To beg you for back pain advice

[tinnitusqueen]

Since Christmas I've been in agony. Lower back. It's exacerbated by sitting for more than 10 minutes - any kind of chair. An hour in the car and I can't walk a step.

I've been doing Pilates but since the gym shut I'm trying to do it at home. Also saw an osteopath but that wasn't much help. So daily stretches on the carpet. Child's pose, cat cow, stuff like that.

I'm 36. Feeling old. But not THAT old. I have a 2 year old and gained weight in pregnancy and am fighting hard to lose it. Half a stone off since Christmas. But the pain continues.

Doc sent me to a physio who did nothing.

I'm super careful about bending from the knee.

I found out my one leg is 1-2cm longer than the other, if that adds anything.

Pain pain pain. The professionals just tell me that everyone gets back pain.

Wail! Cry! Help!

I know you can't do it at the moment because all the pools are closed but swimming really helps my back problems. Even if to start with you can only walk up and down the pool. Also as others have suggested, don't sit. Lie on bed with knees up, sleep on side with pillow or cushion between knees, walk around as much as you can manage and don't stay in any position for too long.

• A tens machine
• Naproxen and co codermol (from your GP)
• The Alexander technique (when this is over)
• See an osteopath (when this is over)

I sympathize OP. I am currently in a naproxen and co codermol haze due to excruciating sciatica.

You could get some Syndol over the counter - coupled with naproxen or ibuprofen I find it helps a bit on bad days.

Other thing I got is a foam roller - helps with my upper back pain, not sure about lower back pain.

I twisted round on Thursday and something in my sacroiliac area cracked so loudly DH heard it. Been in agony since. OTC codeine not touching it and I can't take ibuprofen as it's contraindicated to other meds. No bath but DH has made me a hot water bottle. Might have to bother the GP on Monday.

It's definitely worth getting back to the osteopath when you can. I had sciatica for a year and was on naproxen and paracetamol almost daily. It was soul destroying,however I found an osteopath I was happy with and 8 trips later the back pain was soo much better. I go once a month now for maintence.

Google the 'cat vomit' this helps me when mine is playing up. Don't do it forcibly (as instructed) gently is good too.
I've 2 damaged vertebrae and discs as a result of having an epidural and a damaged coccyx from a drunken slip on some stairs.
Absolute PITA when it flares up. I feel for you.

Have you ever had your hips x-rayed? My legs are slightly different lengths and I have always suffered from back pain. I have hip dysplasia

Is it back pain as in across your lower back, hip to hip, or does the pain run into your buttocks and/or down your legs??

I have 2 prolapse discs and occasional sciatica (which is beyond painful). Things that help me:

• hot bath with Epsom salt
• TENS Machine
• exercise (agree with swimming when this is over)
• stretching (pigeon pose is good for sciatica)
• reduce stress as this makes your brain perceive your pain more sharply
• massage (use a tennis ball or foam roller)

I don't tend to find painkillers that helpful. Be careful with doing too many different things as you won't know which are the effective ones....

Oh and acupuncture too when this is over

I had back pain that was exarcebated by sitting for any length of time, NHS physio was useless for an unrelated problem in the past and I was in agony, saw a private sports physio and she sorted me out in one session. The difference was unbelievable. Not sure if they're still working though as obv close contact.

I have 1 prolapsed and two bulging discs and sciatica now in both legs (was only one until I started at the gym).

This is what I’ve tried and what’s worked and for me:-
Acupuncture- amazing!!! Although I was having 4 sessions a week and at £40 a time, I couldn’t keep them up
Physio NHS- done nothing for me
Physio private- done the most amazing massage and dropped my hips back in line, but within hours the muscles would contract again. Again this was a cost implication as to why I stopped
Swimming-,really good, helps loads
Pilates- made the pain worse
Yoga- made the pain worse
Gym- helped at first, then sciatica started in my good leg, maybe just bad luck
Heat pads- help loads
Ice- doesn’t help
Paracetamol- didn't touch it
Zapain (codeine)- took the edge off at first
Ibuprofen (prescribed)- helped until they affected my stomach
Gabapentin- helps loads with the nerve pain
Amitriptline- helps loads with the nerve pain at night
Morphine- helped loads at first, 10 years later, a stupidly high dose and I’m now being weened off as I’m still in constant pain, basically my body is so used to it (I probably have more morphine in my blood than platelets!!).
Sleeping position- I lie almost in the recovery position, it’s the only way I can ease the pain at night
Sitting- if I’m at home, I alway sit with my legs up, weight baring on my one bum cheek, if I attempt to sit longer than 10 minutes normally I’m in agony.

So as you can see I’ve tried a lot, and what works and don’t work for me, will be different for someone else. You have to figure out what is best for you.

Apart from a good osteopath, I have always found that walking a lot is the best for back trouble. An osteopath told me that sitting compresses your spine.

Yoga actually really created my si joint issues, this is a common side effect of over enthusiastic yoga.

Pilates with a physio who is also a pilates teacher - body control or APPI - who understands post natal issues is key for me. Meditation also helps loads, headspace has free stuff now with the corona virus. I tend to hold stress in my shoulders and upper back, then when I release those muscles feel the strain being taken out of my low back.

MuTu mama is a great online programme to get your deep abs working again after childbirth without exacerbating any gap between rectus abdominus. Were you checked for a diastasis?

A good guided savasana (sp?) on YouTube can really help you release tension in your whole body.

Agree you need a heel lift in your shoes, including slippers. I get mine from Amazon. To strengthen core, look for fitness blender core workouts on youtube. You should also try to strengthen your glutes. As pp said, ice pack across the sacroiliac area works well. Also lying on floor, knee brought up to opposite shoulder and held there (with your hands/arms) until you feel a stretch and slight release, then do other side.

I suffered with terrible (but thankfully intermittent) back pain (sacro-iliac area) for 20-odd years. I was never pain-free, but would have episodes, sometimes lasting weeks, where I could barely move. After around 10 years, I started getting neck and shoulder pain too, to the point where I had to give up my job as it involved a lot of sitting and writing.

I tried acupuncture (helped the symptoms, but not a long-term fix) physio (pretty useless), 2 osteopaths (one helped a bit and the other was useless), Pilates (made it worse), swimming (made it worse still) and yoga (did fuck-all apart from make me fart).

Then a colleague recommended a chiropractor just across the road from our office. She is brilliant. She started off by x-raying my back, and showed me 3 herniated discs that I didn't know I had and lots of places where my back is out of alignment. She also spotted that I have one leg longer than the other.

After a few sessions, it was better than it had been for years. I still get the occasional flare-up, but one or two visits to her sorts it out.

If you're in Sussex, pm me and I'll give you her details.

At 36, I wouldn't recommend stopping the engagement with the health service. If it were my family member then I would recommend:
not using an osteopath or chiropractor (I know a red rag to a bull to many and to those who practice these arts but I've seen no evidence base and would have safety concerns). I've nothing to add here and do't want to divert the thread.
I would use the physio to have solution (inserts) for leg length as provided by a professional.
I would go back to the GP (possibly by telephone in these strange times) and discuss next steps/request referral describing that physic was;t effective and you have pain that is limiting your enjoyment of your life and that you do not know what the problem is so don't know what exercise you can do that might not make things worse. (COVID will make timing problematic but I wouldn't let this process with GP/physio stop now).
I would try and stay active and, if no contraindications, use paracetamol (can be surprisingly helpful in conjunction with the following), anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen or if prescribed, naproxen or diclofenac) and codeine if prescribed) both to manage pain and to try and stay active enough which in most circumstances is helpful for backpain. I would try and get a referral so you have a robust diagnosis so you know what the problem truly is.

Good luck.

My GP practice made me attend a long appointment with a GP they brought in to help with their chronic pain patients (I also have endometriosis and at on a lot of painkillers for that). He told me there was no point going for a scan etc, upper back it wouldn’t be anything underlying and advised me to see a chiropractor 🙄

I have a now giant patch of altered sensation across my back which has been there and gradually spreading for three years. Physio gave me exercises which I do and told me to find a Pilates class (which I haven’t done yet and guess I won’t be for a while).

Keep thinking I should ask the gp again about a scan but from looking online it does seem like upper back pain is rarely caused by prolapsed discs etc. My posture is terrible now and it’s a vicious circle. I need to start over with a new back I think!

OP and Sinkgirl, not for me to advise except that if it was a family member of mine, I would not accept the process ending without a firm diagnosis and an intelligent discussion about treatment options (it might not always be sensible to have surgery given the individual circumstances if prolapsed, stenosis or suchlike for lower). I'd be uncomfortable accepting an assurance of no underlying issues if symptoms continued to present. Altered sensation progressing would be a concern to me.

Good luck.

I agree with Zilla about Chiropractor and Osteopaths. I have tried both but no success and to be honest one was recommending action that was problematic. When I saw an orthopedic surgeon he said they were fine for short term stuff but not chronic conditions and to stay away from them.

Gosh you're all lovely, lovely people and I want to cuddle you all.

The pain varies. Some days across whole of lower back. Some days just the left. Some days the pain extends into my bum and deep in the hip joint.

Painkillers don't really have an effect on me very very sadly.

Oh my goodness did you say an epidural can cause worse pain?! That's bad news.

Just done some of the Mackenzie and can immediately feel a bit of an effect. Also been out for a walk round the block to keep moving.

I've not had a scan or x-ray of my hips but that would be interesting. There's definitely a noticeable difference in the height of my hips. I always wondered why I was skwiffy looking. The shoe insert is a good idea. I'll have to ask the doctor.

I had a spinal for my emcs and it went very badly (7 attempts to get it in, hitting nerves etc) but as the pain is upper back I’ve sort of discounted it as the cause - I am sure that hunching over pumping for 20-30 mins 12x a day for 7 months is more likely.

I will definitely go back to the GP once all this corona stuff calms down as you’re right - it makes no sense to just accept its muscular without checking.

I hope you get some relief OP. I do find Syndol far better than co-codamol - the original version is now available again, it contains doxylamine which is an old school antihistamine that apparently works to relax muscles a little (not as much as diazepam obviously). I am feeling a little better this afternoon after resting today but obviously during the week with no respite it’s hard not to aggravate it.

Are you sure you've exhausted the pain relief OP? Which painkillers have you tried, OP? Did you try all opioids, all anti-inflams? the neuro ones (amtryptiline, gapapentin or pregabelin?)

Hope you feel better soon?

What helps my lower back is movement - if I sit around a lot it really plays up. Gentle (and I stress gentle) stretching - yoga with Adrienne for lower back pain. Warm baths. Pelvic floor exercises - this was done for other reasons but doing them helps the core in general which helps the back to be supported. Walking.

Where do you live? I know a total back genius.