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.
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.
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.
