Dear Coach. My mother has never exercised and has just relied on her laurels as she got older. Now her back pain has evolved to nerves being pinched and her ability to walk is deteriorating. The doctor says her spine is too worn out for back surgery to fix the problem. Is there anything to do or is she doomed to a walker and wheelchair in the future?

Oh boy! Cliche warning. Another condition that could have been prevented is now having “the chickens come home to roost.”

Pretend that you are the owner of a very tall radio antenna. When it was built the steel was new and strong. The guy wires supporting it were tight. The antenna was stable in the wind. No problem.

Years later the steel is rusty. The bolts are loose. The guy wires are lax. After a few hard winters the tower is now bent and weak. Along comes a strong wind and what once was a stable structure is now hardly strong enough to stand up and not collapse. A repair person tells you the bolts and steel are beyond repair and the only hope is to tighten the guy wires and pray for a mild winter.

Now imagine your spine. It is essentially a tower of bones piled on top of each other and held together by ligaments. To keep you from falling over your back muscles act like the guy wires on a tall antenna tower. Just like the antenna tower that is rusted and falling apart your only option at this point is to tighten the guy wires to keep it upright and hopefully slowing its deterioration. The guy wires don’t fix the underling problem because it is too late to fix the broken rusty bolts in the tower. The muscles that support the spine are what need to get tightened to prevent the continuing collapse of the tower to where it is falling to the ground and you can no longer stand up and walk. If this becomes the case you are now permanently stuck in bed. Make sure your Netflix subscription is paid. You won’t be going out to the movies anymore.

So if mom is motivated to do more than take drugs, lie in bed and watch Bonanza reruns for the rest of her life she needs to do some guy wire tightening. That means doing the exercise and strengthening the guy wire muscles. Going to Physical Therapy and learning the exercises is the best option. Continuing doing the exercises at home is totally up to her. Doing the exercises slows the deterioration. Not doing them means you will get to know Pa, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe better than you need or want to.

Here are three exercises to help this situation. First is lying in bed with knees bent up and then raising your hips up a few inches and holding. Second is same position but picking up one or two knees and holding while keeping low back pressed down on the surface. Third is standing up and sitting down in an arm chair as many times in a row as you can. Repeat each exercise a few times until fatigue or discomfort reaches a 6 on a 10 scale. Do these everyday for the rest of your life. If you choose not to, check you local TV listing to watch Pa and the boys.

Remember, “Only you can prevent forest fires”.