How long to leave trapped nerve and possible bulging/slipped disc in upper back AFTER seeing GP and physio?

[Sameshitdifferentdayox]

Hi.
Just wondering if anyones experienced the same sort of thing.
A week ago I made a sudden movement that's seemed to of buggered my upper back/bottom of neck. Initially thought it was a mild trapped nerve. Saw the Dr Tuesday just gone after being thrown from pillar to post from Dr's, pharmacy (because I couldn't get a GP appt) who advised 111, who then managed to get me in to a GP, who then put me in with physio at the GP surgery for today (Friday!) 😴🥴
It's affecting my right arm and fingers, aswell as the shoulder/shoulder blade. Tingling, slight weakness that just feels like a mildly dead arm, my upper spine feels bruised to even run fingers over/press on and very tender, which then leaves a burning type feeling and me feeling as sick as a pig. I was given diazepam on Tuesday (2mg) but didn't feel much effect. Told to keep up with general painkillers. Can manage slight movement with head/neck but cannot move head back at all without pain. The physio has said "if there is no improvement then we can refer you, or you can self refer to a hospital physio who can then organise scans, but ONLY if there's no improvement" but wouldn't give a time limit on how long to leave it for from now?! I've been off work (cleaner) all this week, and the thought of stress with how they're going to react if no better by Monday makes me feel sick alone.
Does this potentially sound similar to anyone's experiences with disc/trapped nerves? Was a MRI needed? Any advice welcome. Just a waiting game I suppose. 🥴
Thank you in advance!

Be careful. Not all problems can be solved with physio.

@OddSockChaser

When my upper back was really bad, and I'd done about 3 years of physio, osteo etc. I had a private pilates teacher who came once a week and gave me 'homework' of about 15 minutes a day of exercises, gradually building up to half an hour a day. I think (it was a while ago, so I don't remember that well) it took about a year before I was climbing freely, although there were at least 2 occasions in the first year when I re-injured myself (not climbing, doing everyday things) and had to dial it back for a couple of weeks.

This time I started doing only the real simple exercises every 2 hours until I got a day without any acute pangs, then moved to 4 times a day and added an exercise every day until I got to 4x 15 mins, then moved to 2 sessions adding an exercise a day until I got to 2x30 mins. Haven't reinjured myself yet, but haven't started anything high impact yet either (it's been just over a month). I won't risk trying climbing for another month at least.

Re-injury will happen, but each time it will last less long, and eventually it will go away. It's a matter of sticking to it. It's really frustrating, I remember once being almost in tears because I'd reinjured myself the day before we were due to go climbing with friends, and I had to cancel the whole thing. Everyone kept telling me we'd go when I was ready and not to be upset, they couldn't understand the level of frustration of feeling like I was back in square one. I wasn't though, it just felt like it. A couple of weeks later I was able to do the climbing without issue.

@CatherinedeBourgh thank you SO MUCH for writing out all the details, it's so helpful and gives me hope.

I've got an NHS physio appointment tomorrow for this issue.

Annoyingly I also have some intermittent lower back problems too.

You are very welcome.

Upper and lower back pain are highly correlated, they all stem from postural issues.

If you ask your physio for an exercise regime that would help they should be able to give you one.

OP I had similar experience with neck. Lower back, chest disc issues are very different to cervical spine. I lost sensation, strength in one arm and had agonising pain. Physio and GP diagnosed torticollis and muscle tightness. The drugs they prescribed left me with kidney damage. I saw a chiropractor and the manipulation made it worse and they refused to do anymore. I ended up with urgent surgery after an MRI showed significant issues. 5 weeks after initial onset and my surgeon said after 6 weeks the damage (compression of nerves) would have been permanent. As it is my left arm is weaker than right. I had a spinal cord decompression, foraminectemy, and a bone graft. I wish it had not taken so many drugs (chronic kidney disease now) and delays to get treated. Do not be fobbed off and certainly not correlated with more common lower back pain which does improve with exercise

Exactly Wishthiswasntmypost there is the fact that sometimes surgery is needed to prevent lifelong disability and it is easy to be fobbed off without a correct diagnosis. In my case it was 2 years before an MRI revealed the truth and I have since had 2 major surgeries and now need another one.

Sorry you had such a bad experience @Wishthiswasntmypost .

My first back pain also caused arm numbness, tingling etc. along with the agonising pain. One of the things I needed to have checked out was the constant bruising I was getting on my arm. Turns out it was because I kept banging it as I had no sensation.

However it was corrected with exercise.

Drugs and surgery have lifelong consequences, as you know, so it is worth having a go with the exercise first. Obviously if an MRI shows something that is much more than a bulging disk/hernia then surgery may be necessary, but that is the minority rather than the majority of cases.

Sorry you've had such an awful experience, sounds horrendous, even more so regarding what drugs they put you on has left you with kidney issues on top of everything.
I'm kind of at my wits end and it's only been nearly 2 weeks since the start of it, so I'm hoping it'll soon start to improve. I'm now having almost dizzy spells/light-headedness, more like I've just stepped off a roundabout and go a bit wobbly for a few seconds, then it'll disappear for 15-20 mins and it'll happen again. 🥴
My main point of pain is upper back on the spine area (between shoulder blades) which then radiates to shoulder and right arm and under the collarbone, tolerating moving neck to sides slightly now but as soon as my head even jolts slightly backwards or I move it backwards, it's almost like I'm squashing something and it's agony 🤷🏽‍♀️ they've said I can give it this week to sort itself and then a referral will be made to hospital physio to see if they then want scans done, fully aware that could and probably will take weeks or months. Just want to be "normal" again 😩

😔 Sorry you're also going through that. Have you another surgery scheduled or you still waiting?

Thanks Sameshitdifferentdayox I'm undecided at the moment. I'ts been a long journey. I also had the 'disequilibrium' feeling since this started, it's a lot better than before my surgeries but it was hard to explain and I have since found out (from Facebook groups) that it is very common with cervical spine nerve compression)

I like you coped until now age 67 but the scoliosis lower lumbar discs together with an arthritic hip is awful. I'm on Gabapentin, had x-ray and MRI. Had steroids injection directly into my spine. Seen private physio for a number of sessions. Do the exercises but some days are worse than others.

I don't know what the answer is. Surgery is risky. It's bloody miserable.

I used to have physio and pain meds for the scoliosis for a while when I was at wits end, but I hate taking tablets and physio I feel does nothing ever, so I get fed up and stop 🙈 and prior to diagnosis (complete unexpected diagnosis during a scan for another reason only to them see the tail end of the curve!) I'd suffered with lower back pain for years so just deal with it and found my own little ways of easing pain by baths, heat patches, hot water bottles etc with the odd tablet to help, so just plod along with it to the best of my ability.
If I can avoid surgery with anything, I will, c sections were enough for me, let alone the thought of having my back operated on. Ouch!
I hope you're ok though, it's definitely miserable!

Mine was found unexpectedly when I had an MRI for stomach issues. Nearly fell off the chair when the consultant pointed it out a few years ago. But it did explain my visits to chiropractor after every pregnancy. It's meant one leg is longer than the other because of the twist. Trouble is there's a bit of arthritis now. Oh joy

If you have tingling /numbness/slight tremor down your arm I’d definitely say you need to get a diagnosis to make sure there’s no nerve impingement needing treatment so make sure you don’t end up with nerve damage.

i have osteoarthritis, sacroiliac problems, shoulder tendonitis/tendonosis. cervical spine disc issues etc. I have occipital nerve blocks a few times a year. I’m always asked when I see anyone about a neck or shoulder pain flare if I have any numbness/tingling etc in my arm, wrist, hand etc. so it seems to be something they need to take seriously. I get a stiff neck, pain and headache that goes up the back of my head and ends in my eye sockets. It’s exhausting and makes me feel dizzy and foggy. I have never had any numbness etc though. I also have nerve blocks in my sacroiliac joint and again, if I speak to any HCP about flare ups, I’m always asked about problems with bowels/bladder, numbness round public area, inner thighs etc, which can indicate serious issues that need quick treatment.

I don’t like this ‘straight to physio/ Pilates/ etc when there’s not a clear picture of what’s going on and a chance that something that needs more than that, isn’t getting missed. If you can go private I would but if not tell your GP about everything you’ve described on here and don’t let them fob you off.

Agreed I didn't go near physio until MRI done and consultant had written a concise report for the physiotherapist to see.

Thank you!!
They're aware of everything. 🥴
I've had a couple headaches up into the back of my head this past week. . Though I'm a chronic migraine sufferer, these headaches weren't as bad as my usual migraine attacks.
The GP has sent a link through to me for self referral to hospital physio, as apparently they're the ones who can organise the scans and not the GP themselves. 🙃
Regarding the more serious issues you mentioned, yes I've been told if I have any loss of control with the bladder etc, then I need to go a&e.
Sorry to hear you suffer with this a lot! X

It's funny you say this. Mine was found after my 2nd pregnancy and regarding my pelvis during and after birth! 🥴

Any help with mri please
. I discussed the results of her MRI, which did not show any evidence of deep infiltrating endometriosis. However, there was a 15 mm left-sided cyst containing proteinaceous material, a small follicle in the right ovary, and a very small hydrosalpinx on the right side. The MRI of her spine revealed mild degenerative changes in the lower cervical and lumbar regions, as well as bilateral L5 nerve root impingement at the L5-S1 level.
@Sameshitdifferentdayox @Mumzoo5070 @WhenIsTheGeneralElection