Viewing 27 posts - 1 through 27 (of 27 total)
  • Anyone got chronic lower back pain?
  • wolfenstein
    Free Member

    How soon did you go to the GP?
    How is the treatment?
    How are you now?

    cloudnine
    Free Member

    Have you got an existing diagnosed problem?

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    How long have you been suffering? I did for years thinking I just had a bad back!? Got diagnosed with a known treatable condition & now no pain at all for years.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    the missus has.

    GP not sure what you expect, she went to a physio, back specialist and ortho. The recent lot were all part of the same place which also does physio, pilates & yoga. They did manage to diagnose the problem and she has been working on solutions for 2 years now. It’s working but she works bloody hard at it too.

    derek_starship
    Free Member

    I’ve been suffering for 18 months+. I think it’s a sacroiliac joint issue. I’m in the system now. Kicked off with X-Rays this week.

    mattyboy24
    Free Member

    Hey,

    I get an aggravated sciatic nerve, I have found core work, stretching and being mobile help massively.

    I tried the GP and chiropractor but found a sports physiotherapist worked best for me.

    Unfortunately what works for one person doesn’t always work for the next.

    Hope you get it all sorted mate, it can be a right pain (badum tish!)

    Matt

    wolfenstein
    Free Member

    2 years I lift a luggage bag in a wrong way and heard/ feel something snap in my back.. Agonising pain for 2 weeks but did not go to GP .. My back wasnt the same since then… I can masked the pain with pain killers till the last 2 weeks it just doesnt work anymore . ..its too painful now that i am feverish because of it i guess.from time to time… Pilates used to fix the pain for a day or two till the last 2 weeks.. Contemplating going to GP this week.

    monkeysfeet
    Free Member

    Yes. fairly recently (3 weeks ago) had an off on the road, now been diagnosed with an inflamed sciatic nerve. Waiting to see the doc again, but I am back in work. My job means sitting down for 3-4 hrs at a time, so very painful at the mo’. Been for a short ride since, and that was a bit sore too…. 🙁

    therag
    Free Member

    Almost 20 years now. Comes and goes, usually 2-3 times per year and lasts around 6 weeks.
    The gp is totally stumped when I tell him I don’t want a sick note.
    Been going to private physio & chiropract for years but not much help. Tried marihuana, most types of prescribed & unsubscribed pain killers but you can’t polish crap.
    Had a private mri scan which showed three buldging discs, but I couldn’t afford the £16k opp so went back to nhs.
    Eventualy this year I got to see an nhs specialist who agreed to operate.
    So a few weeks ago, I get the call to go under the knife, stay in hospital overnight, get showered and compression tights on ready to go into theatre, when the surgeon comes to see me to tell me he isn’t going to operate as I’m not in pain at the moment and the procedure should only be carried out when the pain is full effect. Gives us a ring when it’s next bds and we’ll get you another mri scan. Great!
    I’ve now got to sell my house to pay to get it repaired privately or put up with it for the rest of my life.
    The thing that has always helped me is cycling, the position seems to take off the pressure so I’ve stuck with it and ride as often as I can.
    The best pain relief I have found is laying on the floor, holding onto a door frame and getting someone to pull on my foot, it’s hard trying to find someone happy to try to pull your foot off, 🙂 but when they do it releases it for a few mins.

    Good luck, hope you find what will help relive yours.

    shermer75
    Free Member

    Yes. I stretch it everyday, keeps the problem in check

    shermer75
    Free Member

    I never saw a GP, maybe I should of. Instead I spent a fortune on physios without much success, before trying yoga which made a difference pretty much straight away and has been working ever since. This may or may not work for you, not sure what your particular problems are, but I do think that the average modern lifestyle (ie spending between a third to a half or more of our lives sat at a desk or in a car) that contributes to a lot of back complaints which can be counteracted by a regular stretching routine.

    shermer75
    Free Member

    Sorry- just saw that you have posted more details about your back. It sounds pretty bad, I wouldn’t say that a trip to the GP would be a disproportionate reaction!

    CriticalThinker
    Free Member

    I have had back probs since binning it on patch of ice in 2000. Things deteriorated in Jul last year, tried physio, chiropractor etc. The GP kept prescribing stronger and stronger pain relief. Eventually (after being pushed from pillar to post and back again) saw a NHS tier 2 physio who arranged a MRI. 2 weeks from seeing physio I had been scanned, had a diagnosis and a referral to see surgeon. I saw the surgeon at the end of Dec, Op in late Jan back to work part time 4 weeks post op and back on the bike in 8 weeks. I count myself as being pretty lucky…

    shermer75
    Free Member

    Sounds like you’re doing well there, CriticalThinker. What is a Tier 2 physio? I never even knew there was a ranking system!

    wolfenstein
    Free Member

    God forbid i need to go under the knife, the last time i step inside a hospital was 1998 and its not even me, just visiting my sick mom that time. 🙁

    I go felt weird uneasy inside medical facilities. And yah.. What is tier2 physio?

    globalti
    Free Member

    Anybody with chronic back pain MUST get the GP to refer them for an MRI scan. Mrs Gti has just had one and been diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, after five months not being able to sit down at all.

    wolfenstein
    Free Member

    Right, update..

    Went to my GP today and told him my troubles exactly as i wrote here. ..after some knee bending test and lower back spine touching..

    Doctor: how often the pain?
    Me: 24/7 pain for the last 2 weeks
    Doctor: ok, its a muscle spasm in your lower back spine thingy (showing some pictures).. You need to take painkillers..ibuprofen
    Me: but, i am taking painkillers-ibuprofen and stop as its not doing anything anymore
    Doctor: ah ok, here i give you more stronger prescription pain killers
    Me: 😐

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Now take this diagnosis and find treatment.

    I’d personally suggest not taking or seeking too much internet advice as what is going on with you might be very specific.

    Calling a physio may be a good next step.

    wolfenstein
    Free Member

    Im actually expecting a referral to a physio or something that would lead my lower back getting fixed permanently.

    Some of my mates at work with chronic lower back pains ,have been told the same and got fed up with pain killers and they went private, did the MRI and some got fixed permanently, different to each of course..

    By the way is physio a private? Or do i need referral?

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    You can walk into any private physio and make an appointment, you pay them – they see you. If you want NHS you need a referral, depending on where you are it could take days or months (I used to take the referral letter just in case I needed some more later)

    wolfenstein
    Free Member

    Right. Cheers.

    growinglad
    Free Member

    Hmmm, not just me then. I wouldn’t say pain, just stiffness/aching. If I’m immobile it takes me 30 seconds of moving before I’m fully upright, comfortably.

    If I’ve been active and on the bike, no problems and feels much better (apart from Saturday where I took a full susser for a test ride and road like a possessed monkey…..but the smile on my face made up for the achy back. Funny I did some stretching Sunday and things have been better.

    Problem is I sit in car at least 1.5 hours and day and have a desk job. Have been trying to move as much as possible lately, always take the stairs and I’m currently trying to work from another office one day a week which I can commute to by bike.

    Not really pain, but it’s not 100% that’s for sure…

    gonzy
    Free Member

    compressed my L4 and L5 about 14 years ago. it hurt like hell, i couldnt sit or walk properly. saw the doctor pretty much straight away as knew it was pretty bad.
    initial xrays didnt show anything so i had a scan which showed the injury. i got referred for physio treatment which lasted for 12 months. 6 months of that involved traction treatment. the most sever of this treatment was having the traction machine weight increased to 50kg and lasting for an hour. the frequency was traction every day for the first 2 months at low weights (short 20 minute duration). as the weight and time increased it gradually moved to once a week on the traction machine.
    at the end of it my back started to feel as it did before the crash that caused the injury.
    but i was warned that it would now come and go and i was advised on stretching techniques to keep it it under control and for when it flares up.
    nowadays it comes and goes but the pain/discomfort is nowhere as severe as it was back then.
    the strange thing is after the first month of treatment i was able to get back on the bike. the physio and the GP put this down to the riding position helping to stretch my spine and relieve some of the pressure on the damaged vertebrae.

    skeetsgb
    Free Member

    mri scan only way to 100% no. you can get it done yourself for about £250/£300 same week., usually no cure, its all about pain management.

    klumpy
    Free Member

    Go to a private physio. GPs are no good at this.

    Coincidentally, my back injury was 2 or 3 years old when it suddenly went very bad and I sought help. Turned out I’d been protecting the damaged muscle ever since and so it was all little and weak and inflexible. I was recommended a punishing course of verrucas (or “swimming”) and a dull uncomfortable stretching regime. And it got better.

    Likelihood is you’ve got a damaged atrophied muscle and fixing it will require effort and pain. Anyone offering a cure not involving effort and pain is lying. Especially if it involves subluxation or chi.

    Physio is hard and it hurts – and it works.

    tmb467
    Free Member

    most muscular ‘pain’ is due to poor mobility / wrong parts of the body doing the work to protect damaged parts

    i broke my collarbone 20 years ago – it has been the root cause of a lot of my back and neck pain and has taken me 6 months work to get to the bottom of it

    now doing kettlebells / core strength and remedial work to get mobility back and build up what hasnt been used for years…a lot of pain and a lot of hard work but it does work

    chewkw
    Free Member

    wolfenstein – Member

    How soon did you go to the GP?

    10 years later I think.

    How is the treatment?

    GP then sent me to NHS chiropractor or physiotherapist whatever they are called, where they then spent about 30 mins twisting, turning, stretching my body. Then prescribed me with a routine stretching exercise. Only good temporarily but the problem flares up now and again with the last few months causing me agony.

    How are you now?

    Fine. I think I am cured now But most probably cured by the traditional Thai massage two months ago. Hurts very much by the way. This is not your girlie massage but done by a blind man then later an ex-kick boxer. Prior to that I was in agony for a few months as I could feel pressure building up on my lower back to such an extend that I could not sleep, sit and even felt pain while carrying 3kg weight. It would affect the entire body alignment as I found out because all my shoes were wore out in certain ways badly.

Viewing 27 posts - 1 through 27 (of 27 total)

The topic ‘Anyone got chronic lower back pain?’ is closed to new replies.