Video: Doctor details Cowboys LB Damone Clark's spinal fusion & return timetable

Doomsday101 · May 13, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
LVE never had neck fusion surgery.

He has spinal stenosis and had a minor surgery to create more room and alleviate symptoms associated with a bulging disk.

The irony is LVE’s condition is more serious (higher risk of injuring his spine) but has a less invasive surgical treatment, but Clark’s issue has less risk of serious injury but a more invasive/problematic surgical treatment.

BTW, Michael Irvin and Devontae Hollman both retired due to spinal stenosis.

Clark is not dealing with spinal stenosis.

Wangchung83 · May 13, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
LVE never had neck fusion surgery.

He has spinal stenosis and had a minor surgery to create more room and alleviate symptoms associated with a bulging disk.

The irony is LVE’s condition is more serious (higher risk of injuring his spine) but has a less invasive surgical treatment, but Clark’s issue has less risk of serious injury but a more invasive/problematic surgical treatment.

BTW, Michael Irvin and Devontae Hollman both retired due to spinal stenosis.

First actual comment about understanding anatomy and disease state. If an mri is ordered on everyone in this room the majority will come back with some abnormality(lithesis, losis, herniation, etc). For you and I non professional athletes it’s means nothing unless it can be correlated with physical exam and is causing loss of ability to perform daily activities. Regardless spinal fusion is a toss up on how much range of motion someone can get back. I feel Clarke will have a better chance for full recovery due to his young age. Let’s all hope for a great recovery which is more probable than not.

CalPolyTechnique · May 13, 2022

Doomsday101 said:
Clark is not dealing with spinal stenosis.

Yeah, I know that.

Doomsday101 · May 13, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
Yeah, I know that.

It is pretty routine now days. I had the same procedure done. Quick recovery, granted I was not playing contact sports like football but given some time, really no reason he could not come back at full strength.

CalPolyTechnique · May 13, 2022

Doomsday101 said:
It is pretty routine now days. I had the same procedure done. Quick recovery, granted I was not playing contact sports like football but given some time, really no reason he could not come back at full strength.

Feel free to name all the dudes playing with spinal fusion in the NFL currently.

Doomsday101 · May 13, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
Feel free to name all the dudes playing with spinal fusion in the NFL currently.

Peyton Manning for 1 had the procedure, thankfully for him it was cervical not the lumbar which is much easier to recover from. Several players over recent years have had the procedure. It is not as bad as it sounds, hell Clark had not symptom but it was caught during combine medical exam. For me I had C6 and C7 fused together and fully active and no problems.

Even players with “upper-level” cervical disc herniation have a high return rate and can return to play with similar performance outcomes compared to their “lower-level” counterparts, according to the analysis by Harry T Mai of the Department of Orthopaedic surgery at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA, and colleagues. The results may help guide decisions about surgery and the likelihood of returning to competition for players with these career-threatening injuries.

The researchers identified 53 NFL players who underwent surgery for a herniated disc in the cervical spine between 1979 and 2013. Forty players had confirmed data on the level of the disc injury: 15 had “upper level” cervical disc herniation while 25 had “lower level” injuries. Forty-five per cent of the players were defensive backs and linebackers.
Two-thirds of NFL players resume careers after surgery in the cervical spine - Spinal News International

CalPolyTechnique · May 13, 2022

Doomsday101 said:
Peyton Manning for 1 had the procedure, thankfully for him it was cervical not the lumbar which is much easier to recover from. Several players over recent years have had the procedure. It is not as bad as it sounds, hell Clark had not symptom but it was caught during combine medical exam. For me I had C6 and C7 fused together and fully active and no problems.

Even players with “upper-level” cervical disc herniation have a high return rate and can return to play with similar performance outcomes compared to their “lower-level” counterparts, according to the analysis by Harry T Mai of the Department of Orthopaedic surgery at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA, and colleagues. The results may help guide decisions about surgery and the likelihood of returning to competition for players with these career-threatening injuries.

The researchers identified 53 NFL players who underwent surgery for a herniated disc in the cervical spine between 1979 and 2013. Forty players had confirmed data on the level of the disc injury: 15 had “upper level” cervical disc herniation while 25 had “lower level” injuries. Forty-five per cent of the players were defensive backs and linebackers.
Two-thirds of NFL players resume careers after surgery in the cervical spine - Spinal News International

Yeah, I actually posted that article myself.

The question is not necessarily if they can return but whether they are negatively impacted or limited.

Guys like Ahmad Bradshaw made a go at it but was limited and retired soon after. JeMichael Finley and Arian Foster never played again. Cris Carson (Seattle RB) was scheduled to have spinal fusion this off-season, but I’m not sure where he’s at with that but it will be interesting to monitor.

Manning is an outlier because while he’s playing in a contact sport, he’s protected to an extent. A guy like Clark will be expected to be in contact and impact play after play.

Will see.

Doomsday101 · May 13, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
Yeah, I actually posted that article myself.

The question is not necessarily if they can return but whether they are negatively impacted or limited.

Guys like Ahmad Bradshaw made a go at it but was limited and retired soon after. JeMichael Finley and Arian Foster never played again. Cris Carson (Seattle RB) was scheduled to have spinal fusion this off-season, but I’m not sure where he’s at with that but it will be interesting to monitor.

Manning is an outlier because while he’s playing in a contact sport, he’s protected to an extent. A guy like Clark will be expected to be in contact and impact play after play.

Will see.

In 2023 the procedure is fairly easy, they go in through the front of the neck into soft tissue and do the procedure. Unlike years past where they would go into the back where you have muscles. Frankly outside of keeping the neck immobile for the 1st few weeks there is no rehab involved, they put a small plate to keep the area in place and as the 2 Vertebra fuses together. It should be fine. I suspect it will take 12 months for it to fully heal.

Doomsday101 · May 13, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
Yeah, I actually posted that article myself.

The question is not necessarily if they can return but whether they are negatively impacted or limited.

Guys like Ahmad Bradshaw made a go at it but was limited and retired soon after. JeMichael Finley and Arian Foster never played again. Cris Carson (Seattle RB) was scheduled to have spinal fusion this off-season, but I’m not sure where he’s at with that but it will be interesting to monitor.

Manning is an outlier because while he’s playing in a contact sport, he’s protected to an extent. A guy like Clark will be expected to be in contact and impact play after play.

Will see.

Foster was lumbar area much different, Romo also had the procedure but again it was lumbar area Gronkowski had it and returned. The lumbar area because of the weight bearing area of the back and the fact they go in through the back makes it a tougher to return.

CalPolyTechnique · May 13, 2022

Doomsday101 said:
In 2023 the procedure is fairly easy, they go in through the front of the neck into soft tissue and do the procedure. Unlike years past where they would go into the back where you have muscles. Frankly outside of keeping the neck immobile for the 1st few weeks there is no rehab involved, they put a small plate to keep the area in place and as the 2 Vertebra fuses together. It should be fine. I suspect it will take 12 months for it to fully heal.

1. It’s 2022
2. They’ve been doing the surgeries anteriorly for years now; it’s not a recent advancement.
3. I can’t find any reference to Gronk having spinal fusion surgeries. There’s plenty of articles discussing his back injuries
4. Spinal fusion patients often experience degeneration of the adjacent vertebrae which are serving as support for the plate

Doomsday101 · May 13, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
1. It’s 2022
2. They’ve been doing the surgeries anteriorly for years now; it’s not a recent advancement.
3. I can’t find any reference to Gronk having spinal fusion surgeries. There’s plenty of articles discussing his back injuries
4. Spinal fusion patients often experience degeneration of the adjacent vertebrae which are serving as support for the plate

Then you know Lumbar is much different than Cervical. These players get the best care and frankly for a 5th rd I'm not concerned. You can be some people tend to worry, I trust what the doctors say.

zrinkill · May 13, 2022

Funny seeing these moronic posters (who said Jaylon Smith would never play a down in the NFL) crow about him only lasting 5 years In the NFL.

dogberry · May 13, 2022

Will LVE recover his rookie ability?

JoeKing · May 14, 2022

CalPolyTechnique said:
LVE never had neck fusion surgery.

He has spinal stenosis and had a minor surgery to create more room and alleviate symptoms associated with a bulging disk.

The irony is LVE’s condition is more serious (higher risk of injuring his spine) but has a less invasive surgical treatment, but Clark’s issue has less risk of serious injury but a more invasive/problematic surgical treatment.

BTW, Michael Irvin and Devontae Hollman both retired due to spinal stenosis.

Thank you for correcting what I said. We should always want our conversations based on accurate information. So when something is not accurate, we can do as you did and correct what's being said. Thank you. I believe it was former Cowboys fullback Daryl "Moose" Johnston that had the fusion neck surgery to correct a nagging bulging disc problem in his neck.

pitt33 · May 15, 2022

Risen Star said:
There was no optimism with Jaylon Smith if you paid attention to what the doctors going on record had to say. There was a timetable for nerve regeneration and once that passed it was highly unlikely his condition would improve any further. He was still wearing a brace long after that window passed.

When he was drafted there was very little chance he'd ever regain full function of his foot.

That was just a really idiotic decision by a terrible front office.

Since it is now Sunday and I’m catching up on Zone gossip I will mark this down as not only the Post of last Tuesday, but the entire month of May.

Just might be the worst 2nd round signing these clowns have made. And they’ve had some doozies.

Video: Doctor details Cowboys LB Damone Clark's spinal fusion & return timetable

Doomsday101

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