Herniated Disc in lower back

[aaen]

Well it is official I a getting older. I have herniated a disc for the second time in the last year. talk about painful when it pushes on the sioic nerve(spelling?). Anyways Was curious if anyone out there received andy of teh cortisteriod shots in their lower back and how it worked out for them. My doc wants to give me anti infalmmatories (oral) which never work for me. Yes I know the shots are anti inflammatories but they are directly into the disc.


Well I am way to young and active for this, but apparently all the years of weight lifting and rugby, soccer, and everything else I abused my body with is coming back to bite me in the butt. i woudl greatly appreciate any info you guys/gals can give me on some solutions. and yes I am going to the doc on Monday.

Steve

 

[np251]

Hi there

7 weeks ago, i was taken into hospital after waking up basically paralysed from the waist down. 36 hours later, after 2 MRIs and a lot of prodding, the final score was that i had 4 herniated discs- 2 lower, and unusually, 2 thoracic. I still couldnt move my legs at this point, so I was given oral anti-inflammatories and and injection in my lower back, and 2 hours later i was up and walking. I think the shots were prednisalone or something similar. i had 1 more shot 6 hours later, was discharged after 2 further hours and given some oral meds to use over the next 10 days.

A week after that, i spent a weekend humping tanks in and out of the water in Monterey. My back hasnt felt this good since my teen years (gaming accident, which may have been the initial stress ive been going around with for the past 10 years).

Get the shots. They work wonders. Ive been taking some good care of my back since, proper posture, strengthening exercises etc. I have been told by the doc that the shots last ~3 months or so, so i have to go for a check up to see what the end result of my working out is. Im pretty confident it was a one time deal- getting told you might end up under the knife for a back op at 30 is not the kind of news i ever want to hear again.

Laters and good luck at the Doc on Monday

 

[cudachaser]

I got a bunch like that in my neck

 

[Spratman]

I had the shots in my back because of nerve damage. It hurt worse than the back pain I already had. Quit doing that. Yeah, I though the same thing...but all the sports, weight lifting and fourteen years of military service does a number on your body, particularly your joints.

Do what works for you. Start doing the recommended exercises, particularly the ones that stretch your hamstring. That is the biggest problem that I have. I have incredibly tight hamstring muscles and even the therapists had a difficult time trying to loosen them. It has a big effect on your back pain. You might even try a good chiropractor. If it's a mechanical problem, they can get it sorted out. I see one about every two weeks for my upper back. I used to think they were quacks until I had one get me out of a back brace!

Good luck!

 

[aaen]

Wel I am always int he gym working or stretchign out my back in core, trying to strengthen it so that it feels good, well especially sense my last bout of this last january. Anyways I work alot on stretchign myhamstirngs and my lower back and pretty much everything. What I foudn with all the stretchign is that it w oudl aggraevate it more, I never stopped doing them though. What I did find that worked for me was doign deadlifts, no reason why I jsut said screw it I want to try thsi again and within two weeks of doing them my back felt like new. No idea if it was from doing them or not but it felt great so I kept it up. My back went out the other day due to squats, I think I slipped abit when doing them which resulted in twisting and voila I am back with lower back pain.

Anyways enough of the rambling, are these shots expensive, not that I really care I willd o whatever it takes just curious, and can I just walk in an get them at teh docs office or what. they have a tendency to just give me 800mg ibprofuen but that just plays havoc on my gut. Hopefully this time if I am pushy with them they will do them, I am also plannign on going to a spine specialist in the future, and continuign my chiro treatment as well. Although I believe chiro is useless on its own, it does show success if you follow it up with a good training program to strengthen the core, same with anything though I guess.

Well wish me luck with my back and I really hope nobody else has to go through this pain in there life. And if you do try to do everythign possible do avoid surgery, that is the last thing I want is someone cuttign into my back and fusing joints together no thank you. that will be my last resort.

Steve

 

[Hank49]

I have a partially herniated disk on my lower back. I saw it on the MRI and it's pretty obviously sticking out. My right leg is longer than my left a bit so it curves my spine causing the disk to bulge out on the left side of my spine (left looking at my back). It bothered me since I was 20 years old. I'd tweak it and walk like an old man for two weeks or more and constant pain. When I turned 40 I tried doing abdominal exercises regularly and it worked miracles. I'm a bit careful now and it gets a little stiff now and then but the chronic pain is gone. Crunches or situps a couple times a week made all the difference in the world for me.

 

[OceanObsessed]

I had the shots in July 2006 and for me they worked wonders for about 8 months. I just had my second series of shots in July 2007 and this time it did not help nearly as much. They work wonders for some people and do nothing for others but they are extremely low risk and if you are suffering from back pain I would not hesitate to get them. If you have not already done so, be sure you ask a few neurologists & orthopedic doctors who they recommend for these shots. I would not let just anyone do them. Be sure the shots are under fluoroscopic guidance so they can see the needle under the skin for exact placement. Apparently there are still some doctors out there that don’t use any guidance.

I have 2 herniated disks each with an annular tear. I am going in for a discogram in a couple of weeks and depending on the results I may get a lumbar annuloplasty where they can seal the tear and deaden the nerve endings to help with pain.

 

[ppo2_diver]

Interesting thread. A couple months ago I was having muscle spasms in my lower back that almost left me unable to walk. The doc gave me some muscle relaxers and pain meds. That helped for a while, but the chiro stuff over the past couple months has helped out a lot and I don't have any back pain. Now I've got pain down my right *** cheek and hamstring. I think it is sciatica and a herniated disk, but the doc says it was just muscle strain. I have not problem walking/running or doing anything. It just hurts like all hell when I try to stand up or sit down. I go back to the doc this coming week to discuss the diagnosis.

 

[CheddarChick]

Ask a Chiroprator about disk decompression. Mine used a machine that basically put you in a torture device that would stretch you from head to toe, but it allowed the disk to slip back into it's rightful place between the vertabre (?) It took awhile but it worked miracles for me

 

[aaen]

ah the ol tension machine those thigns work wonders when you have a something out of place. I am kind of scared of chiros who do not prescirbe any pt with their treatment. I was lucky to have firend who is a chiro and also has his degree in sports medicine(kinesiology I think) andyways he was sending me progemas on the internet to do and they were working wonders. AS for my recent injury that was just my dumb as testosterone runnign high and figuring I would try some squats.

Well anyoen have any problems doing mountain biking or hiking with this, that is apparently my last two sports I am going o be able to do, skiing and rugby, soccer, adn just about everything els eis out.

Steve