Can Physical therapy further widen an existing annular tear?

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thisnickistaken

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Hi all,

I am 29 years old and have been diagnosed (MRI) with a circumferential annular tear in L5/S1. I do not have sciatica but i do have considerable discogenic pain due to the fissure. Doctor asked me to try PT but 2 days into the PT, i think my pain has worsened.

So my common sense and imagination kicks in and tries to reason out if PT, rather than helping, is further injuring my disk ? Can it be possible that since my tear is posterior, any stretches performed during PT are actually further widening the tear - or is because I just started the PT and this is a known initial effect ??

I might be completely stupid about this but I need other people's experiences who have been in the same situation as me.

Cause of injury - Weight lifting at gym

My symptoms -
- Very minor sciatica. No nurabness or significant pain in legs so far
- Unable to sit even for 5 minutes ! Chronic moderate pain otherwise (standing , walking etc)
- Can feel the pain originating from L5 disk in that spot.

Thanks !
 
Absolutely. You would want to avoid rounding forward like toe-touching or Child's Pose. The problem is getting the muscles to relax WITHOUT rounding forward which will stretch or tear the ligaments. To do this, the common position is:

1) Lie on your back.
2) Hips bent 90 degrees.
3) Knees bent 90 degrees with calves resting on the seat of a chair.

Then go into some gentle arching like the counter hang / Cobra stretch / get on all fours (or elbows) and get some arch at L5 - about 3" below the top of your hip bone (iliac crest).



I think your original common sense is right on the mark.
 
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