Exercise with low back pain

Hi there!

I, personally, have torn the cartilage in my left knee 3x and in my right knee once (the first tear was in high school when I ran track, and I'm 42 now). I've had 3 knee surgeries and severe osteo-arthritis and chronic pain. My ortho-surgeon told me when I was 35 that I needed total knee replacement on both knees, which I have been able to put off by losing over 80 lbs and trying all other treatments I could try (supplements, rehab, steroid injections, joint fluid injections, etc.) I also had emergency back surgery in 2006 due to a severely ruptured disc that troubled me for years, but went undiagnosed, and then ruptured completely and was causing paralysis. Between my knees and my back, I'm always in pain and have multiple doctors who throw muscle relaxers and pain meds at me whenever I want them. I totally relate with you regarding pain and how missing workouts causes depression!

For years, my doctors told me that exercise would help alleviate the pain and I thought they were insane. But...they were right. I'm never pain-free, but I noticed a huge difference when I skip workouts, which of course just makes things worse. I skip because it hurts, but then I hurt more because I've skipped. It's a gentle balance of knowing when I need to get my butt in gear and knowing when I truly need the rest. So...I still workout, even when it gets really bad - but, I do easy-breezy workouts. I take a 30 minute walk in my neighborhood, or I'll jump in the pool for 20 minutes or so. I can't do a lot of super intense workouts anyway, really only 2-3 days per week and in between I ice my knees down and take it easy.

Over the holidays, I strained my back cleaning the house when we had company in town. Of course, I didn't workout because family was here and the pain did not subside at all. I was taking my pain & inflammation meds, resting, heating pad, stretching, etc. - but didn't really get much relief until I started doing 30 minutes of easy stuff. No lifting, bending, etc. - just easy walking or swimming. Not as much fun as Zumba or a Total Strength class, but normally makes the pain easier to deal with!

Hope you feel better soon.

Hey Tempeh -

I had back surgery in 2005 which fused together most of my spine from the base of my neck down. The only section not fused together is my lower back so I have a lot of strain focused on that area. I go back and forth between exercising and not, and when I am not working out my lower back has really bad spasms. I'm not able to stand up quickly, or stand straight or walk without limping for a couple days. It causes a lot of pain and on the worst days I'm stuck in bed.

What I've found is that when the muscles are spasming in the back, it's important to work the muscles in the front - namely your core. Doing planks a couple of times every day helps so much to relax my lower back muscles so that I am able to get back into running or P90X, etc. It's gentle, but effective. I've also noticed that twisting and stretching my lower back when it's in that state of distress only makes it worse. No idea why, haha. So that's my advice for alleviating lower back issues: strengthen your core, gently, and you'll be back in business in no time!