Gothic Girl

I have 3 herniated disks in my lower back and they are now affecting my sciatica. I haven't been able to walk properly for the past 2 or 3 weeks, and now I'm lucky if I can even walk at all. My idiot doctor prescribed Tylenol with Codeine and that didn't work. Now he's got me on Vicodin and that BARELY works. Does anyone know of anything that might help? Thanks!

Yossarian

chiropractor. its done great things for my back. i've got really screwed up posture, so its nice to be back in regular shape for awhile. word of advice tho, you WILL hurt the first few times you get adjusted

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Kim

When I was pregnant, I got terrible sciatic pain. My doc told me to sleep with a pillow between my legs, put one foot on a stool when I had to stand for awhile. Basically, I had to keep one hip higher than the other.

Feel better soon!

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johnnymk

I have two or three herniated discs in my neck. I have lived with them for 13 years.

I go to a chiropractor 30 times a year. That's what my insurance permits annually.

This November I was yanking on my lawn mower and my neck really got out of whack. I have pain going down my right arm because of a protrusion between C6 and C7 hitting a nerve. The pain goes from mild tingling to excruciating.

I have tried Celebrex, Vicodin, Vioxx, Skelaxin and I forget the other one with minimal reduction in pain.

Believe it or not, an herb called Valerian helps the most. It can be gotten at most drug stores very cheaply(around 5 bucks for 100). Also another herb called Traumeel may help, but it's hard to find locally.

It sounds very serious what you have, so I am not sure this will help.

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verve247

Ever think of getting a new doctor? Second opinions from an actual professional might be helpful. Can a physical therapy program help you? Good luck.

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oblongmelon

I'm sure you're guarding your back and your gait as well because of it-which can only make the situation worse..first and formost-you need to relax..don't sleep on your stomach at any cost, ask him for a series of simple exercises you can do. Heat therapy works good if they send you to PT..but if you don't go-nice hot baths seem to relax those muscles around the disks and let you have some relief...the only thing pain killers do are going to make you loopy..definately get that pillow 'tween the knees (and ankles too) when laying on your sides...and believe it or not-walk. Slow if you have to-but keep moving or you'll get more still and sore. Not sure if that stuff that Johnny mentioned works-but I'm going to take a shot at it myself since they took my dear sweet vioxx off the market. *sniff*...oh yeh, and btw-there is a thing called a D roll support that you should use to keep your spine in alignment when sitting..it's like half of a foam pillow that fits in the small of your back..those help alot.

Gothic Girl

Thanks a lot everyone. I'm definately going to try Johnny's suggestion. I have been trying to walk a little (at a turtle's pace) everyday. It's been hard, but I'm trying! I'm actually seeing one of the best neurosurgeons in San Diego. This is covered under a work injury, and we've been requesting this procedure where they go into my back and heat up the disks with a long needle inserted between the disks. Of course, we've been requesting this for over a year, so I don't know how long it will be till I get real relief.
The pillow between the legs is almost the only way I can sleep. I found that out when I got pregnant too! And stomach sleeping is the worst. Sharp, excruciating pain radiating down into my leg.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm interested in Johnny's remedies, so the next time I get to the store I'm gonna have to pick those up. Thanks again everyone!

kimchicowboy

maybe acupuncture?

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Jcranmer

With the smiley, I am not sure you are serious or not. Either way though, as odd as I think it sounds, I do know someone that swore by it for back pain from slipped discs. It supposedly worked very well for him, but only once he found the "right" person to do it. He went all out and found someone that did the suction cup jars and smoke thing along with the needles.

FWIW though, I just can't see anything like that doing a bit of good, other then perhaps mentally. Anyone here actually every had it done?

hoey222

i've heard chiropractor is the way to go - but a good chiro will also tell you when it's time for suregery. i know that may not be what you want to hear. my dad has had the disc surgery TWICE. it ultimately does relieve the pain, but it's surgery....


have you tried stretching? simple stretches 2-3 times a day. the hamstring muscles when tightened, put undue stress on the lower back and can pinch the sciatic nerve.
lay on your back and pull your knees to your chest. stretch your gluts and your hams strings. that may help relieve the muscle tension that is pinching the nerves.

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Sesshomaru

I'm young, but I've had lower back pain to where I couldn't even walk. I think it's because I pulled one vertebrae out of alignment when I was younger.

Anyway, I religously do lower back stretching exercises everyday, and after a while, the back pain is a none issue.

Basically, I kneel and then sit down with by butt on my feet. I lean forward from there, keeping the entire back perfectly straight. Then I do it again, but lean to the left, and again but lean to the right. It works for me.

Also, and I'm probably underestimating it's importance, but I've work my abs to crazy strong shape. Having strong abs really takes a lot of pressure off of the back.

But don't do situps, they suck. I use an ab roller. It doesn't get rid of the fat, but it really strenghens the muscle.

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Yossarian

try and keep good posture too, it'll keep your spine in its natrual curev, which will help reduces the stress on your disks. obby's lumbar support is a good idea, but run that one by the doc first, sometimes you can get the wrong one and it will force your spine to curve too much

BrewMaster

i think i had that at an italian restaurant. it was chicken sciatica and it was yummy.

but seriously now, I've had similar lower back pain for several years. what worked well for me is a combination of things.

1) Ibuprofen (aka Advil, Motrin, etc), 4 pills (200mg), 4 times a day for 5 days. Even when the pain goes away, stay on it for the full 5 days. My doc said it reduces the swelling around the nerve. I believe him becuase it worked for me. (Incidently I took Vicodin and it is really useless on back pain for me. I swear by ibuprofen.)

2) Stretching. It helped me to lay down on my back and pull my knees to my chest. Sometime one leg at a time, sometimes both. Also, with my back perfectly flat I put my legs up on a chair while I lay on the floor. Another excercise is to lay flat on your back with your feer flat to the ground and your knees up. Slowly rotate your hips forward. It's kind of like pointing with your bellybutton while rolling your butt forward. Hard to explain but I bet your doc has some excercises for you. I went to PT and it helped a bit, but not much. I was better of on my own.

3) Exercising. I know it seems nuts when you can barely walk because I've been there. But as you can move more, go to the gym or wherever you can and move. Nothing crazy like aerobis, just walking, running, or eliptical stuff.

4) Posture. When sitting or standing, remember your posture. This is more of a preventative thing I do. Once the pain is there it doesn't help that much.

I lapsed on these things and I had crazy-can't-walk-lying-on-the-floor-in-my-office kind of pain back in September. Since then I've had relatively no pain by regularly exercising, stretching, and keeping posture. Good luck! I feel your pain (literally!).

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angl2b

if you can take the codine - go to the chiropractor and have him adjust you. That's what I did - I wasn't able to walk at all either - but codine, pretlizone (sp?) and some other meds I was on helped enough where he could do it. Also lie on your back have one leg bent (like knee up - not sure how to describe it) and the other leg stretch out and pull in towards your stomach and back out again (about 10x per side) this helps a bit too. Sorry my descriptions are bad. Sleeping with a pillow between your legs is good. OH-Mineral ice - if you don't want to ice your lower back use that instead it helps a bit too.

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Houdini

Be cautious with the chiropractors. Necks and backs weren't really meant to be popped, and occasionally adjustments can result in strokes (vertebral artery dissections). I know people have gotten relief from them, but I've seen a few bad cases - scary enough to keep me away from them.

At any rate, good luck getting that procedure. I agree with Brew's suggestions. Vicodin doesn't do anything at all for inflammation, but things like Ibuprofen can help a lot. Vicodin can help with the acute pain.

H

brokenneck2000

Hey Sa....Gothic Girl;

My lumbar discs herniated, blew out, and are now collapsing on each other. (fun fun) Can you say workers comp bites? Yep - they've only taken 4 years to bicker about what is allowed and what is not. I paid for my neck fusion since they couldn't figure out if they should approve it prior to complete paralysis or not. boneheads....

Brewmaster is pretty much on target.

Keep the internal swelling down with the Ibuprofen.


Stretching & walking. I know it sounds strange, but the stronger your back muscles are, the less weight your discs have to support. Go easy initally. Get your doc to send you to Physical Therapy. They can tell you what exercises are ok to do with your specific injury.

Massage; When you're injured your muscles will lock up and "guard" and that hurts too. In addition to disc pain, your muscles will start spazing & clenching. Not fun and pain pills don't really help that either.

Because I have bits missing, I'm not in the mood to get twisted prior to replacing said bits. So I go to the accupuncturist. Some of the first relief I have felt in years. However, it progresses in baby steps. They can show you some cool pressure points to hit when the pain gets really bad that will take the "burning stab" out of the pain.

Good luck,
Bk2K

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Gothic Girl

Thanks everyone. I keep being told to ice it, but I don't like freezing myself so that mineral ice suggestion was a really good sugestion!

Brokenneck, that's pretty much the same with mine. It's my L3-4, L4-5 and L-5 S-1. They're going through the same thing, getting blown out and ready to collapse on each other.

Brewmaster, thanks for the streches. I forgot about a lot of them! I just had an MRI done and waiting for the results. My doctor said I've lost a lot of reflexes in my left leg. Not good! Gosh, I'm only 28 years old! I'm not supposed to be having an 80yr old's body yet!

johnnymk

For What It's Worth.... I discovered about a year ago that caffeine and alcohol accentuates nerve pain, so I stopped drinking caffeinated beverages and I try to drink as little alcohol as possible.

BrewMaster

see, that's my motivation. i love beer but when my back hurts and i am on meds, i obviously avoid alcohol since pills and alcohol don't mix well. as long as i am pill-free, i can happily enjoy beer!

welfareloser

three options - physical therapy, surgery, and chiropractic. actually, there's a fourth option: do nothing.

statistically, they all have about the same long-term results... what that really means is this: there is no way to predict what will work best for you.

i've done all but the surgery. chiropractic care does have a significant element of quackery - even the best chiropracters will claim to be able to fix stuff that they simply cannot fix - but it may be the thing the helps you. i would say, start with a physical therapist. learn the stretches and exercises that will keep the important muscles strong enough to support you, your posture good, etc. if, after a few months, there is no improvement, go to a chiropracter. and DO NOT discontinue the exercises/stretches while going to the chiro, and do not discontinue them after you feel better.

this is a lifestyle change that you need to make... you need to make good posture, proper lifting, good sleeping position, etc, second nature. good shoes, too...

i limped for 6 months once after a nasty slipped disc... chiropractic care was what finally got me back on track.

with three discs out of whack... you may be looking at surgery in the next few years if, despite your best efforts, this keeps happening. start with your general practitioner to get a referral to physical therapy, and go from there. good luck!

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verve247

That's a good exercise. I do that in addition to the Cobra Yoga Position. It is excellent for removing pain i may get in my lower back.

BrewMaster

really? that is about the worst possible thing I could do for my lower back. if it works for you then that is awesome, but the only thing more painful for me than that cobra position would be getting hit by a truck while laying down in the street.

Gothic Girl

I agree with BrewMaster. That's pretty painful. I can't even lay on my stomach, much less try to do that.

BrewMaster

i have a tendency to move around a lot in my sleep. on the nights when i roll over on to my stomach and sleep that way, i wake up in the morning in all kinds of pain.

another exercise I do that I forgot to mention is laying flat on your back with you knees tucked into your stomach and your feet off the ground. you rotate your knees and your lower body to the right and then to the left while keeping your shoulders and upper body flat on the ground. it helps when the pain is on both sides of my lower back.

surfer

I go for massage therapy for minor pain and a chiropracter if that doesn't fix it.

verve247

Wow guys. I'm sorry I recommended that. It does wonders for me. I guess the pain you receive is a lot more advanced then what i go through.

BrewMaster

no harm no foul. if it works for you then that's all that matters.

Ladogaboy

That was a type of stretching exercise that I had to do for most of the sports teams I've been involved with. Always seemed fine to me... of course, it might also depend on what part of your back is hurt and how.

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johnnymk

http://www.sitincomfort.com/baccussup.html

It's not as wide as it appears in the ad. I will let you know if it helps my neck.

verve247

That woman looks like she's 4 feet tall