Disc herniation and exercise

[tinamatas]

I finally got an MRI (it took me seeing three primary care physicians before one sent me for one and then sent me to an orthopedic surgeon for evaluation) and found out what's been causing my low back pain with leg and foot numbness and tingling. I have a "moderate sized left paracentral posterior disc hernation with caudal migration and annular tear at the L5-S1 level impinging upon the thecal sac and the transfersing S1 nerve root, minimally compromising right and moderately compromising the left neural foramina and along with bilateral facetal hypertrophy, causing minimal left lateral recess stenosis" and "desiccation and severely reduced height of L5-S1". I also have "straightening of lumbar lordosis, suggestive of paraspinal muscle spasm with moderate lumbar levoscoliosis."

I haven't been able to exercise much this year because every time I try, my symptoms seem to get worse either when I'm exercising or later in the day. I had been using low impact walking-type DVDs for cardio such as Leslie Sansone (even doing one of her a 1-mile walks was not good) with no lower body strength training because it really did make things much worse.

The orthopedic surgeon's physician assistant said I should first see the actual orthopedic surgeon (in a week-and-a-half) and then he'd most likely have me try an epidural steroid injection at least one more week away (lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injection) and if a few of those don't work, then they'd probably do some sort of minimally invasive surgery and hopefully that would do the trick and I wouldn't eventually need a fusion surgery, which she said is much more extensive. She said the injections are mostly for leg symptoms and not back pain, and when I told her the back pain bothers me more than the leg symptoms, she said the minimal-type surgery is probably would I'd end up having to do.

Has anyone had any of these with good results? If so, were you able to return to exercising without making things worse as maybe you did before? I really enjoy just indoor or regular walking and would only need to get back to that level without increasing my back pain which I think at this point is coming from the spasms I guess made worse by increased movement (in other words, I detest high impact stuff and wouldn't need to worry about doing something like that ).

Tina

[Debbie S.]

Tina, I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. There are a few VFers who have had lower back surgery, myself included.

Walking will be your best choice, so I'm glad to hear that you enjoy walking. For me, walking videos actually irritated my lower back, so I stayed away from them until much further down my recovery. I believe it was the side to side movements, knees ups, etc. that made it worse.

I've had 3 micro discetomies/lamis, and a fusion. Orthopaedic surgeons will almost always go with the less evasive/invasive (?) surgery. Is the L5-S1 the only area affected? That area does mainly affect the lower body, but it sounds like you have a great deal of muscle spasms in your lower back. Your goal for now is to get the spasms to settle down, which is tough. Definitely make sure you talk to your doctor about how to lessen the spasms.

My surgeries were back in 1995,96, and 97. It took a long to get back to an advanced fitness level, but I did. Remember to walk every single day. Walking will be your life saver.

I wish you the best for a speedy recovery.

[ella]

I have a disc herniation at the L4/L5 level. The epidural steroid injection brought great pain relief (every 3 months for the last year and a half). My back issues have been going on for almost 2 years. The last steroid shot did not work at all and the orthopedic doctor said I had run out of options and it was time for surgery. My surgery is scheduled for this coming Tuesday so I can't tell you about recovery yet. I am having a lumbar discectomy.

Also, Leslie videos have been a life saver for me. I hope you find some relief soon!

Ella

[tinamatas]

Thanks for your replies and good wishes, Debbie and Ella.

Ella, I hope your surgery goes well tomorrow. Would you post back sometime afterward and let us know how you're doing?

Debbie, I've been using my treadmill for about 15 minutes twice a day at a nice, fairly slow pace (2.3 mph, which is slow for my exercise capacity but good for not increasing my symptoms too much) and doing okay with it. Leslie's walking videos have been aggravating my back too much to use this year but gently walking on the treadmill seems to be doable. Yes, the L5-S1 seems to be the only level affected even though I also have a minimal disc bulge at L2-3. And I'm definitely going to ask about the muscle spasms (I'd like to know if they are causing the scoliosis or the scoliosis is being caused by the spasms protecting my low back from further injury . . . ) even though I really don't want to take any medication for them. Heat sometimes helps, but taking it easy when they get bad helps about as much as anything.

Thanks again!
Tina

[Debbie S.]

Hi Tina! Yes, your muscle spasms is your bodies way of protecting the injured area. One reason why doctors like doing epidurals is to stop the pain signals reaching your brain so your muscle spasms can subside.

Do you sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs? Til this day, this is the only way I can sleep without waking up in the middle of the night with my feet falling asleep and my lower back hurting.

[ella]

Thanks Tina! Yes, I will keep you posted on my recovery.