Hello,
My friend has grade 1 spondylolisthesis and has just recently been having constant pain from it for the past 1-2 months. The pain ranges from a dull ache to intense pain. It is also disrupting her sleep. She describes the pain as an intense soreness in her hamstring region, but also as shooting pain occasionally. The problem is, she had a CSF leak from her spine from an unknown cause and therefore can’t do deadlifts or squats. She does not barbell train and is now becoming more sedentary due to the pain. She is a female, 5’2", about 110lbs, 20y/o. She is also on blood thinners for an indefinite amount of time and therefore cant take most pain killers. Any advice at all would be much appreciated. If you’d like any more information, please let me know. Thank you very much!
How do you know her pain is “coming from” her spondylolisthesis? This is unlikely.
As for the rest of her case, this sounds to be a very complex situation (CSF leak, anticoagulation, etc) that is probably beyond the scope of an internet forum.
I don’t know that her pain is from her spine. This is just what the doctor told her and what she told me. And yes, I understand that this is a complex situation that cant be solved from a forum. I’ve told her to move early and often, but that’s about all I can think of. Especially since the pain is constant. If this is all that can be advised through this forum, than that is fine. However, if you have anything else you can add, I would very much appreciate. I hope this message does not come off as “pushy”. Thank you very much.
The most important thing I can recommend for her in the context of this forum is pain education, using the materials that have been posted here many times for other members as well as the material we put out regarding pain. I remain very skeptical that her constant back pain is “caused” by a grade 1 spondylolisthesis.