how to cope with long term back pain

[PavlovtheCat]

Over the last year i have 'put my back out' 4 times. I suspect it is disc related but not had it investigated due to a) lack of interest by gp and b) laziness in following it up - the first time it happened it was so so bad I had to call the out of hours gp unable to move at all for several days. Saw GP a few days later and was told poss disc, poss tendon damage, either way, no real treatment, get on with it type of thing oh and btw will take weeks to recover. thanks

So, next time it happened, over the weekend, i called ooh for painkiller/anti-imflammatories, and have done this each time. Been given a range of stuff, but what seems to work the best is codeine/paracetamol/diclofenac combination.

Anyway, two weeks ago or so, back went again during a coughing fit, improved after a few days with just co-codemol, then due to DH and DS bot being ill and us going on hols I had to do everything to get it all ready with DS on my hip and it went, again, fully, in the supermarket day before christmas eve.

Spent the last week in agony, emergency gp on boxing day gave me co-codemol and diclofenac, and it has slowly improved. However, it is not great, and every twist and turn and any lifting makes it feel that it will go again majorly at any moment. GP was going to give me some diazepam but I was reluctant as DH was away at footie so had kids on my own.

Sitting it the worst, cannot get into a comfortable position. This is not going to go away any time soon and I know I should see GP, will do that next week, but can't see they will do anything to help me sort it and I don't want to be on medication forever. It am also expecting this to now be re-occuring.

So, how do you manage your long term back problems? when it is at its worst and walking is impossible, do you use crutches? I was thinking this might help, as last week I just simple could not walk.

nevergoogle - would you? really? are you not stupidly busy? shall i PM you/you pm me?

i am stupidly busy but should be able to pop over early afternoon?

send me your address and number via facebook and i'll let you know how tomorrow is going.

shame you've eaten all the m&ms though.

well. i could easily send DH out to buy some more. especially if they are recommended for recovery

I will facebook you my details, but only come if you are not going to mess everything up. AND if this wind is not awful. Thanks my lovely x

i assume you don't think i am going to mess your back up.

yy, chocolate always helps with rehab.

Pavlov - I'm guessing your GP has never looked after a baby/toddler.

"He did ask how old DS was when my back first went like this, he was 10 months old and so he said 'your muscles should have recovered from pg by then' but thinking about it, I wonder if that might have been partly why it happened?"

That is exactly when my back went. Its the weight of an ever growing wriggling child being picked up and down 50 times a day that does it!

I am a bloke so no 'recovering from the birth' involved BUT I do remember the exact moment my back went. I had taken DS to get weighed at the baby clinic. I stupidly bent over sideways to put him in his pushchair. He didnt want to go in, wriggled and my back muscle got torn on one side. I was bent double walking home, sweating in pain and leaning on the pushchair handle. DS1 is 11 now. As my acupuncturist said, it will never fully heal, but you can look after it.

Back pain in parents with babies/toddlers is very very common.

Lol db no I a meant not messing your day up! Dh said am I sure you are not s hairy trucker

beta I think he was quite a hands on dad but that is relative as his children are much older now! Maybe it is poss that I ripped a muscle then, as I also did it the first time picking up ds aged 10 months from our bed, hardly any distance, hardly stretching any distance at all. It hurt immediately but not so I could. Not move, it gradually got worse and worse over about an hour until I was on the floor unable to move without crying and I was like that for several days, unable to even get to the bathroom. Not been as bad as that since in terms of severity of pain, but longevity this time has been worse and sciatic pain after back eases has continued for longer.

And re pain...my relatives said tat I looked green for the first few days of Christmas before the pain releif and anti inflammatories kicked in, it was so bad!

well i wasn't a hairy trucker the last time we met.

You have my every sympathy Pavlov. I lived with back pain everyday of my life since I was 15 until my operation 8 months ago. All I did was pump myself full of painkillers though.

db I told him that unless you were in amazing drag when we met last you v def not a hairy trucker.

Thing is there seems to be so many possibilities of what could be the problem that I cant see how it can simply be fixed with painkillers, surely the simplest and cheapest option for the NHs is properly diagnose when it is clear it is simple muscle strain. Then, if a major problem is diagnosed it can be treated as quickly as possible with minimal long term complications, and if what is wrong is simple to manage it can be managed before it ever becomes something more serious due to say bad posture.

Pavlov you really need an MRI scan to determine what disc it is and what can be done. It sounds like L4/5 to me which is exactly what I had and had an op to remove part of the disc. All I can say is the op was bloody amazing. I had physio afterwards and the pain relief was instant after the op.

I have to be careful and watch what I am doing as another part of the disc in the same area has popped out, but thankfully I am in nowhere near as much pain as last time.

I was lucky to have private treatment and even then it took a couple of months of tramadol and diazepam to kill the pain enough for me to barely function.

Please dont accept this pain - you do learn to live with it, but you shouldnt. Get back to your GP - or a different one and get them to refer you for further treatment.

I saw an osteopath too and I have to say it didnt help - if it is a disc then you have about a 12 week window where it can 'pop' itself back in and 'self fix' or if you leave it then you run the risk of permanent damage to your nerve.

Regarding not taking meds, it is harder to stop full blow pain than to keep pain under control.

Some exercises may not suit your back, it would really be best if you had your own prescribed in physio therapy. Because you don't know what it is for sure that is causing it.

If you try and do sit up, or leg lifts, press your lower back down into the matt first, it helps your core support your spine and is easier and less painful.

Hi I have multiple chronic health problems. My spine related problems consist of 3 burst fractured spinal vertebrae, incomplete spinal cord injury at L1, spondylyosis, spondylothethesis, pars defect and spinal stenoisis.
I'm partially paralysed and have bladder and bowel problems due to my spinal injury. Pain is so severe. I take fentanyl and morphine for my spine pain.
I'm in a wheelchair obviously, but can transfer using crutches.
I'm awaiting another spine operation.

I would go see your GP so they can investigate what is causing the pain.

oh reeny that is awful? did you have an accident or degeneration? when was it all diagnosed?

The spinal cord injury and burst fractures of 3 vertebrae and (broke both feet) were in an accident. The rest was seen on the MRI /CT scan. Because I'm young they said the spondylothesis etc is not age related with time.

What I mean is, the cause of the spondylyothesis etc is not older age related.

Back at work. Painful to sit for long periods- sciatic pain goes down right leg to foot.
Lowe back pain itself has mostly gone, in that the muscles have relaxed now and not spamming. But...I am left with a constant numb yet sore pain in my coccyx and around that section. It is made worse by sitting along with sciatic pin, worse if I need to go to the loo. So second day at work and where yesterday I felt almost back to normal. This numbness feels worse than it did yesterday due to sitting down so much. Am trying to move around more, and work are supportive, got a temp back chair, OH referral in, will have a proper assessment done by specialist assessor etc, who can recommend certain equipment adjustmetnts etc so ey are taking it seriously. Boss talked about getting a.timer for desk to make sure I get up regularly.

But it is right now literally a Pain In The Ass !

Reeny what a horrific accident

Pavlov another one here who thinks your GP is a dickhead.

I slipped 2 discs (L5 and 6) when I was 27, with resultant nerve damage and obviously immense pain. I've had a superb osteopath who has helped me manage my injury and relieved the pain with manipulation and acupuncture. My experience with the NHS has been very mixed - consultant care has been abysmal (they forgot to get anyone actually look at my MRI for about 2 months, for example), but I was lucky to be referred several times for physio on the NHS, and most recently for NHS pilates. For me, the pilates was a turning point after nearly 3 years of back pain remissions. I'd swear by it. It has taught me some very simple but very essential things and changed the way I move as a result. Since getting into the pilates (I followed up the NHS course with another more vigorous class) I have had NO serious remissions in nearly 2 years, only the odd twinge when I've been most unfit. I now accept that there is a level of fitness (and in particular, core fitness) that I need to maintain, and if I drop below that I'll run into problems.

I remember feeling at the time that there was no light at the end of the tunnel, and at dark points like I'd have to accept a level of recurrent pain for the rest of my life BUT I've been proved wrong on that - there is definitely a way out for some people with disc herniation, if unfortunately not for everyone. But it does take a level of personal application to getting fitter again. Psychologically I found it very very uplifting once I realised that there was something I personally could do to help myself out of it - rather than being at the mercy of rubbish doctors.

Good luck everyone.

Pavlov, a quick route to an MRI is to raise the flag of potential Cauda Equina syndrome, if you have numbness in your undercarriage or your bowel movements are affected. It's where a herniated disc presses on the bundle of nerves that controls bladder/bowel function and sensation, and nerve damage can be permanent.

I had this suspected (fortunately didn't have it, or certainly not a full blown case) but my osteo sent me straight to A and E to get checked and an MRI when I mentioned numb arse. Cynically, his experience was that it's something the NHS take seriously enough to get you in the MRI machine.

Not wanting to worry you that you may have this, but it's worth flagging up, seeing as your GP is too dim to check.

Hang on - do you have numbness around your "saddle" area? If so, go to the doctors tomorrow morning armed with this.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Slipped-disc/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

Look further down for cauda equina syndrome

Agree with others who say Pilates is key

X posted Robot! If you do suspect cauda equina it may well be worth bypassing the GP and heading for A and E instead as it needs treating asap.