disectomy of L4/5

[melaniestaker]

I have a 38 year old fit student who had a disectomy of L4/L5 on anterior side of spine. Her surgeon has given her no information.
A 4 inch incision was made and wing of one vertabrae cut off to access anterior side.
As well, parts were 'deboned' muscle seperated from bone.
This procedure happened in Sept. 2018
Are forward bends ok...with rounded spine....she said can feel good.
Twists ok??? I read other forum posts but not sure for this anterior situation.

namaste
melanie

[Bernie]

I am very surprised that her surgeon has given no instructions for your student. Some sort of physical therapy should have been offered. I would suggest she go back to her doctor and request/demand the missing information: what movements should she avoid, for how long and to what depth; what movements should she be doing, for how long and to what depth?

Are flexion positions good for her? You have no idea. Without her surgeon's advice, she will have to embark on trial and error investigations, which should start very gently and involve lots of checking in. Short holds to begin with and shallow movements. Gentle backbends like Sphinx may help to lightly stress the anterior ligament of the spine. Gentle twists could be good, but again, nothing deep nor long.

I would also recommend some strength building in the area: McGill Big 3 for example, keeping the spine neutral throughout.

Good luck!