Is acupuncture successful in pain relief from lumbar spinal stenosis

@susanjane77 The best core exercise I can do is get on my horse and go for a trail ride. That does require some work of grooming and cleaning him up and lifting the 28 pound saddle to my chest height to get it on his back. When I sit up with good posture and he walks, I get a good back workout as I compensate for the movement. For someone who doesn't ride horses, that first ride lets them know what muscles they had not been using, but when you ride more frequently you are stronger and that ache doesn't happen on the short rides. If you go 5 or 6 hours, then yes, muscles will complain a bit. This gives me much better posture because of the core strength and I enjoy it. There are lots of therapeutic riding centers for people doing physical therapy related riding at a walk.

I'm with you on avoiding spine injections because I had one and had a bad reaction to it.

Bulging discs can get better if they are not degenerated to the point of weakness and herniation. If posture and muscle imbalances are corrected with stretching and strengthening for example what a physical therapist can help with, they can get better aligned within the spine. I have had a slight bulge in thoracic fix itself and stop bulging. It had been shown on an MRI, and a few years later was not bulging on a subsequent MRI. I suppose, if I have bad posture, it may start to bulge again.

I asked my spine surgeon how to avoid needing his services again. His answer was to maintain core strength.

Jennifer

Jennifer, what a fantastic way to strengthen your core. Horseback riding is the best. I used to ride years ago but i now live in an area where there are no riding centers. I would have to drive over an hour to get to one🥲

The physical therapists I worked with seemed to make my problem worse. After each session, I was in pain. So, my doctor suggested aquatic therapy. My bulging discs are not supposed to get worse according to my doctor as he viewed my MRI. But, exercise and strengthening the core is definitely my goal.

Thank you for your reply and I envy you for being able to ride!

Gracias for your info. Medicare will cover only under certain stipulations.
We have a highly regarded Chinese acupuncturist in our town. Our daughter went to him for neck and back pain, and she did get relief.
I'm not keen on any needles into my spine, where I have bulging discs and pinched nerves. My pain management doctor has not suggested it.
I will be seeing a spine specialist for analysis of what has been termed "serious conditions" by my neurologist.
It's wonderful that it worked out for your back issues.👍🏼

@susanjane77 If you got one of those large inflatable therapy balls to sit on you could rock yourself back and forth like the motion of a horse (or side to side) and doing that can help your core strength. Perhaps holding a stick horse in front may help with the illusion! Then you will be like I was when I was a kid pretending to ride a horse. I used to strap pillows and blankets on a school desk that was really solid and get on and bounce up and down. I would also canter myself around the back yard.

I have a air filled cushion to sit on that I can do the same things as sitting on a therapy ball.

Swimming and even walking against water resistance should be good too. I hope your discs will behave over the years. Many people have bulging discs that are asymptomatic.

Jennifer

@delia74 the needles that acupuncturists use are extremely tiny, for me, not detectable. Also, the acupuncturist does not put needles in your spine. Maybe, if I may suggest, have a consultation with the acupuncturist doctor. Blessings.

Jennifer, thanks for such a great idea!

Trying to imagine you pretending to ride a horse when you were a kid….funny….and thanks for the story!

Going to check out a pool next week to see if there is a shallow lane just to walk back and forth.

Thanks again for the inflatable ball idea. I have a small one that I put between my knees and squeeze while lying down.
But, it can get boring.

There is a book what my pain doctor recommended to me it is called seven steps to a pain free pain-free life. And you can buy it on Amazon I did check out the book at my local library it did have some very helpful stuff in it for me what has helped my spinal stenosis and my l5 L6 my s1 and my lower back and my neck problems too so it might be a good idea for you to check out if you have a library or you can buy it on Amazon I think new or used it's called seven steps to a pain-free wife. I found that I'm cupping works for a little bit on my back that really helped and really felt good.

I tried Acupuncture for my low back pain, had 7 treatments it did nothing for my pain. It did not hurt at all. I sure wish it had, I have had back pain for about 15 years herniated discs dx with MM 5 years ago. I'm have been given pain pills from pain management and they do nothing for me either. I have kidney disease so it's only a few meds I can take. It seems with the MM it's not as bad as the back pain. With MM I'm always tired and with back pain I do not move around like I used to. So I'm going to start getting in the water and walk since I don't swim. I can only walk about 7 steps then I have to sit or bend.

Hi Jennifer,

Core strength is the key to avoiding back surgery, in many cases. The way you ride a horse is very important, slow enough that you can maintain proper lumbar alignment and still get a core workout in from the movement of the horse (and you) over varying terrain. Excellent!

I use spin classes to do the same thing. I sit with just a slight lean forward, always keeping my lumbar spine aligned properly, my hands at shoulder-width. In addition to the cardio benefit from spinning, my core gets stronger from proper form.

I'm so glad this works for you - and all these things can be a lot of fun.

Joe

@heyjoe415 Thanks, Joe. Riding is fun and I forget that it is exercise and it reinforces good communication and the relationship between me and my horse. I’ve done more riding in the pasture lately because the friend I ride with has been recovering from a hip replacement and just got cleared to ride her horse. I don’t want to ride trails alone for safety just yet and I avoid multi use trails because my horse is afraid of bicycles coming up on him. I’ve worked with him on this, but don’t know if he’ll react as every new trail is a different experience. I also work on fine tuning his training in the pasture and always reinforce and praise for a halt because that is safety training. Horses are herd animals and more confident in groups with other horses on the trail.

I can see how spinning would be great for core strength. I use to ride my 10 speed bike a lot when I was younger. It’s great that you do that! Great for cardiovascular health too. I need more of that and I’m fighting allergies and asthma that can limit how much I can exert myself.

The other thing that can simulate riding a horse at a walk would be sitting on a big therapy ball and rocking like a walking movement sitting up with good posture of course. I get a bit of a workout with grooming the horse and lifting to saddle up to his back.

Jennifer