Hey Beni,

ah, it’s called sliding vertebra it’s a different thing and has a very similar latin name aand yes I mixed it up.

Ah I see, I’ve just looked it up, it’s called spondylolisthesis… yeah, it’s hard to pronounce even after reading it multiple times 🙂 Sorry you have that too. How bad is it? They are some exercises for that too, if you’re not already doing them?

Mine either the doctor pushed me to do it after 2 Months.

Wow, that’s unusual, because I think they do it if the pain is really strong and you can’t do anything, i.e. can’t even start any physical therapy.

Hard to say how much in numbers it was. It was very dependent on my mood and other needs and how I could meet them.

I see… maybe you tried to push yourself in those first 2 months, to get over it quickly, and that’s why it sometimes hurt a lot, and it warranted an injection?

it’s affecting me rather on the ‘I can’t ride rails in the snowpark every day’ and ‘I don’t feel like jumping stairs with the skateboard level’. If I can accept it it’s easy. I get it that it’s peanuts too not being able to ski at all and needing more breaks during housework.

Yeah, in theory it’s easy, because it’s not like you can’t live without those activities. But I guess the problem is (if this is a problem for you?) if you enjoy those sports, and you have a sense of loss if you don’t do them?

Because what I’ve heard you say so far is that you would like to continue those sports (albeit maybe not with the same intensity), but your doctors don’t recommend it, and you too fear a little that you might injure yourself again. I mean, that’s the dilemma (or the situation) that I am hearing you describe.

I know you said it’s not really a dilemma, because it’s not such a big deal for you, but as a fellow patient with spinal injury, I kind of have compassion for your body and wouldn’t like you to get injured again.

You say you believe you body is more resilient than what the doctors say (I actually think it’s a bit more resilient or that I get used to feeling it.), but in this specific case, when it’s about your spine, I think you should err on the side of caution. Please don’t take this as judgment, but simply as a fellow patient expressing my concern and wishing you a pain-free and healthy life, for as long as possible.

Actually I’ve just googled “skating with herniated disc”, and I found a reddit discussion between skaters, where they don’t recommend it, though some of them still do it because they love it so much.  One of them says “I think the problem is the shock/impact when you land. it goes directly into your spine.” And the other “TBH, skating definitely triggers the pain – I feel better when I do not skate. But I just love skating too much to stop.”

Anyway, I feel I had to address it, because I think it’s an important topic… What do you think and feel about this?

Another question how would you differ chronic and non-chronic pain?

I think chronic pain is defined as lasting for more than 3 months, coming and going repeatedly, sometimes it’s stronger, sometimes lesser. But it’s recurring, it never goes away completely.