Sitting on an annular tear

[puma]

Thanks Mark and Maria.

As I'm overweight by a few kilos, I'd be compromising my knees and ankles by standing for long hours. So, I wouldn't be going that way. :-/

I wonder if you could tell me of a way to sit without putting pressure on discs. Do you know of anybody who has tried a balance/stability disc?

A yogic way of sitting is called vajrasana. It works well for me at home but in the office? Another story or maybe a story a day! :-)

[Maria]

I know plenty of people who even thought they had a similar disc condition as me or at least that's what radiology reports said they could sit and I could not. In fact this was such a big problem for me that I went thru graduate school sitting or semi reclining in a bean bag chair in classes and also lying across a long table in grad statistics class. I could do the clinical part Ok as that involved standing and walking *Nurse Practitioner/MSN degree.

So for a number of years I pretty much avoided sitting as much as possible. If I had to fly back east I would stand for as much of the flight as possible and after 911 when passengers weren't allowed to stand up as much I bought 3 coach plane seats and laid on my side for a 5 hour flight back east to see my parents each way. Again I had to give up much and just do what was necessary with regard to anything that involved sitting.

By the time I had my last job I had undergone a discectomy at L5S1 and that rebulged, I had an annular tear at L3 that was symptomatic for a while and I had also undergone a failed percutaneous discectomy at L4 that left me with horrible burning pain that rain thru my buttocks, my legs and into my feet and it was 24/7. I was told that scar tissue at the sacral nerve roots caused clumping and then set off all the sacral nerves.. hence the horrendous burning pain that at one time labeled "arachnoiditis" but this pain eased off completely after 17 years (various treatments used during this period).

Ok so when I got my last job I weighed about 110 lbs.. I forgot to mention I have super flat feet (now have a prob re tendons because of that) and I had 2 surgeries on my right knee.

I tried the stability ball for sitting at home because it was sort of like a softer version of a rocking chair and it seemed to not bother my tailbone as much as sitting on anything else. I found a contraption that could be rigged to add a back to it for support however that was too difficult to maintain in place so just took it off and "sat" on my stability ball sort of rolling it about underneath me. Very good for CORE exercises.

But I have to say the only manner I could take pressure off my discs and my tailbone seemed to be in a semi reclining position with the beanbag chair yet that would not have worked at my computer station. Also I found that sitting like this rather upset my neck.

There are chairs at Relax the Back and some other stores that are pretty heavy duty the way they're made and one can sort of recline with knees bent and legs elevated (which should be very good for your lower extremities and feet re avoiding dependent pressure and swelling). Then you would have to have a monitor sort of suspended above you or use a laptop.

What you might find however is that you will have some increased strain and tiredness on your arms and wrists at a sort of funky angle. Also you have to have your neck supported well so that you don't increase the potential of inducing neck pain while trying to take care of your back pain.

These would be my suggestions based on my own experience. Good luck. I'm sure you can find some way to modify a station and work at it however not sure if your employer will go along with it though I would hope as long as you're able to do your job they will (re ADA and all that).

[puma]

Maria, I really appreciate the time that you took out to post your response. Very generous of you. Advice based on personal experience is so much more precious and priceless!

I am hoping that exercise will cure me of my disc pain in a month or two. Meanwhile, I am asking for a lighter laptop and plan to commute by bus rather than drive down or take a cab to my workplace. I hope that and the balance disc will help. If they don't, I will get on to Ayurvedic treatments. Here, in India, we believe a lot in the power of Ayurveda.

[Maria]

Puma,
Please share more if you've time and are so inclined. I have always been fascinated with India and wished I could travel there however my various injuries (esp. my back) have sort of squashed that dream.

I have in the past during phases of my back stuff (from age 28 to now at age 60) taken the bus on occasion and find that it is rather rough travel for me with great bouncing and jolting. Same with the train travel. It does however allow me to move about a bit more than if I were driving and stuck in one position for however long.

I used exercise thru out my injuries pretty much to help stay in shape. I now suffer from something called posterior tibial tendonitis in both feet and while I used to walk and walk and walk (which greatly helped my back) I now can hardly walk due to painful inflammation of the tendons that support my ankles.

Meanwhile trying to be mentally OK with this and just do what I have to get over a flare up (which I just threw myself into Monday after doing better with several months of PT for my feet).

Anyway wishing you the best with your endeavors to improve your spine or health in general~ and again if you feel like sharing please do! Maria

[puma]

Maria, surely I'll share how things turn out for me.

I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle. Knowing all that you've been through and tried, I probably can't tell you anything new. You can probably get a lot of benefit from some Pilates or Yoga positions that you can do lying down though.

I have always been a rather lazy person but resting when I'm not exercising is so depressing! I hope you're able to walk comfortably again soon.

[puma]

As promised, I'm back here to let you know how my back is. I am currently trying out our ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicines, which people have a lot of faith in, in India for centuries and now globally.

I am happy to say that it has been working well for me. I feel stronger and should be able to start driving to work twice a week from the coming week and then of course step it up gradually.

I know in western societies, most people wait for FDA approval and lots of research for all medication, which is very sad IMO because they lose out on things that might actually work for them. Sometimes, science gives us blinkers and we readily put them on.

If you're interested, the medicines I'm having are of this institution:

Just for you to get an idea of the specifics, I'm pasting below a list of my medicines with links to pages that describe what they have:
Dhanwanthararishtam: Dhanwanthararishtam - Benefits, Dosage, Ingredients, Side Effects
Rasnasaptakam: back pain lumbar | all about ayurveda.....
yogaraja guggulu vatika: Joint Pain Herbal Treatment - Joint Pain Treatment - Swami Ramdev Medicines - Herbal Treatment For Joint Pain
Sahacharadi Tailam: Sahacharadi Thailam - Benefits, How To Use, Ingredients, Side Effects
Mahamashatailam (for massage. all medicines except this one need to be taken internally): Mahamasha Thailam - Benefits, How To Use, Side Effects, Ingredients

This bunch is not what would work for everybody. One must consult with a Kotakkal Ayurvedic doctor for medicines that they need.

If my post violates any rules of this wonderful forum, please go ahead and delete it.

Take care.

[puma]

As promised, I'm back here to let you know how my back is. I am currently trying out our ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicines, which people have a lot of faith in, in India for centuries and now globally.

I am happy to say that it has been working well for me. I feel stronger and should be able to start driving to work twice a week from the coming week and then of course step it up gradually.

I know in western societies, most people wait for FDA approval and lots of research for all medication, which is very sad IMO because they lose out on things that might actually work for them. Sometimes, science gives us blinkers and we readily put them on.

If you're interested, the medicines I'm having are of this institution: : : : ARYA VAIDYA SALA - Kottakkal : : :

Just for you to get an idea of the specifics, I'm pasting below a list of my medicines with links to pages that describe what they have:
Dhanwanthararishtam: Dhanwanthararishtam - Benefits, Dosage, Ingredients, Side Effects
Rasnasaptakam: back pain lumbar | all about ayurveda.....
yogaraja guggulu vatika: Joint Pain Herbal Treatment - Joint Pain Treatment - Swami Ramdev Medicines - Herbal Treatment For Joint Pain
Sahacharadi Tailam: Sahacharadi Thailam - Benefits, How To Use, Ingredients, Side Effects
Mahamashatailam (for massage. all medicines except this one need to be taken internally): Mahamasha Thailam - Benefits, How To Use, Side Effects, Ingredients

This bunch is not what would work for everybody. One must consult with a Kotakkal Ayurvedic doctor for medicines that they need.

If my post violates any rules of this wonderful forum, please go ahead and delete it.

Take care.

[Maria]

Thank you for returning and letting us know how you are doing and with the use of eastern vs. western medicine.

I could say quite a bit here with regard to the prescribing of medicine in the US but will not because I would go on and on.. so instead will just say that I'm glad to read you're making progress and hope that you will continue to do so.

I am wondering if you are directly under the care of a physician (as in the site you posted) which I take it would a physician that practices Allopathic medicine? Do you have physicians that are licensed as Western medical practitioners and practitioners of allopathic medicine or are they separate usually? If they are separate do the physicians that practice western medicine have respect for those that practice allopathic medicine? If a physician is dually licensed would he or she perhaps prescribe both types of medicine or would one first try allopathic medicine and then prescribe western meds if allopathic ones didn't help?

Thank you for posting the medicines and their contents. I would have to read something these types of medicines to have a better understanding of what they're used for and if there were any conditions they'd be contraindicated in and /or in terms of possible allergens.

Which medicines do you use for what type of pain or to alleviate or help treat which kind of pain or condition with regard to your spine?

thanks again for posting as it's very interesting to bring up a perspective such as this and use of this type of medicine/medical practice.