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Interesting! I have similar issues. Did you have an MRI? I have had a couple of MRIs. Still suffering and managing. Surgery being a last resort as it’s impr

Interesting! I have similar issues. Did you have an MRI? I have had a couple of MRIs. Still suffering and managing. Surgery being a last resort as it’s improving slowly and mostly stabilised.

BLKNSLVR 3y ago
I had an MRI, which really only showed a mild L5 disc bulge. The public health system denied surgery because it didn't seem to be a bad enough issue as to require surgery. Even the private surgeon I went to said he was 50/50 and so it was up to me to decide whether to go ahead with the surgery because, again, the MRI didn't show anything particularly extreme. I chose surgery because within myself I knew there was something more extreme that was wrong, and the surgery, even if unsuccessful, would have been a path towards an overall cause / diagnosis. I'm sure my case is fairly exceptional, though. The surgeon specifically came to discuss it with me while I was in recovery. I don't want to sway you either way, I've heard more bad stories about back surgery than good ones. Having said that, outside of some kind of disastrous surgery incident, being the age I was, I'm more likely to heal faster, better, stronger, than if I waited until later in life to have the surgery. I thought long and hard weighing the risks. One thing the MRI showed was that my lower back muscles were noticeably lacking in size - which I think is fairly normal for someone who sits at a desk most of the day. As part of my months-long recovery process I was told to see a physio to work on core strength exercises in order to build the muscles around the abdomen that can help to support the spine and take (some) pressure off the discs. I was also told to do dead lifts to build back strength, but to start very light - I started at only 5Kg at about 10 weeks after surgery. Make sure you've got the correct stance, otherwise you risk making things worse. I've continued with dead lifts over a few years, much moreso than pilates or core exercises. I aim to keep slightly increasing the weight every couple of months for as long as I can - I'm up to 50Kg (I lost about 9 months of progress when I broke my wrist a year ago - the risks of an active lifestyle :)). There's also a posture aspect to spinal disc pressures - accentuate the natural of your spine to 'feel' what correct posture feels like (ie the opposite of slumping down in your chair - shoulders back, bum out). A relative of mine swears by pilates for helping with back pain, after having tried both yoga and pilates. Try pilates, try dead lifts. Get someone who knows what they're doing (a physiotherapist ) to guide you on proper posture and technique (for both pilates and dead lifts), and once you've got that down you can probably do the rest yourself at home. The heardest part is the self-discipline (a physio won't solve your problems, but they can show you what you need to do to solve them).

Interesting! I have similar issues. Did you have an MRI? I have had a couple of MRIs. Still suffering and managing. Surgery being a last resort as it’s improving slowly and mostly stabilised.

BLKNSLVR 3y ago

I had an MRI, which really only showed a mild L5 disc bulge. The public health system denied surgery because it didn't seem to be a bad enough issue as to require surgery. Even the private surgeon I went to said he was 50/50 and so it was up to me to decide whether to go ahead with the surgery because, again, the MRI didn't show anything particularly extreme. I chose surgery because within myself I knew there was something more extreme that was wrong, and the surgery, even if unsuccessful, would have been a path towards an overall cause / diagnosis. I'm sure my case is fairly exceptional, though. The surgeon specifically came to discuss it with me while I was in recovery. I don't want to sway you either way, I've heard more bad stories about back surgery than good ones. Having said that, outside of some kind of disastrous surgery incident, being the age I was, I'm more likely to heal faster, better, stronger, than if I waited until later in life to have the surgery. I thought long and hard weighing the risks. One thing the MRI showed was that my lower back muscles were noticeably lacking in size - which I think is fairly normal for someone who sits at a desk most of the day. As part of my months-long recovery process I was told to see a physio to work on core strength exercises in order to build the muscles around the abdomen that can help to support the spine and take (some) pressure off the discs. I was also told to do dead lifts to build back strength, but to start very light - I started at only 5Kg at about 10 weeks after surgery. Make sure you've got the correct stance, otherwise you risk making things worse. I've continued with dead lifts over a few years, much moreso than pilates or core exercises. I aim to keep slightly increasing the weight every couple of months for as long as I can - I'm up to 50Kg (I lost about 9 months of progress when I broke my wrist a year ago - the risks of an active lifestyle :)). There's also a posture aspect to spinal disc pressures - accentuate the natural of your spine to 'feel' what correct posture feels like (ie the opposite of slumping down in your chair - shoulders back, bum out). A relative of mine swears by pilates for helping with back pain, after having tried both yoga and pilates. Try pilates, try dead lifts. Get someone who knows what they're doing (a physiotherapist ) to guide you on proper posture and technique (for both pilates and dead lifts), and once you've got that down you can probably do the rest yourself at home. The heardest part is the self-discipline (a physio won't solve your problems, but they can show you what you need to do to solve them).