Degenerative Disc

[Cantplankwell]

Well I have been having some very irritating, but not debilitating low back chronic soreness, my cautious nature has kept me out of the weight room...But I have played hockey (cant miss the start of the season ...playing did not make it worse BTW). Its only in the lower back and sometimes the sides. It does not reduce my ROM or get worse with any particular activity other than the 30 minutes or so after getting out of bed in the morning, and if I am sitting for long periods of time like at work. This has happened before but usually goes away after a few weeks, this time it has gone on since mid August. I did all of the usual things...heat...ice..some NSAIDs redice my lifting... when it was worse. The root cause: I hyper extended my back of all things floating belly down on a raft in our pool, it has a tendency to Taco you. Around this time I also started to work out with a Rogue Sandbag...filled to about 60lbs or so of rubber chips.

I have been told that I have a "mild degenerative disc disease" from a DR following an examination...and x-rays.....nothing out of the ordinary for someone my age apparently. Since my first visit last week I was advised to take the NSAIDs 2-3 times per day and sleeping only on my back and sides...this has helped and I would say there is a reduction in the soreness. But I dont want to continue with taking these 2-3 times per day for too much longer And I want to get back to the gym....soon.

I have also been going to get some physio which has not yielded any results. I have an appointment with him again tomorrow to talk about it and see what he suggests now that we have a better look at things. The Dr endorsed this as well.

Does anyone here have this and how do you deal with it? I understand its part of the normal aging process now and may flare up from time to time from days to weeks or even months in duration, getting worse as I age. I really dont know if lifting is going to make it worse or better at this point, its been a setback because I was making good progress I thought.

[willybrokeback]

I have 11 disc bulges, two vertebra fused, arthritis in my spine and some curvature that is not scoliosis as well as degenerative disc disease. Your conditions are basically my life. Sitting too long hurts, anything too vigorous like running or jump rope hurts. I started getting kidney issues from taking the NSAIDs too much, so be careful with those. After my surgery and the year it took to recover (I had T-spine surgery), my Dr basically said- "Listen to your body".

So, I lift 6 days a week and play hockey on Sundays. But I have to modify any routine I do. Squats and Deads just cause me too much pain, same with overhead work. I try and keep my form pretty strict. You will learn the normal pain from the something is not right pain and avoid the things that really hurt. This is assuming you are cleared to lift. I have not tried inversion but I might.

Good luck.

[Garage Rat]

You might want to see a chiropractor and get their opinion.
I always try to go to someone that works more with athletes than mom and pop.
They seem to be more in the know to what your doing in the gym and athletic wise.
Using a reverse hyper machine might be beneficial if you have access to one.
Powerlifting Guru Louie Simmons claimed the reverse hyper helped him recover from a serious low back injury similar to what you describe.

[weiss1967]

Does anyone here have this and how do you deal with it? I understand its part of the normal aging process

My significant other has been diagnosed with IDD, in a very advance stage. So, we are both reading a lot on the subject. Apparently fitness is number one to keep IVD's healthy. One kinesiologist I had a chance to talk to says that IDD can be mediated with proper hydration, back stretches and mild exercises targeting core muscles. He is also recommends riding bicycle every day as number one for disk regeneration. Next one by the effectiveness is walking. There is something about disk nutrition, as there is no blood vessels in the disk, its only cellular respiration is through endplates, and he figures mild vibration from riding a bike helps significantly in that regard. I obviously can't attest to any of that, but this is something we are set to try.

[Cantplankwell]

I have 11 disc bulges, two vertebra fused, arthritis in my spine and some curvature that is not scoliosis as well as degenerative disc disease. Your conditions are basically my life. Sitting too long hurts, anything too vigorous like running or jump rope hurts. I started getting kidney issues from taking the NSAIDs too much, so be careful with those. After my surgery and the year it took to recover (I had T-spine surgery), my Dr basically said- "Listen to your body".

So, I lift 6 days a week and play hockey on Sundays. But I have to modify any routine I do. Squats and Deads just cause me too much pain, same with overhead work. I try and keep my form pretty strict. You will learn the normal pain from the something is not right pain and avoid the things that really hurt. This is assuming you are cleared to lift. I have not tried inversion but I might.

Good luck.

sorry about your pain willy, by the sounds of it I am no where near that level of trouble.

You might want to see a chiropractor and get their opinion.
I always try to go to someone that works more with athletes than mom and pop.
They seem to be more in the know to what your doing in the gym and athletic wise.
Using a reverse hyper machine might be beneficial if you have access to one.
Powerlifting Guru Louie Simmons claimed the reverse hyper helped him recover from a serious low back injury similar to what you describe.

My significant other has been diagnosed with IDD, in a very advance stage. So, we are both reading a lot on the subject. Apparently fitness is number one to keep IVD's healthy. One kinesiologist I had a chance to talk to says that IDD can be mediated with proper hydration, back stretches and mild exercises targeting core muscles. He is also recommends riding bicycle every day as number one for disk regeneration. Next one by the effectiveness is walking. There is something about disk nutrition, as there is no blood vessels in the disk, its only cellular respiration is through endplates, and he figures mild vibration from riding a bike helps significantly in that regard. I obviously can't attest to any of that, but this is something we are set to try.

Interesting info about the IDD

I met with the physio therapist again today. It is a sports medicine clinic, a lot of athletes from around the area go to this guy and pretty much everyone in the weightlifting club I used to be in.

Because I have full ROM and no pain through it, and dont have pain when doing something like a Snatch whatever is going on is very mild. Its just that I have found a trigger that I have to avoid: Hyper extending my back, bent over barbell rows, probably a bunch or related stuff, like flipping that sandbag. Not sure about the reverse hypers, I have no experience with them, I suppose I could try them on my GHD stand, however I will probably wait until I am 100%. Maybe I will have to look into to more core strengthing stuff.

His advise is to continue to lift and move and cardio and whatever else, just avoid extremes, biasing to "less weight...higher reps" . Its about finding a method of maintaining what I got.