back pain solutions

No solutions, just empathy and prayers. I can only imagine. I have had some minor lumbar pain from degenerative disc disease for about 3 years, but without disc bulging or neurological symptoms. And nowhere near the discomfort your DH is having. Compared to his, mine is only a minor nuisance. The main treatment I've had - or needed so far - is naproxen PRN. I had one regimen of an oral steroid dose-pak a year or so ago for an acute flareup. Good luck!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jan 28 2007, 08:33 AM) [snapback]381939[/snapback]</div>

Call Dr. Daniel Kim at the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans. He is fantastic! He recently transferred from Stanford in California. He helped my wife tremendously and would trust my life in his hands.

His office phone # is (504) 842-4033

I wish you the best.

 

I'm so sorry to hear that DH is in so much pain. It's not easy to handle when someone you love is hurting and all you want to do is make it better for them and can't. You end up hurting too for them.

I just went through just a little bit of what you guys are going through and it was tough. Three weeks ago I pinched a nerve in my back. I couldn't feel my left leg for two days and even now there's residual numbness. An x-ray showed moderate loss of disc height between L4-5, L5-S1 with ossification of the attachment ligaments. My chiropractor said there's nothing more he can do for me and is referring me to get an MRI. I have sciatica pain that comes and goes in my hip and down my legs. Sometimes it's awful, but no where near what your DH and you are going through.

I don't have any suggestions for you. Just know that we are pulling for you and DH and hope he's feeling better very soon. Don't forget to take care of yourself too...

 

Galaxee,

My husband has suffered from neck pain and it's a lot better than it used to be. He found an excellent physical therapist but he's had to perform specific exercises very regularily. A lot of his pain was from weight lifting and also from sitting at a computer all day long. Everybody has structural imbalances and while I realize that while this may sound trivial compared to your husband's pain, it's a major cause of pain suffering in a lot of folks. Maybe check this avenue out. But, you'll have to find a very good therapist for any good to be recognized. He had to search around a bit. (He had also tried accupuncture, an holistic approach and a bunch of other stuff. Desperation ensued.)

Beside the disk problems what are any other diagnoses that he's received. I think that in order for you to get the proper responses from any of us, we'll need to know this.

If you post same, I'll ask my husband if he has any suggestions. He's searched high and low for relief and may have run across suggestions for your husband's specific problem(s).

You must be feeling way down. I know how it can take a toll when someone that you love doesn't feel well with no relief in sight. I'm sorry for you. Best of luck.

 

Pain meds, rest, and muscle relaxants for the acute flares,

Return to activity as soon as possible, but gradualy;
Lifelong exercise (aka 'physical therapy') to maintain a limber back, with strong longitudinal muscle supports.
And not to be neglected long term: Posture improvement, appropriate back supports for heavy lifting, and learning how to lift heavy objects CORRECTLY. Some physically demanding work should also only be undertaken with help ..

I used to routinely move people twice my weight while bent at the waist. Luckily, I wised up before serious damage was done.

 

I gave you some suggestions some time ago. Did you try them? If not, then you're not out of ideas.

 

Hey, Galaxee and DH. I feel your pain, and I wish there were something I could do for you. I have suffered a few debilitating instances of back pain and sciatica, either from too much inactivity or forgetting that my muscles aren't still 18. I will share with you what has worked for me, with the proviso that I'm not a health professional, and I can't guarantee it's the best treatment for DH's situation.

Sleeping on a hard surface really seems to help. Just lying down on your back with your knees up for awhile can be therapeutic. The floor's not the most comfortable place, but it supports the back muscles and helps them relax. Gentle stretching and massage is also helpful, but be very careful because this can also cause more damage. Don't do it if it makes the pain worse. Alternating heat and ice for ten minutes at a time will increase the blood flow to the damaged muscles and help repair them. Ice is especially good for pain and swelling, and most effective if applied directly to the skin. (DH is gonna curse me for that one, I know.) I've found strong arthritis creams helpful in taking the edge off the pain. Once he's up for it, there's no better cure than an ounce of prevention. Regular stretching and exercise, even just walking, will keep him fit and strong. And no more lifting engines. Good luck and best wishes.

 

About 20 years ago I had severe back pain from a herniated disk at l4-5, and there was a calcium deposit wrapped around my sciatic nerve squeezing it down to the width of a pencil. Sleeping on the floor was just about the only way I could survive, even with strong pain meds - I'd get about 2 hours of sleep a night, passing out from the pain meds and exhaustion, and waking again in a couple of hours because of the pain, I finally had surgery and that fixed it,.

Periodically I still get bad pain, but usually it's ok within a day or two if I use a hot, damp heating pad 20 minutes every 2 hours, and use a back support pillow, especially in the car. The back support pillow is very important - most of the time it doesn't seem to do anything, but if I've strained my back in some way, I'll feel a relief from tension/pain in my back as soon as I sit down with the support pillow, while the pain is still at subliminal levels. That's a sign to start using the heating pad right away!

I've only had one other incidence of really bad back pain since surgery 20 years ago, and it went away again in about 6 weeks.

When the pain is bad, walk with a cane, even if it makes you feel silly - I had to fight feelings of 'I'm too young to need this!' and use the cane to keep from injuring my back further.

Avoid driving if possible, and use cruise control as much as feasible, to keep from putting extra pressure on the sciatic nerve.

Sleep on the floor with your knees raised, and do back strengthening exercises with the small of your back pressed against the floor. (partial situps and leg lifts are very effective)

I can sympathize, and I wish I had a magic wand to make the pain go away!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jan 28 2007, 08:33 AM) [snapback]381939[/snapback]</div>

My last bout of major back pain also followed a long road trip in the Prius. The results of my MRI was very similar to DH's. The seats in the Prius are not kind to those of us with back problems.

You seem to be on the right track. EricGo's advice is right on the money.

 

I so hear you.

I replaced my mattress which wasn't the expensive to begin with and was over 20 years old. That helped some.

I have a herniated disc at L4 and L5. It was irritating the sciatic nerve which in turn was causing my piriformis to spasm. At it's worse I had numbness down my right leg and toes and was starting to drag my foot. I had a spot of pain deep in my buttocks (the piriformis) and lower back pain. Sound familiar?

I also went to a Chiropractor. The Physical Therapist at Kaiser was giving me exercises that made me worse. He was stretching my Piriformis. My problem is I'm TOO limber. I needed to strengthen my piriformis. It was the Chiropractor that spotted that mistake right away and give me the correct exercises. There are some lousy Chiropractors out there. But if you find a good one, keep them. This one does workman's comp and serves on some sort of medical board that is very picky. Something to do with government. Maybe workman's comp, I don't know. But she is the one that suspected a herniated disc and suggested I get an MRI from the Doctor. He said OK and sure enough, it showed the two herniated discs. My Chiropractor says that for a few people the sciatic nerve goes through the piriformis rather than over it. That may be my case. It also might be DHs case. So when the back irritates the sciatic the sciatic spasms the piriformis and voila....numbness down leg. Does he have a "pain in his nice person"? A tight spot of pain in the middle of the buttocks of the numb leg? That's the piriformis. I got a deep steroid shot in the piriformis but it didn't last that long. Because that's not where the cause was coming from. Say what you like, it's the Chiropractor that correctly diagnosed and treated me, not the Doctor. If you can find a really good Chiropractor, try that. Just know it will be months to recover and he still won't be able to pick up heavy stuff.

I'm now wearing really expensive and ugly shoes. SAS. They make them for men too. After wearing them for a year I tried wearing an old pair for a wedding. I spent most of it sitting down. I now understand the difference between bad shoes and good shoes. And I don't care if they're ugly or expensive. So bite the bullet and buy a pair of $100 SAS shoes. Or find something that has really, really good support. Trash the cheap sneakers.

I sold my Saturn and bought the Prius. Saturn seats were making back worse. I can't sit in any "sport car" style car seats any more. They really bring back the back pain. That is why I love the Prius. It sits like a chair in my house.

I have a lumbar support I use at home, work and even in the Prius (I have 3). You'll have to shop around for one you like. I've posted the mesh one I use and like. But it fits me and I'm sure DH is taller than I am.

I don't bend over. Really. For months I really tried to avoid bending over.

I don't pick up anything over 20 lbs. Really, for now don't pick up anything heavy at all.

I also had to wear a girdle for about a year. I don't wear it much any more. As painful to the self esteem as it might be, see if you can find some sort of girdle for hubby. Who care about fashion sense if it relieves pain?

You husband is a little worse off than I am. My Dad has a ruptured disc and does exercises to avoid surgery. He did go through the shots and stuff. At least I'm not ruptured. My goal was to make sure I didn't go that far.

Hubby can get better. But it is a long process. He's not going to be pain free in a week. He may never be completely pain free. But he may get better. The one thing you cannot do is keep re-aggravating the back by being naughty.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jan 28 2007, 09:33 AM) [snapback]381939[/snapback]</div>

I broke the front of one of my vertebra a number of years ago in a car accident, and the floating bone has grown spurs. On top of that, I have disk damage and deterioration and some osteoarthritis.

I too was getting regular "cocktail" shots of cortisone and lidocaine which only provided temporary relief. I eventually tried an acupuncturist who, after three sessions, was able to keep the pain tolerable for about six years now. This makes no sense to me, nor to a neurologist I discussed it with, but when it comes to pain it 's best not to think too hard about why you've found relief.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jan 28 2007, 02:56 PM) [snapback]381991[/snapback]</div>

I forgot about the shoes. Custom orthotics have made a huge difference for me with the sciatica. If only it worked on the other type of PITA.

I will admit to wearing high heels, once, for about two minutes in my adventurous youth, only to appreciate some of what women go through. But no friggin' way am I wearing a girdle. No. And neither is DH. A back support or a weight lifter's belt, maybe. Get a grip, woman. As for the being naughty part, well...I think we should just leave that up to Galaxee's creativity.

 

Have you tried a nerve block? I had a ruptured disc at C3-4 (in my neck) and had shots in my neck to try to relieve the headaches. It worked for 1 day...but at least it was diagnostic and we then new what the problem was. I had an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion done almost 2 years ago. I awoke from surgery with no head ache for the first time in 10 months. A headache may not sound like much, but these were constant dibiliatation cervical headaches. Vicodin and flexerill would not touch them.

I also have low back pain from my SI joint..it is where your hip connects to your spine. PT and chirpractic help that, but mostly staying active and limber help the most.

Good luck to DH...I feel his pain.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Jan 28 2007, 02:23 PM) [snapback]382000[/snapback]</div>

Yes, I think every man should put on a pair of women's high heels (and they don't have to be that high) to understand what women go through for fashion. If a woman volunteers, that's one thing, but if the boyfriend/husband insists on heels, that's another. While a mile in my heels. Oh, I don't wear heels anymore either. For the wedding I put on a pair of flats; dress sandals that I used to wear all of the time. They had no support at all. I couldn't wait to put my ugly shoes back on.

By naughty I mean: bending over for lengths of time, lifting things heavier than 20 lbs, wearing bad shoes, and when I was supposed to be wearing it NOT wearing the girdle. In other words naughty is doing what the doctor/chiropractor told me NOT to do.

A good back support might do the trick. Not one of those things from Home Depot. The Orthopedist should be able to recommend something along those lines.

Laugh if you like, but some men have even gone to wearing corsets. It's under your clothes and who's to see? Besides what do you want? Back pain and a macho image or being pain free with secret undergarments? If it hurts enough, you'll wear pink roses.

But I'd go with the shoes first. Really, really good shoes. And watch what kinds of chairs you sit in. I also got rid of a desk chair I used to sit in at the computer for hours on end. Got a much better chair with good lower back support.

 

I have had my share of spinal-realated problems, too. When severe, anything to stop the pain is a good idea. But for the long run, if it is a nerve being pinched or ortherwise severely irritated, then almost everything is temporary (except surgery) since they all focus on the muscles. I've been through heat, ice, ultrasound, meds, shots, etc. Even physical therapy mostly focuses on muscles and many times has aggravated the problem.

I went to see a chiropractor and he was the only one to focus on the mechanics of the spinal joints and alignment to take pressure off the nerves -- and it worked great! There are good and bad in all professions, but since no drugs or surgery were involved, well that must account for 99% of the dangerous side effects and unwanted problems and injuries, well, the chiropractic treatment made perfect sense and was a godsend since I am not into taking medications and they don't use any.

This doctor took x-rays and referred me to the radiologist at the hospital for an MRI, which I was grateful for. His chiropractic treatment was comfortable relaxing and really worked wonders. It took a little time but the progress was steady. I love going. So I am convinced and now recommend it to everyone. The last thing I wanted was surgery. Now I just go about once a month for a tune-up. He also showed me simple exercises that I do anywhere and only take a few minutes. I use a back support in my Prius as they lack real good support IMO. He also suggested custom made shoe inserts, but not the hard plastic ones like from the orthopedists and podiatrists. They are firm but soft and super comfortable. I use them in my sneakers and shoes and have made a big difference. So I didn't need to buy expensive, ugly special shoes.

My back feels better than it has in a long time, though I am careful to stay out of trouble with common sense. I now have met lots of people who have been similarly helped with chiropractic treatments, also with headaches, migraines, neck problems. I even heard of people who were helped with asthma and allergies, digestion, and even pregnant women go.

So compared to the horror stories I hear about surgery and the side effects of medications, the chiropractic treatment just makes sense to me. Hope this is helpful.

 

I have nothing to suggest, but I just wanted to offer my sympathy and wishes for a speedy solution.

 

Sorry to hear about the back pain. I have very similar problems but slightly different symptoms. Still 2 bad disks like you described.

For treatment the doctors are very opposed to doing operations to fix this. And one reason seems to be the operations that make sense to a lay person like me are only in Europe!

So I've been treated what they call conservatively:

1 muscle relaxers. Did nothing for me at all.
2 Tylenol was recommended and did nothing.
3 Aspirin and Ibuprofen helped but I am allergic to both after a few days.
4 Physical therapy, had for two sets of 6 weeks and both made things greatly worse.

I should mention my pain is not down my legs, except say once a year, but when that hits I can't even sleep!
Mostly I am just incapacitated to the point I walk across the room holding myself up on the furniture.
And shopping for groceries is torture to lift a 2 lb package out of the shopping cart!
These pain bouts come at intervals but over the past 5 years I have had attacks at least every two weeks and some daily pain at least 80% of the rest of the year.

I have found some things to be important.

1 Pain killers. All the drugs I can get! What I have found most helpful is pain killers when I am not having an attack. Lately I have found taking Aleve from Friday to Sunday works mostly all week and allows me to get all my regular chores done. This is the only otc drug that works I seem to tolerate.

2 Exercise seems to be critically important. I think the problem with physical therapy was they had no clue what helped and what hurt, and they also believed more is better. It wasn't.

So experimenting on my own I have found some of what they had me do I can tolerate and it helps. I do crunches, bridges, and some stretching every morning.

Walking over a mile seems to cause a guaranteed flare up about 2 days later. Also standing too much does it. This delay makes it hard to tell sometimes what helps and what hurts. Also I can't always tell what will hurt or help easily. Recently I had to do something I was sure would make me worse: I had to fill and move some 20 wheelbarrows of trash around my yard. I was certain the shoveling would be a problem but it actually made me better for about 3 weeks than I had been in a long time.

I have tried an inversion table and it seemed to help esp before bed so I could sleep. But no long term benefit.

Bed and chairs I found critical. But not what you might expect. Lumbar supports did nothing or made things worse. But I found chairs I could sit in and others I could not. And for bed I found sleeping on my side helped. And a Tempurpedic like mattress. The Prius seats are great for my back and if I have time for a trip it often helps my back.

So my advice is to experiment and don't listen too much to the doctors advice. Figure out which parts of it are good. For backs they seem to still be in the dark ages of medicine.

I had an MRI that made me feel better knowing I did not have a blocked spinal cord like it often felt like I did, but It could not explain the pain or the best cure. I'm hoping soon for a pill or injection that will just grow new disks! Till then they tell me I can look forward to getting worse each year.

 

I crushed a vertebra 12 years ago and (eventually) had surgery to repair it. After seeing several quacks, I was lucky enough to get an excellent orthopedist at the Spine Center here in Charlotte. People come from all over the country to see him, so let me know if you want more info.