Tiger Woods announced on his website, Tuesday, that he will not be playing in the Masters after undergoing successful surgery for his back on Monday. Mr. Woods reportedly had been suffering from a pinched nerve in his back for several months.
Removal of the disc pressure, like the operation that Tiger just had, generally produces immediate relief. However, rehabilitation after surgery could take many weeks or months. Although Tiger may well play competitive golf sometime late this summer, restoration of muscle strength and fluidity of the golf swing might not be 100% until next year.”
Mr. Wood’s surgery was performed at a facility in Park City, Utah by neurosurgeon, Dr.Charles Rich, a 1999 graduate of our neurosurgical residency program here at Columbia University Medical Center.
The surgery he performed on Mr. Woods is called a microdiscectomy, a minimally invasive procedure where a small amount of soft tissue is removed to take pressure off an irritated spinal nerve.
A microdiscectomy is performed under general anesthesia, and patients are usually able to leave the hospital on the day of surgery or the next morning. Recovery can take four to six weeks and is sometimes followed by physical therapy for lower back strengthening and flexibility.
“It is a major blow to professional golf that Tiger Woods is out of the Masters,” says Dr. Alfred Ogden, neurosurgeon from the Spine Center at Columbia University Medical Center. “However golf fans should take heart. He has a great doctor and many professional athletes have returned from spine surgery to excel, Jerricho Cotchery, Dwight Howard, and Peyton Manning to name a few.”