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Original poster

put my back out. Worst pain ever.

105 replies

niop · 01/03/2026 17:38

I leaned over to pick up dirty washing this morning and the worst pain ever in my lower back. Agony. I couldn’t move and ended up on the floor in my bedroom for 2 hours. Luckily people were in house with me and helped me. I finally with the help of a youtube video showing how to get to standing position after this sort of incident, managed to walk to my bedroom. I’ve taken ibuprofen, two doses since it happened at 11.30, but it’s having minimal impact. I’m reading conflicting things online saying I should try to move and some saying I should rest whilst pain severe. I walked to the loo half
an hour ago and it took ages to shuffle myself out of bed and on to loo, with help. Is this normal? How long will
it take to feel
better?

OP posts:
Original poster
niop · 03/03/2026 15:27

RedTulip86 · 03/03/2026 13:42

Commiserations.

Put my back out lifting my child. GP decided “muscular strain” and offered naproxen and omeprazole oh and scan Phio app at reception.
I’ve seen sports therapy guy and a couple of osteopaths. Hot baths,icepacks,full works

Had sciatica and tingling in my legs

Bupa’s physio video consultant told me his back pain was bigger than mine. Their osteopath just massaged my back.

Here I am nearly 6 months later. Still sore back,made redundant from work and fuck knows where to turn😭😭😭

oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that. It sounds grim.
I took naproxen for the first time earlier and an hour later managed to walk to the loo, assisted, without much pain. A huge improvement. Have you tried naproxen?

OP posts:
Vinvertebrate · 03/03/2026 17:07

Lemuriformes · 03/03/2026 08:15

I am in exactly this position at the moment. My GP is refusing to see me and so far has referred me to the pharmacy who referred me straight back, then to 111 who referred me straight back.

The GP finally gave me an appointment which was over a week away so I went to a walk-in centre - this was the Wednesday after it happened on the Saturday , (getting into the Uber was not easy!) who prescribed nepofam hydrochloride for the pain and Baclofen as a muscle relaxant.

It's still getting worse -and the painkillers are doing nothing - so I went back yesterday and they said that was as much as they could prescribe. My only options were an emergency appointment at the GP, or A&E.

I called the GP again, explained everything again and was promised a call back. Two hours later I got texted a form to fill in so I said yes, on a scale of 1 to 10 the pain was a 10, and no, I am not currently capable of basic household tasks. Six hours later, after the surgery had closed, I got another text referring me to physio. No reference to the pain or my inability to take care of myself. WTF? Cried a bit. (A lot).

Anyway, sat here now trying to decide whether to turn up at the GP and cry till someone medically qualified bothers to talk to me, or go straight to A&E.

This is absolutely rubbish. Huge sympathies - I well remember DH having to support me to wee in a semi-standing position because the back pain would not allow me to sit on the loo! I was carted off in an ambo though - which was possibly a tad melodramatic now I’ve read this thread. 🫣

Please complain to your practice manager. A long and uncomfortable wait in A&E won’t do your back any good at all.

Lemuriformes · 03/03/2026 18:30

Oh I will be complaining. But by phoning up again this morning and getting forceful (not rude, just insistent) I was sent yet another form, so I copied my post above into it pretty much. 20 minutes later I finally got an appointment with an actual GP! It only took 10 days. Within 5 minutes he'd prescribed Naproxen and Diazepam. I am now both fuzzy and pain-free, and hope to get some sleep tonight too!

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Original poster
niop · 03/03/2026 18:31

Lemuriformes · 03/03/2026 18:30

Oh I will be complaining. But by phoning up again this morning and getting forceful (not rude, just insistent) I was sent yet another form, so I copied my post above into it pretty much. 20 minutes later I finally got an appointment with an actual GP! It only took 10 days. Within 5 minutes he'd prescribed Naproxen and Diazepam. I am now both fuzzy and pain-free, and hope to get some sleep tonight too!

thank god for that! Sorry you had to fight for basic healthcare, it’s so unfair. Glad you’re feeling less sore

OP posts:
YorkshireGoldDrinker · 03/03/2026 19:08

It depends on what you've done and how you've done it.

If it's a standard muscle pull, it'll be a few days with rest, alternating hot/cold compresses and painkillers.

If it's an intervertebral disc (those hockey puck-shaped pieces of cartilage that sit between your spinal vertebrae) herniation, it'll require more specialist management and codeine can be prescribed.

As a serial back-thrower-outer and a sufferer of sciatica, I sympathise.

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