- Hi, I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapist.
- And together we are the most famous physical therapists
on the internet. - Well, in our opinion,
of course, Bob.
- One is a little more famous than the other
but I won't say which.
Okay, today we're gonna talk about spondylolisthesis
and what it is, and basically
how to treat it.
We actually are lucky here in a sense, that we have
someone that actually has spondylolisthesis.
So, Brad's been dealing with it for quite a bit.
few years here and you can give kind
of your personal experience
and how you've been treating.
- Yep, first-hand experience. - Yeah.
- It's a mouthful, you know.
- Yeah, it is. - Spondylolisthesis.
- I'll put it on.
- I'll put it on. - Sure.
- They've known about it for a long time.
Discovered it in 1782. - On you?
- No, come on! - Oh.
- Why?
- Okay.
- And it was named actually, in 1854.
And actually what it is,
it's a Greek term and it means vertebra slipperiness.
In other words, the vertebra are sliding
on each other. - Oh, that's appropriate.
I mean, it really is. - It is.
- It nails it. - Yeah.
So, we're gonna look at what is spondylolisthesis.
And we're gonna look at, on here,
if you look at the vertebra,
the lumbar vertebra's where it typically happens
and usually the lower one's between L5 and S1.
In my case, it's between L4 and L5.
- [Bob] Your pen's right over there.
I want you to point.
- [Brad] Okay, yeah, my pen.
The pointer pen.
Okay, we're gonna look at this vertebra and this vertebra
because the pelvis gets in the way.
And what happens is this vertebrae
is gonna slide forward like this, okay?
The first time I ever saw this,
I said "Man, that's really gonna mess up
"the nervous system."
You've got the spinal cord and your peripheral nerves.
But it's amazing how the body adapts
and it really does quite well in general.
So, let's look at what x-rays look like
of my back.
These were taken in October of 2013.
Okay, if we look up here,
we got L2, L3,
L4, L5, and here's the x-ray.
Now, if you look at--
I got them highlighted so it's more clear.
L4 is shifted forward.
You can see the step
and actually, I have no disc there.
The disc has degenerated away.
- [Bob] Show the normal disc space here.
- [Brad] Here's a normal disc space between the vertebra,
which is good.
Nothing there.
The good news is I can't get a herniated disc there.
- Sure. - That's what
I always like to say.
And the space here is all messed up as well.
So, what kind of symptoms are you gonna have,
if you have spondylolisthesis?
Well, generally low back pain
and it can be chronic, can go on.
I've had a back ache for about two years.
It didn't keep me out of work, really.
But it was just a pain
in the back. - Sure.
- Depending on what I do,
it will either get worse or get better.
And I've learned with some exercise to make it better.
First of all, you'll find
that if you wanna go shopping or standing still in one spot.
Just standing there.
Last year I was serving brats
and I told professor two hours straight,
just standing there, "My back is killing me."
I knew it was gonna hurt but what could I do?
I had to finish serving the brats.
And these people are drinking beer, they want brats.
But that gave me a bad back ache
for a week. - Generally--
If I interject, Brad.
Generally, if you're standing there,
if can put your foot up on something,
would it not help? - It helps.
It helps if you just sit down
and flex your-- - And give it a break.
- Right.
- The only thing is like, we used to tell people
who are working at a sink
to open the cupboard door below the sink
and put your foot up in the cupboard.
- You'll know because it'll be immediate relief.
- Right. - You'll say,
"Oh, that feels better."
- Bring one foot up,
another foot up. - Right.
- You need to find the positions that'll help give
you the relief.
- In general, with this condition,
this kinda activity, working overhead,
is something you do not want to do.
It's gonna irritate it,
it's going to get sore.
- Putting the back in extension.
- Right. - Extending the back.
- If you'd like to go to another video
that I have a complete set of exercises
that I use on a regular basis
and that have been successful with me.
Specially over the last two to three
or one to two years since I've been doing them.
Much more activity.
I'm running again up to three and a half miles,
which I wasn't doing for a while there at all.
Which I really--
- Yeah, you had stopped running.
- Right. - Just biking.
- And I think that's when it shifted.
But anyways, there is a complete video on that.
- I will link that.
- Right, so the whole idea is you need core strength.
Where this is shifted forward,
you need to have that back belt
but don't put a back belt on,
just strengthen your muscles.
And they should be done in a position
that makes you lean forward not backwards.
- Makes sense.
- So, the other good news is there's a study that was...
A co-worker of mine read,
is that the majority of spondylolisthesis,
once they fuse into place, they do not move again.
- Is yours considered fused?
Would they say or not?
- Well, it's in that direction.
It looks like they're both-- - It looks like it's closed.
- Right.
The bones are fused.
- Yeah.
- And in general, I'm much better than
I was a couple three years ago.
But again, your body will tell you if it's hurting.
- It's amazing how the body adapts to these things.
- I can walk three quarters of a mile consistently
before my right leg starts to go a little numb.
And then I need to sit-- - it still happens.
- Right, that still happens.
But I can run three and a half miles.
It doesn't bother me at all. - Isn't that crazy.
- But I had to change my running style.
That's another story. - Oh.
All right. - So, if you've got
that diagnosis, don't get over concerned.
Watch these videos.
You're gonna be helped.
- Alright. - So subscribe!
- Yeah, do that subscription thing.