I have just been told I have two diffused discs in my L4 and L5 Vertebrae. I also have some high levels of ligament damage around the issues. Has anyone else had this injury that could assist me with some knowledge. Im a rugby player and do enjoy lifting weights and want to know if these issues are really going to cause me a lot of problems with doing what I enjoy.
Do you perhaps mean degenerated discs or herniated discs? If so, you may get more responses if you repost with another heading.
I have been told at my results they are diffused. They explained it as all the shock absorbing jelly has leaked from the discs so they aren’t actually doing their jobs.
I just wont to know if I can lift weights again properly without causing too much pain
Diffuse is a type of disc herniation; herniations can either be acute (in one spot) or diffuse (more spread out). Google diffuse disc herniation for more info. Here is one site I found with good general disc herniation info.
Herniated discs can exhibit no signs or symptoms at all, or they can be debilitating. Nobody will be able to give you a prognosis from the diagnosis “diffuse disc herniation”.
Thats very useful thanks is there any form of exercise I can do. I cant really run at the moment because of the pain in my back or lift. I just don’t want to damage it any more but need to keep active.
[quote]lukewilko wrote:
Thats very useful thanks is there any form of exercise I can do. I cant really run at the moment because of the pain in my back or lift. I just don’t want to damage it any more but need to keep active. [/quote]
You can do any exercise that isn’t painful–try walking or the elliptical. Your body will heal the disc on its own, it just needs time. You want to avoid anything which puts your lumbar spine in flexion, especially when your spine is loaded with a weight. Bad exercises include recumbent bicycles (sitting puts your spine in flexion), abdominal crunches (I was looking for a website that had exercises for herniated discs and surprisingly a lot of them included crunches–they are the opposite of what you should be doing), and jumping or high impact activity (you probably will avoid this because of pain anyway).
Good exercises are those done in the standing position (standing puts your spine in extension). Lying on your stomach propped up on your elbows for 10-15 minutes at a time is often recommended because this puts the lumbar spine in extension which theoretically is supposed to squeeze the gel in the discs towards the front rather than towards the back (the direction of the herniation).
I wish I could have found a link with good exercises but most of the sites I went to advocated lumbar flexion exercises and generally had bad advice.
[quote]lukewilko wrote:
I have been told at my results they are diffused. They explained it as all the shock absorbing jelly has leaked from the discs so they aren’t actually doing their jobs. [/quote]
The word usually used in the English-speaking world for that condition is “degenerated discs”.
Almost everyone has some disc degeneration, but most people have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they will more than likely go away on their own within 6 weeks to a few months.