r/Spondylolisthesis

Question for my fellow sufferers: have any of you had irritated, crusty and gooey eyes from this? Reason I ask is, it seems the more pain I cause by moving/exercising, the more my eyes seem to get irritated, gooey and crust over. I'm finding its not really a good distraction from the back pain 😂

I have l5-s1 spondy with pars fracture and degenerative discs 4,5 my lumbar and glutes are so tight that my glutes are pulling my knee caps outwards which gave me patellar maltracking.. tight for 2 years, daily routine of stretching 5 sets 30 secs. Nothing works so far..

Tell me your success stories.

Hello, I’ve dealt with retrolisthesis for 2 1/2 years, and inner knee pain for abt 1 1/2 years.

I finally found the most amazing girlfriend in the world she’s literally perfect.

Unfortunately bc of these issues I can’t pursue my dream career and she knows that but somehow still believes one day I can? And I’m afraid to lose her bc I can’t provide for her fully. And she has options that can.

Not only that but extreme anxiety over what if I’m finally happy and in love and can see a future here, and my low back or knees get so bad that I can’t even enjoy my love for her …

Hello!

Im writing to ask for some tips or suggestions.

I was recently diagnosed with L5-S1 hernia and Spondylolisthesis. My Main symptoms are lower back pain and pain that radiates to my glutes, and legs.

I have had PT sessions but the exercises that they gave me seem very basic. Some days I feel they are working and then some other days the pain comes back. I wanted to swim as I have heard that’s good for hernias but bc of my Spondylolisthesis swimming makes the pain worse. I’m trying to stay positive and be patient with the process but mentally this has taken a toll because I’m 26yrs old, I’m stressed about the quality of life I will have.

For anyone that have experienced these symptoms and conditions;
What has helped?

What exercises, stretches, or habits helped built muscle and reduce pain?

Any tips or advice for when you fly? I have the worst time travelling by plane and I have several work trips scheduled this year.

Thank you!

Hey everyone, looking to hear from people who’ve dealt with something similar.

I was recently diagnosed with L5-S1 anterolisthesis with chronic bilateral pars defects. My flexion/extension X-rays showed about a 9–10 mm slip, and my doctor mentioned it’s basically a grade 1/2 spondylolisthesis situation. Main symptoms are lower back pain, stiffness, and sometimes pain that radiates upward into my neck/shoulders too.

I have PT scheduled already and I’m trying to stay proactive with walking, posture changes, and weight loss, but mentally this has been overwhelming because I’m only in my 30s and worried about long-term progression.

For people who improved or stabilized this:

- What actually helped?

- Did PT make a noticeable difference?

- Any exercises, stretches, or habits that reduced flare-ups?

- What made things worse that I should avoid?

- Anyone get neck/upper back tension along with the lower back issues?

Would really appreciate hearing real experiences, especially from people who managed this without surgery.

I’ll try to compress this as much as I can! Today, I (38F) got news from my surgeon that was completely unexpected, as I have a grade 3 pars defect on L4. As of right now, I’m only showing trace spondylolisthesis.

Almost exactly a year ago, I was training with heavy weight for an expedition on Mt. Rainier. While on the mountain, something went horribly wrong and I fought through the worst pain of my life to get back down. MRI showed bilateral herniation at L4-L5. Since then, I have been in PT consistently, had multiple epidurals and medial branch blocks, and in January of this year I had a lumbar decompression with laminectomy and partial facetectomy. While I have finally gotten rid of the awful nerve pain, since my surgery I have had excruciating low back pain and am dependent on narcotics and muscle relaxers to manage the bare minimum of working and then laying in bed. Had another MRI which shows that my disc did reherniate and was sent to a new surgeon to be considered for disc replacement, new surgeon wanted a SPECT/CT, and found the above.

Obviously I’m no longer a candidate for disc replacement, but he absolutely does not want to do a fusion. I was functioning at an extremely high athletic level prior to this- I’m a rock climber, mountaineer, hiker, trail runner… this past year has been awful. I am barely able to do anything and I can’t stand it.

He is recommending a direct repair of the pars defect, robotically assisted and minimally invasive. Since my disc healed the prior herniation just fine, he doesn’t think the reherniation will be an issue and I agree. Just wondering if anyone has had a direct repair recently and how it went, what to expect, etc. I’m also seeing if anyone else was at my prior activity level before this? I’m having a hard time finding experiences from other highly athletic adults with this issue and how things have gone for them.

4 years ago my spondylolisthesis became unstable and it has changed my life.

Grade 1 spondylolisthesis at L5 and 2 herniated discs at L4,L5 and L5,S1. All exacerbated by a car accident (T boned by someone running a stop sign on a country road) that destabilized my mostly stable Spondy (I'd known I had this for years from back pain after long distance running and heavy squatting). I was an assistant martial arts instructor, a power lifter, an active husband, father and teacher and a true believer in movement.

After the first 3 epidural injections, the physical therapy and all the lack of movement, I was almost unable to walk, using a walker while teaching, completely unable to run, jump, swim, or lift heavy, much less be a good dad and contributing husband and a depressed mess. Physical therapy for a year promising I was on the verge of recovery (initially encouraging extension for the first half before finally discovering I was more flexion tolerant), two different chiropractors, three different surgeons, each disagreeing on what exactly to do (discectomy, 2 segment fusion, and 3 segment fusion with discectomy) each with no guarantee of improvement. So after second and third opinion, I decided I do not want surgery... yet.

I have made the most progress, especially in the last year, from just reading, watching youtube, AI consulting and experimenting with my body mechanics. It is difficult to focus on as I am a teacher and father of three and life doesn't want to give me a breather, go figure. Going back to the gym has helped tremendously, but I still can't lie flat, lie on my side, drive for very long or even think about jumping and running, much less returning to power lifting and martial arts. I can finally bench press (CAREFULLY) again, lift my kids occasionally, throw a ball and stay in the pool for almost half an hour before the leg and hip pain kicks in. Things are certainly better in my day to day.

It is just so difficult to think what I used to be able to do and I certainly do not appear like I have this condition whatsoever and it understandably confuses most people in my life (especially high school teenagers in the classroom).

Mainly I want to know, has anyone dealt with this before and returned to a moderately normal life WITHOUT surgery? If it is even possible, how can I stabilize my lumbar spine again so I can do martial arts, lift and be active again?

Thank you so much for your time and thoughts. Anyone who is in the thick of it, I feel your pain and my heart goes out to you.

Hey all, last August I had a fusion with cage done for L4/L5. My nerve pain and lameness was pretty much instantly resolved, and I have recovered pretty well. I walk 10 km a day without discomfort and really don't have any back pain at all, with one exception.

When I need to sit for longer than half an hour or so, I get back pain on both sides of my middle/upper back. It feels like a muscle ache. The only thing that relieves this pain is lying down, although standing/walking can help too if it hasn't gone too far.

I'm concerned because this August I'm supposed to start dual studies and will spend half the week in school, sitting down. Suddenly I'm not sure I'll be ready and this worries me. Today I had to come straight home after a doctor's appointment because I was already in pain, for example.

Has anyone else experienced this and if so, how did you improve your upper back strength without lifting weights? My surgeon said the surgery was a success, I'm allowed to do "anything that doesn't cause pain" and that I should listen to my body, but I am not allowed yet to do weightlifting.

Diagnosed with the following today, due to Spondylolisthesis and Bilateral Pars Defects:

Myofasical pain
SI Inflammation
Nerve root inpingement
Facet medial pain

Can someone please explain this in like a visual way? Where does this all start? What do I need to treat as the root cause?

I used to be very physically active before I got diagnosed. I would run, do calisthenics, and lift weights. I do mostly everything in my home aside from running. Since being diagnosed with spondy, I have been very cautious of my daily movements. I haven't done any physical activity ever since I broke my back–aside from walking of course.

I read somewhere that you have to stick with machines if you have spondy so as to not cause progression. Unfortunately I cannot afford to go to a high-end gym with my monthly allowance. The nearby budget gyms are also just filled with free weights and sketchy make shift machines I don't trust. What exercise variations can I do to keep my muscles because I don't want to be weak. I used to do incline curls and hammer curls for my biceps, overhead tricep extensions for my triceps, lateral raises and overhead press for my shoulders, and weighted squats and stiff leg deadlifts (SLDs) for my legs, and running and jump ropes for my cardio. For my calisthenics, I used to do pull ups and chin ups with rings, dips, push ups, pike push ups, body weight skull crushers and australian pulls on parallel bars, sissy squats, single leg RDLs, and calf raises.

Writing these exercises made me miss doing them *sad music*... Anyway, which among these exercises do I have to change? and can I keep some of them too? I know that I should follow the doctor's advice and all. It's just that I want to hear the personal experience of someone living life with spondy and staying fit.

I am 26 and have had pain since before age 10.

Today I was diagnosed with the following as a result of mild spondylolisthesis with bilateral pars defects:

- Myofasical pain
- SI Inflammation
- Nerve root inpingement
- Facet medial pain

All conservative and medication options have been eliminated. (Please don't comment telling me to try Pilates or physio)

Spine surgery consult recommended.

Cane and/or walker not advised due to possible increase of pain long term.

Not a candidate for RFA due to my age and multifaceted pain.

Doctor is willing to try a SI joint injection and epidural steroid injection when I can take a week off work incase it makes things worse. He has very little belief it’ll actually help because of the type of pain I have.

Referred for a bracing and gait assessment.

Has anything actually helped that maybe hasn’t been considered yet?
Physiatry? Specialized PT? Bracing? Surgery? Different injections? Anything?

(27yoF) Diagnosed with: Bilateral L5 pars defects with grade 1 anterolisthesis of L5 on S1. Moderate bilateral neuroforaminal stenosis at L5-S1 and Exaggerated lordosis of the lumbar spine.

I bent over to put my boots on for work; I tried to stand back up and had severe sharp pain in lower left side of back. It hurts to do ANYTHING. Robaxin didn’t work, Toradol shot took the slightest edge off, lidocaine patches don’t work, my topical pain cream doesn’t work, over the counter pain relief doesn’t work, ice doesn’t work, heat doesn’t work, WTF IS GONNA WORK. I can barely drive, walk, move anything without sharp ass pain. The urgent care didn’t do shit, my pain management doc isn’t available till next week. I’m not trying to wait in the ER for 6 hours.

Ya’ll should try this compounded cream tho bc it works for small areas: (Lidocaine5%Diclofenac3%Cyclobenzaprine2%Gabapentin2%)

Edit: For sure nerve root compression/irritation L5/S1. Horray. Got steroids and a pain med that doesn’t alter your mind✅

Hello all, I have a question regarding PT and morning routines.

Over the last 8 weeks or so I have been doing committed PT every morning and have made more progress than I would have thought possible a few months ago. That being said, at what point in your PT journey's did you finally stop waking up in the morning like someone spent the night punching you in the gut? I can resolve the feeling fairly quickly by the end of my morning routine, but it would be nice to not wake up feeling like I got hit by a truck. Just super achey pain in my abdomen and tenderness along the spine. I bought a firm mattress and even put plywood under it. I also sleep with pillows under my knees. Anything I'm missing, or is it just a matter of building more strength? Thanks in advance.

I have lumbar retrolisthesis L5-S1, and collapsed arches. I need a walking shoe for an upcoming vacation where we will be doing a ton of walking around the city.

I’ve read conflicting advice as far as what shoe specs are best for my conditions - high heel drop vs low, more cushioned shoes vs firmer stability shoes, rocker bottoms vs rigid rollbars… and I’m confused & overwhelmed.

Who would be the “authority” on this?

My first thought was a podiatrist…but worried they’ll only focus on my flat feet and won’t fully understand or take into consideration my back issue…

Would a physical therapist likely have better advice?

I’ve heard of going to a running store for a gait analysis and going with their recs, but that seems geared towards people without any major issues who are just looking to “optimize”.

For some reason I feel like asking an orthopedist will just get me blown off. Maybe a chiro?

Any advice? Thanks!!

Hi there!! A few months ago I got diagnosed with para defect, some bulged discs, spondylolisthesis at S1- L4, minor stenosis as well. It’s been such a hard thing to go through being so young and feeling like my life will never be the same. I just finished up doing 5 months of physical Therapy but still feel in pain with tight and achey pain in low back, really bad SI joint pain and leg tingling. I just started doing the Lowbackability program and just wondering if anyone else with this condition has found success with the program. I want to try everything before any sort of injections or surgery.