Hey guy's,

It's been a while since I've been to this site..
I had an injury doing deadlifts in October 2007 that caused me to be bedridden for 2 days because I couldnt get myself up out of bed. It's hard to explain but it felt like I damaged my spine.
Slowly over the next month I got better but was never the same.

I had many tests done and physio and seen many doctors and physiatrist etc. The MRI scan determined that I had DDD on T9-T10 disc and that I also had 2 disc bulges on T8-T9 and on T9-T10 discs.

I had some Physio traction treatment which seemed to help a little and have since been figuring out what I can, and cannot do.

Pretty much live with back pain almost every day.

If I do nothing, like laze around the house, Im usually ok for pain. But any slight bending over and so on, like doing dishes, or filling up the dishwasher will trigger it and I need to lay down with the hotpack which is the only thing that will get rid of the pain.

Having said that, thanks for hearing me out so far.
I have adjusted my workout routine to what my body can do. This means no more deadlifts, no more heavy squats, no more weighted crunches and so on.

Even though I have adjusted my workouts, I do still keep very active and jog 2 times a week, box 1-2 times a week and weight train 4-5 times a week. (still following Max OT program to some extent) basically lifting heavy.)

But,... I would like to hear from any others out there who have the same condition as me and what you have done to cope and move on. Meds, workout routine, use of inversion tables etc?

My worst fear is that I may be doing more damage by working out and may cause myself less longevity for mobility in the long term.

Appreciate you reading this far, It's hard to explain my thoughts in a short post.

Cheers, :)

Have you asked doctors this question?

There's certainly the possibility that you could make things better by doing back exercises with lower amounts of weight that doesn't cause pain, but it's also possible that you can make things worse.

While I am personally really curious about the answer because I know someone who has this same condition and refuses to engage in any exercise because of it, and won't ask a doctor either, I would get the opinion first hand from a doctor as well, if I were you.

Thanks for the reply,

My doctor says to continue with exercise but to do within my limits. He told me not to stop exercising.. But thats a vague comment.
I didnt tell him that I lift heavy and train hard. But like I said, I have adjusted my workouts so that I am in the least ammount of pain post workout. Sometimes with no pain after workouts.

Working out with this condition is alot harder than when I didnt have the condition, so the trade off is that I have been slacking off on the weekends with beer and pizza for many months now.

Yes it's detrimental to my goal of being shredded and ripped, but It helps me deal with it.. As lame as that sounds :(

Beer, Pizza and Metal tunes on the weekend is all I look forward to all week.

Having said that, I have put on 10lbs since the injury prob 50% of that is fat and 50% muscle. I am alot stronger than before.

I'd suggest being honest with your doctor, and if your doctor has a problem with lifting weights, I'd ask what their thoughts are about lifting weights without DDD.

When I recently injured my shoulder falling on ice, the doctor that I've seen for a few years and hadn't seen me since I made my transformation (222 lb to 152 lb initial fat loss, 13 lb gain on a bulk until the injury, maybe 2 lb fat loss since the injury), and was told that I should stop lifting weights immediately, because lifting weights causes injuries, and probably caused my shoulder injury.

Some doctors are just very behind the times on the actual science behind lifting weights being good for overall health generally, and specifically good for joints, bones, and muscles.

If the doctor doesn't have a prejudice against weightlifting in general, but does give you a warning that lifting heavy may be bad, then the advice is possibly valid.
If the doctor does have a prejudice against weightlifting in general, find another doctor that you can be honest with.

Being dishonest with your doctors is just asking for trouble.

I would also ask specifically about back exercises, like the Deadlift. It's entirely possible that the correct action for you to take is to continue deadlifting, but with lower weight, and making sure that your form is perfect. Increasing the strength of the muscles around a joint tend to aleviate stress from the joint -- so assuming that the actual training isn't damaging the disc's, I'd keep doing it if it didn't cause pain, even if it meant lifting lighter.

My doctor says to continue with exercise but to do within my limits. He told me not to stop exercising.. But thats a vague comment.
I didnt tell him that I lift heavy and train hard.

Why not be honest with your doctor? If you have one that actually pays attention, then why not take advantage?

I trust you are taking meaningful doses of Glucosamine-Chondroiton-MSM?

I have found that,although it takes a while it seems for this product to actuate it's capabilities ( maybe months accumulatively), it does work in the long term.

Maybe it would help your discs/cartilage to some extent.

I use it all the time and I believe it has helped my joints/cartilage etc. to quite an extent.

Some people I know claim it had no effect....but when questioned they reveal that they were expecting a "quick-fix' and that they weren't taking the right dosage, also they weren't taking it for very long.

no idea if this will help you out but I can tell you what i did. For 10 years I've had a nerve that gets pinched, had a stand up laboratory job for a year, that seemed to start it, also one leg shorter, causes hips to move on angle etc. bascially no actual accident.

Over a year ago I had horrible back pain, thought it was the usual tweak...few days of ice etc it would be fine. it actually started to migrate down my leg and then I noticed the outside of my leg was tingly, then numb. At one point i could barely feel the outter side of my foot. long story short eventually got an mri. turns out I have a "moderately servere" herniated disc, l5-s4, or whatever the most common one is. My doc at that point prescribed physio and a back surgeon. this seemed extreme given I was 32. yet he claimed these things don't heal on their own.

While awaiting back surgeon appointment I did the physio. After weeks it wasn't doing anything. Over time back got a bit better, yet still had numbness issues. When the pain was almost not really there I started working out again. Seriously....my first attempt at DL was the bar with 10 lbs. Humbling, but better to be cautious. My cardio is rowing which is actually great for the back. A month later I noticed my back felt decent and I had feeling in my leg again, came back slowly, didn't even notice.

39 weeks later I'm DL 150-185 no problem, row like crazy, doing plyometrics now to boot, zero issues. If I push on the area I can feel it, so it's not like it's gone away, but it causes me no problems. I feel it sometimes in the morning but it works itself out after walking around a bit.

The Glucosamine-msm thing is a no brainer IMO. No reason to not be taking it, can't hurt, no side effects, can only benefit. I think if you work out your back with good form and light loads at first it will "fix" most of the pain issues, it just might take a while. Supermans and body weight stuff is also a good place to start. My theory is that by getting your lower back in great shape it fixes posture and helps to support the spine taking pressure off bulging or herniated areas.

I was still waiting to see the back surgeon 9 months later. Happened to have an appointment with my doc and cancelled the request.

Good luck!!

I trust you are taking meaningful doses of Glucosamine-Chondroiton-MSM?

I have found that,although it takes a while it seems for this product to actuate it's capabilities ( maybe months accumulatively), it does work in the long term.

Maybe it would help your discs/cartilage to some extent.

I use it all the time and I believe it has helped my joints/cartilage etc. to quite an extent.

Some people I know claim it had no effect....but when questioned they reveal that they were expecting a "quick-fix' and that they weren't taking the right dosage, also they weren't taking it for very long.

Hey Thanks for the reply.

I completely forgot about Glucosamine Chrondroitin and MSM.
I am going to buy some ASAP..
What would be considered a ''Meaningful'' dose?

Costco sells this:
http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10287663&search=glucosamine&Mo=6&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search〈=en-CA&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BCCA&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ne=4000000&D=glucosamine&Ntt=glucosamine&No=6&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1 (http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10287663&search=glucosamine&Mo=6&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-CA&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BCCA&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ne=4000000&D=glucosamine&Ntt=glucosamine&No=6&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1)

One pill, 3 times a day...
Should I load up more than this, you think?