Column Professional Athletes Who Have Battled With Disc Herniation in the Past – vol.3 – Yuto Nagatomo

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05.08.2025

Yuto Nagatomo, a soccer player who used to suffer from disc herniation

Yuto Nagatomo is a member of FC Tokyo of the J-League and a member of the Japanese national soccer team. He started playing soccer in the first grade of elementary school and placed third in the 2001 All-Japan U-15 Youth Championship in Ehime Prefecture. in 2005, while a student at Meiji University, he joined the soccer team there and was switched to a position as a back player on the right side to take advantage of his ability to run and complete attacks, but he ended up developing disc herniation. He was unable to run or play in games due to back pain.

Nagatomo was worried at one point about having to quit playing soccer because he could not run or play in games due to back pain, but he was eventually able to return to the team after spending a year doing core training and strengthening his muscles.

After his return to the field, he performed well, signing a contract with FC Tokyo and moving to soccer clubs in Italy and France, where he participated in numerous matches and was selected to play for the Japanese national team in 2022.

The relationship between soccer and disc herniation

Soccer is one of the most taxing sports for the lower back.

It involves a lot of twisting, bending, and arching of the hips, as well as intense lower body movements such as dribbling, jumping, and shooting, and also a lot of physical contact with opponents. These movements contribute to placing a heavy strain on the intervertebral discs of the players.

Lack of proper physical care and too much soccer practice increases the risk of disc damage, leading to disc herniation. After disc herniation has occurred, disc degeneration continues to progress, and the disc becomes increasingly thinner and loses its volume. This can lead to a variety of spinal conditions, and the medical condition can become more serious.

Preventive measures are crucial

Back pain caused by disc herniation is caused by excessive strain on the lower back among other factors. Reducing fatigue and strain on the lower back is essential.

Daily stretching and other training exercises for the lumbar spine and the surrounding thoracic spine and hip joints will improve the flexibility of the lower back, thoracic spine, and hip joints, and help prevent back pain and injury.

Even after developing disc herniation, a player can continue to play soccer if he does proper core training and other exercises. The case of Mr. Nagatomo is a confirmation of this.

Our clinic’s treatment

When back pain occurs, it is very important not to leave it untreated but to have it diagnosed by a specialist. Early detection and proper treatment can prevent the condition from aggravating and may even cure it completely.

Our clinic offers the Cellgel method, a treatment that repairs damaged intervertebral discs.

The Cellgel method used at our clinics provides a fundamental treatment by injecting a drug that fills the cracks in the disc, which then forms a gel that replaces the cracks. It is characterized by the fact that the volume of the disc is not reduced, and the drug remains in the disc as a gel-like implant after treatment, thus preserving the disc.