Need Advice

[Dylan]

Note: I will also be posting this in the general Q&A section as I would love advice from anyone and everyone. Hope thats okay.

Hello Mark, I will try and keep this as brief as possible.

I was born with a very unique spine. Basically my L5 quit developing and is only about 1/2 developed. As you can imagine this gives me some nice scoliosis. But all my life (25 years) it's never really been an issue.

But this year I started to experience severe pain in my right hip and leg. After sometime I saw a back specialist yesterday and he basically said that because of the L5 my nerves and overall structure of that one area of my body is that of an older person. That area of my body is starting to wear down. We are going to try and do PT first and then injections and just play it by year. My back is very unique and there isn't a book written about this so we are learning as we go. But there are days I can barely walk and other days where I seem okay. There is a chance that the PT will help and I'll just live a normal life and with PT and injections every so often. Or this won't work and my L5 will continue to deteriorate over time.

About my training: Until a few years ago I weighed 130 at 5'10". This annoyed a powerlifter at the gym and after meeting him and introducing me to 5/3/1 I gained 50 pounds and had some actual somewhat strength.

My question now is I'm not sure what to do or how to train. Start 5/3/1 again? Bodybuilding type training? Just train upper body until we learn more about this back issue? Any advice from any person would be really appreciated. My doctor says I can do ANY movement as long as I'm not hurting. He says I can't really hurt myself more but if something hurts to obviously stop.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't know enough about the details of your neuro case to comment. Details are necessary.

[Dylan]

Not sure what you would like to know so I will tell you everything that I know. I'm not even sure if I can tell you enough to make you feel able to comment. If you can not comment I completely understand.

In January I started having severe pain in my right hip. I was unable to walk for a few days. Since then I have experienced severe pain in my right hip, right lower back area and right calf muscle. My right foot also will fall asleep at an instance whenever it feels like it. If I don't have to work and can lay around all day I don't feel much pain. When I do have to work (I work on my feet) it takes about 5 hours before pain starts to set in. The mornings are usually fine.

I had an appointment with a spine specialist yesterday. He explained to me that I have 13 vertebrae in my thoracic region instead of a typical 12. These 13 vertebrae are in perfect condition as shown in x-rays and MRI's.

The issue is the L5 vertebra. When following the nerves in this area the doctor loses track of a certain nerve in the MRI in the L5 area. This nerve is associated with the right hip among other things. He cannot see where the nerve goes so he can not 100% say that that is the issue but it seems the nerve is pinching somewhere and this is the issue. The reason for the pinching is not due to any injury or anything I've done in the past. The pinching is occurring strictly because of wear and tear that one usually accumulates over a long life.

Once again I apologize if this information is useless to you. I'm not sure if your previous message had the intent of wanting more information or if it had the intent of "I cannot in anyway comment on this case". I am just trying to find opinions from respected people in the field. Either way thank you for reading. It is appreciated.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Yeah, this is outside my bailiwick. My suggestion is that you continue to train with perfect form and correct pulling mechanics for as long as you can, while gaining weight to add mass around your spine.

[Dylan]

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.