I’m about to be 44 and I’ve been having back pain and spasms intermittently over the last number of years. I had an MRI about 2.5 years ago that showed some degeneration and bulging discs but nothing too serious. Also had an epidural at that time which helped with sciatic pain down my right leg. But in the last 18-24 months its gotten really bad. Pain in the back, tingling down the right leg, lack of strength and pain in the left leg/hip. It’s forced me to pull way back on powerlifting. Before it started to act up on me I was a mid-500s deadlifter and a mid-400s squatter with lifetime goals to hit 600 and 500, respectively. I don’t know what my numbers are today but it’s clear I can’t generate the same force with my left leg as I can with my right. Plus I don’t trust my back. I also was a hockey player, but I can’t get enough push with my left leg to skate anymore.
I just had a new MRI last week and its findings are miserable. I have adult-onset, degenerative scoliosis (I’ve lost 1" in height). I have herniated or bulging discs in every lumbar vertebrae (starting with T12-L1). Some of the herinations are pressing on nerves. I have narrowing, bone spurs, and my L2-L5 have all somehow shifted backwards. They’re starting me on PT for 6 weeks (again) and then its likely some kind of injection.
The crazy thing about all this is that my back only hurts from sagittal plane movements - squats, lunges, deadlifts, running, etc. I can do rotational movements just fine. I still do boxing training every week. I just can’t run to prep for it. I still do all my upper body lifting and do machine work on my legs to avoid the back/hip.
I know this is sounding like a rant post, but what I’m really hoping to find is advice from anyone who has been through serious back issues and gotten back to the same/similar levels of strength as before the back issues began. What did you try? What did you do? What worked? What didn’t? Have you gone the injection route? The surgery route? Has anyone had success with chiropractic? Are there alternative surgeries to fusion? I’m really begging for someone to give me some hope that my lifting and athletic career isn’t completely screwed!
Hey man, first off don’t panic. You can get better, it’s just going to take time. My advice would be to find a physical therapist/Physio that specializes in working with athletes. Someone who understands what you want to achieve and doesn’t treat you like every overweight, sedentary office worker they usually see. I would avoid surgery at all costs. Unless it’s 100% necessary and you cant even walk without pain. Most doctors only know how to prescribe drugs and cut you up. So most doctors solve problems by prescribing drugs and cutting you up. Injections stop the pain temporarily, but hide the problem.
Keep doing what you can that doesn’t cause pain. If you can box, box. If you can leg press, leg press. Keep active and stay strong where you can until you and the physio figure out the root cause of the back injury. If you cant apply force equally with both legs it makes me wonder, did you injure one of them in the past? Knee, ankle, hip? Could that muscle imbalance be the cause of this whole thing? These are the types of things a good physio will figure out and slowly unfuck the whole system.
Check out some of Kelley Starrett’s stuff on youtube. I tweaked my back really bad about 10 years ago and was able to come back from it by just taking his advice and thinking strategically about what was causing my pain in the first place. I went from barely being able to walk to competing again within a year.
There’s hope. Find a good, knowledgeable physio that doesn’t jerk you around. And physical therapy is really done at home. You see him twice a week and the other 5 days you should be working on it yourself.
Maybe i’m wrong but for what it’s worth, I don’t know anyone that had a fuse and doesn’t regret it.
Thanks man, I appreciate the insight and experience.
That’s a good call about a physio/therapist that works with athletes. I’ll have to look into that. Anything is better than the go-through-the-motions type of PT I’ve done before.
Never had an injury to the left leg. I think it’s the nerve irritation locking everything up. Essentially the back pain shoots from the back through the top of the glute and around the left hip. It feels like the hip and the hamstring are get locked in a shortened position when trying to exert force. So it doesn’t extend at the same velocity as the right leg. For instance, if I squat heavy, as I ascend the left leg kinda shortens/doesn’t extend fully and my foot feels like it almost comes up off the floor. So it forces me to shift onto my right side.
I’ve heard of Kelly Starrett but I’ve never used his stuff. I thought he was mostly about stretching and mobility stuff.
Did you ever try chiropractic at all? I’ve heard mixed things.
You have access to a reverse hyper? Would be interesting how you tolerate that movement and whether or not that “contract/deload” cylce helps. It helped me when I would tweak something when I was competing (Olympic style lifting).
Unfortunately, the gym I was in with my powerlifting team didn’t have one.
Hangs from a bar daily. Strap up.
Just throwing out some therapeutics that have helped another aging meathead.
But yeah, what the first response said: knowledgeable practitioners and keep doing what you can do.
Seeing a powerlifting (or at least “proper” lifting) experienced clinician is essential. You would be appalled at how irrelevant the base physio education is to athletes seeking care. Unfortunately, it takes years of post-grad education and experience to actually become skilled managing cases such as yours
Secondly, I do not necessarily agree that surgery is a 100% must avoid, however the procedure/s should be carefully selected. Even though you have degenerative findings at multiple levels, that does not mean that every single finding is causing your symptoms. Typically, some of the findings are asymptomatic and some are genuinely relevant. To (attempt to) identify which findings are relevant, you would need to undergo diagnostic anesthetic injections to see if numbing any specific site significantly improves symptoms. You would then only consider procedures on the sites which had a positive response to anaesthetic. This is obviously a tedious process and may not be 100% necessary for your recovery.
Thirdly, with nervey-type symptoms that extend down the leg I typically recommend against bending and flexibility-type movements like the reverse hyper and mobility work as a blanket statement. These types of interventions should only be provided under the guidance of your physio. In the mean time, starting with the McGill Big 3 could be good, even though I’m not a huge fan of Stuart McGill’s approach as a whole
Thanks for sharing. I’m definitely going to work to find a phyiso near me that has experience working with athletes/lifters. If I have to spend 2-3x per week for the next 6 weeks with the same exercises an 80 year old grandfather just trying to walk, I’m going to lose it. Been there, done that.
Your post mentioned different types of procedures. The only one my doctor has mentioned to me so far is a fusion. My understanding is a fusion is essentially a stopgap because once that level becomes fused, the levels above and below start to have problems. What other types of procedures have you seen?
If your vertebrae are out of place the chiropractor will PROBABLY be able to shift them back into place.
Ideally, this will allow your back and ribs to “uncrunch,” your torso to get back to neutral and your scoliosis to “turn off.” And if you’re not crunching up your and leaning to one side, your short leg SHOULD go back to it’s normal length.
And after that, you SHOULD be able to feel your glutes working better and to push “outward” and be more symmetrical.
The problem is that you will be weak as hell in the “new” proper alignment. The weird posture “deactivated” some of your hip/glute/ab/oblique/low back muscles. Now that they’re back “on” they’re not used to working. And if you push too hard/fast/long you’ll overpower the “right” muscles and pull yourself right back into a shitty alignment. So you have to go slow.
I agree about the Stuart McGill stuff. You need to get your glutes, abs and abductors working, and the McGill 3 are easy starting moves for these areas. Unless your hips are bad and side planks are too hard. Then find something easier.
Also, you need to get down to the root cause of the bad hip/bad posture. You play hockey, so your groin and hip flexors are probably like beef jerky. They mauy need some focused work.
I tend to thinj @j4gga2 is very smart on this stuff and his suggestions align with my personal experience.
I had discectomies at two levels twice and came back to mediocre lifting (500lbs deadlift, 425lbs squat). I did keep a bit of foot drop, but such is life.
I lived on cortisone injections for awhile until it stopped working. I’m sure that wasn’t a wise move, but it kept me in the job at the time.
I eventually had surgery because I was in pain all the time. I could barely walk, couldn’t sleep, definitely couldn’t do my job to any acceptable level, and was never real sure if I was peeing on myself or not. Surgery was a huge relief and I walked around the floor as soon as I woke up. I wouldn’t make the OR my first option, but I also think you know when it’s time.
I’m happy to share any personal experience that is helpful, but I guess my parting shot is along the lines of: the injury has happened, so all you can do now is deal with it, and there is absolutely a path forward.
Also of the belief most chiropractic is useless. But i will say that just like with doctors, physios etc, there are chiropractors out there who understand the body and offer good diagnosis. Their value is in identifying muscle imbalances, not cracking things. Muscles move bones out of “alignment,” not the other way around. Well unless were talking trauma.
I’ve had back issues for years but lived with it pretty easily. Then one day my back just blew up with pain. Went to the ER and was diagnosed with significant stenosis. Got discharged after a minor surgery. Two weeks later I nearly started losing control of my bladder and the pain was so bad crap was getting dark.
This time they went in and did a L2-5 laminectomy without a fusion because they knew i would keep working out (just buying time).
So 13mos later I can do pretty much whatever I want in the gym except spinal loading. Barbell squats and hack squats are out. But I can still do Romanian Deadlifts. No lying leg curld. I only belt squat now and use certain types of leg prcurls.
It is what it is and I am profoundly greatful that I can still lift weights with intensity. It just looks a little different now. My goals aren’t to be the strongest guy in the gym anymore, it’s to not be the youngest person in assisted living.
Edit: the surgery probably saved my life because extensive Osteomyelitis that didn’t show up on imaging was found. The nurses thought it was from intravenous drug use and some of them were very passive aggressive about giving me my pain meds.
I had a hip replacement two weeks ago and Osteomyelitis was found on the head of the femur.
Best guess is that I got it all from an abscess tooth a few years ago