Agonising back pain

[SmileyClare]

Any advice?
Ive had niggling lower back pain for several weeks- carried on with life/ work as recommended on the NHS website. I have a very physical job (self employed cleaner).

However at the weekend I tried to get up, felt like my back gave way (?) and couldn’t- the worst pain ever- lower back all down my leg- just horrific.

Im now on Naproxen, pregablin and coccodamol but can barely stand or walk without feeling sick with pain.

please can anyone advise? Is there an ongoing back pain thread on here?
I really need to return to work soon as I’m self employed. And get on with everything at home- two teenagers here.

Just feeling so desperate.

Do you think it’ll be damaging to lean over the bath and wash my hair? Desperately want to do that soon 😕

Gp didn’t actually diagnose anything specific..Just had a phone appointment with gp; prescribed lots of drugs and told to call back in a week if no improvement. Just your basic no frills NHS I’m afraid.

Back pain is the absolute worst! Mine went like yours years ago and I have scoliosis and degenerating discs in the lower part of my back. When it first went I went to the chiropractor and while that helped massively with shoulder and neck stress I did end up in a&e so wouldn’t recommend that at this stage. Physio helped the most and now if it’s too bad I find a really good back support brace helps keep everything together and supported so I can actually move. I’d go more ice pack than hot water bottles and try to walk around as much as you can. There’s an nhs choices back exercises pdf with some very gentle moves you can try. Just google that and it’ll come up under the images.

I feel your pain as am in a similar situation. My lower back on the right popped when I plugged in the bath for my daughter last week. I could only crawl to my bed in agony and got my children to get a cold pack from the fridge and called a neighbour to sort hot water bottles too. Alternating them is the best thing and pain relief when in spasm. I also have shooting pain down my right leg which feels very heavy too. I also ignored niggles over the last few weeks, until I couldn’t ignore it! Mine improved after the hot/cold and a chiropractor friend came round and pummelled me which helped. It popped again yesterday and isn’t quite as bad as the first time, but I haven’t been able to get thru to the GP today in time for an appt, so will try again tomorrow in order to get some heavy duty pain relief hopefully. Diazepam is supposed to be good for when the muscles are in spasm.
my friend thinks mine is muscular and it will just take a while for the connective tissues to heal. She also recommended a collagen supplement to help speed up this process. Hopefully yours is this too!
it really is debilitating, I have cried a fair bit this week as you just feel so hopeless and decrepit.

My friend recommended moving into a foetal position as a good stretch/excersise to do. I think it has helped me!

I used the Mackenzie method for similar. Lie on your stomach on the hard floor and lift your upper body with your arms when you are in full therapy you do this many many times. You also hold it after doing repetitions. Now if my back feels funny I get right on it and I have not had a repeat of the excruciating pain and sciatic.

I once hurt mine in a supermarket, pushing a trolley. I just felt something move and within 10 minutes was in absolute agony. I couldn't move without awful pain, could not lift anything heavier than a sandwich, couldn't twist my back to the sides.

GP explained that it was 'soft tissue' injury of the sacre illiac (that's what it sounded like not sure that's how to spell it). He said when you damage your back the body tries to protect it by sending fluid to the tissues around the injury which pack it out and make it even harder and more painful to move . It goes into spasms which feel like electric shocks and intense pain. Gave me two lots of painkillers - one was anti-inflammatory, the other paracodol (I think) plus a muscle relaxant. Told me to lie flat on the floor for two weeks and then begin moving around very gently.
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DH had to do everything. I couldn't bear to be touched so crawled up and down the stairs - had to be dosed up on painkillers before I could move in bed in the morning. He hosed me down in the shower and left me on the sitting room floor with a duvet over me, a packed lunch , drinks and medication next to me. After 2 weeks it had eased slightly and I could walk for short periods on totally flat surfaces- even a kerb was agonising. In total it was 2 months before I felt anywhere near normal.

Helps:
The painkillers, never missed a dose.
The muscle relaxant.
Back heat pads.
Hot water bottle.
Hot shower directed at the bottom of my back.
Hot baths- once I could get into one.
Gentle stretching exercises after a month.

The spasms lasted for more than 2 months although they weakened in intensity.

there are more videos on you tube

Oh goodness, can totally relate to all these accounts! @noodles44 that must be so difficult when your children are still small.

Mine are teens so at least can be left to their own devices a bit. I’ve cried in bed a lot too

Im really bowled over by everyone’s helpful suggestions and kind messages.
Youve all been so lovely (this may be the strong drugs/codeine talking 😂) but I’m really touched with all these replies .
Huge thanks 😊

The one I got from Lloyds was about £20. How much is rental?

lloydspharmacy.com/products/lloydspharmacy-dual-channel-digital-tens-pain-reliever?variant=39727509602367

This one. There’s one that only has 2 pads for £13.99.

Oh right. The rental was £21 for 6 weeks.
Might be better to buy one then ha ha

I was surprised how cheap it was. Not sure whether there are better ones out there but that one got me back to work a couple of years ago.
probably would have got me back last week too but the pads on it are ancient and don’t work well.

Thanks. I’m happy to get a cheap one as long as it does the job!

You mentioned pulling your knees up towards your chest - I found that really helpful. Another thing that I found worked was standing with my legs apart and gently moving my hips as if I was using a hula hoop. That stopped my muscles tensing up.

A physio also taught me an exercise where (sorry this sounds stupid but I don't know how else to describe it!) imagine you're holding a box of cereal upright at belly button height, in front of you with both hands, with the broad side facing you. Tilt the box forward so the top moves away from you a little bit, like 30 degrees or so. Tilt it back again so it's upright. Now put your hands on your hips and try the same movement with your pelvis. This is best done with nobody watching unless you want to give your DH a laugh!

I slept on a couple of duvets on the floor too so my back was supported and straight (crap mattress). Get well soon!

I’ll definitely try the exercises your physio gave you @user1257539345
Youve actually explained the pelvic thing really well. Doesn’t sound like sexiest dance move I agree 😂

Hi @SmileyClare it sounds like pretty full blown sciatica. For where you are right now I would not recommend either hands on physio or chiro. The best exercise I found was to lie very still on my back on the floor with my legs on the bed so I formed a Z shape. For at least half an hour three or four times a day. This will stretch out your back and take pressure of your lumbar discs. Rest and anti inflammatory will help to some extent. Good luck.

@SmileyClare I should have added once this bout is over get yourself down to a physio and take up pilates. You need to work on the deep pelvic and groin muscles that control your lower back alignment.

mrsorganmorgan which bleeding disorder do you have? I do too and have to go through 3 days of txa plus an injection before I have a tooth out.

Thank you @Daftasabroom i just tried the Z shape position and it felt reasonably ok (once I got myself on the floor!) Will keep up with that.

I thought I was quite fit with all the cleaning but clearly need to do something to improve my core strength which is probably awful and my posture I think.

This experience has shocked me. I will never be so flippant about lifting and moving again.

OP, don’t panic or go cancelling your clients.
Despite the dreadful pain, the vast majority of herniated discs (and it does sound very much like thats the problem) resolve on their own within around 2-6 weeks. Heat/ ice/ regular pain relief can all help and its correct that keeping moving is really important.
Personally I found amytriptiline quite good for my herniated disc, (recommended to me by my spinal consultant) its not addictive and can aid sleep too which is helpful when pain is reducing your sleep. Also as pp have suggested, a short course of diazepam to take the back out of spasm xx

Yes trying not to panic about all my customers. I think I’ll just have to explain I’ll be out of action for 2-3 weeks so I’m not mucking them about and they can make other arrangements if they want to.

I have six big houses to clean a week so it may be a good thing if a few decide to let me go ☹️Was probably trying to do too much.

Thanks again for the helpful replies 😊

Core strength and posture are key, that's what my physio drummed into me. I was in so much pain, back and referred down my legs so I could barely walk but the exercises to improve my core strength and posture fixed me even though they were agony to do to begin with. But very important to be properly assessed first (not over the phone! That is terrible that the GP didn't see you in person) to make sure there isn't an issue or injury that could be worsened by exercises.

The problem with physios though is that they can vary so much. I went to a physio when I still lived in the UK after injuring my wrist and she would mess about with fancy equipment, ultrasound therapy and suchlike and it did absolutely nothing to help but it all looked like it was doing something, nothing like my physio where I live now who is all about exercises and stretches that really make a difference.

Please could you explain which core strength exercises to do?

I am currently experiencing something similar to op but not as painful, the pain started over a week ago and is getting by the day

Had a look for my exercise sheets to see if I could take a picture to send but forgot that the explanations are all in Finnish but I'll try to explain some. One is where you go on your hands and knees, neck straight, looking at the ground, tighten your abdominal muscles and raise one leg up with the knee bent and heel pointing to the ceiling, lower and repeat with the other leg, making sure you don't move the rest of your body at all and keep your abdominal muscles tight at all times. Another one lie on your back with knees up and and feet flat on the floor, tighten muscles again and lift up with the abdominal muscles so your bum gets off the floor and you make a straight line from your knees to your shoulders, then lower and repeat.
The main thing is, whatever exercises you're doing, is to tighten those abdominal muscles. I found that really hard to do at first (kept holding my breath! but you have to keep breathing) so first practice tightening them while you hold your palm on your belly to feel them tighten so you know you're doing it right. And really important to have good posture while doing exercises otherwise you might end up doing more harm than good, my posture exercises are in English so can take a picture of those if you want.

@Workinghardeveryday my back pain started as twinges like yours and got gradually worse. Please don’t ignore it and force yourself to keep going (as your user name suggests!) like I did.

It sounds a bit wanky but I I wish I’d “listened to my body” and started doing some stretching and core exercises when it first started.

The exercises described sound really useful. Stupidly, I’ve never thought much about my posture and how I could be putting strain on my back
Lesson learned!

Ive managed to get a face to face appointment this afternoon (like gold dust at our practice!) so at least I can be assessed in person.
If I know I haven’t done something horrific to my back, I’m keen to get some physio.

Thanks all