Hello,

I have been researching this condition for some time as I developed it over the years and was wondering if anyone could recommend treatment options? It has degraded over the past two years, my medical history is I used to kickbox and am very active weightlifting as well and the combination of the two over time took its toll on my spine. The pain was not as big of an issue as the complete loss of my range of motion. There was a good 3 day period where I could not bend down to touch my toes (or even my knees) I went to physical therapy and after some time I got my flexibility back but even Now when I play sports like football for extended periods of time, or even stand/sit in a certain position my back starts to get stiff.

I saw a spine doctor a couple months ago and based on the MRI and Xray she said I had an arthritic joint. She recommended to take Aleve twice a day for... well ever I guess to control the inflamation. I cant say whether it helps or not, because I still get the problem. I am able to do deadlifts and squats, but it just frustraits me because I am going to be going into officer candidate school for the marine corps in June and I am afraid that this will come and bite me in the butt in the middle of my training.

I am still considering going to get a second opinion, but I really want to figure out something better to do to treat this. I do a lot of core exercises to try to strengthen my back and I have some stretches i work on, but if anyone can offer advice or suggestions on how I can help perpare myself, I would really appreciate it. This really stinks!