A million thanks Anahata
Hello Anahata!
A million thanks for all your help. I've read everything you wrote about the condition. You don't know how much I appreciate it! I was getting desperate... and really depressed. You see, I have never heard of prolapsed discs before. I thought my life was over...
I was told not to move and lay flat on my back and avoid movement at all cost. I did that for almost 2 weeks. I hope I haven't made matters worse.
I've noticed that my right leg (that is where the pain is) is a little smaller than my left one. I've already lost a bit of muscle.
You will think I'm some kind of idiot but... I really didn't know what an osteopath was. I've never been sick nor injured, that's probably the reason?
Funny thing about pain (I had so much time to reflex on the matter!)... first it takes all the room... slowly invades your life... and soon enough takes over you. Not too long ago, I felt I was just this big blob of pain.
For a few days now I've been hobbling around the house. With the help of meds and hot baths with Epsom salts it's not as bad as it was. Another strange thing : when I put a bit of my perfume I feel much better! Maybe it gives me the impression I'm being my old self again???
I'm sooooooooooooo glad we can all communicate and share via the Internet. Without all this info, I'd be pretty miserable. Again, thanks to all of you and especially you Anahata.
Have a great day all!
Thursday Oct 2nd - UPDATE **** I had the MRI results. It is indeed a prolapsed disc. Because I'm in a lot less pain today and I do show signs of improvement, I will see the doc Oct 30th for a reassessment of the situation. He is confident I should recover in a few weeks, without injections or surgery. My mood just got a wonderful boost today. I'm so happy. Funny how good news can make you feel so good... Byyeeeee!!!
RE: Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.
Dear Marie
It's good to hear you're on the mend. I seemed to have acquired a talent for killing threads, so it's nice to knw my intention is not wasted.
At this stage I wouldn't rule out Inversion therapy - hangin upside down, as an idea to minimise need for surgery, but would still advise getting offending vertebral segment mobilised when stable for long term health.
Feel free to email if any concerns or complications.
I trust your told the consultant about loss of muscle tone/bulk. If it's a generalised thing it's normal, but if it's only a few specific muscles it may be a sign of a loss of nerve function & is more serious.
RE: Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.
Hi folks... as anyone mentioned Bowen Technique yet? It certainly my choice treatment for back problems and is known to have great effects of slipped discs etc..
RE: Low Back Problems & Prolapsed Disks.
Hi
can anyone tell me what is the treatment for slipped disc. I have been in agony for 4 days. I can hardly walk when I sit I can harldy stand. doctor said its mechanical and put me off work for 2 weeks when he wants to see me again. I dont know how this happened. The day before it happened I was moving furniture at work at the request of my manager. I should have known better because under health and safety I should not be doing this. However, at the time I felt no pain, could that happen and then the next morning I took a sudden sharp pain in lower back which brought me to mt knees.
Please,please advise.
Anahata - it's good to see this subject as a sticky (but it still doesn't seem to have stopped the individual threads on this subject:o). As well as being painful it is also a very emotive subject, the public must remember that most of the stories that are being told on here are by members who have not yet managed to cope with or get rid of their symptoms - the majority of back pain sufferers become completely painfree between episodes and life totally normal lives.
Agreed entirely with Kaz (welcome fellow newbie btw; I'd noticed the lack of physio forum too); also might be worth mentioning that there is a case for maintenance care between episodes for those with chronic/recurrent problems too, but should be offered on a case by case basis
My general advice for disk injuries:
Seeing a chiropractor or osteopath is exactly the right thing to do; you'll be having a clinical history and physical examination by an expert in the field. They ought also to keep your GP informed of their findings. They may or may not then recommend an MRI scan - as mentioned elswhere, there are reputable options around the £200-£250 region, and the chiro/osteo should explain fully the results of this scan to you, if done.
Most disc injuries don't need to be scanned, though it's generally a good idea; and can be treated conservatively; the chiro/osteo should go through a couple of treatment options with you, and discuss the risks and prognosis associated with each, though prognosis is often simply "guarded" (ie, fairly unpredictable, but worth a trial of care).
In my personal opinion, I would avoid spinal manipulation until it stabilises to a degree, I always start out with mobilisation techniques such as flexion-distraction, and I can only think of 1 patient where this has let me down; though there are, of course, many options.
Whatever treatment option is recommended and taken, various exercises should be introduced at the appropriate stages, to help strengthen the back again; this may be McKenzie exercises, rehab, pilates, yoga etc etc as is appropriate for the individual patient. I personally use McKenzie and co-contraction then refer for rehab/pilates, but wish I had facilities to do the rehab properly myself.
Another useful tool is a portable TENS machine, purely for pain management, very effective, and without the nastier potential side effects of medication; you'd probably need a physio to explain it properly though, as electrotherapy is an area traditionally ignored/looked down on by chiropractors, and I believe osteopaths too (I'm correcting this for myself, but holds true as a generalisation)
Hope that helps
Aidan (DC)
LBP-prolapsed disc-prolotherapy
Prolotherapy may well be a permanent solution for you but you need to check it out for yourself.....
Check my long reply (it will take you 10 minutes) then do some thorough research as I did on prolotherapy - but beware there are not many who have enough experience to do it..even less people with experience to comment on it in anything except an uninformed manner !!
Hi guys.
I suggest you look at how prolotherapy has fixed Bode Miller, JJ Johnson, Eric Schlopy and Bryon Friedman of ligamentous knee and back injuries. Big news in feb 2006 because they went to a well respected doctor who has in fact lost his US licence but that is another story - they went against advice from their team trainers - because they don't know anything about the treatment - went to Mexico and BINGO - fixed..I have done a ton of reasearch on prolotherapy (and the doctor these guys went to ..he is in fact one of the pioneers and has written many papers that are still used today by ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS in the USA and UK...and taught many practitioners BUT that fact has been conveniently omitted from the press reports !!!!!) because I had a chronic back problem with stretched ligaments...I am fixed...if you have time here is my story...BUT BEWARE....Prolotherapy is only as good as the doctor who diagnoses and treats you..it requires very accurate diagnosis and incredible skill, experience and a STEADY HAND...you have got to get a very long needle into the ligament in some very inaccesible places.....especially at the point it connects with the bone..I was very lucky that I picked the only doctor in the UK who had been doing it non stop for 35 years and had had the treatment himself 40 years ago...which was why he studied it !!
here you are.....
In response to anyone asking about experience with prolotherapy.
yes I have ! I am a ski instructor. I am now 44 but had the first treatment almost 2 years ago
The treatments were not painful - just a sensation of the needle going in - this depends entirely on the therapist and even then..there is a risk of hitting a nerve. The local anaesthetic and gas
worked fine for me each time.
The treatment has been utterly successful and I would like to share my story - because there are some CAVEATs....read on.
I had a chronic lower back problem (basically slack SI ligaments and lumbar ligaments on lower right side...very common indeed) which I had been having treatment for from 2 osteopaths for it would not heal - osteopaths who had cured me of all other issues over the preceding 5 years - I was very confident in these guys so when they couldn't fix me I looked further.
I had xrays and MRIS done so I could see if there were any other reasons for my pain other than lax ligaments - the xrays and mris looked perfect - the traumatologists, osteopaths and orthopedic surgeons etc all looked at them and said the same - you look perfect...PERFECT...it's just a bit of hypermobility..it will go away...well after 28 months of NOT going away I was not going to just accept their answers...not just because they had letters after their names and nice white coats...oh no...not me....
I found prolotherapy on the internet and spent 1 year researching it every day - I asked many osteopaths, orthopaedic surgeons - ones who were personal friends AND by going to see specialists at clinics in the UK and Spain and France....nobody that I spoke to had even heard of it !
Well...I can tell you that I wish I had not spent 1 year researching it because I wasted a year of my life by having to tolerate the pain - the prolotherapy was effective very quickly - I wish I had just gone to the doctor I found the first day I read about it !!! BUT...I was lucky....the doctor I saw has been a prolotherapist for over 30 years, had had the treatment himself 40 years earlier and as a result studied it - I was lucky to find someone with this experience first time.
I have since learned - through more research and discussions with my doctor - that it is very clear that the success of prolotherapy depends on 3 IMPORTANT THINGS..
1) The skill and experience of the therapist - the therapist needs to be VERY skilled, sensitive and accurate
2) The actual solution the therapist uses - they are NOT all the same - each therapist has his preference - therfore one with more experience can judge what works better.....for example...the solutions used in the US are often NOT as effective as the solution my doctor uses because many doctors are unwilling to use enough of the one of the irritant substances - which also happens to be an antisceptic - because it has, in a very small numbers of cases, caused temporary but painful side effects - this is apparently very very rare and often due to the inaccuracy of the therapist - as I am informed. The effectiveness of the treatment is clearly
governed by how much irritant solution is used in each treatment - the more used the quicker and more pronounced the healing BUT there is a limit to how much the body will tolerate. Do not forget the healing process is the response to the local irritation caused by the needle and the irritant solution used in prolotherapy.
3) ACCURATE diagnosis....I knew what my problem was because I had felt it develop over some years and remember exactly what caused the original trauma - I had had lots of treatment with osteos, physios, etc during 15 years of sport - I could feel what the problem was - after a few little injuries you can recognise what type of problem you have and if it's getting better or not.
I was lucky to have theprivate health so I just kept going to see different people - including the main professional winter sports injury clinic in Barcelona - until I was satisfied I had the info. I went to see the prolotherapist in London with all my mris etc...he just laughed and said.."I have seen your problem every day of the week for the last 35 years - almost everyone has this problem - I dont need these mris but thanks I will look at them for you...oh yes..as i suspected...you cannot see any problem...well you won't ! The SI ligaments will not show any damage on an MRI..the slightest stretching or damage to these can be very painful but you can't see it. Do you want me to treat you now or do want to mess around for another year ?"
He examined me and clearly demonstrated to me that one side of my pelvis was far more mobile than the other...my previous osteopaths had both diagnosed exactly the same thing - and explained which ligaments would be treated.... I started there and then...I had far fewer treatments than recommended - I was in the gym within 48 hours...skiing within 2 weeks...I am a ski instructor....I had to travel from Spain to the UK for treatment.
I had 3 treatments between nov 2005 and feb 2006....the problem was 95% resolved by the 3rd treatment...but ideally I should have had a treatment every 3 weeks for about 6 months ...it would have solved it even sooner...I have since had 5 more sessions between may and oct 2006...the function of the joint was stabilised within 4 weeks of first session..my osteopath in Spain was astonished at the change and increase in stability of the right side....bearing in mind he had treated me for 5 years before and had had to realign my pelvis every visit..every 2 weeks...since prolo he has never had to do that. The mobility/movement in the joints is now almost equal on both sides. That has been confirmed by the 2 osteopaths in Spain who are not connected to my prolotherapist.
The pain had gone completely by the 3rd treatment..it had reduced to about 20% of original pain after the first treatment.
If I had to sum it up...I would say I am now 100% functional and pain free for 90% of the time..before I was in pain 90% of the time.
the other 10% I feel a slight sensation of stiffness - not PAIN - and this continues to reduce and occur less often..even without further treatment...however..I stress...I would prefer to have had more treatments close together to be sure of eliminating the problem and strengthening the ligaments as much as possible..I will have another 3 or 4 treatments very close together when I can afford it just so I don;'t have to think about it for another 30 years !!
Is that enough of a postitve vote for prolotherapy when administered correctly and appropriately ????
Good luck...back pain is horrible..and in most cases TOTALLY curable...DO NOT accept back pain advice from doctors who have NOT suffered it themselves !!!! And do not accept it as part of growing old and something you have to live with. Ask your prolotherapist lots of questions..how long have they been doing it, what solution they use etc....they are not all the same - but when you find the right one - you will be very happy !
Lower back pain is terrible if not be treated immediately.
Re: Low back problems
I had a bad back for over 20 years and there are two things that eventually worked for me after trying lots of different remedies. One was to do with working on the underlying emotional issues and for this I used Journey Therapy which is an inner guided journey to access and resolve past traumas or repressed memories. An absolutely fantastic process which I was so amazed with I trained and became an accredited Journey Therapist myself so that I could share it with others. With this process I got instant relief that only comes back occasionally when I get overtired and when my energy becomes low.
At those times and for instant relief within minutes, I make use of another great discovery called EFT which I came across and used on myself when I fell down the garden steps and cracked my ribs. The absolute agony I was in for the few weeks before I came across EFT immediately disappeared within a few hours of applying it for a few minutes at at time and has never come back. So, true to style, I became certified in this technique so that I could share it too. There's a free download for you if you log in at www.instantnaturalpainrelief.com
Lots of Love Joy :o)
What if........
Was just wondering if worn or damaged spinal bits can be regenerated by the same process that was used in growing us from babies to the giants we become.........because they have most certainly been instrumental in enabling a quadraplegic to use arms and legs that have'nt been used in 14 years...
.......what do you think about this?
Sincerely,:)
Laurence
Backache, IBS, sciatica and constipation are linked!
I began to use a technique to help my IBS in 2004, and found that my IBS, backache, sciatica and constipation were all related.
While reading a medical book I had found that IBS begins with a wave of neurological activity, a pulse of electricity, far stronger than the normal levels, were being detected in clinical research at the beginning of migraine attacks. This is mentioned quite often in the definition of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). When this pulse of electricity discharges into the bowel wall, it has various effects, depending where it arrives. If it is onto the descending large bowel, it causes constipation. In other parts of the bowel, it usually causes diarrhoea or flatulence. The electrocution itself causes searing pain if the pulse is strong, an ache if the pulse is weak.
I knew that if this wave of electricity follows a nerve to a muscle, it shortens the muscle, and people who had learnt the techniques to stop the wave of neurological activity had found that backache had suddenly ceased, and sciatica had gradually calmed down. I realised why it was that people said they had simply bent down, or stood up, and their back 'went'.
I could see that a muscle on one side of the back had been shortened by the electrical discharge, leaving the opposing side loose. At any time, the imbalanced muscles could pull the vertebrae out of alignment.
It all made complete sense. People began to use the techniques to stop the neurological wave acting on muscles in the back and the shoulders. They found that their stiff shoulders eased, and the associated symptoms of IBS, constipation, and backache, all disappeared at the same time.
shooting pain in leg! help!
I am at my wits end. One year going round the medical houses. I have sharp stabbing pains in my left leg that make me scream my head off. mri showed bulging s1 discs but no neural compression. Have been on floor screaming for half the week. seeing neurologist on tues. has anyone else had this screaming stuff?
yasmink I had the pain that bad. I know you can do nothing but scream during those bouts and struggle to take breaths. I recently had surgery for a disc prolapse L4/L5 and now have no pain but my surgeon told me that it was far worse than the mri had showed. There was a large amount of disc material that had moved out to the right hand side trapping the nerve but this material and compression didn't show on the scans.
re lower back/sciatica
Hi
I had a very bad back and sciatica for about 6 months after years of being a courier. I tried physios, chiropractors, heat packs, ice packs, yoga, an inversion table(which i've still got); walking, baths. you name it!
NOthing really sorted me out until i came across magnotherapy. Someone recommended wearing a magnetic bracelet and using a magnetic healing pad directly on my back. It worked! the pain subsided greatly within a few days and has almost disappeared altogether now after about 6 weeks. Which means that i can live a normal life agin; which is superb. I even play golf regularly now - no complaints.
I would recommend this option to anyone. If you want further details get in touch.
All the best
David
back pain
Would appreciate any advice , following a car accident 5 years ago my lower back is in agony , mri shows prolapsed disc L3 , 4, and 5 , I am hooked on Tramadol taking 8 a day and am crying with pain as I write this , it shoots down my leg cant feel my foot and would happily cut off my right leg at times , I see an osteopath monthly but ride horses so very physical job , plase help i cant take much more , would surgery help ?