Chiropractor is Urging Retirement

My chiro did and X-ray last week and it looks like my L5-S1 disc is deteriorating (about 50% gone). He strongly suggested I give up Powerlifting. I currently have no symptoms at all.

Does anyone else have this disc deterioration and any associated symptomes? Any advise on giving up the sport (which I just do for fun, and will realistically never hit a 1600# unequepped total).

This is one of those things where, if you ask five different “experts” you’ll get five different answers. I personally don’t think that giving up powerlifting is going to dramatically change the course of your degeneration. That is either the result of arthritis, which is mostly inherited, or old injury, in which case the damage is already done. One thing that does matter, in my opinion, is form and technique. IF you are using good form and technique, and if your training is programmed with some intelligence (deload weeks and some sort of periodization so that you aren’t maxing out every day) your risk of re-injury is pretty low. As far as the lifting “speeding up” the degenerative process that is already begun, I just have never seen any good science to back that up. It’s just been “conventional wisdom”.

OP,

Simply put, you have an anatomical gray hair. Do gray hairs make you old? Nope. Do degenerative discs cause pain? Nope. Live life, move on and stop wasting money on a profession trying to fix a mythical creation never demonstrated to exist or have any causal relationship to somatic or visceral pathology (spinal subluxations).

BBB,

Pardon my ignorance but what is a ‘biomechanics’ coach" My best friend has his Masters and PhD in Biomechanics and has no clue what a ‘biomechanics’ coach is. What are the requirements to becoming a ‘biomechanics’ coach?

Is this what you’re talking about?

http://www.davidgent.com/MobilisHealthcare/media/MH148%20What%20Is%20A%20Biomechanics%20Coach.pdf

or

http://www.biomechanics-coach.co.uk/biomechanical_model

why would you suggest no PT, chiro, osteo, GP etc?

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I’ll try to polish up my form and keep plugging along.