I had two level fusion in 2014. L4 to S1.

When you talk to medical professionals and folks on the street, keep in mind the experience of the people you are talking to.

For example, the surgeon, he sees you on the table and as much as 6 months later. For him if the bones fused together correctly, it worked great and you are absolutely fine.

Physical therapists have a slightly different take on it, everyday they deal with a little more of the nitty gritty - helping you get from the bones are all healed and you are fine - to the things are actually OK and I can do some of the things I did before stage of the game.

I also deal with a pain management physician. His job day to day is dealing with people from whom various surgeries didn't work. So his take on things is quite different and in some ways more pessimistic.

And then you have the people you talk to. If you are an active person realize that the people for whom the spinal fusion didn't work aren't going to be found at the gym, on the hike and bike trail, posting on slowtwitch. The people you see at those places and who have gone through a spinal fusion - by and large for those folks it worked out pretty well.

Now, to your question. Before I had the fusion, one of the physicians I was dealing with - not the surgeon, told me that it would take a solid year to recover. To get back to close to where I wanted to be. That was pretty close to correct in my experience. SO, if you had a fusion done 5 months ago, I am not all that surprised that things aren't totally back.

Secondly, you say your glute is not firing, is this a documented things due to the pinched nerve or is this the opinion of a physical therapist. If it's the physical therapist opinion and it isn't causing pain I wouldn't worry too much about it for now.

As for dealing with it in general, in my own case I will never be the same again. However I can say that when things are good, it is when I am doing the stretching, specifically the stretching for 30 minutes every day. The strength work is good too, but the stretching is what keeps me going or if I don't do it what puts me down for the count. I mention this because I think 5 or 6 months is when you start to see the effects of fibrosis (scar tissue) kicking in and being more evident as the other bits of your recovery are getting better. So you rnerve pain may have settled down but not the scar tissue problems are setting in.

That could definitely change your mechanics, and cause many problems of its own. IT seems to me that the approach for dealing with fibrosis and keeping it at bay may be slightly different than the prehab and rehab you were doing before and immediately after the surgery.

I know none of this was a direct answer, sorry for that but I hope some of it helped. I with you all the best in your recovery.

I did not have a fusion... or even surgery, but was down for a month with agonizing symptoms from a prior disc rupture. I find that my behaviors away from sport often exacerbate my lower back and cause nerve symptoms (in my case down both legs). Standing and prolonged sitting with poor posture almost always aggravate things. I just had a very tough week at work, and did not swim, bike, or run for four days. I experienced a clear decline. While I gave up flip turns, I have found that regular swimming really has a positive effect. I am currently keeping my volumes in all three sports low (3 months out), and often put in an easy 1K swim or 5K run in order to keep things moving and "fire" the stabilizers. I focus on maintaining good form and avoiding heel strike. I agree that 6 months after a fusion is too soon to predict future performance, but I have no long course events on my schedule for 2017. I missed an entire season with the original rupture in 2007... and have done 5 IM's since then :-)

Sorry, let me rephrase my question: Why you have the fusion (i.e. intractable pain, instability, nerve damage)?
Did you have an EMG test prior to the surgery (or since) to see if there is nerve damage?

---

Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

My recovery experience, three level fusion from L3 to S1, was that for every few steps forward, there were a couple of steps back. For me cycling came back the quickest; swimming took some time; and I was deliberately patient with running.

Regarding swimming, the loss of core strength really affected my ability to keep my legs up, and put a lot of pressure on my back, which would cause inflammation, which would cause the familiar leg issues (numbing, tingling, lack of strength, burning pain).

My first foray into runnning was aqua jogging and that was six months post surgery. I began running on the roads about six weeks later.

I had a lot of set-backs over the next 1.5 years, but I was able to start racing one year out from the surgery. I did a number of short course races for a couple of months and then when I began building up for a early fall HIM and then IM Florida, I found myself in constant pain. After a couple of days off and a week of super easy training I was back at it and exceeded my expectations in my fall races.

I think it's pretty normal for anyone who's been in an endurance training regime in the past to push a little more then the body is ready to take. You just have to be patient.

I'm now just shy of 11 years post surgery. I still have occasional flare ups that cause nerve spasms in my legs. But I have no regrets. Prior to the surgery I was unable to ride or run. In fact walking for more then 30 minutes was impossible.

So my advice is to be very patient and don't be afraid to back off.

Best of luck to you.

great advice thank you!