Can liftng help me past injuries?

[jnuts]

I wish I had a tape recorder hooked up to my brain so I could record my thoughts as I drive in to work. That way, I wouldn't have to recreate all of those deep thoughts that flowed so freely before the work day muddled my mind.

Anyhow...this morning I was deep in thought as to how to get out of the current physical mess that I'm in. Bear with me on this - a little history might help.

Almost two years ago, an 18 year old girl ran into the car that my family and I were in, causing the car to rollover a few times. My wife came out pretty good shape with just a banged up ankle and the kids came out with just a couple of cuts. I ended up pretty banged up as the roof of the car was partially collapsed on my side, banging the hell out of my neck and shoulders. If I wasn't wearing a seat belt, I'm pretty sure I'd be dead. (People! - Wear Your Seat Belt!. )

The ensuing time has left me with: 2 herniated discs in the neck (C4-C5 if I remember correctly), Arthritis in both shoulders and a "snapping scapula" on the left side. Last summer I had surgery on my left shoulder to repair the arthritis (they think it was caused by seatbelt impacts) and it hasn't bothered me since. The right shoulder has been slooowly getting worse and I can see the handwriting on the wall for needing a similar operation on the
right side. The herniated discs are not a question of if, but when will the surgery occur. They were acting up badly in the beginning of the year, but have quieted since then and I'm in absolutely no rush to have somebody operate on my neck unless its absolutely necessary.

The neck and scapula/shoulder area are all intertwined. If you look up "snapping scapula" on the web, you'll find that you are pretty much screwed. Surgical repair does not have a high degree of confidence in fixing the problem and I'm loath to have them lop off a large part of my body in a low percentage attempt to fix a problem. When my left shoulder area flares up, the whole place goes into spasms which ends up pulling on the neck muscles
which of course snowballs into causing the herniated discs to flare
up...which makes things all nice and tingly down the arm and into the finger tips.

I've been through a whole bunch of physical therapy (with multiple therapists), none of which has met with much success. To be brutally honest, I don't think it's done a damn thing. If the shoulder flares up, they give it localized steroid/cortisone injections (I think...) to calm it down. That can only be done once every few months as the body ends up building a tolerance to the cortisone (I think that's what they said...)

Unrelated to the car accident is my lower back. This is pretty much father time catching up on me. I played hockey for many, many years and my back was beat up a bit in the process. Any time I put on weight, I'd start to feel it in the lower back. Well, now I'm feeling it in the lower back, and I haven't put on weight...

So, that's part of my life history - now, this is what I'm trying to do. I really, really would like to get back in the gym, but am terrified of worsening the problems that I have. Over the last 2 years since the accident, I have been back to the gym and have been very careful to lift lighter weights, slowly and with good form - all in an attempt to alleviate any flare-ups with my various injuries.

I miss doing squats, but I haven't done them over the last few years for fear of aggravating my neck and shoulders. Each time I've ventured back into the gym, I've eventually had to back out due to one of these injuries flaring up. When I say flare up I don't mean "ouch" flare up. When the shoulder was bad, if I sneezed it felt like somebody nailed my shoulder with a fricken hammer. Having a sinus cold at that time was a definite treat. I was a hockey player for a looong time so I'd like to
think I have a high pain tolerance, but that was too much. I listened to my body and stopped lifting for awhile.

I haven't been on this board for very long, but I've been doing a lot of reading and searching on the site for answers to the questions that my wife and I have. I've been reading more and more on the powerlifting forum and wondering if the various ways of lifting PL style might help strengthen various parts of my upper body while at the same time not triggering the injuries into a worse state. I've never been exposed to this style of lifting, and have been trying to wade through it all and get a big picture.
It took me awhile last night to figure out what the heck "West Side" is...I think I have and idea now.

I've talked to B Fold and he's graciously stated that he'll see what he can think up for me as he has some thoughts on a squat variation that would be good for me. (Thanks B Fold! I also didn't fill him in on the full story - here it is.) I guess I'm looking for any other ideas that might be out there. Is PL a good idea? Where would I start? What links to look at? What books to read? I want to lift weights!

I feel like it's a bit of a lose-lose situation I'm in right now. I want to work out but I don't want to aggravate the injuries. I want to do everything possible to solve these issues WITHOUT having to resort to surgery. I no likeee my body getting cut on. I'd like to try and turn it into a win-win situation.

Thanks for listening and any ideas you might have.

-nuts

 

[IrishPower]

jnutz:

i am glad you made it out of the accident with your family intact.

people can overcome all sorts of injuries. i am NOT a doctor. in fact, i don' trust very many of them. i will offer some things i have read/believe.

1. c4-c5 herniations are worse and harder to heal then l4-l5 ( i had both of those). i would do research on how to train around for these. the body usually heals l4-l5 by itself but neck is more delicate... more nerves are affected.

2. be wary of the cortisone shots regularly. they deteriorate joints/ligaments/tendons. have you gotten 2nd or 3rd opinions from other orthopods??? go till you find one who will treat you aggressively. i think cortisone is a passive treatment. surgery and active rehab are the better methods IMO.

3. competitive powerlifting is probably NOT the best idea for someone who has sustained your injuries. however, you can apply some of the training principals, just not push yourself the way someone trying to up their competitive total would. hell... just being in the gym regularly should help you feel better.

4. i hate physical therapists. if ever there was a profession for slackers and wanna-be doctors, it is this sorry if there are ANY good physical therapists on this board. I remember 2 weeks after my pec surgery, i was looking around at all the decrepit, out of shape people trying to rehab long-neglected injuries/bodies. my 50 yr-old 'therapist' told me to take this string/pulley device and do 'passive' rehab. no direct pressure. gimme a fucking break. i never looked back as i decided i knew my body better. oddly enough, my orthopod agreed and laughed when i told him i was rehabbing in my 'cave'.


good luck.

/irish

 

[Arioch]

I understand completely. Same situation, except in my case it is my kness, left shoulder, and right elbow.

I pretty much agree with everything Irish power said, except the part about competing, which I will be doing in December.

Really push the external rotator work, but avoid direct neck work. Find a good kinesiologist or kinesotherapist.

I generally do not mention this here, but the ability of deca to not only maintain the fluid balance of the joints, but improved glucose uptake as well as increased production of synovial fluid can work wonders, and at a relatively low dose.

 

[jnuts]

1. c4-c5 herniations are worse and harder to heal then l4-l5 ( i had both of those). i would do research on how to train around for these.

I've tried to do that and I've come up with zilp, zip, nada, nothing. I'm only doing the searching on the net, so I might need to hunt

2. be wary of the cortisone shots regularly. they deteriorate joints/ligaments/tendons. have you gotten 2nd or 3rd opinions from other orthopods??? go till you find one who will treat you aggressively. i think cortisone is a passive treatment. surgery and active rehab are the better methods IMO.

Agreed. I had the last cortisone shots in January on my right shoulder. I initially had second opinions early on in this whole adventure, but haven't had one lately. It might be time to try and find another one.

3. competitive powerlifting is probably NOT the best idea for someone who has sustained your injuries. however, you can apply some of the training principals, just not push yourself the way someone trying to up their competitive total would. hell... just being in the gym regularly should help you feel better.

Yep, I never meant to imply that I'd try and competitive powerlift. I was just wondering if there are some different training ideas within the PL community that might allow me to work around these injuries. Since the accident, my blood pressure went to the high of the normal range and going to the gym has kept it down. It's also a great way to blow of steam - I want to get back to being able to do that.

4. i hate physical therapists.

I'm frustrated with them. I'm sure there are some good ones out there, but I've been through 3 sets of them and the effects have been minimal.

Originally posted by Aroich

Really push the external rotator work, but avoid direct neck work. Find a good kinesiologist or kinesotherapist.

That's a new one to me and I will try and follow up on that. Would a generic kinesiologist/therapist know anything about weight lifting?

Originally posted by Aroich


I generally do not mention this here, but the ability of deca to not only maintain the fluid balance of the joints, but improved glucose uptake as well as increased production of synovial fluid can work wonders, and at a relatively low dose.

Is this something that a doctor can prescribe? I'm pretty clueless to the world of AAS. The nature of my work dictates doctor's orders for this stuff. Uncle Sam get's pretty unhappy when you take things you are not supposed to. Due to the nature of my work, I'm not even allowed to take any ECA based products.

Thanks for all the help.
-nuts

 

[Arioch]

That's a new one to me and I will try and follow up on that. Would a generic kinesiologist/therapist know anything about weight lifting?

'prolly not. Rather like phsyical therapists. Look around, and keep shopping until you find one with a clue.

Is this something that a doctor can prescribe? I'm pretty clueless to the world of AAS. The nature of my work dictates doctor's orders for this stuff. Uncle Sam get's pretty unhappy when you take things you are not supposed to. Due to the nature of my work, I'm not even allowed to take any ECA based products.

As a general rule, it is next to impossible to get a script for this, although I am the exception to the rule. (New just the right guy) Even with physicians now being able to write a script for substances for off label uses, the chance of find a doctor who:

1. Is aware of the ability of the various nandrolone esters to improve the bodies ability to repair connective tissue.

2. Is willing to even discuss it with you.

3. Is willing to deal with the possible reprecussions of prescribing something that falls under the controlled substance act.

Pretty much necessitates you trying to locate a physican who has worked with athletes prior to the AAS control act, and still practices, and is willing to see you. This generally means finding a sports physician (not just an idiot who lists himself in the phone book as a sports medicine practicioner) who worked with a team or large university in the past. This will take time.

FWIW, conventional drug tests do not include a screening for nandrolone.

 

[jnuts]

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