what has happened to me

[songsjosiah]

I was standing in my kitchen making tea when suddenly I had a sharp pain across the base of my spine. The pain brought me to my knees and I could hardly get back to my feet. Two hours later I was the same could hardly walk and sitting is causing agony. I phoned my Gp and he seen my 1 hour ago. He said the pain is mechanical - what does that mean. He gave me diazepam and put me off work for 2 weeks when he wants to see me again.
can anyone shed any light on this onset. I have never had back pain in the past

 

[~JuliaGulia~]

Hiya Lola Rose

Hmm.... I'm no back expert, but doesn't mechanical mean that it's not working as it should i.e. it's a physical problem? Sounds like a nice GP, "here you go take these and I'll see you in 2 weeks when I've got some time to be bothered".

Think it might be an idea to go see a specialist. Think it's an Osteopath your looking for?

Sending you some Reiki (what little I can at reiki level 1. )

Love and Reiki Hugs (gently hugs, don't want to hurt the back)

 

[Bubble Gum]

Hey Lola Rose

I think what your GP's trying to say, is that he believes your lower back has gone into spasm and this has resulted in the pain that you now find yourself in. The diazepam (although known more commonly by another name) he prescribed, I believe, is to relieve muscular or skeletal spasms so hopefully your pain will ease upon taking this medication.

My understanding of mechanical merely means its physical/muscular i.e a strain or a jarring of some description.

GP's will very rarely pass you onto a complimentary therapist in these circumstances as the injury is still fresh and really all the GP can provide is a reduction in the inflammation and something to control the pain.

Take care and hope the pain subsides soon.

Love & Blessings

MA

 

[wannamcfranzwiththat]

Hi Lola

Everyone is different - but when my disc prolapsed I couldnt move out of bed so the doctor came out to visit me.I was given strong ibuprofen (anti-inflamatory) Co-codamol (pain relief) and for the first few days I was given diazepam for relief from the spasms.I stayed in bed for a couple of days using a hot water bottle to ease the pain but I was advised by my chiropracter & physio to always finish with an ice pack to reduce the inflamation.I was also given a TENS machine - didnt help me.
I too found it most frustrating getting advice from anyone/anywhere about what I should be doing, there is no advice around is there ? I panicked whenever the pain came intolerable as I thought I was making matters worse by moving/walking etc..As soon as I was able to move, I did so increasing it bit by bit every day,around the house,I found this painful but I think the most important thing was to get moving as soon as you can and TRY to ignore the pain,take it easy day to day and dont overdo it,keep straight & dont try to bend for anything.
Mine took months to heal to a degree where I was able to walk for upto 5 mins, unfortunately visiting an osteopath/chiropracter and phsio did not help me at all,(after visiting I ended up back in bed for days on end !!)however when you feel comfortable enough I would recommend you see a specialist as apparently most 'Slipped' disc can be maniplulated and end up settling down,so you should definately give it a go.
I was unlucky enough to continue with sciatic pain from my prolapsed disc for aprox 1 & 1/2 years and ended up having having surgery 2 & 1/2 weeks ago which has left me pain free & walking straight - Yippee,obviously mine is said to be an extreme case,even though I know many people who have had a disc prolapse,some have had surgery - some havent.
Four days is quite early on for you i know its painful but remember most discs heal without the need for surgery but you must be prepared to take it easy for a few months,for me lying down and walking (shuffling ?) were the most comfortable positions as sitting in a chair was agony.
Let me know if you need to know anything else..

Hope this helps
Hellbells

 

[arvecar]

Thankyou for replying. I know its early days. I am concerned because I work with the elderly, and I need to on a daily basis push wheelchair users around, bend constantly. In saying that this happened from a work related injury. I was stupid enough to move furniture in a clients room, however the manager was aware of it and actually asked for it to be done. I have just phoned her and asked for it to be entered into the accident book. I presume I will always have a weak back now.

 

[coyoteofgaia]

Hi Lola,

Do yourself a favour and visit a good Ostepath or Chiropractor; if you leave it too late, it becomes more of a long-term problem. A massage afterwards would help, as well as starting an exercise program to strengthen your core muscles, eg Swiss Ball or Pilates.

What I think of your doctor can't be published

Good luck & I hope you get it sorted very soon.

 

[Peter Williamson]

It means that he doesn't know, but thinks it's a mecanically based problem. It almost certainly is a musculoskeletal (mechanical) problem, in that he's most likely right, but question is what sort? And it may be too early to tell.

The 'crack' suggests that you either have a 'locking' of some of the small facet joints at the back of the spine or it could be a disk injury and these can take several days to develop enough to be able to be identified. [sm=scratchchin.gif]

As you probably know diazepam is a sleeping tablet, so at least you can get some sleep, so may save your sanity. The down side is that the sounder you sleep, without moving, then the greater the chance that the inflammation will build up in the area, so could be worse in the morning. []

Keep moving as best you can, without overdoing it during waking hours and as several members have said book yourself in with an osteopath for next week. Although they may be able to do something this early, it's usually better to leave a few days to settle a bit.

I tend to use some western acupuncture pre treatment for really acute cases to calm things down a bit and get some pain relief, before doing much else. So if it's really painful it may be worth looking for an osteopath near you that does both. Massage & other soft tissue work may help calm it down a bit also, and you could try hot &/cold on it, although if it's a deeper injury such as a 'slipped' disk, then it may not have much affect.

Good luck - Andrew.

 

[akluis]

hi everyone, and thanks for your kind replies.

What should my GP be doing next, I have not to see him for another 2 weeks, however, I phoned the practice today and asked for an appointment for this Tue with another doctor. Would an xray show up a slipped disc, or what the problem really is. Remember, my lively hood is working with the elderly. Before I return to work I need to know what this is, because it could happen again, and I need to protect myself. In the care sector we do alot of lifting and pushing wheelchair users around and to be honest some of the men are very heavy.

 

[KRJ098]

X-rays don't really show much at all, but they are cheap and easily accessible, as every hospital has a machine. It would show that the vermassageplanetrae are closer together, in relation to it's neighbouring vertebrae, which means there's a loss of hieght in the disk. The loss of hieght in an individual disc suggests a disk injury i.e. a disc prolapse, but these can take a week or so to show on X-ray.

If you need to get to the bottom of this ASAP, then I suggest again that you see an osteopath, which you can self refer. You would have to pay privately, but they would spend the time with you, do all the appropriate nerve tests & do their best to establish if it's a disc injury or not.

It's not unusual for disk prolapses to take a couple of months to settle and that's with treatment, but they can write you a sick note if need be, like your GP.

Andrew.

 

[Arthur]

I would have thought with disc problems I would have pain when the are is being touched.

 

[Bad Radio]

Not necessarily, it's more to have worse symptoms in the buttock or leg.

Andrew.

 

[O_o]

hi

I was back at the doctor again today, I have been given kapake to try and relieve the pain. The doctor I seen today said, its more than likely I have ligament damage with a disc out of alignment. How long does this take to heal. And more importantly can it re-occur. she is also sending me to the back clinic

 

[wiekgufoimxiklexn]

Hiya LR

I can't give you any idea how long something like that would take to heal, although I'm sure that any back problem could re-occur depending upon how you look after yourself.

It's good that something more pro-active is being done for you now. The back clinic should be able to give you a better idea of the problem and be able to answer your questions.

Love and Reiki Hugs

 

[Andrew Ryan]

hi

you are absolutly right. It will depend on how I look after myself. My problem will be when I return to work, because I need to bend constantly, I need to use wheelchairs with quite heavy clients, along with other heavy duties.

 

[pmdmnotv]

Hi Lola,

I would follow Andrew's good advice; he knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately most GP's are very limited in their knowledge of back problems.

Let us know how you get on, whatever you decide [&:]