I have been fighting pain on my right side for roughly 8 months.
Even with my extremely high pain resistance the pain was slowly getting worse and worse and I thought for sure it was pain like have a 3rd kidney stone in 18 month's setting in.
For the Charlotte playoffs I usually take the RV in the Pro pits so I am there for the entire race but pain had seriously gotten a lot worse so I just planned on driving over but on race day I literally could not get out of bed without my wife's help.
Saw my regular doctor and he gave me pain meds and muscle relaxers and scheduled an appointment to see my kidney doctor a month later. Pain ended up constant getting so bad I finally gave in and went to the emergency room. ET X ray did not find a kidney stone or any other organ problems. Even a morphine shot in the ER only too a little out of the pain but it was still bad. They prescribed more pain and muscle relaxers and sent me home.
I hate taking pain meds and pretty much grit my teeth and work through it and movement helps but standing in place after 5 minutes flares up the pain.
By going to my massage therapist she is highly trained and specializes in pain management and after seeing her there was no pain for 2 days. The pain had moved from my groin to my R leg where she started focusing on the muscles that had shooting pain.
Now its Back Dr time and again another month wait to get in.
I had seen this Back Dr about 7 or 8 years ago about back pain getting a MRI and there was nothing wrong with my back at the 1st PT inspection they noticed my big toes arthritis changing how I had been walking and throwing everything out of alignment. After my massage therapist got my toe to move more fixing that back pain.
Finally get into see Back Dr and after looking at the ER x ray and the old MRI he sent me in for 6 weeks PT. PT was always after I had gotten up and been moving so they never got to see how bad it was. The PT exercises made it worse! But Massage Therapist made it better and I was seeing her 2 times a week for 90 minutes.
6 weeks and back to see Back Dr. He kept saying it was the insurance company that would not let me get a up to date MRI so now I get a MRI.
MRI clearly showed the L5 triangle where the nerve passes through had been filling in squeezing the nerve causing the shooting pains down my R leg. Was able to get the spine shot the next day and it has helped some but still requires meds.
It is going to require a massive back surgery to clean out the nerve canal and 2 screws to secure L4 and L5 together with 4-8 weeks PT therapy.
That's terrible. Chronic pain is so debilitating.
So are you getting the surgery?
My L3-4 is toast and L5/S1 is worse. I wont take any flavor of neurontin and just tough it out.
Going to get a steroid injection at L5 at 2:30 today. Hang in there, gettin' old sucks.
Had l5 s1 fused then l 4-5 fused. Which made l 3-4 start to fail. I have a marble size herniation and a 4mn disc shift. I decided not to get the l3-4 done because last time there was a spine fluid tear. I'm a hockey nut and play several times a week not counting our 3 day practice sessions. Just joined a gym to increase muscle tone
I'm glad I didn't have the l3-4 done. I have pain but keeping my back and stomach muscles in shape allows me to continue to play. Good luck heck your MRI looks great compared to mine
Sorry to hear Lumpy and Jaf. Chronic back pain ain't no joke. I got shit between C3 - C7 and L1-L5. (Normal Xray showed that)
My right arm often has a mind of its own, bouts of random twitches and shaking occurs which I can't control. Furthermore, it's hard to describe but if I get into the wrong posture my right leg collapses and the pain is shocking.
The last 18 months has been bad. Massages, PT and visits to the Chiropractor who has now referred me to a neurosurgeon. Next week I will be going for my MRI and then the way forward will be planned. For me surgery ain't a option. No work no pay.
Honestly I'm sitting myself.
Just a straight up warning regarding pain meds.
The normal GP who suggested trying PT and massages also prescribed muscle relaxants and Tramadol for pain. The Tramadols were wonderful and really helped with the pain. 6 of the tabs made me feel like i was 30 again...put a spring in my foot. Sadly I got addicted and this past year I was averaging 4 - 8 tabs a day every day.
I quit the Tabs on the 11th of Dec cold turkey and I'm suffering like a MF now. The withdrawals are getting better, it'll take a bit but I can't go back to them tabs. It's dangerous. Now I'm struggling with the pain again.
Good luck to you all and yes, it really sucks to get old.
Edit - broke my (R) femur bad in 1990 so the right leg is + - 12mm shorter. My shoe insert was last seen around 1993... 😂
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I have another issue which is worrying me. I'm seriously claustrophobic and I'm not liking the idea of been sent into a tube (MRi machine)
I guess I'll be ok as long as my head sticks out.
Following….. like Boomslang I’m on the one side is 1 inch shorter plan. Been doing pt for about 6 weeks with mixed results. Bad days and not as bad days. Still waiting for a good day. Good luck you guys, it’s hard to not be grumpy when you get stabbing pains in the lower back and down both legs sporadically throughout the day.
True about the grumpy part....some days it's so bad and I don't like to bitch about it but it results in me hardly talking to my family. That gets me down.
Any of you guys spend loads of time flat on your back?
Not loads of time on my back but the couch after supper is a big magnet for me. If feels good laying there but then when I go to get up it's like I'm locked in that position and getting back up off the couch has me in worse shape than when I first got there.
We're getting old and decrepit...
I have a great relationship with my sofa, it long enough for me to lay flat...but when the missus is watching her crap on TV, I head upstairs to the bed and hit the TV or a good book.
1h20 to midnight (New Year)...and I can hear the whole neighborhood getting pissed....it's getting loud out there and it's time for me to round up all my animals and make them safe from all the fireworks.
No. I sleep like a rock
Going into MRI they said would it would take 18 minutes but I do not think it took that long. Relax and close eyes and listen to the different click sounds can help relax you.
I didn’t get a picture of it but clicking on the L5 the MRI could look at each of the the vertebrae from the end view which showed you exactly what the problem is.
In my life time I have been busted up a lot and the rating pain from 1 to 10 never made any sense to me …… untill now. I now know what a 10 is.
I still had some Oxy from my knee surgery and one of the Dr’s prescription and that shit scares the hell out of me because it is so easy to get addicted to it. While my wife was out of town for Thanksgiving I was hurting really bad and took it for 4 or 5 days and well it does work getting rid of the pain but I stoped and still have some of them left over. I told the Back Dr that I did not want OxyContin and he prescribed a less addictive pain killer that’s helping since getting the shot.
I am doing everything that I can to not cancel doing the MC trade show booth in Vegas in 1 month. Carrying the stuff in and out is going to be difficult and standing is not going to help either.
For me getting out of bed was the worst. When moving sideways to the sitting position at about a 45 degree angle sets it off. I haven’t slept in a bed for about two months now and have been sleeping in the recliner that is close to flat.
S1-L4 fusion 3 years ago. Fantastic orthopedic surgeon that specializes in spine issues. I still ride, work PT at home remodeling and play pickleball ( excuse me, I’m old ) three days a week. I found the key for me was to do as much pre-hab of my core as I could tolerate and then continue with my exercises. As my PT would tell me, “ motion is lotion”
Fuck me fellas. As I sit here trying not to cry...waiting on insurance to ok C3-7 fusion.
The worst for me is the mind fuck that is "nerve" pain. My NECK is only "sore" but I "feel" hideous pain in my shoulders/arms/hands...which are perfectly fine, albeit getting weaker because of not moving around.
I am getting no more than 4 hours sleep a night which is it's own problem.
As others have said...gettin' old aint for the weak.
PB, I didn’t know you were going thru this.
So sorry. As you said, gettin old ain’t for sissies.
My wife is going to have to have back surgery soon. I’m not sure which discs they are working on, but it’s her lower back. They are going to go in from the front, though.
Damn Plowboy, that is really shit to hear and I wish you get sorted quickly. Pain is a bitch and 4 hrs sleep a night ain't good.
I struggle to get comfortable in order to sleep. Get into be at 10pm and I'll still be fighting at midnight some nights worse.
Here wishing all us bastards get ourselves sorted this year.
To everyone: seek the best medical care you can afford. I had a C7-T1 issue that the local orthopedic surgeon wanted to address via a C5-6-7 fusion. The orthopedic expert at the Carroll Clinic in Dallas said 1) that’s a 3 day hospital stay and 2) it would not fix the problem. He recommended a laminectomy and I asked about recovery and he said “you’ll walk out after the procedure”. And he delivered.
Lesson learned: always get a second opinion. And if you have access to the best, go see the best.
Pit Row
Mri is also very loud. Takes 45 minutes the one I last took.
I could barely hear the music coming from the headphones it was so loud
They did gave me ear plugs to put in my ears.
Doctor did say the way my L4 and L5 MRI from years ago looked was a typical old age thing but that was how it looked years ago.
I am sad and surprised how many of us are having bad back issues.
Of course we just changed insurance affective today but the new one still covers the Dr.
Sometimes I wish that I had never touched a motorcycle....my right shoulder joint is worn out, my right knee hurts like a MF all the time and my right hand finger joints are all fu#ked...it even hurts making a fist.
Nevertheless, I'm still breathing so I'm happy.
The worst part is how many months of pain and number of different doctor appointments this all took. Emergency room was so much pain they took me in a wheelchair but I thought it was another kidney stone.
The pain moving around should have been an obvious sign that the nerves were being pinched.
The pain really increased after going to the Budds Creek national and walking around the race.
I went for one last ditch effort to try something minimally invasive for my back last month. No dice, the nuero surgeon is taking my case to the Allegheny Health Network Spinal Surgery Review board for their recommendation. I have rotational scoliosis with the main issue being right side sciatica.
FINDINGS: Scoliosis and advanced multilevel degenerative disc disease. Conus medullaris and cauda equina are normal. Moderate central and left lateral recess at L1-L2 stenosis. Moderately severe central stenosis at L3-L4 and right foraminal narrowing here also moderately severe. Severe central L4-L5 stenosis and right foraminal disc herniation. Also severe L5-S1 central canal and bilateral foraminal stenosis. Changes are similar to the prior exam.
This is the cliff notes version. They tried everything except surgery which I would not do. I've seen too many end in worse condition. PT was a disaster, shockwave, 4, localized cortisone injections. 2, nerve ablations and 1, epidural. Nothing helped. Small regular doses of ibuprofen is the only thing that works at all. I actually consider the pain specialist I went to as a crook. I also consider PT as mostly snake oil. They hurt me so bad one day that they stopped the PT and only then would they order the fucking MRI. They treat everybody that complains of back pain as a malingerer until an MRI proves otherwise which they do their best to not do until PT fails as it did in my case.
Look into a laminectomy. Most orthopedic surgeons can’t perform this procedure, so they don’t recommend it. It’s the domain of neurosurgeons and highly skilled orthopedic surgeons. It’s an outpatient procedure with immediate results.
I had a disc herniation on my L5 S1 about 4 months ago. I know what you are talking about it was the worst pain I've ever been in and I've raced motocross for 20 years and know pain. I could not walk or even sit in a chair without being in the worst pain ever. So I am sorry you are going through this. I went and got an MRI and made an appointment with a neurosurgeon. I explained to them I could not walk or work and it was affecting my life so they worked me right in. At my appointment, I was lying on the ground in pain and could not move. He saw how much pain I was in so he sent me to the ER at the hospital, where he performed surgery and said he would work me in. The next night I had surgery. The good news is the pain was instantly gone. The recovery is a little rough but not too bad. I would fight hard to get to a neurosurgeon, not a pain management doctor, and get operated on. Im 4 months out and pretty much to normal activity and realitively pain free. Good luck man I know its a miserable situation.
FYI I had the laminectomy not a fusion.
For 20+ years I could not stand in one place for more than 5 minutes before pain started resonating in my lower back. Post-laminectomy I can stand for 1+ hours.
And yes, I had a C7-T1 laminectomy in Feb 2022, and an S5-L1 in August 2022. I asked my surgeon what was happening, and he gracefully stated that I had “crap genetics”. 6 years of pulling G’s in navy jets and years of MX/off road didn’t help.
I will check it out. Thanks
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