Question
Hi there! Its been over a year since I stared feeling a pain in my back. It started off a lower back pain.I thought it was my kidneys but realized pain was too low. Then one day I started feeling a pain on my left butt cheek. Overtime d pain started radiating down to my left leg n pinsn needles on my left foot. Finally went to pain mgmt doc who prescribed an mri. Saw a synovial cyst in L5S1. Tried to aspirate but could not reach. Gave me epidural steroid which lasted a month. Had 2nd epidural n same after a month went to see neuro spinal surgeon and was diagnosed with synovial with grade 1 spondylolisthesis. Recommended laminectomy with spinal fusion. I opted to wait then my right lower back started hurting n click n pop a lot! I went for 3rd.n final epidural 3 wks ago. Still have snap crackle n pop n having slight sciatic pain in d morning. Right back pain is more prevalent now almost all day. Surgery is my last resort. Will it benefit me if i see a chiropractor? What exercises can I do in the meantime? Will fusion cause ASD? I want to exhaust all resources before surgery but dont know other resources aside from chiro n possible exercises. I am semi active go tothe gym 4x week elliptical for 45 mins then sauna after. What else can i do? Your expert advice would be Appreciated.

Answer
Hello,

Sorry to hear about all the pain you've been suffering with.  Thank you for the precise details you included in your question.  It does make it much easier to provide a quality answer.

The good news is that I do think there are other things you may do that have a good chance of being very effective to relief and even eliminate your pain.

First, I would like you to understand a few simple things about your body.  If you think of all the muscles in your body like the rigging on a big old-fashioned sailboat, then you can begin to understand that all the tension in our muscles (rigging) must be appropriately balanced with the other muscles in order for us to stand, move, sit, lie down, etc. without pain.  

It is when we have inappropriate tension in our muscles and other soft tissues that they, just like the rigging on a sailboat, can begin to pull things out of position  (like bones and nerves) and we then experience pain and lack of function.  

Bones are basically chunks of calcium.  They do not move on there own.  They only go where the muscles pull or hold them. When the muscles are inappropriately tight things like vertebrae get pulled out of position and then have to deal with the stresses of our bodyweight, etc. from a position they were not designed to.  This is quite often when vertebrae and discs begin to wear in ways that cause us pain.
THE GOOD NEWS is that you can fix many of these types of issues by releasing the inappropriately tight tissue and it does not require surgery.

I explain all of this on my completely free website,
Do It Yourself Joint Pain Relief,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/
The entire website is full of free follow-along videos
that show you how to relieve your own joint pain.

I would recommend you visit the main Lower Back Pain Relief page,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/lower-back-pain-relief.html
Follow along with the videos and notice how much relief you can achieve
all by yourself.

I would also recommend you visit the Sciatica Pain Relief page,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/sciatica-pain-relief.html
While there is a lot of overlap with the Lower Back Pain Relief page,
I do add some different things that you may find helpful.

I do sincerely think this could be of tremendous help to you, so I hope you will give it a try.

All the best,
Gary Crowley