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recovering from back injuries 20-Oct-2010 At 10:50:53 AM f_ladou

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If my story can help...

I injured my back in my mid-twenties while water skying (very popular sport in Canada -- when the lakes are not frozen that is). Did some physio then over a period of weeks and started gym training, a habit I never really lost. I got complacent through the years though and re-injured it 15 years later in 2001 trying to stay fit and strong at the gym (the irony is not lost on me).

This time it was serious. I was diagnosed with a slipped disk L5-S1, that is between the last lumbar and first sacrum vertebra: so very low where mobility is very restricted. I was living in Berlin at the time and if I forget every single german word I learnt, the last one to go will be Bandscheibenvorvall (slipped disk). The following NMR is for your enjoyment. According to the specialist, the "bulge" is very clear and pronounced.

The upshot is that I couldn't really walk for six months. The pain (sciatica) was excruciating and I started a long treatment involving cortisone injection (good temporary measure) and physio. There were very slow progress and I was thinking about an operation but dreading it after speaking to a doctor friend of mine who seemed to think that this kind of operation was more or less like flipping a coin. I was simply not going to go down that way. Then my specialist suggested a treatment with the sweet german name of Kräftigungstherapie. A loose translation would be "reinforcement therapy".

Basically, it cured my problem. This therapy consist in isolating inner core muscle by strapping you onto "nautilus" style machine and working hard on regaining both the range and strength of movement. Being a german approach, the whole thing was quite high-tech and load of data are generated, massaged and distilled into progress curves towards target goals. The idea was to work through the pain under very restricted movement conditions. The whole process suited me very well. I hated every minute of the treatment (except for the discussions with my therapist: a mad german ice-hockey fan) but every time they showed me my progress on paper (angle range, force exerted) I felt a little elated. Progress had become my drug. The turning point was when the therapist told me that the movement was no more restricted by pain but by strength (somehow, he could read that on the graphs).

My back is still my weak spot, though. I have to be careful. I do yoga (twice a week) and gym training once a week. I do not boulder not because of the bouldering per se (that seems fine however steep it is) but I cannot afford jumping down, let alone falling.

Cheers, François