The support system of tendons and ligaments don't necessarily have to be shot if you wait. There are specific exercises that can be done to strengthen the small ligiments and tendons along the entire spine that may even help with pain in the meantime while waiting for surgery.
I put of surgery the first time off for 15 months by doing these exercises. Of course by the time I had surgery I could barely walk and I had about 7 pounRAB per square inch
of strength in my hanRAB as opposed to 70 pounRAB per square inch
of pull strength in my hanRAB before the initial accident that caused my problem. I am currently at about 32 pounRAB per square inch of pull strength in my hanRAB which every single doctor I see says is normal even when I tell them it is not normal for me. They don't seem to care. All they care about is that I test like the average population.
The exercises I did were so successful that when they opened up the compressed disc space again the ligaments in my neck hurt from the stretching for about 3 months. As a matter of fact the doctor had a hard time opening up the disc space because the ligaments and cartiladge were holding it into place so securely.
Sitting around and taking it easy surely doesn't help. I am constantly doing things I am "not supposed to do" and I sure pay for it the next day with exhaustion and pain but I think it is worth it to keep in shape. I have been putting off surgery for 2 years now. The main problem I am having is the osteoarthritis and I really should do more stretching and moving than I do. With the pain though it is hard. Not to mention the drugs putting me to sleep every single afternoon.
I have a work out program given to me by the Kerlan Jobe Orthopedic Clinic that I did before the first surgery. I think it can help anyone but should be followed the first few times under the close guidance of a good physical therapist who knows how to do the exercises and understanRAB which muscle groups need to be exercised. The point is to exercise the small muscles and tendons along the spine. Not the large groups in the back and hips, and legs.
I know of a stunt woman (my husband works in the movie ind) who put off surgery on her lower back for 10 years. She kept in as good a shape as she could despite the pain and could not work as a stunt woman because of the ruptured disc in her lower back. As soon as FDA approval came through she got the disc and is working as a stunt woman again and says that it changed her life.
My mother has a ruptured disc in her lower back at L4-5 and is 66 years old. She is refusing surgery. She has specific exercises that she does that help her ligiments and small muscles to protect the area and keep it open. She has epidural injections to also help with the swelling. She for some reason doesn't mind being disabled so she isn't pursuing anything further but she has far less pain when she spenRAB the 2 hours a day doing the exercises for her back.
Two totally different approaches to the problem given here. Mine is to continue with exercise and find the best solution for my problem. Part of which will probably be removing the hardware when my lower back is fused so well it can't possibly break. My neck, I still haven't decided what to do. In my opinion no screws or plates is best. But is is hard to find a doctor that will do the operation just with bone and put you in a Halo brace until the fusion takes. Which was one thought I seriously considered because I used to make Halo braces when I worked in Orthotics years ago.
Snicklefritz :angel:
We'd have innumerable meRAB & procedures available to us if it weren't for the FDA blocking everything & then tying it up w/ all kinRAB of rules & regs once they do approve it. 