Hi, im new to this forum, but for seven months i have had very bad pains in my right leg, foot and lower back. I havnt been able to get into bed and go to sleep because of the pain for nearly a month now, ive been prescribed 20mg morphine, i take 2 at a time and they have NO effect, so now i just sit in a chair that im quite comfortable in until i finally fall asleep. Today i saw a specialist who says she is almost certain i have a prolapsed disc and will have an MRI scan with in 2-3 weeks, now because of all the pain i have I.E i cant lay flat at all, how will they do the scan??? im very worried about this because there is no way in the world i will be able to lay for 20 odd minutes, can they put you other postions???
THANKS
Hi Denzl, sorry to hear of your problem. There are mri's that can take scans with you standing up or leaning etc but they are very expensive and not very high resolution, and also are very expensive, so not usually available on the nhs.
I would suggest you talk to your gp and the scanning unit now, and ask them to provide you with some extra pain relief, maybe even some kind of sedation to help you through. When you are lying flat you will have a foam support placed under your knees to help relax your back, will that help at all?
Good Luck 🙂
One of my clients was offered very heavy sedation for her MRI - she had to be at the hospital by 0800, and wasn't allowed to leave until after 1300, to allow her to recover. The scan took around 15 minutes. She was found to have two prolapses and within a couple of months had fusion surgery.
If prolapsed disc is the problem, and your pain signals are telling you to avoid certain positions, then chances are those are the positions that will aggravate the situation, ie cause the disc to bulge. Simply taking military grade pain relief and adopting that position at the precise moment the imaging is done will show the bulges at their worst, and may make the situation appear more serious than it really is.
Add to all of that - 'perhaps'. However, many a health problem has been aggravated by hospital investigations to find out what is going on.
What to do then? Well, while you are waiting for the scan, check in with a GOOD osteopath and see what else is going on to feed this problem. There may be many useful things that can be done to relieve strain from the affected disc (if that's what it is). This may reduce the pain, the likelyhood of further damage, the chances of needing surgery, the discomfort of the scan.
[Incidentally, some medics will try to put you off by saying that manipulation of the area is not a good idea. They may well be right in that recomendation, but would be wrong in thinking that would be all that an osteopath would consider doing to help. To the medical/surgical specialist, this is a local problem, to a good osteopath it is a body-wide problem: the disc might be the last thing they would work on. Furthermore, manipulation is just one available method, just as not every visit to the doctor involves an injection, right? But I would speak to the osteopath beforehand and discuss the case to make sure you are happy with whom you have chosen. Get a personal recommendation also.]
Hi Denzil, I had the same worries about my MRI scan before I had it. I knew I couldn't lie flat with legs extended for longer than about a minute without being in a lot of pain, so I told them this at the scan unit. They gave me a foot stool type cushion to hang my legs over, and that took the pressure right off. Speak to them before the scan. I'm sure they'll be able to find a solution that works for you.
while you are waiting for the scan, check in with a GOOD osteopath and see what else is going on to feed this problem.
My advice is DON'T do that! I did and ended up with a paralysed left arm where the disc was irritated ! MRI first, always before any treatment, stay safe 🙂
Then it probably wasn't a good osteopath. An osteopath should be able to assess if a scan is needed and how much or little work can be done safely in the meantime. Moreover, you could just as easily insert 'surgeon', 'doctor', 'specialist', 'physio' in place of 'osteopath' and reflect much common experience. Every test going doesn't stop medicine being littered with casualties. So, sorry about your experience, but it doesn't really offer a full and rational basis for the decision to seek or delay an alternative opinion.
Thats true, and each person is different, I am not against osteopaths and chiropractics, in fact they give me great relief for my lumbar problems 🙂
Hiya Cassie
Thats true, and each person is different, I am not against osteopaths and chiropractics, in fact they give me great relief for my lumbar problems 🙂
After my first Osteopath died, It took me 4 goes before I found a suitable one, 1 was too rough, 1 was too soft and third was just rubbish.
My present one is 'brill' and I would not move for anything.
Best wishes
SPINELF