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I've suffered for 4 years with lower back pain and every alterntive course of treatment has failed, I'm at the point now where I cant practice yoga at all.
Basically my L5-S1 disk will be removed and lumbar spine fused with a piece of hip bone and various bits of steeel and pedicle screws. I'm told that loss of forward bending is around 6%. I'm pretty sure it's been reduced by at least this much anyway due to disk problem, as all my forward bends seem to come from my thoracic / cervical spine and not from the hips & lumbar spine.
Anyone had this done or know of anyone who has and is still able to enjoy some sort of yoga practice?
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Member
Posts: 8
| I don't know yours. But I developed some semiluxation of facet joint of my vertebra. The doctor said that it might be caused by the deep twisting of yoga practise. Anyone knows? |
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Location: London, England | Hi Steve,
As the old saying goes, "it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it." If you have a teacher who understands the loads that are put on the spine with spinal fusion, and can advise you with a practice that encourages stability of the lumbar spine/sacrum, together with exploring the mobility of the thoracic spine and hip joints. This should be the same for everyone, of course, but you have more to lose by getting it wrong. If finding a teacher of this type proves impossible, perhaps develop your own practice, hopefully you will have rehab which you can use as guidance on what you should be subjecting your spine to, so that you can embellish the rehab with an intelligently designed yoga practice
Nick |
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| Many thanks for the reply Nick, I would like to carry on some form of yoga. I already had to give up squash (my favourite support) and all other impact sports, and having doscovered yoga and been doing it nearly a year I'd be pretty fed up if I have to give that up permanently and do nothing but a bit of resistance training and swimming, which I find very tedious. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 574
| Hi afx. Poor you.Back problems can be nasty. However, before you take up this spinal fusion please consider that, when your spine will be fused together the problem is very likely to eventually move to another area of your spine which could be far worse for you in the long run. Why did the doctor recommend such an evasive approach? Do you have scoliosis? Remember we all have scoliosis to some degree. If scoliosis becomes funtional it need not be a problem at all. You know yourself better than any doctor,yoga teacher ,therapist. So I would seriously question such a decision and whatever pain you are in, its a serious matter which you should discuss with several experienced people aswell as with people who have had a similar procedure. Have you tried functional integration or awarenesss through movement lessons with any experienced feldenkrais practioners? |
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| Hi Vibes,
Thanks for the information, I'm in no hurry at all to get the operation done, and the surgeon offering it is one I went to for a second opinion. The first one sent me for an MRI two years ago and said nothing I can do for you as your disc is shot. Just wait 10 years and it will fuse itself naturally and the pain will subside with reduced forward bending ability when you're in your 40's (I was 32 at the time).
I tried to keep my post brief as I didn't want to bore everyone with the detail, (but here goes) in the hope of finding someone who has been in a similar position. I injured my back playing squash (played at county level for over 10 years) and it just hasn’t been right since. I gave up squash two years ago and all other impact sports and had been really enjoying yoga for about 9 months, but now it's deteriorated to the point I can no longer do any yoga at present. A bit of swimming and resistance training is all I can do, both I get zero pleasure from.
I got a second MRI scan about 4 months ago and it showed the disc had deterioted even further, basically an L5 disc should be about 10 MM thick as it's the most load bearing, mine is barely 2MM and leaks out of one side. The surgeon wanted to make sure that the damaged disc on the MRI was the one causing the pain. So I had a discogram procedure where they stick needles into a healthy disc and the damaged disc (while you are conscious / semi sedated with gas and air and a little local anaesthetic). I couldn’t feel anything when the needle was put in the healthy disc above, and then hit the roof when it was inserted into the problem disc. So together with length of time of my symptoms, positive test for pain with discogram backing up what is visible on the MRI, I was told a fusion is the only option.
I've spent literally thousands of pounds over the years on personal trainers to correct my so called (muscle imbalance / weak core stability), which I don't actually have. As well as acupuncture, chiropractors, osteopaths, Pilates classes, all to no avail. It was this injury that led me to yoga, which I only started to try and help with my lower back problem, but ended up really enjoying it on many different levels.
I'm 34 now, I can’t play squash, a game I used to love, or do any other impact sports and now can’t do yoga which I ended up enjoying more than squash or any other sport (not that yoga is comparable to a sport). I don’t know what is left for me to try in order to get back to an enjoyable active lifestyle. I had to Google feldenkrais, as I'm not familiar with it, but would be prepared to try it if there's the remotest possibility it will help.
I have a high pain threshold, yet I don’t think this is something I can live with indefinitely, the chronic pain is there all the time, sitting, getting out of chair, in and out of car etc. I had a cortisone shot directly into the disc after the discogram, I was blown away with he difference this made, I felt like I was cured, unfortunately it only lasted about 5 weeks. I had another a month ago and it done next to nothing. 800 MG of Ibuprofen, 100 MG's of Diclofenac taken together don’t do a thing. Nor do other NSAID's and various muscle relaxants.
To make matters worse recently moved to Thailand and would have to go back to the UK for the op and stay there six weeks. As a last ditch attempt I was going to try and get the IDET procedure done in Bangkok, where they basically stick a red hot needle into the disk to cauterize / kill off the nerves inside and around the disc. It doesn't have a great success rate, coin toss odds in terms of effectiveness, but my surgeon in the UK says I've nothing to lose by trying it.
To answer your question I haven’t been told I have scoliosis, and the rest of my discs are good, as is spine alignment. I Wonder If I should go for a third opinion? I wish it was as simple as destroying the offending nerves with a laser in and around the disc then I'd be fine, as pain is the only thing wrong with my back. If I had no pain I'd have no problem at all.
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Location: London, England | Hi there,
Just a couple of observations:
" I injured my back playing squash (played at county level for over 10 years) and it just hasn’t been right since. I gave up squash two years ago and all other impact sports and had been really enjoying yoga for about 9 months, but now it's deteriorated to the point I can no longer do any yoga at present."
I have a few exercise pet hates, tennis, squash, golf being the big three. Unfortunately, their practicioners love them .
"I've spent literally thousands of pounds over the years on personal trainers to correct my so called (muscle imbalance / weak core stability), which I don't actually have. As well as acupuncture, chiropractors, osteopaths, Pilates classes, all to no avail. It was this injury that led me to yoga, which I only started to try and help with my lower back problem, but ended up really enjoying it on many different levels."
Most personal trainers that I know actually have useless core stability, and have no idea how to teach it properly. Sad but, I think, true. Their expertise is in getting people to sign up for perhaps years of classes, not in helping their clients achieve a functional core. I teach in gyms, so have seen what personal trainers do with their clients thousands of times, and it's often laughable, or it would be if the consequences were not so potentially serious.
"I'm 34 now, I can’t play squash, a game I used to love, or do any other impact sports and now can’t do yoga which I ended up enjoying more than squash or any other sport (not that yoga is comparable to a sport). I don’t know what is left for me to try in order to get back to an enjoyable active lifestyle. I had to Google feldenkrais, as I'm not familiar with it, but would be prepared to try it if there's the remotest possibility it will help."
I think that your case shows how hard it is to offer advice, because the future is so impossible to predict. I mean, you could go for the disc fusion, which might be completely successful, decide to take up squash again, be fine for ten years, but as a result end up with an even more serious spinal dysfunction.
Alternatively, you could go for achieving 'perfect posture,' which would mean never taking up squash, obviously, and end up with the best back that is possible under the circumstances. If I can help with advice, I will, give me a shout if you think I can help.
Nick |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 574
| Once you have been to see a good feldenkrais practioner or two. Get back to me here or via me inbox. You will have a different insight. Wish you less and less pain and success! |
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| Thanks for all the advice, but I've decided to go for the fusion surgery. I want my life back, this has been going on for 4 years and not being able to do any sport say for a bit of swimming has been getting me donw for some time.
I have a mechanical problem (a lumbar disc that is literally and little more than one mm high instead of 10 mm) that needs corrected. To use an appropriate analogy, my 4 years of trying to correct the problem has been akin to polishing a car and tuning the engine when my problem is a flat tyre.
I've read in many places that single level fusion barely restricts movement, so with that in mind I'll hopefully I'll be able to return to some form of yoga practice in the future.
Thanks again for all the advice, I'll report back when / if I'm able to do some form of yoga, which will be at least 6 months away.
In the meant time if anyone pops up on the forum who continues to practice yoga after single level lumbar fusion, it would be great to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Cheers,
Steve |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| Good luck, Steve. We wish you all the best! It is a tough decision to opt for surgery, but in my case (not back related) it was life changing. I cannot imagine how I would be coping now if I had not had it. Let's hope yours is the same. |
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| This might be an interesting read for you which talks about yoga and scoliosis: http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1060
I also recollect my Ashtanga teacher tell me about a practitioner who lives up in North Queensland (Australia) who has scoliosis and took up Ashtanga and went a long way with it. He is a teacher now (certified I think). I can't remember the details. When I get back to mysore style classes in early January I'll try and remember to ask my teacher for the details.
All the best with your surgery and your path with yoga. |
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| Thanks for the good luck comments and useful links.
My surgery is 6th of Jan. I hope I'm one of the lucky ones and can return to doing yoga and other physical activites. This enforced sedentary lifestyle is awful. I dont know how so many people can do it.
Anyway, I want to remain optimistic and fingers crossed it goes well. Would love to be able to give an update in a 3 or 4 months that I'm able to begin some gentle yoga, here's hoping ;-) |
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| afx - 2009-10-19 11:57 PM
Anyone had this done or know of anyone who has and is still able to enjoy some sort of yoga practice?
I have a student who had two vertebrae fused (L4 and L5) and now has a wonderful yoga practice. Her only wish is that is had begun yoga many years earlier and therefore maybe been able to forgo the operation. The operation does not limit what she can do, it only limits how deeply she can go in some poses. She is happy with both the operation and her current yoga practice.
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single disk lumbar spinal fusion
