old back injury causing problems

I have just started F1 a few weeks ago and I'm hitting a problem with the Side Lever progressions.

I had a Microdiscectomy at L4/L5 in Aug 2014 due to a herniated disc, that disc and also the one below L5/S1 are both compressed and are showing signs of degeneration.

I have good mobility for someone who has had back surgury (or so I'm told, physios, doctors etc) I can forward fold with hands flat on floor and don't have any issues with back bending, however I often get pain when I lean to the side and when I twist and lean for example SL/PE2>im trunk circles has caused muscle spasms and sharp pains to radiate down my legs (pains is instant and goes away straight away, muscle spasms last for a day or so).

My concern is that when you think about what the discs are doing with any spinal flexion, ie compressing on one side whilst spreading on the other I'm worried that I'm going to cause another herniated disc.

Do any of you guys have experience with this type of injury and can offer advice on how to proceed without the risk of further injury.

what would be the consequence of continuing the progressions and skipping/replacing certain exercises that are likely to cause problems.

Thanks in advance.

Kev

I assume you are referring to the exercises SL/PE1-im and SL/PE2-im. I had a problem of having pain in my lower back after doing these exercises. After some forum search e.g. here and rewatching the instructional videos i found out that the most of the rotation should come from the hips. Concentrating on the posterior pelvic tilt and slow movement really helped me learn to control the locations where my body bends and not hurt the spine on the way. I have spent about 4 months on SL/PE1-im and about 3 months now on the SL/PE2-im. I have seen a huge increase in hip mobility and control in the muscles stabilising the spine.

I hope this helps, however I am looking forward to seeing what the experts have to say.

Just wondering if anyone else can offer any insight into this issue for me. 

Thanks

I think you would do well to treat these on a case by case basis, as you encounter each PE and IM. 

The standing rule with any physical exercise is if it causes pain, stop. After that we can try and help you assess each situation as it arrises, doing our best to take into account your personal history.

That said, the forums are never meant to be a replacement for medical advice, nor can they be.