looking for some guidance for my spondy
 

Hi all, I've had grade 1 spondyloesthiss since a child when I had a bad fall onto my back. It's always been manageable and hadn't gotten worse until last year.

One day, I walked up a steep hill, and later that day I have burning and constant dull pain in my right foot. Had new MRIs and x rays. Nothing showed up as having changed since prior tests 2 years ago. Some minor changes, at most. Spine dr says weight loss, antiinflammatory, and some physical therapy. I've tried the pills and weight loss and it has not helped. I'm not at the point where I want to try injections.

I would like to try PT, but since my allowed visits per year are limited, I want to know if there is a specific clinic I should attend, or should I see a neuro dr first? I'm in NYC. My spine dr is at columbia presbyterian, and seems very good, but I would like more opinions on what course I should take to fix this pain in my foot. Thanks

I am challenged with spondy for MANY years, my great osteopath MD said when I was in my 30's I had the back of a 90 yr old ... well here I am 77 soon and still challenged with spondy and doing my best to keep going.

There are exercises/stretches for spondy help and a chiro gave me one I do often while laying in bed or on the floor....knees bent and feet on flat surface, tuck in stomach and hold for a count of 10 and do this often. Get stomach/back as close to the flat area as possible. He also mentioned standing against a wall and tucking in stomach/back and holding and again and holding. SpineUniverse.com has good exercises and spondy ones could be there.

I do wear a back support as I deal with bodywide OA, back issues starting at 18.

What level was/is your injury/Spondylolisthesis at? lumbar?
[Spondylolisthesis is when the vertebra slips forward or backward compared to the next vertebra.]
http://www.medicinenet.com/spondylol...is/article.htm

my L 5 slips a bit with certain activities... core strengthening was suggested to help stabilize it.. I get some low back pain and hip pain, but mine doesn't go down the leg or into the foot ...yet..

You can also copy your post over to our Spinal forum for more views & replies..
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum22.html

Welcome axxel. :Wave-Hello:

L5-S1. I'm still learning how this all works but can spondy cause sciatica pain going to foot? I never had this foot pain until that steep hill walk last year. I obviously pinched/aggrivated/damaged some nerves somewhere. Would you go for pt for the spondy, in hopes of helping this foot pain? Or would you see neuro first?

I ended up with sciatic nerve damage after hysterectomy in early 80's....and so deal with pain in the "ars" for 30+ yrs...I do stretching for the sciatic and have done this for years. It can flair with stress, but I stretch it out daily and again with all the work I do before I get out of bed and before I go to sleep and often in between. So I've had nerve damage from hysterectomy and hip replacement in 2010....hope I can avoid a knife to my body for the rest of what is left of me. I did a lot of docs over the years but now hardly ever see them....I've learned so much over the years on my care. good wishes.

again spineuniverse.com has a lot of exercise instructions.

Unstable spondylolisthesis can cause sciatica.
If you had a fall as a child, did you sustain a fracture?
I have L5/S1 spondylolisthesis, mostly symptom free these days. It depends what I do in the yard mostly.

Personally I'd be having a doctor visit prior to any physical therapy although from my experience physical therapy was extremely helpful... especially warm pool exercize and stretching. Gosh, they used to have me hanging by my arms off a ladder contraption on a wall and I also had a lot of traction. Ultrasound as well.

Strengthening the abdominal muscles is very very important for those of us with L5/S1 instability!!!

You really should check that you don't have some other problems in the area just above the L5/S1 area. If you've pulled ligaments, you may have swelling too that is aggravating the area. I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to my lumbar spine. I recall how horrible it was not being able to walk.

Great to meet you!!
 

:Wave-Hello: Hello and welcome, happy to see you have come to be with us, it a great place to be. As you can see we have a great number and caring fellow members here, where you have find a supportive and relaxing place. Have fun looking into the different forums. Our shoulders are here for support in many ways.

Please keep us up to date on your condition. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you. :smileypray:

Darlene :hug: