Back pain

[LOREEN]

Im new on this site and have spent most of my first time reading really good advice. I have had back problems for 18months now. It started in my middle back which i had and mri for middle and neck(which i didnt have problems with) this came back ok. Then at christmas it also started in my lower back,this is far worse! It aches dreadful then i get sharp pain in my left bum cheek and it goes into my legs making walking very difficult. i am on co-codamol and diclophenac, i did say i wouldnt take pain killers but i now find myself not getting through the day without them. Ny neurosurgeon has just sent me for another mri of the lower back now and next week i go for xrays of the bones. So far hes being really helpful. I have also been referred to the pain clinic with talks of epidural or something. I had to give up my dancing and i find gardening a real struggle. Its my own fault really instead og giving in when it hurts it makes me more determined to carry on!! Thats when i do end up in trouble! Tried many things though, bin to phisio for a year- she said she couldnt help till she knew what i had. Chiro but the neurosurgeon said stop that wouldnt help. Accupunture - that made me worse. Had new bed, bought heat pads, cold pads, vitamins and vibrating cushion!! Didnt work but nice feeling! After reading things on here it makes me wonder why most people go to a orthopedic man and not like me to a neurosurgeon. Am i seeing the wrong bloke? Anyhow i go back to see him june 9th- so heres hoping on these results!! Sometimes i get really really low with like why me? But feeling sorry for yourself doesnt help anyone! Mind you i must be awful to live with even a couple of my friends have said ive changed and sometimes i can be quite grumpy ( that doesnt help when you are feeling a bit low) Any how if anyone has any suggestions i will be happy to try anything. Thanks

 

[ElvCheauoo]

Hi hawkins,

Firstly, welcome to HP. A lovely site and very warm and friendly.

I'm sorry to hear about your back troubles.
I had a back pain for years, similar pains and i too changed. Family and friends noticed this.
The only thing i would say is to wait to see what the results show, then take it from there. In the meantime, how about trying kinesiology? When i was told i had sciatica (but didnt) a friend of mine told me of a friend who did this. I knew nothing about it, but i knew i had to try something to be able to stand upright. Luckily she lived 2 minutes away from me, so i went along to see her. No appointment, but she welcomed me in. What ever she did, i was able to walk out upright. I was told that the first treatment lasted 24 hours, the second a couple of days, and the more you go the longer it stays away. This was perfect for the space of time i had to wait for my results and for something to be done. Although she treated me for the wrong thing, it still worked.
As for your changes, its natural. I felt down because everyone else was able to do their normal things and i couldnt. So i'm guessing this is how you feel.

Let us know what you decide to do, and how you get on in june.
Take Care
KiraBIra
xx

 

[Cheesebrady]

Hi Hawkins.

No you're not seeing the wrong bloke!

If you do actually need surgery, then Neurosurgeons tend to have a better reputation for the delicate work needed in the vicinity of the spinal cord & nerves.

However surgery isn't usually warranted if your symptoms are pain, without loss of muscle power, sensation (numbness) or bladder/bowel control. []

Surgery for pain only symptoms, doesn't ahve a good reputation & may actually make things worse. So if it's offered - make sure they explain exactly what the problem is & how they propose to deal with it & what success rate they have personally & nationally. But do it gently so as not to offend ego.

They may have their own personal bias about chiropractors. Was it helping?

You do get the rare person that reacts badly to acupuncture & also it may depend on who does it. One shouldn't confuse Traditional Chinese Medical acupuncture & 5 Element - with the likes of Western Medical Acupuncture, that many doctors, physios, etc., do. [sm=scratchchin.gif]

The epidural mentioned is not the same as used for child birth. It is an anaesthetic & cortisone injection around the facet joints. These are the small joints at the back of the spine & cause most pain locally in the area. The chiropractor was probably trying to release these. These injections can help short term, but it's most likely for long term you need to get them released otherwise they will degenerate & become arthritic.

If your waiting on the results of an MRI, then best get that first just to be sure.

As an osteopath I am biased, but I would then get an osteopath or chiropractor to release the offending joint/joints & they should geive you stretches, so you can keep them mobile. And so you're not reliant on treatment.

Surgery is definately a last resort unless there are serious serious neurological (i.e. risk of nerve damage) reasons to do so. []

Essentially you are doing right by keeping moving, just don't over do it, as you may have been.

If you've been given lumbar extension exercises (lying on front, pushing up with arms) - I suggest you stop doing them, as it's likely to aggravate the type of problem that I suspect you have. There are other stretches - think I've posted elsewhere recently.

The Moderators are moving a lot of threads from General Health into the appropriate Ailment threads. So there should be more on low back stuff coming up soon, else you can go dig it out yourself.

Good luck!

 

[Miss 6]

Thanks for the reply KiraBIra, What on earth is Kinesiology? I have never heard of it, but anythings worth a go! what was wrong with your back in the end- you say you were treated for sciatica, did you have loads of pain killers? I take quite a few now but as you know they have side effects like constipation. embarasing question but have you any tips on that apart from the obvious prunes (yuck!) i dont really want to take lax`s or anything like that.

 

[Its her]

Thanks for the good advice Anahata, im really not even thinking of going down the road of surgery, maybe i just naively thought some-one would say oh yes its this and push it back into place! I did enjoy going to the chiropractor, it didnt really help much with the pain but she did help in making me feel really relaxed which in turn stops the muscles from going into spasms. She tended to work on the middle because it was her belief that the spine went over to one side and she would try to manipulate it back. She didnt really bother with the lower that was giving me most trouble- still i suppose it must be difficult to get to in the bum cheek. I just took the neurosurgeons advice really, but he does want me to start phisio again! Still i suppose he knows best.
As for the acupuncture maybe i was very unlucky, It was a chinese lady who reallly did not speak one word of english and her son translated. This was in my area. It made it very difficult for me to communicate to her to say thsat it really hurt to the point that it shot sharp pains down each leg! But again it was difficult to know if that was a normal part of it as i couldnt ask. Well the only thing to do now is wait for the results i suppose, hopefully it may show a problem ( i dont mean that i want to be ill but if they can pin-point something may-be they can fix it) Thanks for all your advice , I dont suppose you have any on constipation that so many tablets cause do you? Apart frpom prunes that is! Take care Jan

 

[Melly Jayne]

Linoforce granuels is great for constipation