Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
MRI confirmed severe lumbar stenosis about 10 years ago. But it does help. Not just stretching, but many different activities including heavy weight lifting. Went Alpine skiing today, snowshoeing yesterday, back was OK, everything else got really tired today. Spinning and strength work at the gym tomorrow due to snowpocalypse. Just hope I have the strength and energy, but farting it off, as we used to say in the Army, is no longer an option. Maybe someday that won't work anymore and I'll have to have back surgery, but that certainly isn't my first option. I don't know what's involved in presenting so that one can get insurance to pay for a laminectormy. I suspect it's something like not being able to walk anymore.
Same here but the heavy weightlifting is over for me. Most of the exercises I have to do now are seated because of the pain from standing. I suspect a combination of a genetically narrow spinal canal and years of heavy leg presses (600+) pounds just put too much stress on my lumbar - L4-S1. The neurologist in 2017 told me that my lower back was in the condition he normally sees for people in their 70's. I was 51 at the time.
So, I've made adjustments. Lots of stretching, cycling opens the spaces up. I was having a lot of severe leg pain in the left leg (down to my calf) right before my recent C5/C6 fusion. I don't want to get my hopes up but that hasn't returned so I'm hoping the spinal cord impingement in my neck was increasing the leg symptoms.