Mother-in law with thoracic bone spurs

[aprazma]

My mother-in-law age 58 had a chest x-ray which revealed thoracic bone spurs. What does that mean for her training and are there particular exercises she should be avoiding?

[veryhrm]

where are they? do you mean on the thoracic spine?

the doctor presumably mentioned what impact said spurs have.

most of the SS exercises (e.g squat, DL , bench press) hold the spine totally rigid w/o any intervertebral movement once you set up. So if she can achieve the correct position and that doesn't cause discomfort then those exercises prob aren't going to aggravate anything. Even things like the press and power clean don't move the spine much compared to say throwing a ball or swinging a golf club.

if, otoh, getting into the right position causes one of the bone growths to pinch a nerve or dig into something else that seems more complicated.

clearly you should get expert advice when it comes to bone on nerve action and bone on bone action, but try to find a sport doc of some sort. normal doctors seem to be very conservative on activity levels and their idea of "exercise" for a woman that age will likely involve 30 minute walks and possibly soup cans.

is she going to get them removed?

i am not a doctor or lawyer or anyone who can legally give advice about anything.

[aprazma]

Thanks for your response. The exact wording on the x-ray result is "The heart, mediastinum and soft tissues are within normal limits. The lung fields are clear. There is hypertrophic degenerative spurring in the thoracic vertebral bodies."
I wasn't present for the result, but I may give that doctor a call.

I am not sure that she will get them removed. I read that removal of spurs from this area of the spine may be more complicated or risky than from other areas.

She has not reported pain from exercises, but yet she feels pain in the upper back area if she coughs.