What part of it?
The best part about swimming in a therapeutic sense is that there is no compression of the spine, hip, knees and ankles, thus allowing people who would be otherwise immobile (or limited at least) with a condition affecting the above to continue moving which comes with a whole host of benefits.
I suppose one way of looking at it is; if you want to build your load tolerance to running would you swim, or just run and gradually increase volume and intensity to allow adequate adaptation to occur?
A factor (With a caveat that it is probably one of the lesser ones) in people with LBP (or any other musculoskeletal condition acute or chronic) is that their tissues are unable to handle the demands placed on them during their ADLs (activities of daily living). In the case of the OP the demands doesn’t appear super high (which is why the other factors are likely more important) but surgery or no surgery getting back to full ADLs is going to require increased load capacity. The greater their capacity exceeds the demands the less their risk of injury is eg a 200kg deadlifter is better equipped to handle a 100kg deadlift than someone who only deadlifts 120kg
It would be worth your while to have an assessment at a Kieser clinic. My L4 hitting nerve so had a microdysectomy after 6 months chronic pain and lots of drugs that did nothing. Post surgery After a couple months drugs , walking booked into keiser for assessment, joined , 12 months down the track pain free and no drugs. Some little soreness if I sit too long at work. It’s just an assessment , hear what they have to say. Nothing to lose except pain possibly.
I have the same issue as @Heffsgirl a herniated disc L5 S1. Started off as a sharp shooting pain whenever I stood up after sitting for a while and then one day (after I had lifted my daughter’s bike) turned into full blown pins and needles and numbness down the left leg.
This was diagnosed as “sciatica” without an MRI.
The next 6 months were hell with not being able to sit, constant numbness and pins and needles and a lot of pain all the way down my left leg. I tried steroids and heavy-duty pain killers with little to no effect. At this point I was ready to say yes to surgery but decided to get a 2nd opinion. The new doctor took one look at me and asked for my MRI results. She couldn’t believe I hadn’t had one. So I did. It showed the ruptured disc.
Long story short. The new dr referred me to a spine specialist who told me to avoid surgery and focus on strengthening the core. I did intensive physio for 6 months (at least 30-45min, 5 times a week) and then continued on my own before the symptoms decreased by 90%. Luckily (at least for now) I appeared to have avoided surgery. However, it was a tough 15 months!
Even now if I haven’t exercised for 2 weeks (which happens more often than it should) my back flares up and the symptoms start returning.
Hi - I went to the surgeon two weeks ago and ended up with another cortisone injection into the spine nerve root at the L5 level on both sides.
Hasn’t really helped.
I’ve been on a weaning dose of Pred as well and have just finished it.
Still on Lyrica - 350mg/day and Endone as needed.
He basically said that the next stage is surgery - Fusion of L4, L5 and S1 with 3-6 months recovery - limited to lifting no more than 5-10 kg.
Have done some further research and basically, while I can still stand - I will not be going down the surgical path - too many people who have had the same problem and opted for the surgery saying it hasn’t helped at all with some saying it is even worse than pre-surgery.
So - have gone right off the idea of having screws put into my spine and it was the wake up call I needed to give the core strengthening a red hot go.
So I start 1:1 exercise physiology next week - moving into group sessions - 3 sessions per week. Have found a really good Physio and her husband runs the exercise physiology.
Also swimming twice per week.
The key is good sleep - if I can get a decent night sleep - then the next day is just so much better in terms of the energy I can put into stabilising my core - which reduces the pain. If I get a crap sleep - six month old, 24 month old or my dog wake me up all night then it is a tough day.
Will keep you posted how I progress - but determined to exhaust all avenues before I go the knife.
Sounds a good plan and good you have a bit of expertise on your team, far superior to hearing inter web stories from a mob of broken down bush or suburban footballers!
I reckon you are on the right track, keep us all posted.
