Taia Update

[Baron Vo Mandor]

0944: USER COMMENT - TAIA TIMELINE?
Mitchell Lock says: So what's going on with Zeb Taia? Heard he had a bulging disk in his neck, how long is he expected to be on the sidelines for?
Foxsports.com.au's Christopher Boyd says: The big backrower is a long shot to make it back this weekend. Taia is not on the team sheet and is still experiencing pain when runs. He said earlier in the week that Stephen Kearney had contacted him to see how he is going; Taia, if fit, is in contention for a New Zealand jersey for the May 7 Anzaf Test.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...nrl-news-in-2011/story-fn2mcuj6-1226018492281

Sounds positive.

 

[Johns Magic]

Doesn't sound too positive to me...

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

The fact that he may make it back this weekend, sort of squash's the thoughts of it being a season or career ender IMO.

 

[Johns Magic]

A long shot to me sounds like "no chance". All I get from that update is that they still don't know how bad it is but it's still hurting when he tries to run.

 

[Burwood]

Taia would have 10 tests under his belt by now if it weren't for injury.

Has he even been in for scans yet? I really hope Newcastle aren't looking at the injury with the attitude that they'll just sit back for a few weeks and see how it settles down.

 

[jonno_knights]

Taia would have 10 tests under his belt by now if it weren't for injury.

Has he even been in for scans yet? I really hope Newcastle aren't looking at the injury with the attitude that they'll just sit back for a few weeks and see how it settles down.

Thats exactly how your suppose to treat bulgings discs a heard. Give them time to see if they heal by themselves, if they dont then surgery it is, which is season ending.

 

[Joker's Wild]

He would have had scans to determine the bulging disc i imagine, then likely an injection to try and settle it down and now we are in the waiting period before a follow up scan to determine the next step ie: surgery.

This is pretty much the injury that ended both Joeys and big Gordon Talis's careers. Not good

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Poor Zebster. He deserves better.

 

[Pika]

Now I am no Doctor, but from chatting to Zeb it goes like this.

Scans show a bulging disc. Thats been done.

He had a scan last week to see if there was calcification on the disc. If it does, its an aggravated old injury. If it doesnt its new.

Both are treated differently.

One is long term the other is short.... i dotn recall which, its all abit confusing for me.

On reading the above I have really offered you no information at all. haha. Useless!

 

[perverse]

nah, cheers for that Pika. the near silence on Zeb at the moment is both deafening and disturbing. as i said before... i will be absolutely shattered if he can't play again. hopefully it's not as bad as Joey and Gordy.

 

[League_God]

I don't know all that much about bulging discs in athletes/how severe they have to be to be career ending. However, my understanding is;

if it's a bulging disc 'in his neck', it means it's cervical herniation, which should (hopefully) heal itself, without surgery within 4-6 weeks.
In terms of orthopedic injuries, surgery is generally not rushed as many injures (stress fractures, mild ligament damage etc) heal themselves when given alternative treatment.
In Zeb's case rest, very specific light exercise and/or soft tissue massage.
So the fact they aren't rushing around, being super proactive is neither a positive nor a negative implication of the severity.
The good news is only a very small percentage of cervical herniation require surgery.

Gorden Tallis suffered spinal stenosis, which is a completely different injury to Zebs.
So we can disregard Tallis' injury. Unfortunately Joey's was the same as Zeb's.


Basically, We will know for sure within 4-6 weeks whether Zeb will play again. I will be extremely shocked if he plays before that time period, though it's not impossible.
I don't really know enough about Zeb's particular case to really provide anymore insight. In regards to ever playing again, statistics are on his side (and ours lol).
Just on what pika said about presence of calcification; If calcium is present, hopefully it's only a small amount as a large deposit could cause severe spastic myelopathy (way too complex to explain) which would require surgey.
the end.

 

[League_God]

lol take everything i just said with a grain of salt too guys

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I highly doubt he will ever fully recover from this. Zeb is currently in te inflammation stage. Once it settles down he will be relatively pain free. However once the disc herniates it's going to increase risk of re injury. What does this all mean? He can still play footy for sure, but there will be flare ups, it will eventually become more and more frequent. He will then start to have disc degeneration(if he doesnt already). The only way to stop this process is to stop the cause (footy) There is no treatment that will cure this if it does develop into degeneration and you can only mask the symptoms for so long.

I have seen this so Many times, more so L5-S1 prolapsed discs which will lead to degeneration resulting in spinal surgery and a change of job. Sorry to burst everyones bubble. Taia will still potentially have a few seasons left but this will get the better if him.

 

[Pika]

Hey League God, you and me should open a Clinic haha.

 

[cram]

I highly doubt he will ever fully recover from this. Zeb is currently in te inflammation stage. Once it settles down he will be relatively pain free. However once the disc herniates it's not going to unherniate itself. What does this all mean? He can still play footy for sure, but there will be flare ups, it will eventually become more and more frequent. He will then start to have disc degeneration(if he doesnt already). The only way to stop this process is to stop the cause (footy) There is no treatment that will cure this and you can only mask the symptoms for so long.

I have seen this so Many times, more so L5-S1 prolapsed discs which will lead to degeneration resulting in spinal surgery and a change of job. Sorry to burst everyones bubble. Taia will still potentially have a few seasons left but this will get the better if him.

Geez mate, that is great summary and easy to understand you have grown up to be fine Chicken Hunter!....lol

 

[League_God]

Hey League God, you and me should open a Clinic haha.

haha Sounds great, I can see it now.
Me: "So did you say you have back pain and headaches?"
Client: "yes and a fever"
Me: "Excellent, one second"
*runs to nearest computer and googles: back pain and fever*

 

[League_God]

I highly doubt he will ever fully recover from this. Zeb is currently in te inflammation stage. Once it settles down he will be relatively pain free. However once the disc herniates it's not going to unherniate itself. What does this all mean? He can still play footy for sure, but there will be flare ups, it will eventually become more and more frequent. He will then start to have disc degeneration(if he doesnt already). The only way to stop this process is to stop the cause (footy) There is no treatment that will cure this and you can only mask the symptoms for so long.

I have seen this so Many times, more so L5-S1 prolapsed discs which will lead to degeneration resulting in spinal surgery and a change of job. Sorry to burst everyones bubble. Taia will still potentially have a few seasons left but this will get the better if him.

Amateur :sarcasm:
JK, well said, much more knowledgable than an aspiring med student's insight lol

Thats scary then. Will anti-inflammatory drugs be of any use to zeb? I understand they can help relieve the pain caused by bulging discs in some cases. I don't really know anything about sports related injuries and how you treat them. I'm curious as to what sort of treatment can prolong his playing future. Also, does the location of the disc on the spinal column have any effect in terms of the severity, treatment etc?
cheers mate

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Amateur :sarcasm:
JK, well said, much more knowledgable than an aspiring med student's insight lol

Thats scary then. Will anti-inflammatory drugs be of any use to zeb? I understand they can help relieve the pain caused by bulging discs in some cases. I don't really know anything about sports related injuries and how you treat them. I'm curious as to what sort of treatment can prolong his playing future. Also, does the location of the disc on the spinal column have any effect in terms of the severity, treatment etc?
cheers mate

Anti inflammatories will definitely help this. What else could help this would be a personalized training plan aiming for less strain on his neck. I don't know how you could do this as any contact will give you some sort of whip lash. Now if zebs disc herniation is only small then he may get through his career with only a few flare ups. But as you all know, league is a high impact sport so there is probably a higher chance of him making it worse over time.

As far as where it is and problems that arise, I am not too sure, whenever you get an injury like this it can compress on nerves, cause pain etc etc. If it is bad enough and depending on where the injury is can have an effect on that nerves function eg; a lot of lower back injuries go hand in hand with sciatic nerve pain that goes through ur ass and down the back of your leg.

Now I will say that everyone is different and depending on severity zeb may be just fine with some physio a panadol and a nurofen

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I'll also correct myself, bulging discs can heal on their own. If it is minor and is not constantly re-injured. It's once it progresses to degeneration, that won't heal itself. Now how does a footy player who now has a history of bulging discs prevent re-injury? From what I understand the risk of re-injury would increase a fair bit.

 

[perverse]

thanks for the knowledge guys, it has been a really good read. fingers crossed for Zeb... and hopefully he can reach something close to peak performance again without destroying his life after football.