my back pain story and treatment

[Keith O]

A kind warm hello to anyone reading this…

Where do I start, from the beginning?…… This could take some time so make a cup of tea and then bear with me!

To begin with, I know everyone has their own story and most of us are having or have had a very stressful, tiring and difficult time going through the motions of back pain – whatever form it is in! I discovered this forum only yesterday and maybe due to the point I am at with my ongoing back pain it gave me a bit of a lift to know that I could share my highs and lows with others in and out of pain.

It may be the person that I am or what I believe for most people, ongoing pain pulls you into a world of a constant searching to find the solution to the problem or managing it that works best. After reading just some of the forums it confirmed to me how back pain sufferers have a multitude of options and routes to go down. The shear number of different treatments, be it; rest, exercise, manipulation, pain killers, etc etc….can get you to the point of confusion and stress that may just add to the problem – I think it has to me!

Try to be positive! That’s what family and friends close to me say as one way to try and help, especially during emotionally draining low points. I keep saying the same to myself and try and put some perspective on things in life but I’m sure you’ll agree when pain sets in its hard to think clearly about anything.

Anyway getting into the detail of my story…..I hope you can relate to it in some way, if not then hopefully share in some of the understanding and perhaps some the information may even help with what routes of treatment and pain management may be more appropriate to you…..

……In the early days as a teenager I couldn’t have been involved in more sport if I had tried! You name it, I did it and really loved it. As time went on, I’m sure a lot of you out there that were involved in sport at an early age would agree, sporting activities drop off and for the last fifteen or so years (I’m 33 now) I have been doing periods of weight training (early 20’s), swimming, squash and other sporting activities. I should say the last couple of years has been more the swimming due to my back problems but I’ll talk about that later on.

The first time I had a very bad episode of back pain was about 10years ago. I went go- karting (you can imagine a lot of impacts) then was walking around London the next day all day. The next morning I was feeling a bit stiff and whilst sitting down I sneezed violently….that was it….excruciating sharp pain in my lower back. Unfortunately I was flying to Germany that morning and even though I still went (probably the wrong option in hindsight). By the time I was in Germany my back had gone into spasm and so I ended up on my back for a few days or more. Again looking back in this case (after what I know now) I should have gone straight to an osteopath or chiropractor to get me on the move again. Anyhow, I arrived back from Germany and over the period of a week or so without going to see any specialist (from what I can remember) I was back to normal and had no pain.

Moving on for about 3 years or so the next problem began after a program of general weight training (mostly upper body)

 

[laeltulgiebidheaj]

Hi Andrew [sm=wave.gif]

And a warm hello to you too.

So sorry to hear about your continuing back problems. It must be awful for you, so you indeed have my sympathy.

I'm afraid I don't have any great words of wisdom for you. I wish I could help. I myself know what it's like to suffer from a bad back. I had sciatica a year ago and it lasted for about a year so I know how miserable bad backs can be.My condition started simply by me pulling weeds up out of the back garden. Well, they were tree seedlings really and just didn't want to come up. [] But I pulled and pulled and this started off the sciatica.In the end I took a scythe to the blighters, soI got them in the end!!

I went to the Dr's and it was a complete waste of time. He gave me anti-inflammatories to which I was allergic, but when he changed the tablets I was too afraid to take the new ones in case it had the same effect. Anyway, a local chiropracter sorted me out after 3 months. Brilliant. And so now I am Ok but if I do get twinges, which I still do from time to time, I rest up and take it easy and then I'm OK again. Thank goodness.

I do hope the pilates works for you. Sounds like it might and maybe other HP members will confirm this for you. The thing is to try and keep cheerful and motivated through the pain, isn't it. Difficult, I know. Sounds like you are though so I admire you for this.

Sending you big hugs. Do keep us posted as to how yiou get on. I'm sure it will help others as well.



Good luck.
Best wishes
Moonfairy
x

 

[ptp]

Hi moonfairy,

Just a quickie to say thanks for the supportive message

i'll keep you posted

Andrew

 

[niemmuvfiyficeewr]

This is what I was thinking after the first few paragraphs. You probably had a minor disc injury at an early age, maybe even the carting incident. Disc injuries are not an old persons thing, but dics that have previously been injured detriorate sooner than those that haven't.

Over 90% of us have a disc injury before we expire, so you'd be abnormal if you didn't have one.

The result of a disc injury is that the cermassageplanetrae are that bit closer together, which means the facet joints at the back of the spine are that bit closer together and more prone to encroach on each other causing irritation and 'locking'. That's what causes the local muscle spasm and pain. Discs themselves, so far as we know, cause little or no direct pain, other than irritation of nerve roots, which would cause pain in buttock or lower limb, but not in the low back.

The McKenzie method was based on an old research project (in Autralia I think) that involved a group of excercises and the overall outcome was positive. Unfortunately there was no clear diagnosis of the low back pain problem with those that took part and the exercises given as an obligatorygroup. i.e. they didn't have separate groups for flexion, side bending, rotation and extention stretches. Even more unfortunately - many physiotherapists are still recommending the McKenzie method and some GP's are still recommending the book.

From what we know - your 'thin disc' and given that the pain is most likely caused by facet joint irritation/locking, then probably one of the worst things you could do would be to over extend your low back, as this will compress the facet joints together. []

Also, as your first back pain incident was at a relatively early age, with many exacerbations since, what can happen is that not only does the body grow more nerve endings such a sensitive area, but also morebrain matter gets allocated to the problem area, making it more reactive.

I've Posted quite a lot on the subject of back pain, so a Forum Search willthro up lots and there's the Thread atop of this Forum - [link=http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=104]Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.[/link]

The bottom line is I would advise against lumbar spine extension exercises (bending backwards)for this sort of problem.

I would also add that it's possible that you have something called a spondylolithesis which is a certain type of fracture that you may have acquired from the original incident/s. This would not show on the normal x-rays taken and a specific request would need to be made to the radiographer to take an 'oblique view' x-ray of the lumbar spine. An MRI would also show this, but typically there are symptoms in the lower limbs, so if not I wouldn't worry about it.

Andrew.

 

[CeeAvh]

Not necessarily true.
My back recovered from a very painful slipped disc when I strengthenedmy core muscles and retrained my posture with Pilates - that's why I became a Pilates teacher. I have many, many clients who have had the same experience. Idon't claim it cures everybody - and that's what makes me suspiciious of your miracle cure Alainm. Who are you? What's your relationship with this clinic?

 

[Wanda Kitty]

Hi spinal music,

Am i being daft or was your last post related to another message on the forum? The first part was helpful all the same.

Just to let you know I've had 8 sessions in the last four weeks of 'one to one' rehabilitation Pilates with a very good instructor. To be honest my lower back hasstill beenup and down until last week when I starting to feel some improvement and I'm really starting to feel the correct muscles kick in during exercise. Anyhow i'm going to keep at it from now on as apart from the main aim to help my back I'm really getting into it!

I do have one question for you as a Pilates instructor. I'm doing the exercise where I'm standing with my back to the wall with knees slightly bent, then rolling down (to about 45degs) breathing correctly then returning back up the wall. I've developed a bit of bruised sensation in the centre of my back. Not really painful just annoying, but could this be because of this particular exercise as i'm starting to free up the movement of my back?

Andrew

 

[dzeyouqjipnimtesj]

Hello Turnip - my former post related toone which was advertising a miracle cure and which was deleted. It was defintitely here. Neither of us are mad!

Roll downs - as you do them are you drawing up your pelvic floor and using your low abdominals to help protect your back as you peel away from the wall and restack? Are you keeping a sense of the spine staying long? Are your knees bent enough?(Perhaps your hamstrings are particularly tight?)

?Or it may be that this exercies just doesn't suit you at present. I tend to keep lbp sufferers in neutral position until they have better core stability before I get them working with articulating the spine - it may be too soon for you.Have a chat with your practitioner about how your back is responding.
Sharon.

 

[Sebassssssss]

Hi to all out there, I thought it was about time I gave an update on my back pain and treatment progress.

To remind all reading this I have general wear and tear in my lower back identified on my two lowest discs with slight bulging (first thread on the forum gives the details from MRI). I've also been sufferingalot after walking for ten minutes or so with pains in the right side of my middle back.

I've been doing 'one to one' Rehabilitation Pilates for 5 weeks now (two sessions a week). All was feeling good and generally I didn't exeperince any pain during the sessions on my back as my rehabilitation was adjusted to suit my condition.At the end of last week I was beginning to feel more positive about my back but over the last week its been quite painful. My instructor thinks this may be down to doing to much hamstring work in a particular seesion so this week I've layed off those exercises and the lower back seems to have improved slowly again. Apart from the one to one seesions I do 30 to 45mins on my own at home a few more times a week. From now on I'm going to have one session with the instructor a week and see how I get on.....

During my Pilates sessions I have noticed thatduring'a lying down squats' exercise (very low spring resistence setting) on a rehab benchwith my back in the neutral position, when both legs are straightened my right leg 'locks out' straight before my left leg. ThisI believe confirms to mesomething that a chiropractor said too me a couple of years ago that my left leg is slightly longer that my right. In light of this and after reading another back pain thread on the forum 'Pelvis - guilty of causing Lower Back Pain, I am considering visiting an osteopath again to see ifpelvic postion or leg length (same thing maybe?)is contributing to my condition, or even to culprit for the disc problem and associated pain.

In parallel to the Pilates,I have been adjusting my diet , which it fairly healthy anyway, to include more greens, seeds, non-dairy foods etc... I decided to do this after reading a very interesting book called 'Foods that fight pain' byDr(MD)Neal D. Barnard, which has a chapter dedicated to back pain and possible approaches to combat pain through different foods. Its a very interesting read and would recommend a look....

Anyhow, moving on.....

After reading more threads in the forums and researching more about acupunture I decided to add this to my treatment program with Pilates. Yesterday evening I had my first ever session with a qualified acupuncturist (Chinese) who has also been a doctor of western medicine combined with acupunture/acupressure for the last 20 years. I was a little nervous about the treatment at first but the session was very professional and included some acupressure massage prior to the acupuncture. For my specific condition i.e disc related, the acupuncturists experience and feedback from his patients in the UK and in China was tointroduce electro-acupuncture with the massage as this worked very well for a lot of cases. Its early days yet so I will post another update on progress after a few sessions......

On a final note just a quick thanks for thereplys I've had since my first post.....

I'll write again soon

Andrew