Right long story short I've had a back problem for about 4 years i'm on pain meds every day. l4 l5 vertebrate have moved to the left a bit and pinch the sciatic nerve causing my left leg to go numb and pain that i can not begin to explain how bad it is even with the tamadol codine amatripaline that i take. ive had physio acupuncture and more no help i think this time they are going to offer the operation to fix the discs any one had it done????
Not much help here, answer is no but I feel for you. I've been off work for a month with back pain and it's a nightmare!! I've only pulled my back so god knows how you must be feeling. Hope you get sorted
Chiropractors get a bad rep as they are a part of "alternative medicine" but I can honestly say that the ones I have used have changed my life. Following a scooter accident I was forever getting pulls and spasms which affected the quality of my life. Eventually I signed up at "The Back Pain Centre" in South Woodford and started treatment. You feel as if you've gone backwards after the first couple of sessions but then I saw improvements very rapidly. The noticeable feeling of "release" during manipulation was almost something worth getting addicted to. Found that my problem was my ribs moving ever so slightly out of place and a hip mis-alignment that was essentially causing me to have one leg longer than the other. I went from weekly, to fortnightly, to monthly and now very occasionally. When I was Marathon training I went back to fortnightly as the pressure was throwing me out of sync and a back spasm would keep me out of training for a week. I was also lucky that when I was seeing the chiropractor most often I managed to wangle my company's private healthcare to pay for it! It is, unfortunately, rather expensive My missus uses a local chap (Patrick Moore - which always causes a chuckle, even to him) who does home visits. I managed to ping a rib yesterday while drinking a cup of tea (first time for almost two years) so I'll be getting cracked by Pat next week. Incidentally the second chiropractor I used was the original drummer in the Clash.
I broke my back in two places last year, T8 and T9, had vertoplasty operation at Hull, I'm 33 and have had to have five month off work, change jobs and it takes 20 mins of standing up still to be in pain. Physio and hydrotherapy but still it's at a point where it's not getting better especially twisting, even putting seatbelt on is a pain. Picking kids up hurts and carrying bags. I recommend Jäck daniels every night and codeine and paracetamol if it hurts. Still just done brake pipes on van but it hurt!
I have the same problem. mine sometimes slips and i'm pretty bad for a few days then within a week or so it's on the mend. how are you weight wise? sorry, not being nasty but carrying extra weight can be a contributing factor. Ive just taken up Pilates and have concentrated any excercise on my core. sit ups, crunches, planks and a lot of stretching. so far it's helped but I know that i still have a weak spot. The operation should be a last resort and there's two kinds of operation. One is fusing the the vertibrae (spelling not sure) and cuts down the amount of movement you have. peple who've had it done say they hate it as it then puts extra presure on the joints that are able to move, slowley making those wear out. the second is inserting a ceramic disc and removing the old stuff. the later is a fairly recent one and ive only seen it done in the neck, not sure if they do one for the lumbar region. either way I'd be trying excercise to strengthen the muscles in the back to give extra support before going under the knife.
Over the last 4 years I've piled it on about 6 stone just cos im not moving about or takin the dog out I get depressed a lot mostly because if the pils tramadol will fook your head right up. Im not a drinker I like biscuits an cake so im not on to a winner Even getting under my bus hurts and changing a wheel at the moment would kill me so I would go fir anything just to stop the constant pain
hummm not good... the excercises and weight loss has helped me a lot, not perfect but i dont have to take any medication anymore and only get the dodgy leg syndrome when ive lifted something stupid or sat for ages in an awkward position (generally playing the playstation or similar)
I've tried to come off the pils I turn in to a psycho and if I did half the things that went through head I would spend the rest of my life in Broadmoor its very hard when I have to deal with the pain as well
Ruptured disc between sacrum and vertabrae 17 years ago. Not picked up by the docs, only spotted when I went to a new chiro who did an X ray. Ho hum. Sneezing, coughing and the like and I d be laid up for a fortnight and then on crutches. Every time it "went" it was some fluid coming out of the disc and putting preasure on the nerves. Not much fun for a climbing potholing gardener. For whatever reason and I thank the Big G in the sky or the Giant Space Goat it has been fine this year. Chiro didn't work for me, the sooner the better with those boys. It may be fine for yourself. A mate had a similar op and after 6 months he was back on active duty in Cave Rescue and fine at work, estate worker, heavy mannual labour. Swimmings good exercise supports the body. Good luck, and I really feel for all of you.
I have had keyhole surgery on my back in which they shaved the disc to releave the pressure on the nerve.It was an instant result and i woke up with no pain.This was over ten years ago and i have had no sciatic problem since.Hope this helps.
Sympathise with you totally, i have similar at lower lumber = numb left leg thigh , and upper thoratic T1/T2 numb arm and sore fingers, missed by docs ,found eventually by MRI after alot of compaining been like it for 3 years , fraid with back probs ,comes other stuff too, no one wants to know , not enough expertise/ money to deal with everyone who has probs in this country , or especially if your walking and talking, they cant see pain ,so your fine , totally agree with tramadol effect but did you know you shouldnt be on an tram with amatriptaline it does your head!! Tramadol makes me really dosey/dopey too. As said it sound like your a pee head if you say it, but alcohol numbs you and relaxes the spasms.I too have tried everything ,just had more MRIs n CT scan as think its affecting water works too!! With regard to op my doc has advised against it as very last resort as not brilliant success rate. I have to have a life and normally have a few drinks at shows camp outs etc where i try n block it out yep i even dance in pain , and have learned ta coupe ,in the week and normal day to day with nurofen extra, paracetamol strong and lansaprazol to protect the gut. Night time is worst when i lay down , ive also got a humming in my ears when i lay down ??. We just have to try n grin through it , i find having a laugh helps alot too. Keep smiling bud , all the best , member of the pain gang who wont give in.
Whatever you do, do try to keep active. I used walking poles to get on the moors by a good 4 weeks without. Started teaching mates climbing and potholing rather than pushing the hard ones. It gave me summat to look forward to, rather than being at home moping. Its very hard to get motivated whilst crippled with pain. Try to take every oppourtunity to get up and about whenever it arises, even if its a shuffle to the end of the street. Amatripaline is a mind numbing Illegitimate child! Get off it for gods sake. On it for 4 years and I don't really know what went on for that time:z. It was hard coming off and now back to myself. A neoprene backwrap helped a lot though at times, admittantly it was useless.
Im 6ft 6 in.. suffered back pain for 10 years, docs said its your height, and prescribed meds so many meds I developed an ulcer, stopped the meds and toughed out the back pain, often crawling to the bog or unable to stand and surviving on at least 3 hours interupted sleep per night ... on average ... went to Chiropractor, had the whole deal explained and had an intensive treatment twice a week for almost 3 months then once a week and now only if I get symptoms ... worked wonders, no drugs and no need for an op.. Doctors nose was right out of joint when I told them I had been to the chiropractor, I no longer have sleepless nights, dont get headaches or shoulder / neck pain and and really feeling pretty well these days I would swear by the chiropractor ... also just to ease the pain meantime simply elevate your feet while in bed to a point where the pain stops .. shove some books or even a wooden wedge type structure between the base and the matress and you will sleep like a baby ..as the pressure is eased off your back.
Thanks seems the drugs I'm on do you more harm than good I have found that I have no concentration and a foul temper when I used to he so layed back I was horizontal think I will get rid of the pain then the drugs I've just found out that I can pay for the chiropractor with a private health insurance the wife has taken out last year so some pressure off there what I would like to do is get stoned like I used to do before I grew up and got married and had kids just let go dark room some music see if I could just relax
let the chiropractor do there stuff, you dont get the full effect after just one or two visits, the damage youve done in the interim has to be sorted too.. height has nothing to do with back trouble, the muscle groups and bone structure are all proportionate....small fellas get back trouble too... Most of the pain suffered is due to muscle spasm. your back muscles are massive and once is spasm can take years to ease if not sorted early. The result is we walk about with spasmed back muscles compensating for the discomfort by stooping or leaning slightly to one side or the other or walking diffrentley to ease the pain... all these compensators only serve to put strain on other areas and so you get into a worsening cycle effecting other areas... Its common for folk to keep moving when they have a sore back and as they loosen up the pain becomes less, thats because we are stretching the muscles temporarily , after a full day we feel tired but not quite so sore until that is we try to stand up after sitting down for a wee rest... thats because the muscles have returned to there default setting, there that used to being in spasm they go back into spasm. When one side of your back is in spasm, this pulls unevenly on one side of your spine causing some or other of the vertibrae to pinch the nerves on that side... relax the spasmed muscle and the prine straitens out and the pinching stops...After a prolonged period the vertibrae are upset kinda like a wobbly pile of wooden blocks so only after the muscles are relaxed can you then concentrate on realigning the blocs... Its hard to relax with so much pain and discomfort, what happens is that we tense up to support the area we think is sore, by tensing up your once again putting strian on a muscle and infact training it to be tight .... making things worse and so it goes on and on .... You start off with a sore lower back work up to a sore lower middle back and neck then throw in some shoulder problems with radial neck stifness, then sore legs to a point where you think you might not make a walk around the block..... and dont even mention the impossible...... standing around waiting for the Mrs while she shops in TK max... thinking your backs about to explode.... Now thats all bad enough but going to bed becomes a nightmare ... I worked shifts and was glad to be up all night... but lying in bed was a disaster, you needed to constantly turn over to ease the pain, each time waking up from the lightest of sleep hiking yourself up on your arms to turn over and finding a new position before repeating the process all over again within 10 mins... rolling out of bed onto your knees and crawling to the bathroom all takes its toll over a prolonged period and you become mr grumpy simply due to lack of sleep and constant discomfort... In the short term while lying in bed raise your legs as mentioned in my earlier post, doing it with pillows is no use, they sag and you just kick them out the bed.. I made up a folded metal V wedge that I shoved between the matress and base rising the bottom of the matress about 8 inches ( fine for me ) and while lying on my back with legs resting slightly raised it was as if the pressure on my back was just lifted away... I eventually saved up and invested in one of them electric beds where you can raise or lower the matress at the press of a button for infinate adjustment.. Any of that sound familiar?
just another self help thing... when your shoulders and neck are stiff you can ease up the tension in 30 sec flat.. taake your left or right hand to the opposite shoulder close to your neck with firm pressure pinch the big muscle that runs across the top of your shoulder from your neck you will probably feel some hard lumps in the muscle pinch these lumps and maintain moderate pressure on them for a few seconds then let them go this stretches the area starves it of blod then rejuvenates the circulation in that area ... go over all the lumpy bits then massage the area all over, pretty much straight away you will feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders... they will tighten up again but just keep up the same process as and when you need to..every little helps the last one will ease off the mahoosive headaches you sometimes get when you have back trouble ..
Cheers for that i will try ,why is it doctors cant listen to people like you and us that actually suffer. Good post thanks
That old girl on ch4 swears by marijuana...shes bakes cakes and allsorts....good old girl...shes bout 80.......i also know many people that take marijuana for crippling backpain.....shame its illegal in this country...you can still use it legally in this country for medical reasons if your doctor resides in a eu state which allows it ......then u go to him with all your nhs records register,pay doctor fee for paperwork and your legal .....several members of another forum im join too...do this regular in amsterdam as it helps there aliments ...
