5m straight onto my heels. If in doubt, wait, you only have one back. General kiting with twisting moves etc shouldn't be a problem, like I said, compression is the main avoidance.
I fractured my L1 a while back and still kite with the dakine boardshort harness. just take it easy
Cheers guys,
listening to your experience gives me hope that there's still an actual life waiting for me despite the injury.
I'm just concerned of doing further damage and worsening my back or even getting pushed out of hospital in a wheelchair...
As I said, I'm not in pain anymore but there's still the emotional pain watching my mates on the water whilst I'm standing onshore on “camera duty“…
Will try to do even more core strengthening exercise over the next few weeks and then gradually make my way back into the sport.
Thanks for the support and have a great day.
Hi Franz,
I'd like to send some positive 'atoms' with a happy ending story 
I broke the lowest cervical vertebra and slightly displaced my spine, from surfing, 3 years ago.
After an immobile and relative short stay through hospital, I was lucky enough to only deserve a brace for several months and fight against pain and for recovery. The broken bit healed back but the neck was not really working right; the spinal surgeon prefered avoiding operation owing to my relatively good condition (could walk :)
I bought a SUP during recovery, in order to get rid of some excess energy; SUPing is a great gentle sport that works the entire body. I did lots of swimming/free diving to keep me occupied too.
I progressively jumped back into action sports. The following photo shows where I was after 4 months:
www.seabreeze.com.au/Media/View/2677149/Stand%20Up%20Paddle/Four-months-after-breaking-a-neck-Yeah/
After about a year (of constant painful neck), i had a violent (sufficiently hard to dislocate my hip:) fall while downhill mountain-boarding. I was wearing a helmet when my head violently hit the ground: the fall notably hurt but at the same time, it felt good in my neck, that seemed to have been put back into a correct position under the impact!!! The next day, despite various parts of the body were heavily sore, the neck felt incredibly "normal" 
; I consider this day amongst the best in my life!
Now, three years later, the neck misfortune is part of the past. I am entirely back into the sports that I enjoy, including kitesurfing.
As others said above, a positive attitude, always trying to move forward/improve my condition, and a bit of luck, probably did most of my recovery. 
I wish you good luck and courage.
Fred
hey franz
in 2010 i broke back [l 4 and l5 vertebra} surfing only small waves
spent a month in hospital and 6 months in a fibreclass cast
coming back to kitesurfing was not easy i would say
pain was a major factor every time
most of all the small muscle holding the backbone in twichted and hurt - mostly cause of inactivity.
2010/11 summer i tried coming back kitesurfing - all it did was set me back 6 months at least - 2011/12 summer i came back at the mambo comp at merimubla - well its not called mambo then or now but it was many years before - and only then was it really just right 18 months later.
so now 2 and a half years later the back is fine most days and sometimes after a big sesssion it does ache but not so much i would not kite again
summing up i would say give it a rest for a minimum of 6 months or more and fit in as many exercises no matter how boring - that will improve the small fine muscles that hold your spine together --
cause i broke my broke right in the middle i now only use a seat harness - i had a go of a waist harness once and only once never again. boosting air a max as possible is history,you'll know what i mean when you land wrong.
anayway i know you spent time in the hospital with a lot of other people - several of whom won't even be walking again so bless your lucky stars that you walked out of there and are contemplating just going kiting - good luck and see you on the water - chronic
ian
And i complain when its not windy enough or when i've had a good session and my legs and stomach hurt ....... i'm humbled ,best of luck in your recovery , touch wood a minor hamstring strain is all the kiting pain i've have to endure 
For your recovery and prevention core strength is no 1, a sup is great for this, I had 3 damaged discs at once in my lower spine, told by doctor and surgeon no more kiting, decided to give physio a go, last resort really but I'm all good and have limited my sessions from 4 hrs to 1.30 to2, he said my muscles in my gut would get weak after a few hours causing my back to absorb some of the shock causing the compressions on my discs, also swapped my board for a much more flexible one that smooths out the chop, also www.kiteboardingexercises has great pre and post exercises , videos, its a great dedicated kite injury preventing, website, speedy recovery dude,oh I was advised against back brace told it doesn't make your muscles stronger as they rely on the brace
Franz,I had same injury as stuntnaz,avoided op 8yrs ago,severe pain 24/7,couldn't be upright,avoided painkillers to save kidneys and voltaren burns hole in stomach.Physio was useless except traction,came home in more pain.Any downward pressure is bad,running,squats etc.Swimming 50 laps a day for 6 months, mainly kickboard, I recovered.I think core muscles is an exaggeration,having a long surfing background,we always arched our backs paddling.I nvever worried about
Core for the first 50years of my life , why worry now.I kite with no problems.Kitegirl,I always thought you had great pins,man up and good luck Franz.
Hi mate, I have a small fusion here, a bit of a scally' there. Paid for half of my Chiro's new X5 beamer..then started kiting. Thought it would be a nightmare, but haven't seen the Chiro in 3 years (X5 has probably been repo'd). So obviously kiting itself helps by strengthening key muscle groups. Got a Lost Cause board (think Hadlow Pro), so the flex helps. Also, soft pads- Ocean Rodeo / Slingshot Bolt-on 2.0's, super soft. Even put a layer of $2 gym mat rubber under your pads. That is amazing, but easy to blow out from loops (i'd give them a miss for a while).
Hey Franz, Ive had a L2 L3 Disc Herniation for a long time, what ive found is the seat harness helps keep your spine straight and takes the pressure of the lower spine.....Also I did use a motocross kidney belt for support at one point.
What you could look at is a back support that the removalists use, we use them at work for heavy lifting. You can get them from the work safety shops for around $40.00.
Sure core strength is the best solution but it could take a while for you to get back to full strength.
Good Luck mate,
hey ive got it all
fractured 4/5/6 neck and dislocated 5.
6 months hospital in traction
3 months later broke it again and had to fuse them all.
no problem windsurf kite surf whatever
now 30 years later bad back pain in lumber spine apparently when they fused my neck
(to keep me alive) they straightened my neck and the caused my back to over compensate and buggered the lower ones. Any way after a nervous break down and many specialist i came across dr damien tange. 2 weeks later pain free for the first time in 3 years. 4 years on i have done several trips to bali / sumbawa ect and i am still going strong with very little pain. Ive learnt to kite and took up skate boarding bowls and im 54 .When he first looked at my xrays he turned to me and said "well yure fxxxx but we can fix this easy" and he did.
Hey back pains a absolute mind bending pain. but u can fix it u just got to find the right doctor. Several of my mates have been to him and all are cured.
good luck sean TRIBECAREW.com
Hey Franz,
From what i hear your doing well, stay on the right path and don't rush it. I suffered 10 years of chronic back pain (25-35yo) that kept me in and out of the water for that period, it was hell. Saw lots of chiro's and oesteopaths which in hindsight was a not the best path, in recent times I've found the benefits of using a highly qualified physio to design a workout routine specific to kitesurfing, taking into account any weak areas or injuries, it has been remarkable .
But if I can offer any advice, like kitegirl said, strengthen the WHOLE core through appropriate and specific excercises, on top of that, heaps of swimming freestyle helped, what i found particularly beneficial was walking in waist deep water 20 min every day with legs semi straight was great for the lower back.
Also most important, don't kite with painkillers, anti-inflammatories etc you need to feel whether your in pain or doing damage, I put myself back in bed heaps of times due to this.
I can recommend a good physio in Gateshead PM me if you want the contact.
Good luck with it.
Franz and everybody,I've had a bad back since 1980,work related,went on compo twice a year for 10years,saw chiropractor,when their qualifications came out of breakfast cereal packets.....and physios ...both never worked FOR ME.I'm 54 now,I just live with it.NOTE ,a patient goes into it blind after his G.P.refers him to physios etc.The more they see you the more money they make.Do you recover,you may recover without them.8yrs ago my chiro uni degreed never diagnosed my bulging disc.Unless someone with a similar ailment recommends a professional its really hit and miss for the patient.At my last physio,his pretty unqalified 20 yr old assistant did all the work under his initial supervision.A smart physio $wise can have 4 to6 patients an hour at $50 avisit u do the maths.Most of the time your alone there on a machine.There is no need to see a physio everyday ,you don't recover that quick,it's just more dosh for him.once again ,good luck Franz
Two things, it is not a good idea to seek medical advice from a bunch of degenerates on the internet.
I crushed a bunch of vertebrae in a paragliding crash years ago. I still paraglide (just sitting in a hotel in Delhi on my way back from a paragliding trip), and I kitesurf to excess.
Kitesurfing is good for back injuries. It works your back and builds up the muscles around the injured area.
One word of warning (apart from asking for medical advice on seabreeze) is that you need to have very good kitesurfing technique. No poo stance!!!! Straight back, shoulders back, arms straight, front leg straight, back leg bent, body weight low.
I much prefer a waist harness. It is less restrictive and less inclined to force you into a bad body position.
I was reading this thread a week ago wanting to respond but not exactly knowing what my problem was. I'd had horrible back pain the last month after a long weekend of excessive (for me) and powered kiting, one physio diagnosed a disk problem, so I spent 3 weeks going to him and doing his stretches with no improvement, went to another physio who diagnosed a sacro joint problem, gave some differnet exercises, which didn't help, actually the pain got really bad, I ended up going to my boss' chiro, she pretty much made me leave work to go see him - he said hmm, strange, you have symptoms of disk prob and si prob, I'd like to take an xray... Turns out I have spondylolisthesis, vertebra out of place, which I would've had since I was a little tacker in the gymnastics club most likely. He adjusted my atlas joint (top of spine), and pressed a bit on lower back. There was no pain, no cracking, no twisting my neck, and no pushy advice. There wasn't instant relief, but over the next 24 hours I felt better, so much so that I could SIT IN A CHAIR after lying on the floor to eat brekky the last month! Went back fri arvo, he felt along my spine, said great everything's in place, I don't need to make an adjustment. So I'm going on a month long plan, going in twice a week to start or as needed, and there's been no pressure to come in for checkups after plan, he's going to go through rehab like exercises just like a physio does.
Sorry about the long winded post, but I'm just saying, my chiro is great!!! He's not claiming to fix me, just saying that he's going to "allow my body to heal itself" by making sure atlas joint is in proper position.
AND he encouraged me to go for a kite as soon as I feel the urge, he said it will be good to see how you go, and will help to strengthen your core, so you should continue to do it!!!!
Most people have some form of spondylolisthesis, Chiro's nearly always diagnose this. An x-ray is basically useless, go get an MRI at least and see a proper neurologist/back surgeon. I have had some extremely bad experiences with Chiro's and have been warned off them by all professionals I meet. They generally give you a bit of relief then sucker you into a lengthy re-hab that does zero. Good luck.
Hey Franz, was so great that you joined the boys and girls today, (yes Daz is a big girl now he is about to turn 40, or is that 30?????)
unreal that your feeling the love and got back on your MTB bike.
Cant keep a good man down
PS and thanks for pumping up my kite at nobbys last week 
Forgot which number it was, but it was Lumbar. Herniated a disc during a rugby game, painful sciatica for about 2.5 years, now it's a bit better, but there are days/weeks I feel pain. I ended up getting cortisone injections around the site instead of surgery, apparently the chances of success in my case were low.
For me, I basically can't boost, it just puts pressure right on that nerve... which sucks.
