Serious Back Injury - Reps for people's experiences (long, 14k reps)

[benrhyno1989]

I hate to be a wet blanket, but I was told that recovery from a significant herniation like I had can take years to recover from, and may not ever fully recover. Luckily, you are 20 years younger than I am so your chances are better.

That said, my injury was about 4.5 years ago. I still see the back Dr regularly, but it's only for maintenance and checkup. Instead of taking strong painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs multiple times a day I'm down to a couple a month, as needed. I have clearance for recreational lifting, but I don't intend to look to break any personal records with squats or deadlifts ever again.

McKenzie is really helpful, but it isn't fast. You're still looking at many months of recovery. As for exercise - running may be out, but swimming is a good option.

Good luck!

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I'm looking to get back into recreational lifting and I'm able to do stationary bike but running and even fast walking are both nearly impossible.

Booked to see an osteopath next week for another professional opinion.

[benrhyno1989]

Providing a quick update and a last call for help as I'm seeing the surgeon next week.

I've had a CT-SPECT bone scan on the area and will have the results next week as the first part of the discussion with the surgeon so I'll have a clearer way forward but after our last discussion I'm certain he'll offer fusion (maybe double).

I had meningitis 6 weeks ago but I think it's all unrelated.

I've been having weekly deep tissue massage full body for up to 2 hours which provides some relief, and a few sessions with an osteopath but she doesn't do as many physical manipulations or decompressions (not sure on the technical term) as I thought but I do leave those sessions quite sore with little relief so I stopped them.

So what's left to try? I go swimming twice a week and do some stationary biking when I can get to the gym, I've tapered down from a strong opioid painkiller to a weak opiate painkiller to try and get my baseline back but the pain is still there 24/7.

I tried to get professional opinions from my GP, sports therapist and osteopath but everyone just says it's my decision so I'm back here to hear some real opinions. Is acupuncture worth a try? (I'm a scientist by trade so don't believe too much in this kind of stuff but at this point I've been in pain so long that I'll try anything). I can't think of any other techniques/treatments to try and I'm at the end of my tether with constant pain and limited mobility.

[Pumpinmirin]

Had 2 lumbar discs go in April last year plus a very nasty glute strain and some ligament damage. I’ve gone through multiple therapists who haven’t been able to do much for me.

I’ve found the most relief from foundation training by Eric Goodman. I first saw him in ted talks and YouTube before buying his book that has a 6 week recovery program.

I do this program which is like a mixture of Pilates and yoga that emphasises the posterior chain and abs at nights for 20 minutes and it’s allowed me to train full body 3x per week. I reintroduced deadlifts yesterday and they felt okay.

Wholeheartedly recommend.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BZcZenvWBlg

[benrhyno1989]

Had 2 lumbar discs go in April last year plus a very nasty glute strain and some ligament damage. I’ve gone through multiple therapists who haven’t been able to do much for me.

I’ve found the most relief from foundation training by Eric Goodman. I first saw him in ted talks and YouTube before buying his book that has a 6 week recovery program.

I do this program which is like a mixture of Pilates and yoga that emphasises the posterior chain and abs at nights for 20 minutes and it’s allowed me to train full body 3x per week. I reintroduced deadlifts yesterday and they felt okay.

Wholeheartedly recommend.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BZcZenvWBlg

Thanks mate will watch this after work. I done the Mckenzie method exercises for a long time but they were no help so hopefully this is something different.

[Pumpinmirin]

I tried the McKenzie method as well and the reason it doesn’t quite work is it tends to isolate spinal extension from the posterior chain.

When I lie on my stomach in extension it creates more pain.

Foundation moves you through both extension and slight flexion but incorporates other muscle groups to change angles and I think that’s the key.

[benrhyno1989]

I tried the McKenzie method as well and the reason it doesn’t quite work is it tends to isolate spinal extension from the posterior chain.

When I lie on my stomach in extension it creates more pain.

Foundation moves you through both extension and slight flexion but incorporates other muscle groups to change angles and I think that’s the key.

That sounds much more useful and promising, I can't really lie on my front at all any more, I sleep on my front but need a pillow under my pelvis to not be in agony.
Did you ever get to the point of considering/being offered surgery?

Thanks for the recommendation.

[aspirex]

have a minor l5s1 disc bulge, not as serious as yours.
your body will heal itself, took me a few months go back into light deadlifts and squats.
the disc will reabsorb but will need some time. vitamin c could help with the pain as i came across ppl saying it helped..

[benrhyno1989]

have a minor l5s1 disc bulge, not as serious as yours.
your body will heal itself, took me a few months go back into light deadlifts and squats.
the disc will reabsorb but will need some time. vitamin c could help with the pain as i came across ppl saying it helped..

I think after 2 years of degeneration and no inprovement at all I'm not willing to gamble on it repairing itself - my quality of life is like a 6/10 at best on good days

[Pumpinmirin]

Yes. I saw a spinal surgeon who recommended to keep on doing what I was doing and if I wasn’t better in 3 months to go back and see him. I was miserable and I got pretty down about the whole thing. I had a heavy labour job that payed okay that I had to give up. For a long time I thought that constant 4-5/10 pain with occasional spikes was as good as it was going to get.

I’ve had bad weeks here and there where I’ve considered going back. But I have far more pain free days than painful ones now. Long distance running and walking tend to cause aching for a day or two, sitting for hours on end also causes aching but that’s as bad as I get now.

Similar timeframe to you as well. It’s been 14 months for me. I also ran into some serious hamstring and hip flexor issues as a by product of the back pain.

I found I had to change my training philosophy. I begin with my session with box jumps to warm up my posterior super setted with planks to get my core firing. Then I focus big time on posterior chain movements before doing any other lifts.

Usually lifters are taught to begin with squats and bench. They are now the last two movements of my day.

[benrhyno1989]

Yes. I saw a spinal surgeon who recommended to keep on doing what I was doing and if I wasn’t better in 3 months to go back and see him. I was miserable and I got pretty down about the whole thing. I had a heavy labour job that payed okay that I had to give up. For a long time I thought that constant 4-5/10 pain with occasional spikes was as good as it was going to get.

I’ve had bad weeks here and there where I’ve considered going back. But I have far more pain free days than painful ones now.

Long distance running and walking tend to cause aching for a day or two, sitting for hours on end also causes aching but that’s as bad as I get now.

Similar timeframe to you as well. It’s been 14 months for me.

This gives me a little hope, I've been told by all the health professionals to completely give up running and boxing, and heavy lifting goes without saying. It's completely sapped my strength and motivation, it's a huge effort to get to the gym twice a week to do 45 mins stationary bike which is sad given my former lifts and rugby playing.
I guess I'm slightly further along in that I've had my "come back in 3 months" chat twice already and This will be the 3rd.

I really don't know whether to just go for the surgery or keep struggling everyday as I know the surgery is irreversible. I can't do lab work any more which is bad for a chemist, because standing for long periods is very painful. The whole situation absolutely sucks

[G8Eddie]

I used to pull my back once in a while when I was younger, a few times it was very painful. One time I pulled my back so bad getting out of bed was a challenge and I couldn't even stand to take a piss, I had to sit (very srs). I stopped working out for a month, and used icyhot and doing stretches. When I went back into the gym, I worked on my flexibility for my legs and hips. It's probably been about 4 years since I've done it again, but I don't squat anymore. I usually stick to machines or do some "light" deadlifts for sets of 12.

In your case it sounds like you need to see a specialist or an orthopedic surgeon.

[benrhyno1989]

I used to pull my back once in a while when I was younger, a few times it was very painful. One time I pulled my back so bad getting out of bed was a challenge and I couldn't even stand to take a piss, I had to sit (very srs). I stopped working out for a month, and used icyhot and doing stretches. When I went back into the gym, I worked on my flexibility for my legs and hips. It's probably been about 4 years since I've done it again, but I don't squat anymore. I usually stick to machines or do some "light" deadlifts for sets of 12.

In your case it sounds like you need to see a specialist or an orthopedic surgeon.

In case you just read the OP hat was 2 years ago and the update was post #63. In the last year I think I've managed 8 total deadlifts with 1 plate, and about 12 bodyweight squats as they are just agony, even perfectly controlled. Any chance of ever doing a PL meet or boxing match (my 2 fitness related goals) are probably less than 1% now

[benrhyno1989]

Bump for help, update is in post 63 for new contributors

[gangstamuzik]

OP, I got a similar problem. Agonizing pain 24/7.. I wrote a long ass post but can't be bothered to write it again cause when I pressed "post reply" it said 404 not found smh.
PM me if you want to talk.. I can totally relate and give you some advice.

[benrhyno1989]

OP, I got a similar problem. Agonizing pain 24/7.. I wrote a long ass post but can't be bothered to write it again cause when I pressed "post reply" it said 404 not found smh.
PM me if you want to talk.. I can totally relate and give you some advice.

Feel free to just empty your thoughts into a long post in here, I just want to get a discussion Going, get some people in here who've recovered with and without surgery - both sides of the coin.
One of the saddest things it's caused is completely drifting out of the BB/PL and sports communities I used to be a big part of. Also, lack of motivation and being on strong painkillers seems to kill your desire for life and I've gained back around 60% of the weight I lost under my username, and walking up the stairs is even a struggle

Edit: nice lifts!

[ahox]

In my case, traditional squatting and deadlifting was like fitting a square peg in a round hole and it took me a long time and a lot of back pain to accept that. No other movements hurt my back but I was so deadset on performing those 2 that I just went along and dealt with the pain until basically my life outside of the gym was just managing pain. I couldn’t run or do any other physical activities either.

Since then I switched to movements that simply don’t hurt (genius right?) and have 0 back pain. I even started doing bjj recently. The back will heal just like anything else unless you have something really severe going on like incontinence or persistent numbness running down into your feet.

All that said, if powerlifting is your passion and life calling and you simply refuse to stop doing the movements that are aggravating your back it is going to take a lot of work and rehab to get back to handling respectable weight. Rehab may actually mean not doing either movement for possibly 2 years and restarting with the empty bar when your back is no longer aggravated. From there I would reach out to a respected strength coach and work with them. You can call Mark Rippetoe’s gym and probably get him on the phone and he will give you some suggestions on how to manuever through this issue as he has talked extensively on it.

[RobbeeG]

1. Stop lifting silly weights, humans aren't designed for it.
2. Once you start Opiates, you are pretty much an addict. 12 Year addict here.

[benrhyno1989]

In my case, traditional squatting and deadlifting was like fitting a square peg in a round hole and it took me a long time and a lot of back pain to accept that. No other movements hurt my back but I was so deadset on performing those 2 that I just went along and dealt with the pain until basically my life outside of the gym was just managing pain. I couldn’t run or do any other physical activities either.

Since then I switched to movements that simply don’t hurt (genius right?) and have 0 back pain. I even started doing bjj recently. The back will heal just like anything else unless you have something really severe going on like incontinence or persistent numbness running down into your feet.

All that said, if powerlifting is your passion and life calling and you simply refuse to stop doing the movements that are aggravating your back it is going to take a lot of work and rehab to get back to handling respectable weight. Rehab may actually mean not doing either movement for possibly 2 years and restarting with the empty bar when your back is no longer aggravated. From there I would reach out to a respected strength coach and work with them. You can call Mark Rippetoe’s gym and probably get him on the phone and he will give you some suggestions on how to manuever through this issue as he has talked extensively on it.

Tbh PL isn't my passion but it gave me a real focus for the gym and staying active, strong and healthy. I mentioned in another post but i dropped squats, deads, BOR, OHP over 60kg, and basically anything involving moving my back completely out of my routine but my pain has been so unmanagable that I stopped lifting altogether and just switched to cardio as it's pain free, less intense and I can be in and out quicker - I've completely lost all motivation to lift but wish I could get it back and I see being pain free as my route back in.

Unfortunately given the timescale and results from my MRI's, it's transitioned from being an injury to now being a major condition. As well as the torn discs which haven't healed despite extensive rest, I have degenerative disc disease, facet joint arthropathy and Type 1 modic endplate changes (whatever that last part means I'm told is not good by my sports therapist). The arthropathy is so bad that when I had meningitis, they tried a spinal tap and they couldn't penetrate the bone spurs to reach my spinal fluid, they tried 4 different vertebrae and ended up bruising my spinal bones so bad that I can't bend down to tie my laces yet after 6 weeks and they hit 3 major nerves that led to my sciatica coming back after being rid of it for 6+ months

[benrhyno1989]

1. Stop lifting silly weights, humans aren't designed for it.
2. Once you start Opiates, you are pretty much an addict. 12 Year addict here.

1. Haven't lifted for 2 years
2. Yep, I now know that. 2 year dependence here, dropping the strong one to the weakest one (5 days ago) has been an awful experience, as it always is. I won't say which ones as last time I mentioned a painkiller brand name a mod told me off (no idea why, it's not illegal and was prescribed to me).

[ontclone]

man you did so much stuff wrong i dont even know where to start honestly. The biggest issue you stated was you were training with a bad ankle man..... you realize if you don't have proper flexibility and strength in your ankle you are going to compensate at the hip and the low back right???

bro you failed a single leg test( you have poor stability)..... you are not training your stabilization system. you need to have a stable base before you even move to power work, essential you have energy leaks and your back is taking on that load

[ahox]

Tbh PL isn't my passion but it gave me a real focus for the gym and staying active, strong and healthy. I mentioned in another post but i dropped squats, deads, BOR, OHP over 60kg, and basically anything involving moving my back completely out of my routine but my pain has been so unmanagable that I stopped lifting altogether and just switched to cardio as it's pain free, less intense and I can be in and out quicker - I've completely lost all motivation to lift but wish I could get it back and I see being pain free as my route back in.

Unfortunately given the timescale and results from my MRI's, it's transitioned from being an injury to now being a major condition. As well as the torn discs which haven't healed despite extensive rest, I have degenerative disc disease, facet joint arthropathy and Type 1 modic endplate changes (whatever that last part means I'm told is not good by my sports therapist). The arthropathy is so bad that when I had meningitis, they tried a spinal tap and they couldn't penetrate the bone spurs to reach my spinal fluid, they tried 4 different vertebrae and ended up bruising my spinal bones so bad that I can't bend down to tie my laces yet after 6 weeks and they hit 3 major nerves that led to my sciatica coming back after being rid of it for 6+ months

The first line of your reply should tell you your plan going forward then. If powerlifting is not your career or helping your life outside of being a hobby then it’s time to move on given your circumstances. Trust me, I get it the feeling of lifting heavy weights is awesome and it sucks not knowing if you could find something like that again but I learned there are plenty of other things in life that can bring similar satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

Also, I am not sure how much you know about spine conditions but there are people with way worse MRI’s than you and don’t have back pain so don’t get too attached to MRI results. The spine is still a mystery in medicine so in many cases you are best served staying off the operating table. In the meantime, stop doing silly sh!t that is aggravating your back, get back into lifting slowly, and start setting new goals that will get you motivated. You will find your way back into the gym one way or another if it’s something that matters to you.

[benrhyno1989]

man you did so much stuff wrong i dont even know where to start honestly. The biggest issue you stated was you were training with a bad ankle man..... you realize if you don't have proper flexibility and strength in your ankle you are going to compensate at the hip and the low back right???

bro you failed a single leg test( you have poor stability)..... you are not training your stabilization system. you need to have a stable base before you even move to power work, essential you have energy leaks and your back is taking on that load

Unfortunately I only know that now, I had that typical mid-20's invincibility mixed with stupidity and arrogance. Hopefully my story serves to tell younger and more inexperienced lifters what not to do.

[gangstamuzik]

Feel free to just empty your thoughts into a long post in here, I just want to get a discussion Going, get some people in here who've recovered with and without surgery - both sides of the coin.
One of the saddest things it's caused is completely drifting out of the BB/PL and sports communities I used to be a big part of. Also, lack of motivation and being on strong painkillers seems to kill your desire for life and I've gained back around 60% of the weight I lost under my username, and walking up the stairs is even a struggle

Edit: nice lifts!

Ight brah, i'll retype it just for you cause i feel you.
March 2017 i injured my whole back pretty badly (worse than prior injuries). Before that, i already had cervical spondylitis and a bunch of herniated discs throughout my thoracic/cervical spine. Basically had someone ( a friend) relocate my shoulder blade, as I felt my shoulder blade was pushed inward into my chest (pulled on my left arm towards them (they were in front of me), while snapping/thrusting into my left collarbone in a swift motion with their palm). Afterwards I immediately felt nausea into my lower left ribs and extreme tightness in my left QL, as well as a difference in walking. Tight hip flexor, extreme winged scapula. First 6 months i couldn't even take a sht. In october I was able to take my first sht, granted i lost around 30lb of muscle and was 150lb soaking wet at that point. Yeah, thank god my constipation was fixed but my back wasn't.
I went to a dozen ortho surgeons, spine specialists, pts, chiros, (i flew to china to see 30 doctors, was in the US saw 30 doctors, and went to malaysia to see two famous chiropractors) needless to say none of them produced results...
The pain is chronic from my cervical spine down to my left hip, posterior and anterior. Winged scapula, probably damaged my long thoracic nerve and a bunch of other nerves.

Basically, my take away is after seeing all these doctors and spending nearly 50,000 dollars on diagnosis' sometimes you have to accept defeat.
For the past 6 months I've been lifting, I got my stats back up to 245x5 BP, 405x1 deadlift, 315x2 squat. However while lifting I was in constant pain, and the day after I would be really unable to move. After the injury, i have sudden scoliosis, and a bunch of things that can't be explained.

Moral support.. yeah I know it's honestly the hardest thing to give up bodybuilding and what you love. Man when I used to lift for strength at 162lb with a 305bp at 19 I was hype. It was honestly the love of my life. it still is kind of.
Generally with these type of spine injuries, the recovery rate is kind of at the lower spectrum of the recovery scale. They don't do enough research on the thoracic spine and there is not enough blood flow to heal your spine naturally.
I hate myself for saying this, but sometimes I believe it's best to give up what you love so you can continue on with life. This sht has honestly dragged on for two years and put me through hell, depression was a btch and i tried to kill myself twice.
Reason being was I couldn't accept that I would have to stop lifting and live like this and be a average small kunt for the rest of my life (or until they find a way to fix this or correctly diagnose).

My advice: don't go to random chiropractors, actually I wouldnt advise them at all. most if not all of them are quacks.
Orthos aren't much help with these spinal injuries either, your best bet is doing physical therapy. look up some exercises online, try to strengthen your other muscles like your serratus anterior, QL, TA, hip flexors, core. Also find yourself a good trigger point massage therapist... that may help. you may have quite a few muscle spasms that are causing your pain and if released, wow you're fixed.
my spasm points are my left trap, left serratus anterior and left QL.
however releasing one just causes the other to overcompensate. maybe you'll have a different outcome.

good luck bro, hit me up if you need any advice

[ontclone]

Unfortunately I only know that now, I had that typical mid-20's invincibility mixed with stupidity and arrogance. Hopefully my story serves to tell younger and more inexperienced lifters what not to do.

so then what are you doing to work on hip stability/ mobility? ankle flexibility/ mobility / proprioception, core stability, thoracic mobility?

[benrhyno1989]

The first line of your reply should tell you your plan going forward then. If powerlifting is not your career or helping your life outside of being a hobby then it’s time to move on given your circumstances. Trust me, I get it the feeling of lifting heavy weights is awesome and it sucks not knowing if you could find something like that again but I learned there are plenty of other things in life that can bring similar satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

Also, I am not sure how much you know about spine conditions but there are people with way worse MRI’s than you and don’t have back pain so don’t get too attached to MRI results. The spine is still a mystery in medicine so in many cases you are best served staying off the operating table. In the meantime, stop doing silly sh!t that is aggravating your back, get back into lifting slowly, and start setting new goals that will get you motivated. You will find your way back into the gym one way or another if it’s something that matters to you.

Yeah that's one of the lines my surgeon like to roll out sometimes, how the conditions highlighted on my MRI would feel different to everyone.
I've come to terms with dropping PL permanently, as well as rugby or running. Boxing remains a slim hope, as I love contact sport and the explosiveness but the twisting and ducking element might be beyond my capabilities now. Other than that, I could get into lighter lifting to look good and gain muscle but I know the sessions are long and that's one of the reasons I always preferred PL style training - short, intense sessions then leave the gym and carry on with more interesting things.

Hopefully in a week the surgeon will have provided enough info to make a final decision

[gangstamuzik]

See you like to box too, dope..
I used to box as well, can't throw a good jab anymore with this left sided injury or a good left hook for that matter smh.
I suggest you get a MRI of your whole spine as well as your hips, do some functional posture tests. record yourself doing a body weight squat and see if there is anywhere that is compensation. TRIGGER point therapy, gives me some relief for a few hours.
it'll probably do more for you than me. good luck bra

[benrhyno1989]

so then what are you doing to work on hip stability/ mobility? ankle flexibility/ mobility / proprioception, core stability?

right now, I do swimming 2x a week for an hour and some stationary biking (around the same) and then in the gym I'll do some light ab work - planks, rollout wheel, side planks but not a lot as it hurts, even holding a plank for 30s with good form (observed by a friend or PT). Then at home I do a rehab circuit a couple of times a week at the most that works on my transverse abdominus stability, leg raise variations, McKenzie exercises etc. But I've been put off when I haven't seen improvements after doing them for weeks.

Most of my flexibility stuff is now done with assistance from my sports therapist, so short answer, is not a great deal.

[benrhyno1989]

Ight brah, i'll retype it just for you cause i feel you.
March 2017 i injured my whole back pretty badly (worse than prior injuries). Before that, i already had cervical spondylitis and a bunch of herniated discs throughout my thoracic/cervical spine. Basically had someone ( a friend) relocate my shoulder blade, as I felt my shoulder blade was pushed inward into my chest (pulled on my left arm towards them (they were in front of me), while snapping/thrusting into my left collarbone in a swift motion with their palm). Afterwards I immediately felt nausea into my lower left ribs and extreme tightness in my left QL, as well as a difference in walking. Tight hip flexor, extreme winged scapula. First 6 months i couldn't even take a sht. In october I was able to take my first sht, granted i lost around 30lb of muscle and was 150lb soaking wet at that point. Yeah, thank god my constipation was fixed but my back wasn't.
I went to a dozen ortho surgeons, spine specialists, pts, chiros, (i flew to china to see 30 doctors, was in the US saw 30 doctors, and went to malaysia to see two famous chiropractors) needless to say none of them produced results...
The pain is chronic from my cervical spine down to my left hip, posterior and anterior. Winged scapula, probably damaged my long thoracic nerve and a bunch of other nerves.

Basically, my take away is after seeing all these doctors and spending nearly 50,000 dollars on diagnosis' sometimes you have to accept defeat.
For the past 6 months I've been lifting, I got my stats back up to 245x5 BP, 405x1 deadlift, 315x2 squat. However while lifting I was in constant pain, and the day after I would be really unable to move. After the injury, i have sudden scoliosis, and a bunch of things that can't be explained.

Moral support.. yeah I know it's honestly the hardest thing to give up bodybuilding and what you love. Man when I used to lift for strength at 162lb with a 305bp at 19 I was hype. It was honestly the love of my life. it still is kind of.
Generally with these type of spine injuries, the recovery rate is kind of at the lower spectrum of the recovery scale. They don't do enough research on the thoracic spine and there is not enough blood flow to heal your spine naturally.
I hate myself for saying this, but sometimes I believe it's best to give up what you love so you can continue on with life. This sht has honestly dragged on for two years and put me through hell, depression was a btch and i tried to kill myself twice.
Reason being was I couldn't accept that I would have to stop lifting and live like this and be a average small kunt for the rest of my life (or until they find a way to fix this or correctly diagnose).

My advice: don't go to random chiropractors, actually I wouldnt advise them at all. most if not all of them are quacks.
Orthos aren't much help with these spinal injuries either, your best bet is doing physical therapy. look up some exercises online, try to strengthen your other muscles like your serratus anterior, QL, TA, hip flexors, core. Also find yourself a good trigger point massage therapist... that may help. you may have quite a few muscle spasms that are causing your pain and if released, wow you're fixed.
my spasm points are my left trap, left serratus anterior and left QL.
however releasing one just causes the other to overcompensate. maybe you'll have a different outcome.

good luck bro, hit me up if you need any advice

Thanks for sharing man, I agree totally with a lot of what you said, I've given up on the lifting "dream" and try to manage my expectations. I can deal with not lifting, but I can't deal with my entire life being pain management. This is why I'm coming round to the idea of surgery but I know it's not a silver bullet.

By sports therapist I mean someone who does trigger point, myofascial relief, and other things and those sessions are about all that I look forward to now. I hope you get your issues fixed, and that we both make it. I've been in the depression hole myself and understand those feels all too well.

[gangstamuzik]

Thanks for sharing man, I agree totally with a lot of what you said, I've given up on the lifting "dream" and try to manage my expectations. I can deal with not lifting, but I can't deal with my entire life being pain management. This is why I'm coming round to the idea of surgery but I know it's not a silver bullet.

By sports therapist I mean someone who does trigger point, myofascial relief, and other things and those sessions are about all that I look forward to now. I hope you get your issues fixed, and that we both make it. I've been in the depression hole myself and understand those feels all too well.

Yeah no doubt bro, I hope we both make it.
That's the hardest part, with the chronic pain. It's been two years, I made a thread here two years ago asking for help. I didn't expect to still be in this situation; I've seen over 70 doctors worldwide.
Right now I've learned to kind of live with it, most of the week it's terrible. I wake up and go to sleep with the same pain, not to mention I'm on Kpins. I started a Klonopin habit last year, up to 12mgs a day because it actually reduces muscle spasms - literally reduced my pain to 0. However, it was the dumbest fking idea ever. Currently tapered down to 3mgs.
Pain will take you towards a downward spiral bra, and this is coming from someone who grew up rough and sht wasn't right anyways. this sh*t really put me away.

Honestly sounds dumb to me and it may sound stupid as fuk to you too, try to eat foods that don't cause much inflammation as well... main cause of pain is inflammation. reduce that inflammation and you reduce your pain, by a lil bit but still a lil bit is still something right...
i also tried BPC 157 and TB 500 back in 2017, probably got bunk sht cause it legit didnt do anything for me but i've heard people get actual good results with it when they got real peptides. do some research, try something out.

much love bra.

[GravityLee]

#1 im not a doctor so my advice is at your own risk
#2 i dont trust doctors so i rarely use them
#3 i work with the public. At least 80% of people i have no sympathy for whatever debilitating condition they have because its completely fixable with rehabilitation exercises at home theyre just lazy.
#4 i have almost completely rehabbed a torn rotator cuff on my own and am currently working on ankle issues.

I would literally fix it with pictures off google but you may be limited by its really fuked up and painful, maybe youre lazy, maybe you only want to trust a doctor, etc. I would never bet on a stranger on the internet to do rehab on their own more than once or twice, but i would bet against it. Thats how fukin lazy the average person is.