Bulging discs/sciatica/general back pain

[Dollydaydream12]

Hi everyone just after some advice on back issues. Recently had an MRI which showed I have some bulging discs in my back. I've had back pain for years on and off but a couple of weeks ago I ended up unable to move which prompted the MRI. Since then I'm now able to move around but have today woken up with sciatica which is all down one leg. I've took more time off work as my job involves a lot of walking but obviously I can't keep taking time off.

Does anyone have any experience of these kind of back problems? GP has referred me for physio but they've just sent me some exercise videos which that doesn't really solve the problem.. can it even be solved? I'm only 28 and it's getting me down, I feel like I have the back of a 70 year old! Are there any alternative treatments people have done or anything that can help? I'm desperate now! Thanks

I had a spinal fusion in 2017, @Mxflamingnoravera. Is transformed my life. I hope everything works out equally well for you.

Make sure you look after yourself following the op and don't try and do too much too soon.

I am 4 weeks post surgery, and have found the recovery to be very smooth so far. It is so wonderful not being in constant pain.

I have two bulging disks at L4/5. They flared everybfew years from about 45 to 55. The flares responded to anti-inflammatories, immediate physio (private) those things dealt with the immediate pain and helped manage the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Nearly 10 years ago I fell and badly wedged the L1 by more than 50%. I found a brilliant physio who was also a pilates trainer. Since I strengthened my core the bulgy boys have never troubled me. Oh and orthotics which keep me in alignment from foot through hip. I wedged the T12 about 18 months ago (severe osteoporosis) and once that healed the pain resolved. Am a bit stiff in the mornings and have to pace myself.

So in short fast physio and expert pilates tuition (I do exercises every morning before I get up). Sadly, you will have to pay. My GP refused to refer me for physio on the NHS after the last injury.

It's great to hear stories of recovery, thank you both. I'm so looking forward to this time tomorrow.

Go slow, flaming nora, very slow. No bending, lifting or twisting. Give you back lots of time to heal. I'm so excited for you.

It is really awful when sciatica strikes. Mine started four months ago, the first six-seven weeks were horrific, it was spreading and getting worse. I did go to the private physio initially and did yoga, then changed to pilates as advised by the physio. The pain was terrible, I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t sit on a sofa - the options were standing or lying on the floor. Grim. Eight weeks after all this started I went to see my GP who immediately referred me for MRI, which I got done a couple of weeks later. It showed L4/5 extrusion pressing on the nerve. Got an appointment with neurosurgeon on NHS, predictably scheduled in spring 2023. It would have been beyond frustrating if my back wouldn’t have had started to improve and the main reason for that was reading Sarno’s Healing back pain: the mind-body connection. It’s difficult to explain but the experience of reading the book and following the advices brought my pain levels down by some 70% in the next couple of days. Two weeks later I am pain free, just mild discomfort now and then. Even that seems to be disappearing. I am continuing with pilates & sleeping on a firm mattress and haven’t cancelled the surgeon appointment but I hope I won’t need it in the end. By the way I took Naproxen for 3 weeks and it did take the edge of the pain away, so I could sleep, but the pain was back full on once I stopped. Reading the book, however, was transformative. There seems to be a significant neuropsychological component in the back/sciatica pain and there are ways to fix it. There is also Curable app but I found the book more effective.

DH had this earlier this year. Came out of nowhere and was very serious.
We ended up paying for private surgery after about 3 months barely able to get off the floor as NHS wait was so long.
Ignore pp advice to use coedine - if usually caused constipation and the straining does further damage.

I had this a few years ago, I was effectively disabled by it. An MRI scan showed extensive damage to a disc. I was put on an NHS waiting list but I was fortunate enough to go privately and had the operation a week later. The best money I've ever spent.

You may like to try acupuncture (I could get this through my GP) or a Tens machine.

My DS was 16 when he had a similar spinal fusion. His level of pain had become increasingly debilitating for him over the previous two years and so although he ended up having two surgeries of 6 and 7 hours each, it was the best thing for him. He is now generally pain free.

Best of luck for those having surgery at the moment.

@Maryqueenofscotland - it is so sad when they have it this young. DD had her fusion last week and so far so good although she is a bit frustrated by all the things she can't do atm. Thanks to @MarshaMelrose she has been practising putting on her socks lying on her back so that is one less thing for me to do.

@Mxflamingnoravera and @RagamuffinCat I hope the recovery is going well. DD was terrified too - found her having an ugly cry on the kitchen table the night before but is now smiley and upbeat for the most part 10 days on.

I'm in post op recovery and my own room now. It's all done. I feel great.

So glad it went well for you!

@Mxflamingnoravera - glad it went well - remember to take it slowly - DDs met someone whilst waiting to see her consultant who had a hernia from doing too much too soon. (TBF she apparently had toddler twins so I can see why she over did it....)

@londonmummy1966 Thanks for that warning. I fully intend to take it easy. Luckily, my days of toddlers are in the distant past and it's my son who will be doing the looking after. It must be so hard to recover at the recommended pace for women with small children.

I had chiro to help me get going again and now do Pilates. Sciatic pain is debilitating. I used to get it right into my ankle. Some of the Pilates moves are very good for easing the nerve.

Just back from my first physio, they've said it's not sciatica and it's not muscular. Lots of exercises and back in 3 weeks

I bloody well should have remembered my promise. I sat for nearly the whole day peering at a laptop yesterday, it left me feeling sick, ruminating that I had sepsis and feeling stupid because I couldn't understand the course I was trying to complete. (If anyone understands MS Azure please can you explain it to me?)
Today I'm going to get out of bed, have a short walk outside and not push myself. My stitches come out on Thursday, I'll be glad to have my wound checked over.

I’m waiting to see if Harrods or Liberty will reduce theirs. Although I REALLY don’t need any more products.

DD had her dressing changed this morning. Both scars look clean and healing well but she found the process really painful. She managed to get them to give her a smaller sized corset which she says is much more supportive.

Download an app called Curable and read/listen with an open mind.

Was life-changing for me after 10 years of backpain (I have none now) and I learnt so much about brain science and what actually causes chronic pain. Spoiler alert, it's not usually the bulging discs.

Can you tell us more @curlyLJ ?

Copied from the Curable website:

"The Curable app provides evidence-based chronic pain lessons in your pocket. It uses a combination of pain science education and research-backed techniques to address pain from every angle. The program helps you connect the dots between what’s happening in your brain, in your body, and in your life, to get a full picture of what's causing your symptoms and how to relieve them."

Basically (and this is the very short version) most chronic pain is caused by a combination of emotional issues/stress and neural pathways that have got 'stuck' perhaps from old injurues, as all pain is generated in the brain. Curable offers techniques to 'unlearn' this pattern through brain re-training exercises and education.

Not saying any of this is in your head before anyone thinks that, but I had been convinced for years there was something wrong, paid thousands to osteopaths / chiropractors / physics etc, spent a fortune on new pillows (none of which worked) and now I am virtually pain-free. It didn't happen overnight, but I saw a dramatic improvement within weeks.

Not saying any of this is in your head before anyone thinks.

But that's exactly what that is saying.
It's blaming emotional issues and stress.
I'm very sceptical about the whole thing. I was once told by an orthopedic Dr that a back problem was psychosomatic when they couldn't find a cause. I eventually saw a new physio who worked out the cause was a leg length discrepancy.

back pain is very, very real but the cause of the pain could be stress. How many people get tension headaches or migraine stomach issues? I got both for years until I dealt with the chronic anxiety that under pinned them both. Why couldn’t that manifest in back pain too?

The body is incredibly good at healing itself so long as you create the right conditions for it to do so. sensible movement - yoga, Pilates, walking - on a daily basis. Good diet. Enough sleep. Hydration. And dealing with the cause of any stress.

Of cause there could be a purely physical issue so is best to get properly checked by professionals out but denying a body / mind connection is short sighted and could prevent someone getting to the root of their pain.

Two books that helped me immensely were John Sarno ‘healing back pain’ and one called The Body Keeps the Score (can’t remember the author right now).