My Spine

[DaveRandolph]

I went top the Chiropractor yesterday because my massage therapist insisted after feeling my c3 being out of alignment. The doc took some xrays and man and I'm out of alignment.

I have and extra curve at the top of the spine. Doc says I probably had whiplash way back when. My right leg is 1/4" longer than left, right hip lower and right shoulder lower than left.
In addition, and the most worrisome to him was my l5 disc is extremely compressed. He says I have about 30% left.
He did some manipulation work but the only place that would pop was Tspine. He also used some hand held gizmo that is supposed to open the intervertebral space to let fluid in which is supposed to help the disk re-hydrate.

I told him about the Intu-flow and he said that was good but it wasnt enough and that it's pretty tough to articulate each vertebrae the his tool does.

Other than feeling like I can never get my lower back l5/s1 to pop I've never had any problems. Will increasing the Intu-Flow help? I do it at least once a day, every day, but only circles and infinities, I'm going to start doing cloverleafs.

Should I avoid back extension? How serious is this. I'm 49 btw

Oh and my right 3rd rib isn't sitting in the sternum properly and he use some other tool to thump on it.

Thanks

Dave

[Coach Wilson]

Dave-

Hopefully Jarlo or one of the other PT or Chiro's will chime in here, as I would hate to give advice outside of my paygrade. I would think that as long as the mobility is not causing you physical pain during or after you should be fine in increasing it, just be intuative. I wish I could be more help, but I am sure with all the expertise around here someone will know for sure. Smile.

Always,

Joseph

[DaveRandolph]

Thanks Joe.

[Coach Bentz]

Dave,


Should I avoid back extension? How serious is this.

That would be a great question for your DC/MD if you haven't already asked. You really want a medical professional familiar with your case to weigh in on things like that. Over the internet, never a good idea.

Sophisticating into cloverleaves will be beneficial for lots of reasons, but also consider the quality of your practice when doing circles and infinities. Often when I'm hurting, I'll go slower and deeper with even just the cardinal movements before I do anything more sophisticated.

Also, this is an excellent time to evaluate your training and physical work load. Can you (and ideally, your doc) identify anything that you're doing that's contributing to the chronic low back compression or any of the other misalignments? Maybe there's something small with your form that you can change that'll make all the difference in your mobility practice?

[DaveRandolph]

Dave,



That would be a great question for your DC/MD if you haven't already asked. You really want a medical professional familiar with your case to weigh in on things like that. Over the internet, never a good idea.

Sophisticating into cloverleaves will be beneficial for lots of reasons, but also consider the quality of your practice when doing circles and infinities. Often when I'm hurting, I'll go slower and deeper with even just the cardinal movements before I do anything more sophisticated.

Also, this is an excellent time to evaluate your training and physical work load. Can you (and ideally, your doc) identify anything that you're doing that's contributing to the chronic low back compression or any of the other misalignments? Maybe there's something small with your form that you can change that'll make all the difference in your mobility practice?

Doc said he L5 has been going on for at least 20 years.
There is no hurting at all.


Thanks

[Luke Chohany]

Hey Dave,

I have a slightly different story, btw I'm 20, but you may be able to get something from it.

After having some excruciating back pain a little over 2 years ago, x-rays showed that I had spondylolisthesis. My L5 shifted forward, the disk was compressed, and there were all kinds of muscle imbalances going on too. It was an issue of me not listening to my body, i.e. pushing through the pain, but I'm actually glad it all happened, as I would have never evolved like I did without the experience.

Physical therapy taught me I had very little to no control over my core muscles. Over time, I went from pain in every position (except lying on my back), to no pain at all. The shift was the result of me learning to fire those low back and deep core muscles. I still retain this high level of control over my core.

Since then, however, I've noticed a few things. My injury, although a seemingly symmetrical vertebrae fracture, caused me pain predominantly on the right side of my low back. When I re-developed my core I also did so asymmetrically. The left side of my low back was significantly more hypertrophied than my right, and my flexibility and strength on asymmetrical movements, like a kettlebell windmill with my left arm for example, were limited. About a year ago I began to get pain in my left hip after running long distances. I diagnosed it as a alignment issue, and an athletic trainer confirmed that my left leg was longer than my right. Unfortunately he didn't have a clue about what the cause of the length difference was. I strongly feel that the asymmetrical low back injury and subsequent muscle development caused a misalignment of my hips which led to the repetitive injury in my left hip.

After I stopped all running, the pain quickly went away, but I was left with no advice on a permanent solution that addressed the cause rather than the symptoms. A very knowledgeable chiropractor, orthopedic doctors, and athletic trainers could not give me an answer. Maybe a CST coach could help :D
In the meantime, since I figured I probably knew my body better than anyone else, I decided to take responsibility and fix things for myself.

I began IntuFlow about half way between the back injury and the hip pain, and I can't say enough good things about it. But I'll keep it low back specific... Spinal rocks have been a gift to my lower back. To compensate for the hypertrophied left side and to break up the tension chains, I usually rock on my left back muscles. You mention that you cannot get your lower spine to crack? Spinal rocks may help. In my case, spinal rocks sometimes cause a pleasant "pop" right at the L5 region after which I intuitively feel more aligned. Spinal rocks are the only movement I know of that give that articulation I've always needed. Plow pose, with a focus on the one side, as well as all the Prasara flows that include plow, has also been a greet help as well. Although it's not recommended for spondi-spine people, I still feel the need for various back extension exercises like the IntuFlow spine circles to maintain balance. Overall though, the flexion exercises like piked spinal rock, plow, and various other movements have been much more helpful in relieving pain, realigning, correcting imbalances.

I seem to notice subtle shifts in my spine alignment as judged by my proprioceptive sensation and the feeling of my spinal articulations with my finger tips. Good alignment (from regular practice of good posture and various exercises) equals no pain and bad alignment (from sitting too long in one position with bad posture) equals pain. Some chiropractors and doctors probably would not agree with this.

My back pain has greatly diminished in the last year, and I have not had hip pain (although that will be tested once again in the next few months). I attribute a great deal of this to IntuFlow and Prasara. My range of motion is slowly returning to the weak side of my back, and the low back muscles are much more balanced in size now than they were a year ago.

The take home message is that injuries and imbalances are usually related. The body is a unit, not a collection of isolated parts. Perhaps it all began when I sprained my left ankle years ago...

Good luck and warm regards!
~Luke Chohany

[DaveRandolph]

Hi Luke, thanks for the in-depth reply
I do lots of plows and some, but not enough spinal rocks. I havent had any pain but as my doc says when you feel the pain it is almost too late.

I'm definitely adding in more Intu-Flow, doing more advanced work with the cloverleafs and starting on Prasara

[Luke Chohany]

Great!

Well, I guess I'm a goner then :)

[Coach Flanagan]

After I stopped all running, the pain quickly went away, but I was left with no advice on a permanent solution that addressed the cause rather than the symptoms. A very knowledgeable chiropractor, orthopedic doctors, and athletic trainers could not give me an answer. Maybe a CST coach could help

Hey Luke, it sounds like a practioner in Hanna Somatics may be able to help as it sounds like you have some deeply rooted sensory motor amnesia. See if you can find someone and they should be able to give you more info. Ideally find one that was certified through the school in MA.

I've experienced some great results with my Somatics practitioner (my brother) and have heard of amazing results with all sorts of issues. If I developed a serious issue, meeting with a somatics practitioner would be extremely high on my priority list in addition to whatever therapies are critical.

[Luke Chohany]

Cool Coach, I will most certainly check that out!

[Jarlo Ilano]

Hey Dave,

This is not to be construed as medical advice, so take it as you will.

But here's my general advice from seeing your movement at the cert seminar.

-Get some more backbending and twisting in your mid and upper thoracic spine.

-Open up your hip flexors and quadriceps (you mentioned lack of firing in glute med. See how she goes after some nice hard work in Warrior I and Pigeon.)

-Supported forward bending. Blocks or other support under your hands for standing forward bends. Can also put your hands or elbows on a table in front of you. Contract your quads hard and lift your chest to get your back flat. It's a surprising self traction.

-Remember the plank/upward dog/downward dog vinyasa we did at the seminar? The pull through the hands and heels is also nice, and allows a good engagement of the core at the same time.

These are the basic things I saw this past weekend. Sorry couldn't work with you further, but I had to split to attend an old friend's wedding.

Take care.