Spondyloletheisis Flare Up

Friday morning I received a call and text from my husband. Steven has Spondylolethesis and a history of 2 disc herniation’s, nerve impingement, torn meniscus right knee and of course “Spondy”. Steven told me he had hurt is shoulder lifting and pushing upward. He felt something spasm under his shoulder blade and had trouble breathing without pain. He could not take in a full deep breath without upper body pain. I had him do some quick exercises that provided a band aid since he made it clear, he was not leaving work. In the middle of his job site, he spent 5 minutes trying to activate and align his body enough to finish work and come to my office. When he arrived, approximately 8 hours later he was still having trouble taking a deep breath, sneezing was definitely a big challenge! I did an assessment, listened to everything he said about what happened and what is currently happening.

After the assessment it became very clear, he did not have a shoulder injury! His hips were off balance, meaning one side was elevated, leaving more weight bearing on the opposite side and a small amount of upper body rotation.
It was a muscle spasm in his left spinal erector due to hip elevation and compensation. When he pulled the large pipe and lifting, he was already offset and by pulling on one side, the muscle went right into spasm in the mid-back.
He was given a program of 7 exercises that takes him 17 minutes total. During his exercises, he does deep abdominal breathing when possible.
Right after his first session same afternoon, he was able to take a deeper breath and pain had decreased approximately 50%. This is huge for someone with “Spondy”. The next day, more improvement and breathing issues down to 5%. In the picture below, he is at the beginning of his exercises. This exercise is relaxing his back muscles while lining up his hip, knees, ankles and feet while working his hip flexors (muscles that move the leg). After 5 minutes he moves into his next exercise.

You don’t have to be a slave to pain or conditions. You can make changes that allow you to move more functionally and without pain. As one of my clients says “effortlessly”.
If you are someone who wants to be pain free and has Spondylolethesis, please contact me and we will do an assessment. If you are not local, all can be done via the internet on Zoom.