Spinal fusion

[Mikey0213]

Hey everyone. I am 23 years old and had a spinal fusion 15 months ago. I was born with a grade 1 spondylolosthesis of L5-S1 which had caused me some problems over the last few years. After sustaining a pinched nerve in december of 2010 and being unable to walk for 4 months i underwent a spinal fusion of the joint. In the following months of rehab my surgeon told me not to squat or deadlift. He thought that i might do myself harm. I understood his concern but did not believe he truly grasped the idea of proper training. After consultation with my strength coaches at my local crossfit/powerlifting gym i began a strength training program. This progressed my rehab and allowed me to regain my health amd strength. A week or so ago i box squatted 375 lbs and deadlifted 425 lbs. Even though my surgeon warned me against engaging in lifting, i truly believe that this has been the key to my recovery. Does anyone out here know of any other examples of people lifting heavy after a spinal fusion of the lower lumbar spine? Does anyone else out there have any insight or advice for me? This would be of great inspiration and help me continue training . Thanks everyone.

Michael

[swiminator]

+1

I would be interested in any other advice out there as well. A close friend of mine has a very troublesome back and is close to needing this kind of surgery. Hope is a powerful ally. It would be nice to be able to offer some.

[Mark Rippetoe]

We'd need the details of the procedure, as usual. Forcing an injury to heal is usually the only way it ever heals completely.

[Mikey0213]

If I can recount all correctly: I had 2 screws inserted into my sacrum and two more inserted into L5. with 2 rods holding the unit together. MY surgeon retracted my L5 a little bit to alleviate the pinched nerve. He inserted a prosthetic disc in the joint and then created a cage out of bone graft. His main concern was that if I engaged in lifting that I might cause micro-movement in the titanium rods which over time could cause them to break. However, since I have achieved a full fusion the joint does not move at all and this would seem to be impossible. He also worried that problems might be transferred up my spine to L4 which now essentially becomes my bottom vertebrae, however, in my opinion, strengthening the lumbar spine and erectors, tendons, ligaments etc, would help problems not transfer as my body would be stronger than say if I sat on the couch for the rest of my life and allowed the area to weaken. When I left the hospital the only rehab they told me to do was "go for long walks, but not too long". I had a setback 5 months later when I tried to attend school but found it impossible to sit for long periods of time. I went to a chiropractor at my school (I attend chiropractic college in Toronto, Canada) and they put me on a rehab program of stretching my psoas major and hip flexors as well as helped me learn to build the deep muscles of my core back up from scratch. After about 3 months of steady progress, the improvement from the rehab program seemed to plateau and that is when I began a strengthening program to which I credit my full recovery.

[tnumrych]

All I know is that having a spinal condition of any type doesn't automatically sentence one to a sedentary life. My old weightlifting coach has ankylosing spondylitis and competed (and still does as of this year) actively and with success at national and international stages, winning her weight class in her age group at Masters Worlds in 2007, 2008 and placing 2nd in 2011 (took two years off for other health reasons).

Nice job Mikey.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Sounds like the hardware has more potential to cause problems than the original, now-healed lesion. The key to your future health is a strong back, and the key to a strong back is squats and deadlifts. You have already figured this out.

[PackMule]

I'm glad we have a few people with big steel balls on this board. Awesome stuff.

[JB1981]

Sounds like the hardware has more potential to cause problems than the original, now-healed lesion. The key to your future health is a strong back, and the key to a strong back is squats and deadlifts. You have already figured this out.

But what if these movement patterns aggravate and inflame the affected areas? Is your recommendation to "train through" this type of pain until the body begins to "adapt"? I see a lot of great recovery stories on here and I am happy for the people who have had success but I unfortunately have not had the same success. Squatting and deadlifting - deads in particular - inflame the hell out of my back and just when I start to get a few weeks into a strength program, my back wants nothing to do with it. Maybe I am not sticking with it long enough to "force" my back to heal?

[Mark Rippetoe]

If the movement aggravates the area with the hardware, don't do the movement. I'd have to see your deadlift to make sure you aren't doing it wrong.

[Mikey0213]

@JB1981,

When you say that "Deads inflame your back" what exactly do you mean? The back is a large area and pretty vague description... Lower back Lumbar area? mid level thoracic area? Don't get me wrong, when I deadlift, especially for volume and have just finished a set, I am stiff as hell and need a few moments to walk around before my back returns to normalcy. But this happened before my surgery as well and I am sure this is normal for most lifters. Is it only the deadlifts that affect your back or are other lower back/hamstring accessories also to blame?

Ofcourse, if i felt like something such as deadlifts were specifically hurting my surgically repaired area I would stop doing them. at least until i figured out a way around it or could solve the problem. The problem (as mentioned throughout this thread) is that once I was released from hospital (with a walker and a cane and a rehab program of 'walking' and the advice to 'not lift') I was pretty much on my own to figure out how to best rehab my body. Lucky for me I've been athletic and active since my earliest memories and have basic understanding of biomechanics and training principles (I feel really badly for all the people out there who have serious surgery and then follow their doctors orders to live a sedentary lifestyle because they don't have the confidence to think for themselves) that I needed to progress my own rehab. I have read about horror stories from back patients whose rods or screws have broken. Ive read about the screws backing out as well and in either case the hardware needs to be removed. As Rip mentioned, the key to my (and others) health would be to maintain a strong back that is resistant to adversity and also capable of overcoming and healing from injury. I spent 4 months bed ridden with a pinched nerve before my surgery (and the surgery forced me to re learn to walk from scratch, not a pleasant time in my life) but the way I see it my bone is fused together and even my chiros agree that sustaining another pinched nerve is not going to happen in that same area. If i at some point need hardware removed that would be very unfortunate but only a minor speed bump in my desire to train and be athletic for decades to come.