Back Pain. When do you go to the GP?

[Sparklingbrook]

It came on out of the blue on Monday afternoon. Lower back. No injury or anything. Sleepless night Monday night. Slept ok last night.

Getting up off the settee or out of bed is difficult. Not too bad walking about, picking things up off the floor is a no-go. Putting socks on near impossible.

Will it just go as quickly as it arrived do you think. GP can't actually do anything can they? Just want it to go.

I'll just make an appointment then.

Gp can refer you for physio. In the meantime try and keep mobile and make a conscious effort to use your tummy muscles when getting up from being seated. Take ibuprofen.

Also doing yoga moving cat position

Thanks Caerlaverlock. On all fours is the most comfortable position to be in. I am a bit that i didn't do anything to cause it though.

I am quite the connoisseur of lower back pain! The best thing to counteract is to strengthen your core. A physio should be able to help. I would avoid chiropractors and osteopaths.

I have only had the pain for two days. Am I being naive to think it might go as quickly as it arrived do you think?

When my back gets back I alternate ibrufen and paracetemol and take it easy.

When my back is not so bad (it's never completely pain free I have a spinal condition) I am extremely careful. No lifting, limit bending, no high heels, watch my posture. I am always back aware.

You have my sympathy, back pain is awful.

Oh, acupuncture has alleviated the pain in the past but not recently. And Deep Heat can divert your attention for a while.

I did that last week and, with a baby, could not afford to be crippled whilst the gp sorted things out so I paid for a session with a osteopath. Best 40 quid ever spent as it got me functional again within 24 hours...shame the vomiting bug got me immediately :-)

Poor you. I get a bad back every now and then and it's really debilitating. My GP just chucks Diclofenic at me which upsets my stomach so I don't bother going to him any more - the only thing that works for me is Accupuncture. I have no idea how it works, it just does, even when I don't think it will. I'm currently saving up to go and have a few sessions so that I can finish decorating my house!

I hope yours gets better soon.

Does yours just appear from nowhere Almost?

Yes, it often does. Plus it moves around my lower back, just to keep it interesting!

This time, I just got up from the sofa and had to sit quickly back down again - it's like a stiffness across the whole of my lower back with an additional sharp niggly stabbing jolt in my right side. It started about two weeks ago and I've made it worse by painting the hall and bathroom Stupid is my middle name

It started 10 years ago and comes back unexpectedly for no good reason. If I had loads of money, I'd go for Accupuncture twice a week to keep it at bay but at £30 a session, I just can't afford it and my GP won't prescribe it on the NHS for me :(

You should have seen me trying to get out of the car earlier Almost. I nearly gave up. Weirdly driving is one of the most comfortable positions.

I am lying in bed all Ralgexed up now with a hot water bottle. It will be gone in the morning.

had the flu jab last Friday and although I know it can't be connected i am going to blame that I think.

Oh you poor thing! Yes, I find driving is fine too, thankfully! Getting up from the sofa or bed is a different ball game :)

Ralgex sounds like a good idea - I just long for my Chinese doctor to whack a few pins into me! Last time, I could hardly stand up and she peeled back my top lip, stuck a needle into the flappy bit of skin that attaches your lip to the gum - which was a bit of a shock!! - and the pain receded almost instantly. Black magic, I reckon, but God, it was lovely!

Fingers crossed you bounce out of bed in the morning!

I went to the GP. Useless. Offered a telephone consult with a physio, nothing more than I got online. Told painkillers/anti inflammatories, heat packs. Mine went away about 5 days later, for as little reason as it had come.

Still on my records and meant that my long term health insurance won't include anything to do with back pain now, even though it was a minor episode that didn't last long and hasn't recurred. Wish I'd never gone, but I had hoped they'd give me something stronger for the pain. Bad idea.

GP will probably just recommend painkillers at this stage, it's too soon to refer. When I was totally unable to get up, walk, etc mine told me to only ring back if I lost use of bladder, bowels or legs. Mine did turn out to be a ruptured disc which took quite a while to resolve but a muscle spasm is far more common, they usually last about 3 days or so.

I did at a later stage see a consultant who told me that, although driving feels good, it is incredibly risky if you stop suddenly, etc so always fold a hand towel in half lengthwise then roll it up and place behind the small of the back

Thanks Viper. I really don't want to go to the GP yet. Will definitely do the towel thing in the morning.

No loss of control of anything yet although coughing or sneezing is terrifying and painful.

I have only had it for 2 days, people have to do this all the time-it's just horrible.

How's your back today, Sparkling?

Thanks for asking Almost. I am having the weirdest day yet. I got out of bed in one move but struggled getting into the shower and dressing. Felt worse than ever.

Took DS to the bus stop, struggled to get in and out of the car. But then over the next couple of hours it really eased to the point that I forgot about it for half an hour.

I am now sat on the sofa and can feel it twinging again and seizing up. I think it's like two steps forward and one back.

That sounds like mine - I've just walked the hound, no problems, but it's twanging away now I'm sat down on the sofa. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that I must never sit down, unless in the car .

Well, good news that it's not horribly painful all the time. Let's hope it eases off again soon.

Yes, I am clinging on to the thought that it was either not there or I didn't notice it for at least half an hour today. It's a start.