Exercise and Rehab
Welcome to Spine-health’s Exercise and Rehab patient community. You can also read doctor approved Exercise Articles.
Tue, 06/16/2009 - 14:41
My Cure
Was excersize! And still is!
The human body is an amazingly complex system of bones, joints, muscles, and nerves, designed to work together to accomplish one thing: motion. Remember that motion is life. Everything about the human body is designed with motion in mind: nerve fibers stimulate the muscles to contract, muscles contract to move the bones, bones move around joints, and the nerve system controls it all.
Lack of motion has a detrimental affect on everything from digestion to our emotional state, immune function, our ability to concentrate, how well we sleep and even to how long we live. If your lifestyle does not include enough motion, your body cannot function efficiently. First, you will not be as physically healthy and will suffer from a wide variety of physical ailments, ranging from headaches to high blood pressure. Second, you will not be as productive in your life because of reduced energy levels and the lack of ability to mentally focus. Third, because you have less energy, your activity level will tend to drop off even further over time, creating a downward spiral of reduced energy and less activity until you get to a point where even the demands of a sedentary job leave you physically exhausted at the end of the day.
This is the biggest thing I keep telling everyone in their posts that I strongly feel would make a detrimental difference on your lives. Excersize can make a world of a difference, even if it hurts SO freaking bad at first, it pays off in the long run.
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I would have to agree that exercise has helped me emensely. Back when I first hurt my disc L5-S1 I was not put on a physical therapy program and it took 3 years to feel normal again. This last time I went to physical therapy and was shown all kinds of safe exercises for someone with my disc issues and have continued all of the exercises and after months instead of years I felt better.
Can you believe I was out sanding my deck for 6 hours the other day and then staining for 8 hours and no soreness at all. My muscles aren't even sore at all. I know it's from all of the exercising I have been doing in the last year. I've conditioned my body to be able to do things like that and not get hurt.
Plus with the physical therapy I had I know how to move my body now in a way when doing things with proper form so it doesn't put strain on the discs and damage them.
Also stretching every day helps a lot too. But all of this a qualified physical therapist should be showing how to exercise properly so someone doesn't end up hurting themselves worse by doing it improperly.
Microdiscectomy L5-S1 in 2005
Microdiscectomy L5-S1 May 21 2008
Disc reherniates ESI= Epidural Steroid Injection June 2008
Improving and back to walking and bike riding end of June 2008
PT is going well. I am off of all prescription pain meds. I'm also off all over the counter pain meds. The things that helped me the most after my disc reherniated were the ESI and taking Neurontin. Those two things got me back on my feet and walking every day and also gave me the ability to start physical therapy which has helped me a lot. See there is life after a microD and a reherniation.
38 years old
I'm released from physical therapy and joined a gym. I'm now on my own with the PT exercises, still going well. I do treadmill no incline, exercise bike, weight machines, exercise ball, exercise bands, swimming. All weight machines and ball and band exercises I was trained by my PT to do properly. I also cannot just do any weight machine. Some are not safe for spineys.
Update July 2009 still doing great!!
I also wanted to add I went on a 1 hour and 45 minute bike ride on my mountain bike a couple weeks ago and felt fine after that. It was a smooth trail though very few bumpy spots. One thing which used to be hard is whenever going over a bump I hold myself up so I'm not sitting down on the bike when going over a bump to make sure my lower back doesn't take the hit from the bump. All of the leg weight lifting and exercise ball has made this task easy when I'm bike riding. Bike riding in general used to be hard but not with muscles in my legs now.
Microdiscectomy L5-S1 in 2005
Microdiscectomy L5-S1 May 21 2008
Disc reherniates ESI= Epidural Steroid Injection June 2008
Improving and back to walking and bike riding end of June 2008
PT is going well. I am off of all prescription pain meds. I'm also off all over the counter pain meds. The things that helped me the most after my disc reherniated were the ESI and taking Neurontin. Those two things got me back on my feet and walking every day and also gave me the ability to start physical therapy which has helped me a lot. See there is life after a microD and a reherniation.
38 years old
I'm released from physical therapy and joined a gym. I'm now on my own with the PT exercises, still going well. I do treadmill no incline, exercise bike, weight machines, exercise ball, exercise bands, swimming. All weight machines and ball and band exercises I was trained by my PT to do properly. I also cannot just do any weight machine. Some are not safe for spineys.
Update July 2009 still doing great!!
I play basketball at least 3 times a week with a couple of my buddies after work. I'm 43 years old, so it takes a toll on my knees and back. I'm no longer that young kid at the park that can play for hours! I used to do regular stretching with no emphasis on my back. I went to my doctor and he said that I have to stretch it out more. He recommended a back stretching program off of a mat called G2 Fitness Back Stretch. It has helped me tremendously and I can workout for longer periods now. I dunno, it helped me out so I might as well try to help others. Let me know if you try it and if it works for you as well. Good luck!