|
pvar
Mar 10, 2010, 4:48 AM
Post #1 of 5
(8855 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 10, 2010
Posts: 1
|
Hi everyone,
I have an lower back injury from years ago that flared up again due to sitting & commute... symptoms range from minor to pretty severe sciatica-ish.
I took the last 1.5months off major physical activity and just cooled off with pilates-spinoff (not pure), low-impact stuff... but i'm gonna go crazy just doing those kind of "fitness classes" and boring stuff. :-)
And I feel like i'm not getting stronger or concretely better unless i do something active again. can i start climbing? do you think that would aggravate a lower back weakness or strengthen it (as long as I'm cross-training with abs stuff)?
(i'm a relatively new climber but love it! ...my alternatives would be higher impact a la boxing, martial arts, etc.)
appreciate your advice!
|
|
|
|
|
moose_droppings
Mar 10, 2010, 5:59 AM
Post #2 of 5
(8844 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 7, 2005
Posts: 3371
|
pvar wrote: Hi everyone, I have an lower back injury from years ago that flared up again due to sitting & commute... symptoms range from minor to pretty severe sciatica-ish. I took the last 1.5months off major physical activity and just cooled off with pilates-spinoff (not pure), low-impact stuff... but i'm gonna go crazy just doing those kind of "fitness classes" and boring stuff. :-) And I feel like i'm not getting stronger or concretely better unless i do something active again. can i start climbing? do you think that would aggravate a lower back weakness or strengthen it (as long as I'm cross-training with abs stuff)? (i'm a relatively new climber but love it! ...my alternatives would be higher impact a la boxing, martial arts, etc.) appreciate your advice!
You'd get better advice from a doctor, but there are a few pretty sharp people on this subject that hang out here and might chime in.
I guess it depends on what it is exactly. I know with my prior troubles with my back, climbing kept me stretched out and applied less weight on my lower back while pulling with my arms. It felt better after a day of just climbing.
Falling on the other hand was a real pain.
With my current lower back injury my doctor specifically has told me to not to climb.
|
|
|
|
|
dugl33
Mar 10, 2010, 6:24 AM
Post #3 of 5
(8830 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 6, 2009
Posts: 740
|
I had a back injury that gave me severe sciatica for a solid year and pain for two. If your injury is a few years old then in my opinion climbing is pretty much the best therapy out there. I had to take it easy dropping off boulder problems and certain traverse type moves, but thats not much of an issue any more. Start on easy-ish terrain, perhaps less than vertical, and slowly increase intensity over time.
Do curl up type sit ups or skip them, yoga is good too, and climb. Best thing for your back.
One other thought - I used a drafting height table with a drafting chair at work. This allowed me to stand at the desk part of the time, sit with a foot up, move around etc. So, not a doc here, but thats what's worked for me.
Sitting's the worst, climbings the best 
|
|
|
|
|
lena_chita
Moderator
Mar 11, 2010, 3:51 AM
Post #4 of 5
(8770 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 27, 2006
Posts: 6087
|
Yes--No--Depends.
I had a back injury that damaged the disk and resulted in pretty bad sciatica. Several years later, I don't even think about it most of the time. There is no pain and no effect on my climbing (other than being very aware of bad bouldering falls)
Climbing is actually pretty good for compression-type injuries because you stretch and hang from your arms, lengthening the space between the vertebra and alleviating the pressure on the nerves.
The caveat: Climbing is good for your back-- but falling isn't. So stick with toproping, instead of bouldering for a while.
And certain twisting moves and backsteps can easily tweak the same spot over and over again--so be careful while you are healing. It will take a while.
My experience was, for close to two years post-injury, a hard session of bouldering with a lot of falls or jumps from the top after completing the climbs would cause some soreness afterwards. But I was O.K. with some bouldering... and then eventually worked back up to normal.
You need some comprehensive physical therapy to make things better long-term, and I can't stress enough the importance of finding a GOOD PT. I had to go to several before I found the one who understood my needs.The frustrating conversations with the ones that didn't work out went like this:
PT (after making me go through various range-of-motion tests): You know, even with injury, your ROM is much better than most peoples.I don't think you have a problem.
Me:But I am not "most people", I need help getting back, _or close to_ MY normal range, not population normal!!!
And in addition to PT, doing yoga was VERY beneficial. But you have to know what you are doing, and go with a teacher who knows about yoga and back injuries... a lot of yoga poses would be similar to the exercises that a PT will show you, they are not mutually exclusive. LOL, just make sure you DO the exercises, because apparently some people go to PT, get a printout with exercises, put it in their pocket, and figure that they are done now. 
|
|
|
|
|
shockabuku
Mar 11, 2010, 5:08 AM
Post #5 of 5
(8753 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 20, 2006
Posts: 4868
|
You might want to stay away from catching lots of lead falls as the waist belt can put some strain on your lower back.
Overhanging walls put stress on the lower back (keeping your hips in). For me, that's good, for you, I guess you can answer that best.
|
|
|
|
|
|
