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in reply to: The future for someone with spinal instability #24146
Thanks Dr. Corenman for your comments and time!
If retrolisthesis is where the vertebrae above the other slips back, e.g. L4 is shifted backwards relative to L5, then yes that’s what I have. There is no scale on the x-rays and I don’t have a good way of taking a clear picture of them (films, not digital), so I used a ruler to measure the upper vertebrae front to back length, and then the distance between the rear tips of the adjacent vertebrae on the midplane of each disc. % I’m giving is the 2nd distance divided by the 1st.
On flexion it looks like S1 rotates so that the tailbone raises in the air, so then L5 is shifted back relative to S1 about 13%. On extension it looks roughly the same (maybe a tad less), but L4 decides to shift back on L5 as well by about ~10%. Standing up straight it looks “normal” except that I have lost a bit of lordosis and the spine has decided to curve around a bit. This was in 2015, 1 year after initial diagnosis.
I can no longer extend back that far (and don’t try since that makes it slip). I try to remember to clench my glutes when bending in any direction since that seems to keep the sacrum from moving about too much. I have had several courses of PT and do the home exercises every other day, as well as several stretches.
Thanks again for your time/expertise; it’s encouraging to hear that retrolisthesis is a more stable condition and that a foraminotomy could be a possibility if needed. There is not a lot of information out there about retrolisthesis vs. the more common forward-slip.
P.S. As one last question, I see that you are a DC — would chiropractic help or hurt someone in my position? I had a few weeks of treatments but stopped after reading that people with slippage shouldn’t have this done.
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