Looking for advice as usual.....this seems to be a common ailment according to the interweb so I thought i'd ask...

Just had another 'occurance' of back pain...story normally goes someting like this...stance bent forward slightly (brushing teeth this time), feel something 'give' in the lower back in the spine area. Excruciating pain, followed by being unable to straighten back up. take a few steps, worse pain, drop to floor. struggle to move on hands and knees, spend next 2 days laid up nearly in tears, eventually able to stand awkwardly and move around as if I've had an accident in my pants....few more days and return more or less to normal with the odd reminder and twitch here and there.

This has happened occasionally over the years but has know happened twice in the last year - always when on holidays!!

Normally suffer this with a grimace, have been to the Doc's on occasion - same diagnosis - painkillers and keep moving. Last time it happened I saw a Chiropractor - 4 sessions at £30 a go - to be honest it didn't recover any quicker than normal....all that happened was 10 minutes very light gentle poking and prodding and 20 minutes rest each time.

So...I was wondering if anyone suffers from the same, and has any advice on whether treatment has done anything significant for them - I expected the the chiro might have been a bit more 'physical' with more dramatic results? Also any advice on techniques and exercises that might help a bit?

Hope this hasn't sounded like like a bit of a bleat, just looking to learn from the experience of others really...

Thanks, Rich.

[Edited on 15/8/10 by richard thomas]

Rich,

Prob best I give you a call about this/mine!

The initial symptoms are the same as yours, although since I have this pain for nearly 20 years and it's got steadily worse in both frequency and levels of pain, the only thing I can say with any certainty is get yourself to your GP and get him to refer you to any/all the back specialists in your area. If I'd done this a few years ago. mine would have been recoverable, but not now.

I've obviously done all the namby pamby chiro, physio, chinese stuff, and the only things coming close were being put on a modern day "rack" and heat lamps. Obviously neither actually solving the problems. Chinese guy did great massage therapy, accupuncture, elec accupuncture, cupping , and oil. all very nice and pointless (and costly!)

Then I went for the series of injections into my spine, I have to be honest and say that I'm not the biggest fan of pain, and I reckon I have a pretty high threshold, but I still felt those injections

Push your GP mate, you won't regret. U2U me your number if you'd like more detail. My back is proper goosed (not as bad as Scootz's!), but what makes it worse is that a family friend started out the same as me but earlier chronologically (as I am to you etc) and she is now in a motorized wheelchair;- My latest symptoms, losing feeling in my right forearm and right foot (already lost feeling in left side, various places) and pins/needles in those areas are following her detorioration, but only about 18months behind her............

There are many different possible causes of back pain usually fairly steady like arthritis or wear and tear, sudden for obvious reasons like lifting a TV or consequent on previous days activity like digging the garden or having a bump in the car.
Sudden severe disabling back pain that puts you on the floor for a minor sneeze or slightly odd posture when cleaning teeth is likely to be a thoracic disc which can be manipulated by the right chiropracter and you don't have the right chiropracter. Find a new one.
This behaves a little differently to the classic lumbar disc herniations which are more likely to lead to chronic pain and long term neurological damage. Perhaps I should have said you must get a firm diagnosis and this can come from several sources. Mines is a GP friend who went alternative and now is qualified as a chiropractic as well as doing his GP work. I have seen orthopaedic surgeons, physios, sports medicine specialists and various GP's with little help. I've also had MRI, CT and xrays with very little to show for it. If these had show disc herniation or some spinal instability like spondylolysthesis then surgery would have been my reluctant choice. My Chiropractic friend sorts me in one or two sessions and I have to assume that he has a mental picture/sense/feel for what happens in my back and does something good to it by manipulation.
Don't forget your individual problem will not be the same as anyone elses.
History, examination, investigation, diagnosis, treatment in that order.

[Edited on 15/8/10 by Dusty]

My dad had a bulging disc trapping a nerve in his back. It went from almost exactly what you describe to a permanent pain in his left leg. He spent almost 2 years IIRC going around every specialist trying to find the cause of it. It took several MRI scans to find the disc in the end, and it was suggested to him that although it could be fixed without surgery, it could be a long and painful process to do so.

As soon as my dad gave the go ahead he was directed to a surgeon who asked him if next week would be okay (private health insurance FTW!), and 3 months later he was as good as pain free!

Obviously thats a bit of a worst case scenario, but get it looked at ASAP or it could come to it....

I used to suffer with back pain but have made a number of changes to my life which seem to have reduced, nearly stopped, any pain.

I firmly believe that not sitting crossed legged has been the main reson for my problem getting better. I'm even going further than this and trying not to cross my ankles at all but havent quite been successful in this.

Since not crossing my legs Ive also bought an inversion table having tried chiro's both normal "crunchers" and mctimoney, along with sports physio's & normal physio's etc etc and have paid quite a lot of money to them all. The best one I attended was up in Bolton and i only ever went there once. Didnt need to afterwards & moved away so couldnt.

The inversion table basically turns you upside down and i try to get on it once a month as a preventative measure ore than anything. Its the solid back type as i didnt like the fabric backed ones.

A quick word of warning here - getting mmon boots & utilising a doorway mounted pull up bar is not the same a the table allows you to go at any angle between 0&180 degrees depending on ho you feel at the time.

Ive also found that at times, and i can never tell when, cool works better in calming down a flare up (bag of peas for example) as it tends to cool/relax the spasming muscles however ralgex (sp?) & algepan (sp?) also have seem to have helped.

Ive tried going on the inversion table during a flare up and it only akes it worse so now if i ever do have a sizable problem I now know to wait a day or two to get it back under control before attempting to use it.

Touch wood I havent had a problem for a couple of years now

Don't take advce (other than this of course!) from anyone who hasn't seen you and your back, and hasn't had extensive training and knows what they are talking about, and is prepared to defend that knowledge, in court if required.

Ie - GP, registered physio, specialist doctors.


Chris

PS. Personally I would avoid chiropraters like the plague

I've had increasingly bad back pain over the last few years since I gave up walking over big hills for long periods carrying a bloody heavy bergen.

For me, it all started with putting a lot of weight on and dropping my fitness right down.

I would take it easy, but keep mobile when the pain was there (or when I'd recognise the signs of it coming, I'd take things a bit easier - IE stay away from the kit car build ).

I've since dropped a lot of weight off, put more back on (of the right type) and do a lot of work in the gym to srengthen my core and back muscles (got to work up to this slowly, not just throw yourself into it). I've alo taken up Muay Thai, which is both fun and amazing at increasing general fitness as well as really working on those core muscles that help stability that just don't get challenged in normal life anymore.

I no longer suffer any back pain (the odd bump, bruise and at lip, maybe ) and haven't looked back.

As I said before though, you can't just hurl yourself into it with a bad back - rest it first, get it feeling good then get in the gyn and speak to a qualified trainer to get you on track (most gyms have sports physio's as well these days, who are always worth a session with every now and then just to keep you on track and in good shape).

Thanks all, it's very much appreciated advice!!

Just spoke to Steve H who has made the penny drop for me regarding a couple of other symptoms - ones that I get but had not linked before...

I think I need to visit the GP and be a bit more assertive...normally feel soft for even going there in the first place. I remember an occasion (1998 IIRC) when the pain was so great I had the GP called to the house....I was on the floor...'Can you move your legs?'.....'Yes, barely'...'Paracetamol then', followed by a look that said 'You are an insufferable timewaster'. Kind of put me off complaining again...

It's as described in a previous post, I've dropped to the floor after coughing in the shower before now - wouldn't be so bad if it came along after a physical event, although it has happened when I was pulling up decking in the garden....screamed so loud that the fella 3 doors down came to see what had happened to my great embarrassment!!

Out of interest, does anyone have experience of the back joints 'popping'? This is now a regular event, especially when lying in bed and turning over - can be quite audible but doesn't half annoy the missus! Feels good though....seems to alleviate stiffness in the back.

My lower back pops and cracks quite regularly... in my case it's just sticky facet-joints where I have no disc cushioning.

All I will suggest is what has been mentioned already...

Listen to the specialists.

By those I mean specifically physio and consultants at the hospital.

By NO means think of either chiropractors or osteopaths as specialists in long term solutions. All they are interested in is repeat visits at £40 a go. Both are dubious on medical grounds as well.

Had similar back pain to yours,had varying results from treatment. Most benefit I found was from manipulation by osteopath. Does not work for every eppisode but worth a try.My sympathy to you.

Find a copy of Treat Your Own Back - it is fantastic, and got me back on my feet. It has both preventative exercises, but more crucially emergency exercises, that I swear do work! It was recommended by a doctor to me, as the standard by which all other back pain solutions are measured against. I can honestly say, I use the exercises regularly (including tonight after spending a weekend camping on a leaky inflatable mattress) and they really help.

My mother was visiting a chiroprat for a long suffered bad back, one day I get a phonecall and it's her, crying, lying on the pavement outside the place as the pillock has just put her back out so badly that she ended up bed bound for a month and off work for a further 3, off I go to pick her up then arrange to get her car etc. The cheecky sh1t even charged her £50 for the privelidge.

So yeah, avoid them..............

Yup my back pops every now and then. I think its akin to craking your knuckles i.e. its a realease of gasses from the joint/muscles around the joint and although it feels great shouldnt be relied upon as it can lead to problems/arthritis (in fingers) over the long term.

I love it when i feel my lower back/neck pop as it such a great release and feels awsome

quote:

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Originally posted by jos
Yup my back pops every now and then. I think its akin to craking your knuckles i.e. its a realease of gasses from the joint/muscles around the joint and although it feels great shouldnt be relied upon as it can lead to problems/arthritis (in fingers) over the long term.

I love it when i feel my lower back/neck pop as it such a great release and feels awsome

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I had a bad episode with my back in January that put me off work for quite a while. I still have issues with it now but, having followed specialist advice from a professional, I find that the whole way I approach things is now completely different. I have even ended up changing my tin top to make things slightly better.
Apparently, my issue is not spine related. It is down to muscle damage in the r/h side of my lower back. This muscle still occasionally spasms and traps the sciatic nerve leading to lots of pain in mylower back and right leg. The only thing that I really need to watch for is numbness which then requires urgent intervention.
I am not going to give any "do this" or "do that" advice (not medically qualified to do so) other than to keep on at your doc until you find out what is going on. Without knowing what is causing it, you are on a hiding to nothing.

After several months on painkillers (up to 36 a day in total!) and walking sticks, I burst 2 discs in my lower back last year and ended up in an ambulance. I had the 'can you move your legs' question in A&E, and in between screams and whimpering I managed to say 'No'. It was one of the most frightening things ever - I honestly thought I may've been paralysed.. I was admitted to the ward, had an MRI 8:30am the next morning, and the results were back by lunchtime. I got referred to the 'pain management centre' at Ipswich Hospital which didn't sound great to me, but the doc there took one look and said 'Can you come back next week for paravertebral injections?' Of course, I said yes and they didn't hurt a bit compared to the agony I was already in. About 3 weeks later I was up and around again, and now 1 year on I'm almost back to full strength (pun intended). I still get all sorts of clunks and pops from my spine which act as a constant reminder to be aware of what I'm doing but so far so good.

I can't fault the NHS whatsoever for the way they looked after me - very impressed.

Go and see your GP, change to another one if necessary, and get referred to a specialist. Avoid chiros and osteos like the plague, you should be seeing a physio instead! Go for spinal injections, and take care how you're using your back.

Ed.

BTW: It turned out that mine was predominantly caused by weak abdominal muscles (beer gut). I now have an excercise ball for a chair in the office and I try and do a few simple exercises every day.



[Edited on 16/8/10 by Madinventions]

Ive had lower back probs for years and have been round in the usual circles so i can tell you that the only real way of finding out whats wrong is a scan. Mine revealed that i have two disc bulges but then about 40% of us have them and get no problems from them. Your symtoms sound very much like mine. You will have to change the way you do a lot of things and strengthen your core. Ive just had three facet joint injections as well and they have helped a lot.
Best of luck and sympathy to you.

Stay away from chiropracters they are nothing but money grabbing quacks.
My missus started visiting a chiropracter a few years back with a dodgy back after 10 visits at 40 quid a pop and after each visit she got a bit worse but much to my annoyance she carried on going.
She eventually told the missus there was nothing more she could do by which time she could hardly walk.
Upshot was I paid privately to get an MRI and private treatment thanks to our totally useless GP that cost nearly 4 grand.
Every time I see her going to lift something now my heart goes in my mouth.
Cheers,
Bob

quote:

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Originally posted by twybrow
Find a copy of Treat Your Own Back - it is fantastic, and got me back on my feet. It has both preventative exercises, but more crucially emergency exercises, that I swear do work! It was recommended by a doctor to me, as the standard by which all other back pain solutions are measured against.

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