do i trust my osteopath

[essexgirl58]

When I first went to the osteopath for my back i was told I had sciatica from a doctor. Osteopath disagreed and said it was a tight muscle. Then I asked if i should have an MRI due to the fact that back was still painful and was told no wont show up anything on a scan. My GP did actually send me for MRI and it showed up a spine issue bulging disc. The osteopath was wrong to say nothing would show up.

Also I was told not to do my exercise class as too high impac and not to run for a bus etc. My GP said my exercise class is fine and I can do it gently.

I now take anyting the osteopath says with a pinch of salt

@GlamGiraffe

It takes weeks if not months. Prepare to change your lifestyle, habits and expectations. It sounds like you are suffering a lot of anxiety. Maybe conesuder this as a posdibility and if its even possible speak yo your GP. Some treatment might make this whole situation easier to manage. The back might not be as bad as you think it is. Other factors may be letting it get on top of you.

Step back. Take a breath and relax. Youre in this for the long haul. There us no magic. Just time and hard work.

You are responing to one of my old posts. A lot as happened since. . I no longer go to that osteoath. I have found a much better person who is a physiotherapist not an osteopath and I had my first session with the physiotherapist two days ago. From the start and also by seaking to him on the phone beforehand, I could tell he was far better than the osteopath. His whole apprach was more professional.

He has worked in other practices as well as a hospital and he said to me that I am not as bad as I think I am. ok, the GP and the former osteopath did say I have a mild condition, but this physeotherapist put it in a much better way to ease my concerns.

He wanted to know what the osteopath had done for me and basically told me she was wrong. My GP told me I need to place a rolled up towel in the small of my back whilst sitting, and when I asked the osteopath, she said no under no circumstances do that. When I told the physio what the osteopath said, he said to me that she was wrong to say dont do that because you should support your lumbar. That was a red flag against her professionalism.

I have included a video of the exercises my physio wants me to do which I am doing as instructed and sitting with the towel behind back.

Obviously because he manipulated me in a different way at the first visit, he was activating muscles that had not been activated beforee so I was very sore afterwards (more so than when I went to the osteopath). However today I felt so much better so I think it was a good session and I will carry on with his suggestions and guidance. He said do not sit up in bed, sit in a chair with your legs flat to the ground. Do not cross your legs. I have been consoiusly doing this. It is hard not to want to cross my legs but if I am to feel better, then I have to do as he says.

My worry and anxiety stems from hearing or knowning people who have these issues and they are worse than me and I simply thought I would get as bad as them. One person who I know personally has lower bac issues and sciatica and she told me that she is in constant pain with tingling and cannot sleep at night and has to take painillers several times a day. I am nowhere like that and I feel sorry or her that she is so bad. . One of the things you must not do is wear high heels. She wears 3 inch heels and she told me she does not do her exercises because she has not got the time because she has a young toddler. I did not say anything but I thought to mysel, you shoul not wear high heels and you should do your exercises if you want to get better. I did tell her a couple of weeks ago that high heels were a no non but she obviously has taken no notice.

What she does is up to her but I want to do what is correct. You can wear heels of up to 2 inches which is not considered high but anything above that is not good Having said that, I have never worn heels more than 2 inches because I have always found them unccomortable and thats years before I had this back issue.

The other ting the osteopath said not to do is run or hop or skip. I do an exercise class which involves gentle skipping or a gentle jig. Nothing too strenuous but she said evven gentle will make things worse due to the bouncy movements. The new physio said I can do gentle skipping and jig movements and take is slowly and he could not understand why the osteopath said no. He said it will not harm me.

All in all to conclude.... I am not an anxioius person generally. My new physio put my mind at ease and I will not end up like some of these people who need back injetions, surgery or DDT treatment.

I am going back to this physio in few days time so he can check my progress and advise further, I am so grateful to have found him

I was avised to keep tis thread going.

How often shoud you realistically exercise for sciatica an lower back. I hae found a very good physiotherapist but I thinnk he is trying to get me to exercise too much and its putting strain on my muscles. I am doing low impact sitting exercises where you sit on a chait and twist round to the right and left whilst holding the back of the chait. He wants me to do these 10 times every couple of hours during the day an he says the more frequently I do them the more it will help me in the long run.

quite frankly I am exhausted to the point where today I did three sessions after starting them on Saturday and I am exhausted and hae no energy to do any more tonight. As well as these, i have to do standing exercises where I bend over to the right an left. I think doing these for the amount of time he asks me is putting strain on my muscles and every two hours is way too much

Any comments? Apart ftom this, I have no issues with him. I am going to have to tell him this week how I feel

I think k you've answered your own question. You need to talk to your physio and tell them how you feel. I would imagine the advice they gave was indeed correct and sometimes moving more or differently can be tiring but only your physio can say.
It must be very frustrating for you but I do think that the relationship you build with healthcare professionals should be based on trust that they are advising in your best interests.

@ChurchlightJane

I think k you've answered your own question. You need to talk to your physio and tell them how you feel. I would imagine the advice they gave was indeed correct and sometimes moving more or differently can be tiring but only your physio can say. It must be very frustrating for you but I do think that the relationship you build with healthcare professionals should be based on trust that they are advising in your best interests.

yes and on the whole I do trust the physio which is good

At my last appointment I was quite tense. The physiotherapist gave me a shoulder massage. A friend of mine said that was wrong because the only areas that should be dealt with are the lower back an leg and not the shoulders. i said at the time, I do not have an upper body issue and I was told that because I was very tense it was necessary to so that to help relax me.

Is this ok or not or should I be concerned

I like the sound of your new physio. They have identified a problem and treated it, they are seeing you as a whole person. I used to suffer from bad sciatica. Supporting the lumbar is important. Gentle weight bearing exercise is also important to reduce bone loss. If you are struggling with this exercise, are you pulling in your abdominal muscles before attempting them? Please do this, because this will help support your back through the movement. A pp suggested Pilates to you, I don't know if you noticed - but I would strongly advise it

@pickingdaisies

I like the sound of your new physio. They have identified a problem and treated it, they are seeing you as a whole person. I used to suffer from bad sciatica. Supporting the lumbar is important. Gentle weight bearing exercise is also important to reduce bone loss. If you are struggling with this exercise, are you pulling in your abdominal muscles before attempting them? Please do this, because this will help support your back through the movement. A pp suggested Pilates to you, I don't know if you noticed - but I would strongly advise it

I dont understand your reply. How are massaging shoulders going to help with lower back and sciatica? I was only tense because the physiotherapist was manipulating my sciatic leg and because I had done the exercises wrong an aggrivated the area and caused a bit of lower back pain I was very worried about haing my sciatic leg being manipulated because the pain was worse due to my doing the exercise wrong. So because I would not let him manipulate my leg he said I was very anxious and then wanted to massage my upper shoulders and my friend said he should not have done that because I do not have any problems with my shoulders

I now know how to the particular exercise correctly so will not strain my lower back anymore

He massaged your shoulders because it won't just be your shoulders that were tense. If he could get your shoulders to relax, that sort of helps your whole body to relax. Think back, try and remember how it felt when you let go the tension in your shoulders - it's like your whole body lets go of the tension.

@pickingdaisies

I like the sound of your new physio. They have identified a problem and treated it, they are seeing you as a whole person. I used to suffer from bad sciatica. Supporting the lumbar is important. Gentle weight bearing exercise is also important to reduce bone loss. If you are struggling with this exercise, are you pulling in your abdominal muscles before attempting them? Please do this, because this will help support your back through the movement. A pp suggested Pilates to you, I don't know if you noticed - but I would strongly advise it

you said you used to suffer from bad sciatica How did you get rid of it or at least how did it get better

Short term, sorry this sounds obvious, but avoiding things that aggravated it, then doing exercises and stretches that relieved it, but long term, it was regular Pilates. I still go regularly, it has given me a much stronger core. So it's those muscles that take the strain now, and not my back.
You mentioned the supermarket - I only use a small trolley. Not a big deep one (so I don't overfill and end up pushing a heavy trolley) and not a basket ( it pulls you over to one side). My everyday handbag is now always a crossbody. Or a backpack style. Use a lumbar cushion - I got one for the car. Lying flat on my back with a small cushion under my head to ease the pressure on my spine.
Lying on my back but with my lower legs and feet resting on a coffee table - stay there as long as I can, it helps the spine relax and regain shape, with gravity doing the work for you. You are this shape
Head __|--- feet
Your new physio is giving you the advice that worked for me. If I remember any more I'll come back and post again.

Sitting on a hard chair (dining chair in my case) while back was really sore - more supportive than the sofa.
General note with those exercises - only stretch as far as is comfortable, and only continues as long as it's comfortable. Don't try and work through pain. Don't try and touch your toes if you can't naturally reach them. Then as your back gets stronger you will be able to gradually build up.

@pickingdaisies

Short term, sorry this sounds obvious, but avoiding things that aggravated it, then doing exercises and stretches that relieved it, but long term, it was regular Pilates. I still go regularly, it has given me a much stronger core. So it's those muscles that take the strain now, and not my back. You mentioned the supermarket - I only use a small trolley. Not a big deep one (so I don't overfill and end up pushing a heavy trolley) and not a basket ( it pulls you over to one side). My everyday handbag is now always a crossbody. Or a backpack style. Use a lumbar cushion - I got one for the car. Lying flat on my back with a small cushion under my head to ease the pressure on my spine. Lying on my back but with my lower legs and feet resting on a coffee table - stay there as long as I can, it helps the spine relax and regain shape, with gravity doing the work for you. You are this shape Head __|--- feet Your new physio is giving you the advice that worked for me. If I remember any more I'll come back and post again.

sounds good to me. Long before I had back and sciatica problems I used the small trolley because I shop for one and those big ones are for families. I guess I was too lazy to carry a basket but still do carry one if I only have two or three small items. All my local supermarkets have stoppe making you pay for the trolley but I was somewhere else an you still had to put a coin in the slot and I did not have a one poun coin

@pickingdaisies

Sitting on a hard chair (dining chair in my case) while back was really sore - more supportive than the sofa. General note with those exercises - only stretch as far as is comfortable, and only continues as long as it's comfortable. Don't try and work through pain. Don't try and touch your toes if you can't naturally reach them. Then as your back gets stronger you will be able to gradually build up.

I have always been able to touch my toes and stll can with eaase. I do not get back pain. My pain is sciatia and even that is quite mild. However I do still have to be careful how I move the leg because if moved in the wrong way it could lead to a sudden electric shock type of a pain but then it goes away.

The only difficulty I have is when I am out for the entire day and am doing a combination of sitting, walking and standing I find that towards the end of the day my sciatic leg can be quite painful until the following day but no back pain. When I am at home for the entire day, I never get that leg pain. Strange that. Maybe on days out I do too much walking.

Anyway my therapist is on top of it and has said its up to me to do the exercises. I do not want to be in this situation this time next year. I am off on holiday on a flight for 7 hours and so I asked the therapist how to cope and he said get an aisle seat and get up and wallk around every 20 minutes

Not 'twaddle' at all. This poster is completely right. The majority of disc bulges do get reabsorbed and 9 out of 10 people will have some degree of disc bulging with or without symptoms so scans aren't the first line of treatment.

I remember that pain. It's so awful! But I had lower back pain with it too so I stiffened up to protect myself I think. Wish you well

I had the day from hell today. I had to go bac to work (our work demanded that we go back one day a week). I had to take my laptop and some note pads etc. The laptop bag was heavy to carry. I travelled on public transport but was able to get up every 20 minutes or so as directed. Then I sat at my office desk and sat for 20 minuts. The sitting caused pain down my sciatic leg and I got up and walked around and sat down again and still had the pain. The pain happened every time I sat down. I was very careful not to sit for longer than 20 minutes. No idea why I got pain in the leg. Maybe it was due to carrying a heavy laptop bag. I have now ordered one on wheels which sill be better. The journey home in the rush hour was horrendous and I had to carry the laptop bag. I came home and went to bed to lie down because my leg was quite painful. It has worn off now. I will have to discuss this with the physiotherapist because quite honestly, I could not go through this again. It was actually worse than working from home. You think you are recovering and then this happens. The truth is, that you only know when you are recovered when you can do a journey like this and not be in pain.

@Justilou1

Your osteopath is not qualified to “diagnose” you with anything. They need to stay in their lane. An osteopath is trained to relieve tension by manipulating muscles and bones. They do not have the training or the equipment to make comments dismissing your GP’s suggestion about MRI’s, etc, and this kind of statement in this context is grounds for a review of their license to practice/registration. The advice above about the bulging discs being reabsorbed by the body is utter nonsense and dangerous in this case. Bulging or herniated discs rarely self-heal. The chance of exacerbating the injury and causing serious nerve damage is quite high if you are being treated by someone with no understanding of your injury. Personally, I wouldn’t touch this osteopath with a bargepole. (Same with chiropractors…) You need a Physio.

This is factually inaccurate. Osteopaths complete a 4year full time bachelors degree which gives them the qualification as an allied health professional with autonomy to diagnose and treat as primary healthcare practitioner. In fact physios (3year full time bachelors degree) are initially only secondary care providers until they have had further training to be allowed to treat autonomously.

As an aside, an MRI will often show up things like a bulging disc that may or may not be symptomatic. The idea of doing an MRI for chronic back pain (more than 6weeks) actually goes against NICE guidelines so the GP who referred for this was going against this and could easily be referred to the GMC as a result. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs155/chapter/quality-statement-2-referrals-for-imaging

OP it sounds like your local osteo needs some lessons in communication and soft skills but that actually what they have told you isn't itself harmful. That being said if you don't trust them then definitely don't continue being treated by them!

If you follow this thread you will see that I actually no longer see the osteopath but transerred to a much better physiotherapist. I am glad I had the MRI scan because otherwise I would not have known I had bulging discs.

My new physiotherapist is very good but the only issue I have is the exercises. I have always thought that exercising for lower back sciatica is to be doe gradually and then you build up to more frequently. My physiothereapist has told me to do the exercises every two hours. I have to do stretching exercises which is supposed to help the sciatica I have to do pelvic thrusts which done properly should a streth in the groin area where the sciatic pain occurs. I have to do a couple of other exercises that will also stretch the area. I have no issue with the exercises but its the frequency that I am concerned about. Obviously exercising causes a bit of discomfort which is normal and it takes a whilt for the body to recover. If I am supposed to do these exercises every two hours, then how am I going to recover from the exercises because wen the exercises make me a bit sore then two hours later I am doing them again and then two hours later again etc so my body is not being given any time to recoer and I am exercising over sore muscles and making them even more sore.

I just cannot go on like this. I have mentioned this twice to my physioterapist and each time he says to me you have to exercise every two hours because that is the only way to recover from sciatica and then when you get to the stage where you can go a whole day and function without any hint pain from sciatica then and only then can you reduce the exercises from every two hours to every four hours.

I cannot get my head around this because every osteopath I have spoken to say you start by twice a day and then gradually increase the frequency, not the other way round. I feel that although my exercises are not high impact, they are too frequent for comfort but I have to keep going because I am told its the only way to rid the sciatica pain.

I want to believe my physioterapist but I feel I am overworking my body

.

@GlamGiraffe

Te eork. Sit gor 20 onb a very ipright dinig type chsir. Stand gor 20 walkcaround as much as you can. I tell evetyoneceiyh fisc and sciagica ghus. Ig wotks. Its inconvenient but eotks. Oh and dont bend over. Get something yo knerl on with a flat back yoo

This message is absolute nonsence. Please do it again so it can be understoo

@essexgirl58 - you need to tell your Physio how you feel. Explain that you are dealing with injury AND age, plus you believe that you may have exacerbated things with pervious treatment. Unless you communicate, your Physio is going to assume everything is going swimmingly.