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[RC] Back surgery - Bruce WearyHello Susan--In response to your questions about your friend's recent fusion, my answer is definitely----it depends. The reasons she had the fusion, more specifically, what damage they were attempting to stabilize, will largely dictate the level of activity she might hope for. Did they do a bony fusion, or did they use instrumentation (screws and nasty stuff like that)? Did she have compression fractures? Disc herniations or tears? Neurologic compromise? There is some evidence that horseback riding (with good equitation,of course) can be therapeutic in some individuals with back problems. The core muscles can't help but develop as we stabilize our torso upright on a moving horse. That's a good thing. After the age of 25 or so, our discs lose their blood supply, and from then on get their nutrition by a very small pumping mechanism that allows for exchange of fluids and nutrients in and out of the disc. So, riding can stimulate this pumping mechanism because of the up and down movement of the horse that even the most accomplished dressage rider must absorb to some degree. That's a good thing. However, since she has had three vertebra (and thus two discs) fused, the pumping mechanism of those discs has been nullified. Also, the movement those vertebrae normally contributed has been taken away. The spine is a marvelously adaptive organ, and the remaining vertebrae will adapt by providing more movement than they were originally designed for to compensate for the fused ones. There is a price to be paid, however, as the remaining discs come under greater shearing forces (wear and tear) and usually suffer accelerated degeneration. This does take years, and she may have many years of riding ahead of her, provided she takes the proper precautions. Presuming she is relatively pain free after the surgery, she should get with a personal trainer and develop trophy core muscles. I would suggest riding only tractable horses, as even a spook and the reflex musle contraction to catch herself can cause significant harm, much less getting dumped. I am now a fan of gaited horses (I have three foxtrotters) and can attest to the remarkable decrease in fatigue and increase in comfort over 50 miles. She could probably go a lot longer on a gaited horse, career-wise. Lastly, and most importantly, she should remove three key words from her vocabulary forever... "Hi Yo Silver!!!!!" Reasonably Respectfully Submitted, Bruce Weary, DC =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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