abdominal excercises post surgery

[cwhite]

Just curious. Ever since I had my T6-L3 fusion I've been in a brace and as a result I've really lost a lost of core muscle. I probably am still a few months away from being able to remove the brace and excercise my core, but wanted to know if there are there any safe excercises that anyone knows about to rebuild these muscles? Are sit-ups allowed after a fusion in the lumbar area?

[SpineWhine]

I just started my physical therapy at 3 months post-op. All I do are core exercises. Here are two that they had me start off with:

Lie on back on floor, knees bent, feet on floor. Keeping knee bent, raise foot off floor, the put back down, then raise other foot off floor. Make sure to keep stomach tight, and hips perfectly still while moving (no rocking side to side or arching back, tilting hips, that's the hard part). I do about 30 per side. Once get good at that start doing both feet off ground at same time, without arching back and keeping stomach tight and hips still.

I also "march" on those exercise balls. I sit on one big enough so that my legs are at 90 degree angle when my feet are on floor. Then I sit up straight, keeping stomach tight, and lift each foot of floor, and "march". Your core keeps you stable as you keep from shifting around on the ball.

They also have me do some bending exercises that teach me to use my legs to bend, and to bend from hips. In fact they have me sit in chair, and bend forward keeping my stomach tight, and everything from hips to head perfectly aligned. (As best we can with still being crooked anyway )

I also have to kneel on the ground, and keep the same posture, stomach in thing, and bend from knees backward, keeping everything in perfect alignment from knees to tip of head.

Basically I just have to practice posture, proper bending form, and strengthen the muscles used to do those things, mainly my core and legs. Has your Dr. talked to you about getting into a therapy program?

[LindaRacine]

You probably should not try ANY exercises without the approval of your surgeon and under the guidance of a good physical therapist.

--Linda

[HGD24]

I agree with Linda. It's really best to talk with your surgeon and work with a physical therapist who can help set up a routine for you and can guide you through the exercises until you are ready to do them on your own.

I had PT to work on building the core muscles and felt great after my 12 visits, but I would not recommend doing the exercises without the guidance of a therapist who is familiar with scoliosis and spinal fusions. It can be scary doing those exercises for the first time and having a trained professional by your side really is the best way to go. There were some exercises that I simply could not do or was not comfortable doing and my therapist said that for every exercise, there are 10 others designed to get the same result, so we would try them until we found one that worked. The last thing you want to do after working so hard at recovery is to injure yourself.

[ProudParents]

I realize that this is posted in the adult forum, but I will add this comment here anyway. It is common knowledge that after a spinal fusion the remaining unfused vertebrae are exposed to more stress than normal. Learning proper ways to bend, stabilizing the spine, and developing certain core muscles can be of great benefit to help preserve the remaining flexible spine. Our daughter is doing great after her surgery but nevertheless, we are going to be proactive and enroll her into physical therapy this fall at the one year mark. Consult your doctor first and then find a good therapist who knows how to treat scoliosis patients. We already have a therapist in mind that we hope will instill habits that will keep our daughter's spine healthy for many years to come.