NJ.com reports New York Yankees pitcher James Paxton could return to sport sooner than the 3-4 month recovery period initially anticipated, following his microscopic lumbar discectomy with removal of a peridiscal cyst.

NJ.com spoke to Andrew A. Sama, MD, co-chief of HSS Spine, who did not treat Paxton, but commented on the recovery from this type of procedure. “If the thing that’s slowing someone down is – this cyst or disc or whatever it is pressing on a nerve – and that offending agent is removed, then once they heal from the surgery, theoretically, they should be good to go,” said Dr. Sama. “Now there is a possibility that the cyst or the disc or whatever it is can come back, but that’s pretty rare. It’s less than 3-4 percent.”

Dr. Sama concluded this injury is common. “They happen to moms and dads and just people going through their regular daily lives,” he said. “And then you think about how much of a demand professional athletes, especially a thrower like Paxton, put on their bodies, especially in the lower part of the back, and you can understand how something can happen like this mechanically.”

Read the article at NJ.com.