Back sugery for spinal stenosis?

[wheatdog]

I'm 62 and been lifting all my life. 'Still have decent size and strength and I've been modifying my routines to work around age related injuries. Last set of rows my back went out bad Been outa the gym for 6mos now trying to get some pinched nerves to quit. Some improvement but just walking and standing has become painful & picking up anything over 25lbs can't be done. SHIT!! X-ray and MRI very scary looking. Alotta narrowing of the nerve passages. Doc says I need "activity modification" i.e no more gym. That ain't happening. Anyone have some success stories with back surgery. Don't know what else to do.

Wheatdog

 

[Rocco1943]

Swiper is the one you need to talk to. That is one of the problem areas in his back.

 

[gotgame]

I'm 62 and been lifting all my life. 'Still have decent size and strength and I've been modifying my routines to work around age related injuries. Last set of rows my back went out bad Been outa the gym for 6mos now trying to get some pinched nerves to quit. Some improvement but just walking and standing has become painful & picking up anything over 25lbs can't be done. SHIT!! X-ray and MRI very scary looking. Alotta narrowing of the nerve passages. Doc says I need "activity modification" i.e no more gym. That ain't happening. Anyone have some success stories with back surgery. Don't know what else to do.

Wheatdog

Please post up report. What you seem to be referring to is NOT spinal stenosis.... what your referring to sounds like foraminal stenosis/narrowing. Big difference and different type of surgery.

You also didnt say lumbar vs cervical. Needs lots more info before accurate recommendations can be given.

 

[kid1dakota]

Yeah as Gotgame has stated you are describing more of an impingement of A PNS nerve root(which exits the spine) vs. narrowing of the spinal canal.

 

[upeccmi]

I'm having spinal double fusion surgery for spinal stenosis in a few weeks. I need to stabilize my blood work first and have a stress test next week.
I had the pinched nerve issue in December and feel your pain. I was in bed for three weeks and couldn't walk or even sit on the toilet. I am going to a very good orthopaedic/neurosurgeon who specializes on back surgery.

 

[Bio]

Like gotgame said, you need to post up your MRI and report in order to understand what's really going on.

In December 2014 I had a two level lumbar fusion...L4-5 and L5-s1. I was extremely lucky and don't have any low back pain! They tell you to hope for an improvement but don't expect things to be perfect.

In August 2015 I had a two level cervical fusion...C5-6 and 6-7. My arm pain is gone which is great. My problem is that I have issues on every level. 5-6 and 6-7 were the areas that were greatly helped with cortisone...too bad it only lasted three weeks but it let the surgeon identify how much pain was coming from that area. I'm still having a problem with the upper part of neck...pain and headaches are still a real problem...time to revisit what can be done for that.

Currently I'm recovering from a fractured T6 vertebrae and pedicle bone...how that happened is anyone's guess...no trauma to the area and bone density scan came back normal.

Anyway, feel free to ask me any questions or PM me!

 

[hurrican3]

I'm 62 and been lifting all my life. 'Still have decent size and strength and I've been modifying my routines to work around age related injuries. Last set of rows my back went out bad Been outa the gym for 6mos now trying to get some pinched nerves to quit. Some improvement but just walking and standing has become painful & picking up anything over 25lbs can't be done. SHIT!! X-ray and MRI very scary looking. Alotta narrowing of the nerve passages. Doc says I need "activity modification" i.e no more gym. That ain't happening. Anyone have some success stories with back surgery. Don't know what else to do.

Wheatdog

im younger then you,im alittle over 40,so perhaps that plays a factor.I was dianoised with spinal and herinated disks in my back. After about 6 months i was thinking about surgery.Nothing worked.therapy didnt seem to help ,chiropractor nothing also....nothing was helping short term .Many people who had surgery advised me against it and i listened or atleast delayed the thought and kept it in the back of my head..after a year and a half my back finally started feeling fully better and it wasa slowww gradual process exactly like you are experiencing.I can hit gym and do unlimited cardio now..gym was a posibillity after maybe 2 years only!.Sometimes it acts up but only for a few days and its gone.Maybe a few times a year

Im not saying surgery is a good or bad option.I know people have had great success stories with it also.Im just here to say, i know you at the point that you feel you can never heal on your own properly and live an active life.It might not be true.Give it some more time before deciding on surgery.Time and more time plus light physical activity is what worked for me .Nothing else.Dont just give up and think you are doomed to a surgery option.

Maybe it will come back for me, who knows but i was told, i was always going to experience pain and im fine now.

 

[Bio]

im younger then you,im alittle over 40,so perhaps that plays a factor.I was dianoised with spinal and herinated disks in my back. After about 6 months i was thinking about surgery.Nothing worked.therapy didnt seem to help ,chiropractor nothing also....nothing was helping short term .Many people who had surgery advised me against it and i listened or atleast delayed the thought and kept it in the back of my head..after a year and a half my back finally started feeling fully better and it wasa slowww gradual process exactly like you are experiencing.I can hit gym and do unlimited cardio now..gym was a posibillity after maybe 2 years only!.Sometimes it acts up but only for a few days and its gone.Maybe a few times a year

Im not saying surgery is a good or bad option.I know people have had great success stories with it also.Im just here to say, i know you at the point that you feel you can never heal on your own properly and live an active life.It might not be true.Give it some more time before deciding on surgery.Time and more time plus light physical activity is what worked for me .Nothing else.Dont just give up and think you are doomed to a surgery option.

Maybe it will come back for me, who knows but i was told, i was always going to experience pain and im fine now.

Good post but I'm not sure why you made the comment, "...doomed to a surgery option." Why do you say, "doomed"? My surgical recoveries, especially lumbar fusion, were tough but like I said, I got great results from both surgeries. My lumbar issues had been chronic for roughly 25 years and my cervical issues were chronic for roughly 12 to 15 years.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting surgery is the only option but you should explore it to see if you're a candidate for surgery...not everyone is. Also, make sure you work with a spine specialist only...spines are the only thing they work on. Ask around and get some different opinions...make sure you're dealing with a conservative surgeon...there are still some doctors out there that will cut on you regardless of what kind of candidate you are for surgery. I got 3 different opinions before moving forward...they were all conservative surgeons and all had the same diagnosis which made me feel much better about surgery.

 

[JuiceRoad.com]

I'm 62 and been lifting all my life. 'Still have decent size and strength and I've been modifying my routines to work around age related injuries. Last set of rows my back went out bad Been outa the gym for 6mos now trying to get some pinched nerves to quit. Some improvement but just walking and standing has become painful & picking up anything over 25lbs can't be done. SHIT!! X-ray and MRI very scary looking. Alotta narrowing of the nerve passages. Doc says I need "activity modification" i.e no more gym. That ain't happening. Anyone have some success stories with back surgery. Don't know what else to do.

Wheatdog

It is just about the time you switch to a lighter & more suitable routine for your age n health wise.

 

[dragonfire101]

I'm getting by with radio frequency ablation every 6 months on my problem areas c5-c6 and l4-l5. I then do home traction inversion table lower back and my insurance paid for a cervical traction machine since they got sick me going to PT 3 x week it was cheaper for them just pay for a home machine.
Doctors say I need fusion for lumbar disc and fusion or disc replacement for cervical, but I been getting bye tolerating what pain I do have with the above.

 

[wheatdog]

Poor description. It's lumbar foriminal stenosis.

Thanks,

Wheatdog

 

[wheatdog]

Good God Bio, I feel like a sissy crying about my issues after reading the stuff you've had to deal with. Hope you can stabilize without further issues.

My MRI shows extreme narrowing of the foramin in about 4 spots around L1-2. Whenever I bend ove then straighten my trunk, my left hip and ball socket and upper gluts light up so bad I have to grab something to keep from keeling over. This is atter staying out of the gym for 5mos and doing nothing except lying around the house. Something got to give here.

Wheatdog

 

[gotgame]

Good God Bio, I feel like a sissy crying about my issues after reading the stuff you've had to deal with. Hope you can stabilize without further issues.

My MRI shows extreme narrowing of the foramin in about 4 spots around L1-2. Whenever I bend ove then straighten my trunk, my left hip and ball socket and upper gluts light up so bad I have to grab something to keep from keeling over. This is atter staying out of the gym for 5mos and doing nothing except lying around the house. Something got to give here.

Wheatdog

Based on what you are telling me id have surgery. Any disk component in the osteophye complex has already been reduced via dessication and it likely wont improve much more. Id have it decompressed before you hurt your nerves to the point that it doesnt get better. laying around wont help it.

 

[upeccmi]

Good post but I'm not sure why you made the comment, "...doomed to a surgery option." Why do you say, "doomed"? My surgical recoveries, especially lumbar fusion, were tough but like I said, I got great results from both surgeries. My lumbar issues had been chronic for roughly 25 years and my cervical issues were chronic for roughly 12 to 15 years.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting surgery is the only option but you should explore it to see if you're a candidate for surgery...not everyone is. Also, make sure you work with a spine specialist only...spines are the only thing they work on. Ask around and get some different opinions...make sure you're dealing with a conservative surgeon...there are still some doctors out there that will cut on you regardless of what kind of candidate you are for surgery. I got 3 different opinions before moving forward...they were all conservative surgeons and all had the same diagnosis which made me feel much better about surgery.

Hi Bio, I am looking at a double lumbar fusion for severe spinal stenosis (L3,4,5). I was wondering when you had these fusions done? I am not so worried about the surgeries but I am a little intimidated on the return surgeries as this puts a strain on the other levels down the road. How has your back been since the fusions?

 

[gotgame]

Hi Bio, I am looking at a double lumbar fusion for severe spinal stenosis (L3,4,5). I was wondering when you had these fusions done? I am not so worried about the surgeries but I am a little intimidated on the return surgeries as this puts a strain on the other levels down the road. How has your back been since the fusions?

obviously not Bio so i cant speak for him but I will say that when you fuse it just changes the dynamics. So instead of loading L3-L5 now you will load above and below for range and axial stress. Your L5-S1 is probably already shit...if not you havent deadlifted enough in your years or you are young. So since L5-S1 is probably already shit you will then have to be concerned about either making it worse at the disk space or even getting compression of the vert body. With many people ill see the most signficant changes directly proximal to the fusion so in your case would be L2-L3 which your body will probably eventually start treating as if it were your last Lumbar so more stress on it. But at the end of the day you just have to be smart.

Lay off the heavy axial loading, build up the core muscles, keep flexibility up and for people who are reasonable i see there imaging 20 years later and it still looks fine.