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Anyone have back pain/issues? Need help/advice (1 Viewer)

JamesonSkittles

Footballguy
Sorry for the long post.  

I work overnight in a warehouse from 9pm-8am.   I am in charge of running pallets of merchandise from the backroom to the floor. I use two pallet jacks at a time, pushing one, pulling the other.  Lots of twisting, turning, walking...etc.  I do this for about 3-4 hours a night, then some work in the backroom...climbing up and down ladders, lifting boxes....some heavy, some not.  

Anyway, about 2 weeks ago I had some discomfort in my lower left back.  I put muscle rub on it, did some stretching.  No real improvement, so I made an appointment with a chiropractor on Thursday, 10/5.   I woke up Friday morning at 3AM with intense pain running down my leg.  Worst pain I have ever felt in my life.  Doctor says I have a swollen vertebrae, and something called a hot disc pressing on my spine....thus causing my intense leg pain.

For the first 4 days, I couldn't sleep at all. Doctor did not give me pain killers.  I was losing my mind, and was so close to downing a bottle of Tylenol pm and a bottle of Jameson.  It was that bad.

Been doing therapy 3 days a week, and now they want me to see a neurologist.  Even though I have healthcare, the visits are still expensive.  I am trying to rebuild my life after my divorce, getting laid off and taking care of my mother when she was still alive.   Trying to remain positive, but some days are better than others. 

Yesterday, was the first day I was able to walk a little bit, but still had pain. I walked 2 blocks to get some food, but had to stop every few minutes and rest.

I am seeing some progress.  Doing my stretching still and ice therapy.  I plan on going back to work this week, doing light duty......well I hope I can do it.

I am by myself....no family.  My friends do not live near me, so its tough going for me.  

Anyone suffer similar pain?  How long did it take to walk again with moderate pain?  how long for full recovery?   Any tips?  

I was hoping some of you guys had some success stories you could share.......I need some encouragement.  I need some hope. 

Again, sorry for the long post.  

 
Sounds like you need to see a back surgeon/neurologist at least for an MRI. They can correctly diagnose if there is a bulging disc or herniated disc that is causing the nerve pain. The positive is that unless it's herniated, you should be good with PT and ice. I'd add some advil as well as walking every day. For me it usually takes 3-4 weeks to get the nerve to calm down enough that it's tolerable. GL!

 
I had a bulging/herniated disc about 5 years back.  Awful, awful pain, couldn't sit for more than 15 20 minutes at a time, left leg was numb down to the knee.  Took me about 6 months of PT which included core and back strength training as well as stretching, every day.  But it got better.  I saw my primary doc after it got better and he told me he was surprised I didn't need surgery based on the size of the bulge.  I try to routinely do yoga now for maintenance.

Have you thought about something like a teeter hanger to relieve pressure on your back?

Good luck, I know how painful it can be.

edit:  Honestly I don't recall if it was diagnosed as bulging, or herniated.  Thought they were the same thing!

 
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I had a similar problem about 6 years ago with shooting pains down the outside of my leg and numbness in my toes.  My torso was slightly twisted and tilted to my right.

I went to the doctor, tried pain pills and acupuncture to no avail.  The solution for me was pelvic blocking.   I went to a chiropractor originally but have been doing it myself since then whenever I feel I'm out of alignment.

YMMV.  I wouldn't do any of this without personal advice from a professional.

 
thanks for the advice guys.  I haven't seen a neurologist yet.  I told my chiropractor today that my funds are low, but I would go see the neurologist soon.   Bought some more Aleve today.  Will take Aleve, stretch and do my ice therapy.

The other night when I couldn't sleep, I saw and infomercial for the Teeter inversion table. I mentioned it to my chiropractor, and he says those tables are good.  

At least you guys have given me some sort of hope.  Thanks. 

 
A lot of good advise in this thread.  I think your on the right track with applying ice where it hurts as a low cost first step.  Light and stretching and with a foam roller applied to the affected muscles such as the piriformis, psoas and the SI joint and TFL areas to alleviate imbalances in the pelvic and sacral areas which are usually indicated in pain shooting down the leg will make a big difference .  Applying traction to the lumbar spine may help to reduce nerve impingement in the lumbar spine.

Check out this guy's YouTube  channel to learn specific streches to help correct muscle imbalances and help manage your pain.

Also, I would get another Dr.'s opinion just in case the real issue is ball cancer causing referred pain to your lateral leg via the lumbar spine.

Good luck!

 
I am in my 40's.   I am past the point of doing anything drastic.  I have been getting about 2 hours sleep the last 3 nights.  Today, I bought the Copper Fit Pro back brace.  Wearing it now....Hope it works for me.  

 
A lot of good advise in this thread.  I think your on the right track with applying ice where it hurts as a low cost first step.  Light and stretching and with a foam roller applied to the affected muscles such as the piriformis, psoas and the SI joint and TFL areas to alleviate imbalances in the pelvic and sacral areas which are usually indicated in pain shooting down the leg will make a big difference .  Applying traction to the lumbar spine may help to reduce nerve impingement in the lumbar spine.

Check out this guy's YouTube  channel to learn specific streches to help correct muscle imbalances and help manage your pain.

Also, I would get another Dr.'s opinion just in case the real issue is ball cancer causing referred pain to your lateral leg via the lumbar spine.

Good luck!
Thanks.  I will check out the YouTube channel.  Ball cancer??? yikes.....should see a urologist?

 
I would file it immediately, just make sure you know the time and date when it happened and what you were doing.
I mentioned to my supervisor that my back was hurting a little and that I may me moving at a slower pace.  This was probably on Tuesday 10/3

 
IMO: get an MRI ASAP. Don't settle for anything less. Seriously, go into the doctor and insist.

I went to a normal doc for a long ####### time, went to therapy, and was in the worst pain of my life. It wasn't until I went to urgent care because I physically could not walk that I finally found a doctor who actually CARED about me and got me what I needed. He got me in for an MRI the next day and confirmed a herniated disc pushing on my sciatic nerve. One minor and one major surgery later I'm doing well. Surgeries sucked but I'd literally do anything to get rid of that sciatic pain.

 
IMO: get an MRI ASAP. Don't settle for anything less. Seriously, go into the doctor and insist.

I went to a normal doc for a long ####### time, went to therapy, and was in the worst pain of my life. It wasn't until I went to urgent care because I physically could not walk that I finally found a doctor who actually CARED about me and got me what I needed. He got me in for an MRI the next day and confirmed a herniated disc pushing on my sciatic nerve. One minor and one major surgery later I'm doing well. Surgeries sucked but I'd literally do anything to get rid of that sciatic pain.
I plan on getting an mri.  I really hope I don't need surgery.  The pain in my left thigh is the main culprit.  Feels like there is a huge not in my leg.

I have been doing a lot of praying and a lot of positive thinking.....along with my therapy.  

 
I go with ibuprofen over aleve and tylenol.  It helps a lot more with the inflammation.  Pain pills really aren't going to help you.  Also look into getting pain injections.  It's a nerve block procedure using anesthetics and steroids given directly into your spine  They worked wonders for me.  I still have to go back every couple years when I aggravate it, but I'd rather do that than surgery.  

 
I go with ibuprofen over aleve and tylenol.  It helps a lot more with the inflammation.  Pain pills really aren't going to help you.  Also look into getting pain injections.  It's a nerve block procedure using anesthetics and steroids given directly into your spine  They worked wonders for me.  I still have to go back every couple years when I aggravate it, but I'd rather do that than surgery.  
Will definitely look into the pain injections.  Are these injections lidocaine or something else?   thanks for the info on ibuprofen.

 
I did and it was a great experience. I used to have shooting pain and numbness down my leg from sciatica issues. I also have a screwed up back from being hit by a drunk driver. A rolfer literally changed my life. 
I live in NYC.  it is pricey....$200 a visit....if I don't see significant improvement soon, its definitely something I will look into.  Glad it worked for you and you are doing better.

 
Will definitely look into the pain injections.  Are these injections lidocaine or something else?   thanks for the info on ibuprofen.
Lidocaine plus steroids. It's a weird feeling procedure that's for sure, they didn't work for me unfortunately. Felt great for 2-3 days and then miserable again.

 
Sounds like my herniated disc. It sent shooting pain down my left leg, and with therapy, icing it down, and pain mess, I dealt with that pain for 2 years. The issue is that a disc is cartilage, it doesn't receive much blood flow, so healing is slow.

 
Go to a real doctor. Not a chiro, he didn't go to medical school, he went to business school. See a real doctor and get real advice.

Best case you're looking at PT at the minimum. I also picked up a decent at-home TENS machine from Amazon for my bad days. I also have an inversion table if I need to break it out from time to time.

What you should be doing are squats and deadlifts to build up the muscles in your core to hold things together.

Also, you can get Glucosamine and Sam-E over the counter, and start taking those regularly. I take Sam-E every morning and glucosamine twice a day, and haven't had my issues get any worse. Maybe even marginally better. But I never had the leg nerve/pain/sciatica issue you seem to, so, YMMV.
real doctor......a neurologist?  other??   I was working out 5 times a week.  45min overall body routine.....want to resume It as soon as possible.

Will look into the Glucosamine and SameE.  Cant hurt, and it seemed to help you. Thanks for the input....I appreciate it.

 
Your pain is much worse than anything I have dealt with but have messed up my back 3 times and dealt with intense back spasms and know how awful that is. Each time my issues went away after a couple weeks so I believe I just had a muscle issue and not what you are dealing with.

Heating pad and then gel ice pack repeat over and over again helped quite a bit.

Pain pills, muscle relaxers, etc didn't do much for me. Didn't even get them after my last episode.

Good luck and keep looking for answers until it gets better. It eventually will.

 
Lidocaine plus steroids. It's a weird feeling procedure that's for sure, they didn't work for me unfortunately. Felt great for 2-3 days and then miserable again.
I wasn't sure if it was lidocaine, but probably so.  My first time I did 4 shots 2 weeks apart.  I felt great for 2 years after, for the most part.  I've been back twice and it only took 2 shots to get right.  Bilateral L4 and L5.  Pretty sure there's nothing left in there, but I still get around well and do plenty of physical work.  

 
for you back sufferers, i have a pinched nerve at the c7 root, basically c6-c7.  i have dealt with stingers and stiff neck since my late teens.  not sure if this arose from a sports injury or just my genes.  mid 2017 i got a stinger that wouldn’t go away.  some physical therapy worked,  but pain came back in december and has intensified since then.  i still have that kind of invincable feeling we all have and figured this wasn’t major and something would work for me.  fast forward to late april and the pain became so intense i couldn’t sleep for weeks.  neck, shoulder blade, shoulder, triceps, hand, forearm.  found myself crying in the shower at 3am and took aggressive action.  got my MRI and flexeril and tramadol.  i have a bone spur sitting on the nerve, crushing my soul.  went for an epidural this week and have another scheduled in 2 weeks.  i have been thinking of worst case scenario, which is spinal surgery.  anyone here have spinal surgery?  any first hand knowledge regarding minimally invasive laser surgery?

i don’t think i can handle someone breaking thru my neck for spinal surgery, but the pain may be too much to bear.  

 
Your pain is much worse than anything I have dealt with but have messed up my back 3 times and dealt with intense back spasms and know how awful that is. Each time my issues went away after a couple weeks so I believe I just had a muscle issue and not what you are dealing with.

Heating pad and then gel ice pack repeat over and over again helped quite a bit.

Pain pills, muscle relaxers, etc didn't do much for me. Didn't even get them after my last episode.

Good luck and keep looking for answers until it gets better. It eventually will.
I had a car accident on 2002 and have the same problems, ie soft tissue stuff.    I have found stretching your quads and  hip flexors reduce the pounding on your lower back.  I also have one of those electric ab trainers that I use on it and crank that sucker all the way up.

 
for you back sufferers, i have a pinched nerve at the c7 root, basically c6-c7.  i have dealt with stingers and stiff neck since my late teens.  not sure if this arose from a sports injury or just my genes.  mid 2017 i got a stinger that wouldn’t go away.  some physical therapy worked,  but pain came back in december and has intensified since then.  i still have that kind of invincable feeling we all have and figured this wasn’t major and something would work for me.  fast forward to late april and the pain became so intense i couldn’t sleep for weeks.  neck, shoulder blade, shoulder, triceps, hand, forearm.  found myself crying in the shower at 3am and took aggressive action.  got my MRI and flexeril and tramadol.  i have a bone spur sitting on the nerve, crushing my soul.  went for an epidural this week and have another scheduled in 2 weeks.  i have been thinking of worst case scenario, which is spinal surgery.  anyone here have spinal surgery?  any first hand knowledge regarding minimally invasive laser surgery?

i don’t think i can handle someone breaking thru my neck for spinal surgery, but the pain may be too much to bear.  




5
Pretty simple procedure.  It is amazing how many people who have back, neck or whatever surgery state, "If I knew I would feel this good after surgery I wouldn't have put it off so long!"   

 
Had back surgery four months ago for herniation in my L5-S1 after suffering from miserable sciatica pain   I tried every non invasive thing and  nothing helped 

Surgery was the best decision I ever made, I was so scared going that route but almost totally back to normal now 

 
i don’t think i can handle someone breaking thru my neck for spinal surgery, but the pain may be too much to bear.  
These days some back surgery is done from the front-  none of that removing the bits of the spine that stick out to get to the good parts.  Try for this if you can.

 
Hannity swears by My Pillow. Use his name for a discount. But, I’m not sure why and true news personality needs to promote a pillow company. 
My Pillow guy is a devout Trump follower. You can do the math. 

(By the way, My Pillow is sporting a shiny new "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau. Shiny and new because they just battled for months with the BBB for an upgrade from their previous F-) 

Caveat emptor, pal. 

 
so, this is day 3 AE (after epidural) and i feel different again.  friday was best, yesterday a struggle.  today i feel decentish if i don't extend my arm too much.  if i do i get that burning nerve pain in my shoulder.  i am hoping to shot is still taking effect.  dr said a full 7 days.  woke up real dizzy and blurry.  might be all the meds and 2 glasses of wine.  i shouldn't be drinking but at this point why the eff not.

 
Go to a real doctor. Not a chiro, he didn't go to medical school, he went to business school. See a real doctor and get real advice.
My chiropractor has worked wonders on my neck and lower back. I had neck pain for years, and my chiropractor got rid of that pain. I still go once a month for an adjustment so my neck doesn't get in bad shape again. He also helps me with my lower back pain if it starts to bother me. About a year 1/2 ago, I jammed my lower back when getting down some heavy totes at Home Depot. The next day I started having lower back spasms. I've never had those in my life, and they were very painful. I was supposed to go out of town in 5 days to go biking on the Virginia Creeper Trail. I went to my chiropractor, and he worked his magic on my back over the course of four days, and my pain was gone. The spasms were gone after the first day of treatment.

Back in February I started having bad pain right under my ankle. I was wearing some new trail shoes, and I noticed the shoe rim was rubbing on what felt like a strange bone sticking out under my ankle. I went to my primary doctor, and he thought it was a bone spur. He said I could get an x-ray to know for sure. I showed it to my chiropractor, and he thought it was a soft tissue injury. He said an x-ray would not show that, because soft tissue injuries don't show up in x-rays. MRIs are better for that. Anyway, I got an x-ray done, and nothing showed up. My primary doctor told me it must be a soft tissue injury.  :mellow:   

A good chiropractor can make a world of difference with some pain problems. I've had two really good ones. My original one retired, and she referred me to her chiro. I've been going to him for a couple years now. He is in his 60s, and I hope he doesn't retire in the near future. 

 
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tell me more....i just bought a curved side sleeper pillow memory foam.
It is a Chiroflow pillow. My mom and sister have one too. You fill it with water.  It should come with a funnel to put the water in. The water is on the side of the pillow that touches your mattress. You have to experiment with how much water you want in it for support. It has really helped with my neck.

 
I have had neck and back disc problems since a bad accident in 2012. I tried everything (none worked). Now I just lift weights 5 days a week and the body adjusts. I still can't sleep on my back or front and need a pillow between my knees. When I first started lifting I ended up in the hospital on an iv of dalaudid. After that I kept going (because shots, accupuncture, drugs and therapy did little). The pain now feels like a light stiffness and is quite manageable. Until I start dragging a leg, they aren't doing any surgery. The chief doctor at Jefferson in Philly told me he could ? fix my leg pain with surgery but it was at best 50/50 my back would get any relief. Haha no thanks.

 
I have had neck and back disc problems since a bad accident in 2012. I tried everything (none worked). Now I just lift weights 5 days a week and the body adjusts. I still can't sleep on my back or front and need a pillow between my knees. When I first started lifting I ended up in the hospital on an iv of dalaudid. After that I kept going (because shots, accupuncture, drugs and therapy did little). The pain now feels like a light stiffness and is quite manageable. Until I start dragging a leg, they aren't doing any surgery. The chief doctor at Jefferson in Philly told me he could ? fix my leg pain with surgery but it was at best 50/50 my back would get any relief. Haha no thanks.
are you lifting thru the pain to eliminate it?

 
not to hijack, but day 4 after shot and i feel about 90% normal.  i know there is something in my neck/trapezius, but it’s not pain, more like a slight spasm or knot.  shoulder, triceps, biceps all normal and less pins and needles in my hand.  if i can stay at 90% and get that next shot in about 10 days, i might be on to something.  seems like epidurals will be my new normal in order to function.  but when i leave the country for good, i wonder how i will adjust abroad.  

 

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