Question
Hello:

I am a 45 year old male, I'm 6'3, 275 pounds.  Constantly fighting to try to control or lose weight.  I had a microdiskectomy about 8 years ago after having intense pain following chiropractic treatment for a herniated disk.  That chiropractor did a maneuver you are probably familiar with where you lay down an your one leg gets crossed over your other leg and he pulls in a twisting motion I believe.  He said, "now you have to be careful doing this with someone who has a herniated disk, but I can do it just right so I won't hurt you."  Then I had 5 months of the most terrible back and leg pain I ever felt, until I had the surgery.  I agreed to the surgery after the doctor showed me I had progressed to the point that I had no reflex response at all when he hit my right knee with the reflex hammer, and he said if I did nothing I would have permanent nerve damage with foot drop.  I have three badly degenerated lumbar disks, they are all in a row, and mild spinal stenosis (shown in a recent MRI).  I think my biggest problem has always been L5-S1 搕he facet joint?from what I understand.  So I've been having numbness in both thighs, slightly worse in the right leg, for about 1-2 years.  It is only when standing, when I sit or lay down it goes away.  I recently started a new job after being unemployed for a year.  In this job I walk 5-10 miles a night.  While I was unemployed I was at the gym swimming for an hour non-stop and also doing elliptical, treadmill walking, and 7 or 8 machines that did not involve any kind of movement that could effect my back (no movements that involved lifting with my back).  I need to try to hold on to this job, it's kind of urgent.  I recently had an episode where I woke up crooked with severe lower back pain and leg pain. I had a few very mild warning episodes before this happened.  It's always after working a long shift maybe with little sleep and then sleeping more than 10 hours when I get home.  This recent bad episode was so bad, I took Celebrex and a medrol dose pack and it took 12 days for the back spasms to go away.  I still have the leg numbness.  I also have bad disks in my neck.  Now my back I have injured many times working on the ambulance, but I never injured my neck, so many this is partly genetic?  Also, I'm getting pain and spasms in the mid-back, is that because my lower back is all out of whack and putting pressure on the mid-spine?  So, I would really like to avoid more surgery, can this be treated successfully by a competent chiropractor?  I'm also doing some of the PT exercises I learned from previous episodes, mostly stretching ones like pelvic tilt, hamstring stretch, hyperextension, and twist on the floor.  They may be helping some.  I don't work ambulance anymore and I try to avoid ALL lifting.  I抦 also very aware of the fact that the extra 25-50 pounds I抦 carrying in my stomach area could be helping to pull my back out of whack?  So, can I improve the numbness and keep my back from going out for long periods of time, without more surgery?  THANK YOU.

Answer
Lee,

Yes, you might find a lot of relief with a clinically astute and well skilled chirpractor.   Check out these web sites:  westhartfordgroup.com,  acbsp.com,  FAKTR.com to see if you can find DC's.    Ask anyone on the westhartfordgroup site who might be in your state if they can make a recommendation.   Joint degeneration, with bulging discs and bone spurs, is mostly genetic.   Also, there may be a lot of other exercises you can do, but it would take some testing.   No sit ups!!  Stop spending a lot of time stretching your hamstrings, because you are also stretching your sciatic nerve.  Bending forward and touching your toes also will compress the lumbar discs, so avoid that, too.   What you are describing with your body is not uncommon, and not easy to fix.  However, I've seen patients with conditions like yours respond well and and regain their strength and ability.   The DC you need to find must be skilled in soft tissue diagnosis and treatment.   This means they must be trained in Graston Technique or FAKTR. They should also have a lumbar flexion-distraction table.   They also must have a good understanding of current research on spine mechanics.  The Westhartfordgroup of docs is the best place to start.  

'Hope this was helpful,

Dr. G'