Alleviating a Lifetime of Pain — Neurosurgeon’s Expertise Heals Bodybuilder

Five hundred pounds was nothing for nationally qualified bodybuilder Chris Minnes. The producer and promoter of physique events — including FLEXPO: The Ferrigno Legacy Fitness Expo, which he presents in partnership with Lou Ferrigno of The Incredible Hulk fame — was used to routinely deadlifting that much weight. But in December 2016, as he completed the familiar move, the athlete heard a snap in his back. “I immediately went numb down my left leg to my foot,” recalls the 39-year-old. “I’d had things like this happen before, so I just finished my workout. I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal.”

Minnes even went back to the gym a few days later. But within a week, with increasing numbness graduating to severe pain, he made an appointment with his chiropractor. “My chiropractor had me attempt to lift my toes off the floor, and I couldn’t. The recommendation was that I go directly to the emergency department at Eisenhower. When I got there and explained the symptoms, they moved me to the front of the line very quickly.” Unbeknownst to the patient, he was experiencing cauda equine syndrome.

Cauda equine syndrome

“He should have sought attention right away, or within a day or two after the initial pop,” says Alfred Shen, MD, Board Certified in Neurosurgery, Chief of Neurosurgery, Eisenhower Health, and Medical Director, Eisenhower Neuroscience Institute. “In the emergency department, he presented with saddle anesthesia, which is a numbness involving the perineum, the buttocks area, the inner thigh — areas you would come in contact while sitting in a saddle.”

An MRI confirmed that Minnes had blown out his disc at the L4-L5 spinal segment (the two lowest vertebrae in the lumbar spine). “The location of the disc herniation and severity of the stenosis combined with the patient’s symptoms constitute a condition we call cauda equina syndrome,” continues Dr. Shen. He further explains that, “cauda equina is the Latin term for horse tail. The spinal cord ends around L1, below which is the ‘horse tail’ — all the little nerves that supply motor and sensory function to the pelvis, the lower extremities, the bowel and the bladder.”

This herniation (or bulging) of the disc was causing severe spinal stenosis (or narrowing of the spinal canal), creating pressure on Minnes’ cauda equina. “I didn’t know if he was going to get return of function in terms of his left foot weakness and I wasn’t sure if the saddle numbness was going to resolve. But I knew that if we didn’t do anything, he would be at high risk for losing a lot more,” states Dr. Shen. “He was potentially in danger of losing strength in his legs, of losing bowel and bladder function, of losing the ability to walk, even of paralysis. That’s why we recommended surgery and expedited getting him into surgery.”

While Dr. Shen admits the terms laminectomy (the removal of a portion of vertebral bone) and discectomy (removal of herniated disc matter) suggest simple procedures, he adds that the position of Minnes’ injury complicated matters. “In a blown disc, you worry that a tear in the spinal sack may develop.”

“I felt we might not be able to regain everything he’d lost, but we did.”

Only one to two percent of all herniated discs that culminate in surgery are related to cauda equina syndrome. Fortunately, Minnes’ procedure went smoothly.

“He recovered much more than I thought he would,” maintains the surgeon. “Obviously, he came in at the right time, so he staved off the paralysis. Still, I felt we might not be able to regain everything he’d lost, but we did.”

Two months after surgery…there was no more pain

In fact, Dr. Shen’s intervention seems to have also corrected a previous ailment suffered by Minnes. “I’ve been a skier, mountain biker and hiker for 30 years,” says the weightlifter. “It’s not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. But when I participated in these activities, after 10 or 15 minutes, my back would begin to hurt so much that I couldn’t walk anymore. I had to stop and stretch to be able to go 10 minutes longer. Two months after my surgery, I was hiking around the desert and I didn’t have to stop. There was no more pain.”

“I suspect he had some underlying condition,” opines Dr. Shen. “Without a prior MRI to compare to, it’s hard to say. But now that we’ve freed up his nerve sack, he’s much better than he was before.”

Minnes works out differently now. He avoids doing anything that might put downward pressure on his spine and he no longer deadlifts or squats. Instead, he uses less weight, more repetitions, and slower movements — resulting in better development and definition and less pain.

“I absolutely can’t go back in time,” Minnes sighs. “But to know that the next 40 to 50 years of my life will be lived with less pain than I had in my 20s and 30s — that’s pretty incredible.”