Back problems

Your lucky you get pain killers it works for nerve pain.  In the 90,s I got a huge bottle with 4 refills. For a broken back with bone junks lodged in nerves,blown  disk against nerves.yrs later  . Broke it in 96 had a dangerous surgery on10-2-02 ,nearly paralyzed.  Yrs later my lower 5 vertebra, blown disk , hv all the big bad names u can think of my dr says.  Bottom 3 r bone on bone . No pain killers they will not prescribe them. And they say nobody gets surgery like yrs ago.  Lack of back surgeons & scare  tissue could make symptoms worse. I just live in pain.  Massive beaten old truck with blown shocks& seat . I thought I fractured my humorous bone again . Is f ing brutal. If my nerves in my back where not shooting pain threw my butt blowing myit band up that I can’t put wt on my leg ,and shooting pain leg into my numb foot  .  I learned to enjoy the pain.  Like the Alice Cooper song pain .  . All my disk in my neck r blown out too. That’s totally diff from the back.  I just crashed out far hr.greasy winter storm. At night Sucks.  I hv a ton more injuries that need surgery. That could take yrs. Wake up from surgery & I hv 7 new vertebrae, disk ,  hook for hands and feet, new neck, shoulders, elbows,knees , hips, it bands , plate in my humorous bone , ear surgery and had my toe nails and hair cut. Lol 

If you can, seek out "Total Spine". I had a TERRIBLE herniated L5 S1 about 9-10 years ago, kept putting off getting it "fixed" by eating OTC pain meds like candy, and seeing a chiropractor for a solid year. I was disabled with sciatic pain, and couldnt put on socks or sit in a chair - but once I was on my feet, I could go all day.  My family doctor referred me to Total Spine in Charlotte, they got me the MRI and scheduled me in to slice off the blown out part of my disk. I realize your condition may be different than mine, but these folks knocked it out of the park. I was in Hell for at least a year, but a 45 minute surgery fixed it right up. I was furious with myself for not getting it fixed earlier. 

Dude, what I was not ready for was laying flat on my back on that hard table. I can’t even describe how bad that hurt. I mean, I was in there forever as they had to do three different images, and I just could not believe how excruciating it was on my back, I think once I got up, I was fine, but just in that moment I couldn’t believe no one warned me lol

Yep...laying on that flat table is a mutha. 🤕

I'm not to happy about having to go in the tube but at this point, my back is so sore that I'm prepared to do anything. 

I had a small patch of lawn to mow yesterday, on a good day it will take 25 minutes. This time it was close on a hour. My lower back was on fire and the intermittent pain in my leg had me raging....hating life...so yeah, claustrophobic and all I look forward to the mri now as it is the first step to hopefully and eventually a normal back. I hate living in pain.

I'm struggling with out the tablets but still holding strong.

Boomslang : " I'm not to happy about having to go in the tube but at this point, my back is so sore that I'm prepared to do anything. "

Me to!

I've spent far to much time in 'The Tube'over the years.

Never, ever comfortable with it, and, the last few have been nearly unbearable.

2nd last one, I 'tapped out' after about half an hour. Felt like such a wimp, but couldn't take it - that the radio / music they'd put into the headphones for me had gone skitzo, really, Really didn't help. Drs  etc were very understanding, and set me up for the next day. Ashamed that the only way I could get through it, was to get there early, and 'neck' 3 cans of Bourbon and Coke in the car. Told the Docs, and, thankfully, they said "whatever you need to get through this is OK by us" - good people, but I felt weak as piss reverting to such a tactic. I barely consume alcohol nowadays, so 3 cans had me in Space Cadet mode. 

Next one, they had to put some Horse Needle sized things into my spine, at  the neck. As I can't lie face down with my arms out forward (f**ked shoulders) they had to go through the front of my neck, and they were Not happy about that. They had me strapped down tight for that, as any movement was precarious, and I had to have my favourite Attending Nurse hold my hand and speak to me for the hour it all took. Yup., I Am A Wimp!

There's More 'Tube Time' for me soon. 

Hang in there Boom - I hope they can sort things out for you - and All here with Spine / Back - well, Any problems. 

Geez Bear  that sounds rough man. The horse sized needle through the front of your neck..geezuz, I doubt I could go through that ordeal. F##k me, I feel nauseous just thinking about it.

Yup, a load of us here are up shit creak. 

Wishing you all the best going forward.

Boomslang : " Yup, a load of us here are up shit creek "

Yes, indeed, But,  As I say to so many , usually when they 'commiserate' with my injuries, I've had a Fantastic Time in getting to be the Ruin that I am now.

Give thought to the 'dull' lives so many lead in our society(s) nowadays - so many times, coming back from a ride / race, dirty, exhausted, battered, but happy, I'd see those poor bastards stuck in their car (admittedly, in the same traffic jam I  / we are) on a late Sunday arvo, with their pissed off partner / screaming kids etc.......... not  my idea of living.

I've Ridden and Raced  all around the world, worked in the two, 2 wheel industries - my passions -  for 4 decades , and, when I got sick of that, Travelled and Worked hugely in Engineering and Teaching, I've  met so , So many Good People. Even, well, especially in, the nastiest / scariest of places. Getting into, and Out of Yemen, in one piece, a few years ago while doing some NGO work, being probably the most 'interesting'.

Though, things are, lately, getting a bit Grim. 

I need to get one of my mates / brothers around to get my beloved old CRE out of my workshop for me ( it takes a Lot of maneuvering to get it out of hiding, then past the various machines and shelving,  and then through a narrow little door, and I'm sure I'd axe myself trying ) )  so I can go for a bit of a local single track putter on it. Riding, is the Best medication, I reckon.

Surgeon called me today.  The review board wants nothing to do with my back.  Sending me back to pain management to treat symptoms.

Why is that Alphado? 

What is pain management procedure?

I'm struggling badly, Been living on pain killers but have recently stopped taking them. The result is that I'm suffering more now.

My spine is twisted is 3 dimensions.  None of them feel comfortable trying to fix it without possibly making it worse.  Pain Mgt. is injections and other non invasive treatments.  Pain Mgt. were the ones that sent me to the surgeon.  Now I'm going back.

Crumbs man, that sounds bad. Wishing you all the best going forward. 

Did an FTR hare sc4amble 2 weekends ago, felt pretty good during the race, you guys know, our backs are always hurting from riding all these years. Drove 3hrs home, took a step out of my van, pop! WTF! Low back is killing me last 2 weeks, I can usually stretch it out but this time shit hurts…. Have not gone to Dr. yet, been stretching, swimming and hot tubin it, slightly better but still cant get back to riding…. 40 years of Mx & off road riding is taking its toll on us…..sometimes I am in complete denial about the condition of my body, I actually thought I was going to ride today……I can’t even bend over to put my fucking sox on….dry January ending early😂

I had similar symptoms about 17 years ago with my back being totally locked up after driving home from riding (or just about anything). Found out it was a kidney stone after a trip to the emergency room in 2010. After I got it blasted out (camera and laser went up someplace they shouldn't go) that pain/extreme back stiffness went away and has not returned. I was told to try potassium citrate to combat stones. Seems to work for me but my brother has larger stones and as they break up, he gets too much pain and discomfort so he only sparingly uses it.  Good luck trying to get better!!

Damn sorry you guys are dealing with back pain. Im in the same boat. I’m going on the 3rd month of “Stretching and back exercises” and it’s not getting better. Sometimes it won’t be too bad in the morning, but after awhile it’ll drop me if I move the wrong way. Hoping it’s not a loose lag bolt or other metal piece working loose. It feels like having one leg shorter is starting to catch up, or the vertebrae that was cracked but not broken is calcifying like heterotopic bone growth and pushing on a nerve. I’ll give a few more weeks than go back for an mri I guess. It’s kinda fubar in there…

Sorry so many of you guys are in such pain. 

Have any of you tried one of those percussive massage guns for some types of pain? I have one and it has helped me out greatly. 

Haven't tried one of those but my wife bought this vibrating thing you're supposed to stand on. 30 seconds on that thing and thought I was going to pass out. I don't know what kind of injury or problem it's supposed to solve but it triggered my lower back pain big time. 

L5s1 l5l4 fusion and a failed l3l4 with a considerable bulge.  Was considering l3l4 fusion because of obvious pain. I play allot od beer league hockey. Instead of the operation wife and I joined a gym and go every day got the black membership thru sIlver sneakers so free.  I feel really good working lower body muscles and take zero pain meds. The hydromassage chair they offer really sooths out the workout aches afterwards.  Unless the l3l4 does something nasty to me ill not think of a fusion.  My advice is lose weight cut out sugar and caffeine work those lower back muscles and don't smoke. A year ago I couldn't walk up steps and was in severe pain and on pain meds. If I can do it u can.

One simple exercise seems to help me a lot most times. Deep knee bends. With a high back kitchen chair in front of me I can use for some arm assist. I do 10 slow ones trying to stay as upright as possible.

Dam…hopefully thats not my issue! I will wait until I am almost dead before I see another Dr. …tired of hearing “ stop riding”. Swimming  stretching and hot tub seem to be helping some….inversion table next👌

It's a double edged sword: It hurts a A LOT but is not structural so if you can eliminate the stone (see comment regarding potassium citrate or a laser up your weiner) symptoms go away quickly or instantly in my case. I got the inversion table and sometimes it was marginally better and other times just as bad.  I once got a massage at high end place and it literally took me about 25 minutes to walk 75 feet back to my car afterwards. I could ride with no issues but loading bike was dicey and exiting the truck when I got home was tear inducing. It got to the point that I just wanted to be dead because it was so debilitating. If you have any family member that has kidney stones in their history, you are susceptible.  Kidney stones can be detected via a urine test or if large enough an ultrasound.  My 9mm stone was stuck in my ureter and my older brother had a 26mm stone in his kidney.  Good luck to everyone suffering and I hope you are able to find relief.

26mm's!!!???? 😬

Did you forget to put a decimal point in there somewhere?

For context this is roughly 26mm. Fuck me running. Glad that shit doesn't run in my family.

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That's awesome good job. I made a concentrated effort to avoid sugar, salt, and carbs, (bread mainly) and greatly reduce caffeine and alcohol about 6 months ago. I'm down 23 lbs, (222 to 199) "Trying" to all the stretches and back exercises daily but have been admittedly inconsistent. I do some key ones daily but not the whole routine which takes about an hour.  Riding the emtb helps and thank god when I'm riding it my back rarely bothers me, getting on and off it and putting it in and out of the truck will light me up occasionally but (knock on wood) when I'm actually riding I feel good and have minimal pain.  My pain will start in the lower back and shoot down both legs like 220 volts. When it hits it's full stop mode. Picking up and carrying anything over 30-40 pounds hurts. The PT's guess was arthritus and a compressed or inflamed disc ? But with no x-ray who knows. Anyway I'll keep doing what I'm doing and see where we're at in a few more weeks. The dry weather and fires out here have my 2 employees so busy I'm doing a lot more of the physical work like changing heaters and pumps, picking up chems (40 lb cases, 40 lb bags of salt etc) Stuff that used to never phase me. I'll be 66 this month and it's starting to feel like it lol. Thanks for the motivation     

I'm 64 i feel ya... carrying in from the truck a 40 lbs cat litter box is brutal. I think how bad the 40 lbs is if overweight.         I too do allot of mtb in the summer never have any pain riding.  Hang in there

Nope.  He showed me his urologist visit summary and his x-ray and it was lit up like a rough surface ping-pong ball.  Stuck in his kidney where it goes into the ureter. He suffered from the same stiffness in my back as I had and has been miserable for years.  He had 3 different laser surgeries to break it up it was so large. Anyways, I still use the inversion table to this day as it actually feels pretty good now that I am no longer in constant back pain.