Anyone here that's asymptomatic?
So I (21M) had my diagnosis of L5-S1 grade 1 spondylolisthesis a month ago. It's been exactly 27 days since my fall which prompted me to get checked 3 days after. But the pain wasn't unbearable I would say. I could still stand and sit down with no worry, but I didn't try to run or do anything at all afterwards. My doctor then gave me a lumbar/sacral support in hopes of stabilizing my spine.
Currently, I don't feel any pain. The only pain I felt before was when I wore my brace since it pressed into the part which I fell on (right upper hip)—but even that is gone now. I still have about 2 more weeks left before I stop wearing the brace as per my doctor's instructions. I haven't done any form of exercise nor PT since my fall so I wouldn't know for sure that I am actually asymptomatic. I haven't tried over arching my back because I'm scared to test the pain and worried it might worsen my spondy to a higher grade. I've actually gone 2 days without a brace because I was forced to sleep over at a friends house last week but I felt like I was okay. I still don't try to hinge from my hip when I pick things up, I just bend from my knees. There was this time though when I had to sprint but only for 3 seconds at a time because I was in a hurry to pass a paper—but even then I didn't feel anything.
Given my experience, I'm still wary of ruling out my spondy as asymptomatic because if I think that way, sure I'll be able to live the way I used to—but I'm scared that that mindset will only hurt me in the long run since I'd be less conscious of my condition therefore continue to do activities that are not designed for spondy. My itch to run and strength train has never been worse and it's actually killing me inside since that was how I used to cope. All my energy has now been put into researching about spondylolisthesis, reading articles on it, and watching a ton of videos about it.
I really hate this condition. I'd rather have an ACL tear because at least that's fixable and pain will only be inside the knee joint unlike with spondy that could cause sciatica, numbness, and even foot drop. The thought of surgery on the spine is scary because of adjacent segment disease and that I'd have limited range of motion after. I just want to be able to do the things I love again without worry. I also want to be able to carry my my wife and kids like give them piggy back rides in the future but I don't know if that's possible anymore. I literally feel like my back is a ticking time bomb that's bound to catch up with me soon in life.
If any of you have are asymptomatic, can you tell me at what age you got your spondy and what grade it was at— and how long has it been since you last felt pain? How has life been like for you and have you made any adjustments? Also, any of you get diagnosed for spondy accidentally like you got checked for something entirely different?
TL;DR
Currently not feeling any pain after almost a month after my fall. Ofc I'm glad but I haven't fully tested the limits. Conflicted with the idea of living my life to the fullest until I get pain or be super cautious as to not worsen my condition. Anyone with a similar experience?