BACK ADVISE NEEDED QUICKLY

[soulman247]

Hello,im new to this but here goes my story.

2000 injure back playing rugby and terrible leg pain.Prolapse disc problem after MRI scan and op completed to trimm disc.After 3/4 month,and lots of physio i went back to work in bank sat down 9 hours a day.Since then back never been same,aches in winter,aches when in same position long time.
Then in 2003 i was pushing car to help start and when gears engaged i colapse to floor in agaony on hols abroad.Any way air ambulance back to UK.Turkish Dr completed mri and wanted to op,but me says no way want home.Uk completed another MRI and after viewing decided physio best first.After 2 month phsio no real improvement so decided to op again.same thing trimm SAME L5 disc again and leg pain improves lots.BUT back pain goes on and on and on,EVEN WITH REG PHYSIO.xrays and scans shows nothing,people are starting to doubt me i know,but i know im in lots of pain and i cannot sit for longer than 10 mins and walk longer than 10 mins with a stick as an aid.

Please help b4 i do some thing silly,WHAT CUD IT BE THATS STILL AFTER 1 YEAR BE CAUSING ME LOWER BACK PAIN SO MUCH????

 

[queenhenide776]

Many folks on here will not what I'm likely to say and that is get an opinion from an osteopath.

The two most likely options to be causing leg pain are:

* Nerve root tethering, where the surrounding tissues heal to the nerve root. If this was the case, then it may have been picked up on MRI & commented on.

* It's referred pain from the small facet joints of the same vertebral segment. As you've lost height in the disk, this means that they are probably encroaching on each other causing irritation & 'locking'. It's quite likely that these joints 'locked' together at the original incident, when the muscles went into spasm to stabilise the area. They have probably not released since & will probably have suffered some degree of degeneration. This may be visible on MRI, but considered 'normal', so thought to be not worth mentioning.

All synovial joints are very reliant on regular movement for their health. So if they're not, then they degenerate & as the area hase been sensitised by the disk injury, then nerve activity overspills into local nerve pathways, i.e. down the leg. []

I often treat people who have been given lumbar extension (bending your low back backwards) exercises and this sounds like just the sort of problem where they are likely to maintain the problem or even make it worse. []

Like I say suggest seeing an osteopath that may be able to release these joints for you & give them a chance of settling down.

Andrew.

 

[Javier D]

Yes thanks for that,i forgot to mention that i also have seen an osteopath as well as physio and again although helped a little the pain always comes back.
I feel like ive done everything

MRI scan and xrays
operation
physio
osteopath
steroid epidural in lower back

But still in pain and cannot sit down or walk longer than 10-15mins

please someone is it a case of thats as gud as it gets and live with it as some have said,and that my carrer in the Bank has finished???

 

[Jalawraby]

Osteopathy is not necessarily a quick fix & I hope they advised on self help, exercises, etc.

And there is a great range of approaches within osteopathy ranging from the minimal approach of cranial osteopathy to the click & crunch of 'high velocity, short range' manipulative techniques.

I often use some western acupuncture before osteopathic treatment as I find it great at reducing muscle spasm & pain. I also find that it speeds recovery. If you ask aound you may find an osteopath or chiropractor near you that uses acupuncture as an adjunct treatment.

It sounds like you may have chronic background inflammation in the area.

Things that may help with disk problems -

Drink plenty of water - disks take in water when we're not weight bearing on them & gradually this gets forced out when we are. With age the disks lose the ability to take in & retain this water.

Copper - try a copper supplement for a month or two. If this helps then just wearing a copper bracelet may be enough. This trace mineral is essential to maintain the elasticity in our connective tissues and there is some research to show it reduces risk of prolapsed ( slipped ) disks.

Vitamin 'C' is also essential to maintain the elasticity in our connective tissues- or a stronger anti-oxidant may help reduce the inflammation.

Glucosamine Sulphate - there's some research to show that this helps maintain hieght in the disks.


Warning!

OTC NSAID's - anti-inflammatory drugs - contribute to degeneration - recent research & common sense as it blocks the inflammatory process, which all part of the healing process. [sm=banghead.gif]

 

[krystenft2]

Hi shauny3

I had a bad back for about 10 years, would go and then come back again much worse and really felt like I was going to be like that all my life, went to physio, chiroprator, osteo etc etc nothing really helped. I then fell down the stairs and aggrivated it and got bad neck and a misplaced shoulder to boot, more physio (about 2 years constantly), then work decided that I had had too much physion and sent me to a specialist phsyion centre in Bury St Edmunds.

It is a 6 week intensive physio system where you go weekly for how ever many weeks and they give you specialist exercises that you do at home as well as at the gym and all based around what you do exercise wise etc. It is a good system although you do get pain at first but that goes as your body adjusts to the routine. They also give you education lessons about maintaining healthy backs etc which is great and I learnt alot that I didn't know and it sticks as well.

I finished the course in March and although should have gone back couldn't as I have now changed jobs so I don't get healthcare costs anymore. I am not sure where you live but they have a few centres around the place, down here they are called bury phsyio. If you would like their number PM me and I will gladly give it to you. The people with bad backs and prolapsed discs etc were getting aong great and by the end of their courses were walking better and doing loads more than what they did before.

Also the adice And has given is great, you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle to maintain a helthy back.

Good luck in your search and hope your back gets better soon.

With love

Maria

 

[ophjenlr]

Looks like great advice already.
I had a demo of Cranio Sacral treatment a few weeks ago, she only gave me a 5 - 10 minute treatment, there were 2 voluntary movements within my back which felt like releases (of tension?), next morning I woke up completely pain free for the first time in years! There was absolutely no discomfort involved in treatment, in fact it didn't feel as though she 'did' anything.
It could be worthwhile trying to find a Cranio Sacral Therapist and trying that.
Hope you soon find something to help.

 

[fashionistaxoxo]

They would be involuntary movement patterns. - Sorry to pick, but trust you'll see that it's quite different.

Cranial Scaral Therapy (CST) is a development from Cranio Sacral Osteopathy. It was considered by an american osteopath by the name of Uppledger that one didn't need to be an osteopath to be able to trained to use this approach. So he had to give it a different name & came up with CST.

Uppledger, ignored the fact that osteopaths had been using the cranial approach since the late 1930's & actually claimed to discover these involuntary movments himself whils assisting a colleague with a spinal operation in the '70' (I think). [sm=scratchchin.gif]

He's written a few good books & done much to promote the cranial approach, so as far as I'm concerned that's for the overall good. Athough I suspect he gets up my nose of some cranial osteopaths, as they've done 4 years full time training for osteopathy, then the cranial study on top of that.

CST is based on the same principles and in theory should be equally effective in the right hands.

Andrew.