I've had a very rough month, had to drop out of my masters swim class and stop running. I was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, a displacement of the lumbar vertebrae, which pinched a couple nerves and caused extreme pain down the left leg. I still have lingering aches, but feeling almost normal again. It's caused by arthritis eating away the bone of the vertebrae and allowing them to slip. I had been running 3-4 miles every other day and swimming 1500-2500 yards alternate days (had not begun biking yet). I'm getting PT once a week a gym and once in a pool. Running is out of the question for the foreseeable future, but what about getting back in the pool? Has anyone had this issue and what do I need to be doing to get back in the water.
I've had pain & swelling in my knees since December, which caused me to stop running and change to swimming. It felt like something was eating or burning my knees from inside. This occurred in my left knee first and the right knee was okay, so I thought it was caused by my shoes. I changed the shoes, stopped running, stopped eating grains, my knee got a little better so I started going for walks in February, not quite the same but it was something at least. Then my right knee got very swollen, painful, I stopped with the walking and after a few weeks started swimming and started eating rice again, thinking the issue was caused by the shoes.
However, the pain was not going away, and I finally realized the eating away burning feeling was caused by uric acid, most likely coming from the rice, aka gout or arthritis, especially bad at night when laying down sleeping. I stopped eating rice again, switched to many more veggies, and the pain went away within a couple of days.
There are different views about this, but here are two videos that helped me to find the solution.
Apprently youtube links can't be posted without playing them, so here are the last parts of the links.
watch?v=Age_dvsJMRk
watch?v=6sjXg38Ycew
My younger brother just had surgery to replace and fuse the C4-5 neck vertebrae with a plate. The vertebrae had deteriorated to the point where they were impinging on the nerves to his right arm and he was rapidly loosing range of motion and strength. His doctor told him he needed to do this before there was more deterioration and nerve damage. HIs doctor indicated that the vertebrae deterioration was arthritic of a genetic origin (my father had the same problem and surgery in the 50s) and that no amount or type of exercise would have saved him from this fate. Surgery was basically his only option to avoid a very bleak future. He did get a second opinion that confirmed the diagnosis and recommended procedure.
He was a good swimmer growing up in the 50s and 60s, so once the incision healed and he found a pool relaxing, I provided him with some one arm drills to begin to rebuild strength (no tandem arm work). However, shortly after starting in the pool he reported for PT and they indicated it wasn't a good idea to swim yet. I think he said because of the shoulder rotation (not sure). Unfortunately the C4-5 surgery quickly resulted in added pressure on the C5-6 vertebrae and muscle strength and range of motion problems in his other (left) arm. He now has to go back in for surgery for the two lower vertebrae. Fortunately they indicated he will recover all or most muscle use and shouldn't have problems with additional nerve damage in the neck. I'm 5 years older and haven't had back problems (guess I have my Mom's neck genes).
Its probably a good idea to get your back issues checked out and to be sure swimming or other exercise isn't causing further injury.
I have congenitally fused C4 and C5, or maybe it's C5 and C6, with serious arthritis in the joints above and below the congenital fusion. I can't remember which joint is fused because it doesn't bother me much any more. I learned about the fusion about ten years ago, after ten years or so of increasingly severe neck, upper back, and arm problems. (I got serious about finding out what was wrong with my neck when I lost my grip on my big chef's knife and nearly impaled my foot.) The treatment that helped the most, and that ultimately helped me swim faster too, was personal Pilates training with a trainer who was in a practice group with a PT. The PT advised the trainer and the trainer helped me strengthen all of the small muscles of my neck, upper back, scapula, shoulder girdle etc. so that I can move my head and arms effectively without pain. I also used my snorkel a lot when I was recovering from my most severe pain, and I still use it for drills and any time I feel unusually stiff in the upper extremities.
My husband has surgically fused L4-L5-S1, from an accident many years ago. He also has seen great benefits from focused core training (with the same trainer, conveniently). He had to give up running, but he has no problem with long-distance backpacking and canyoneering that includes rock climbing and rappelling. He knows how to swim but he has never tried seriously to be a swimmer.
An aggressive core strengthening program, guided by your PT, might really help you. If you can do individualized training, I highly recommend it, because it's very easy to think that you are using the target muscles when really you are using larger muscles to approximate the movement while leaving the target muscles un-worked and even risking further injury. I think it's more likely that you would have to give up running for good than swimming, but I wouldn't think you should count either one out until you've given serious core strengthening a real try. I was a pretty good swimmer before I had to start over because of my neck, and yet I was much weaker than I realized in the spinal stabilizers, shoulder stabilizers, and hip stabilizers.
I'm really glad this thread came up. I'm constantly trying to learn and can lend from experience . I've got DDD, spondi , arthritis and stenosis in lumbar. Also at C4 thru C7. My background is triathlon in 80s and early 90s, running 5k up to 50k races until 2010. I quit running at age 50, never a problem. Decided to go back to riding and swimming. I had an acute back injury on Swiss ball that wouldn't seem to respond. I jumped into a surgery ,as MRI showed stenosis prevelant at L4-5. At the time, I was swimming well again, but wanted to ride. The surgery a bilateral laminectomy ...major stuff I discovered and very invasive posteriorly . The surgery failed. I'd collapsed was the diagnosis . There wasn't enough support when the lamina was removed.I was able to swim, but couldn't stand for any length of time without being crushed. The only answer was a PILF ( posterior inter body lumbar fusion ). So went with it and it failed also. This was Feb 2013.I've not had a revision.BTW, I had surgery on right shoulder August 2013 for torn labrum and bicep reattachment ...easy compared to back stuff. A couple other surgeries tossed in on abdomen for colon resection and couple of heart ablations made for a difficult 26 months.
My neuros and sports med contacts tell me to keep doing what you do, though the level below at L5-s1 is impinging on both exiting nerve roots. L3-4 above is unstable . I know that revision is more carpentry and carries risk . Swimming is my lifeline. It is my pain management, along with ice. I stick to quality workouts with 40,000 yds a month as goal. Done a few meets lately with satisfying results. To the OP, someone suggested core work. It is essential. Find a good PT or two. Glean things fRom working with them that you can do on your own. Find a great chiropractor. He/ she can really help with spondi . I go two-three times a week. Try accupuncture, get an inversion table. Do and try everything you can and figure out what works for you. Most of all , get in the pool. For me, I've never had a swim where I didn't feel better afterward. And someone else mentioned diet.Yes! Try to find foods that help with inflammation . Turmeric , Bromelain , etc.. You can't outrun your genes, but you can find a way to do certain activities you love...and do them on your own terms. As for the cervical area, I recommend the Saunders home traction machine. It is effective and portable .
Living with major back issues is tough.It's hard work and certainly limits you. But you may surprise yourself with activities you can do. The main thing ,IMO, is to keep moving. Swimming is one sport that is forgiving . It doesn't know compression. I hope you get some relief and find a satisfying remedy in the water. Hang in there!
I finally got my face in the water again today, 6 weeks from the spondylolisthesis episode. I did 10 minutes on a recumbent bike, then a few laps in the pool. It felt good. A very easy 100 yards today, then onward and upward slowly and carefully.
I am new here, but may I add? About three years ago I was tentatively diagnosed with caudal regression syndrome. When I was young doctors had focused on my organ disformations, etc. Now, at 50+ it is my lower spine and hip that will probably need surgery soon.
I have been riding a Schwinn Airdyne for years. The last several months rides caused a lot of back and hip pain. I started swimming a month ago. It has alleviated my back pain to where instead of 4-5 hydro a day, I am taking 1-2, and some days none.
Although I will still need the surgery, swimming was like Tommy's Miracle Cure.
Yes! I went 500 yds today, no pain, not even a hint of aches. I went so slowly my own wake caught up with me, but it felt so great to be able to do something again. An August OWS is still on the table then.
