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Hi ... be interested if anyone's experienced this and what the outcome was. I've had back pain for years, have done significant stretching, pilates, physio, osteo. The NHS now want to go down a medication route which I'm reluctant to do. So I went private for a MRI which is showing significant disc protusion onto the base nerves at the route. Over time, it should go down but over the last few years it has gradually increased in pain (so a constant ache at best, seriously sharp shooting pains / leg collapse at worst) and restricted movement and now wearing me down. The doc was v complimentary about my flexibility/core strength etc so suggests that that's not a route that will fix this specifically.
The consultant's recommending knocking me out and then injecting eipdural and anti-inflammatory stuff into the area/spine, plus anesthetising the area for a couple of days and mechanically trying to rearrange the area to relieve the pressure on the nerve base. It's a couple of days in hospital
He reckons it has no effect on 10% of patients, a complete cure for 5% and the rest get some improvement.
Just be keen to hear of anyone who's had anything similar and whether it helped. Feeling a bit desperate!
My ex wifes dad got squashed at work by a few pallets of crisps years ago. Did some pretty major damage to his lower back, so much so he couldn't carry on working. He had surgery to try and fix it but it didn't work fully.
He ended up having basically an epidural every 6 weeks. First few days after he couldn't do much, i think because he couldn't feel anything. Over the next 4-5 weeks he was good with a fair bit of mobility and little/no pain. Then the last few days before the next injection, he would start getting pain again and have to stay in.
Hope you find a solution that works for you. It can work but its not an ideal solution.
Watching this with interest. My back has been knackered for a week now, some reduced mobility in the leg has thankfully passed. Hopefully, staying reasonably active will see it clear itself up. 🙁
I'm still riding, so I guess it's not as bad as the OP!
Aus - I'm 32 and for no reason have had bad back for 15 years and sounds like we've been through similar experience.
I didn't do myself any favours as I was reluctant to give up martial arts and never stretch before/ after exercise etc.
However mid April I had my first injection and WOW, I had about 4 months of zero ache, pain, issues and had an amazing summer of riding. Month 5 I started feeling the odd short "reminder" I was really only masking the pain and for the last month I'm not back to where I was but am now daily feeling it. I'm booked in for my next one for mid Nov, NHS tell me you can have 2 per year.
Regarding the procedure, when I had it done my back was in a good state so had no issues and I felt nothing bar the numbing injection and an odd feeling of 35ml of fluid being pumped in (eeek). My mum who has the same has had one done and she said it hurt like crazy, was I lucky? Higher pain barrier? Ask late November when I've a second to compare against:-)
It changed my life, honestly. I became happier, enjoyed my hobbies more and even if they do hurt I had so much relief afterward I'd take it.
Final thing to say is you are supposed to do Pilates, swim, stretch etc to prolong good feeling and help strengthen and I didn't really. This time I will and who knows, I may be able to sneeze in a cold morning without hurting for a winter season!
Good luck!
thanks all ... sounds like it's more temporary relief than allowing the body to heal. Had hoped, and from what surgeon chap said, there's a chance of reducing lots of inflammation to allow stuff to get (naturally) better?
My OH does Pilates, maybe time to start joining her...
Yeah, will do, don't want to end up seized, pretzel-shaped on the floor. 😀
I've had lower back pain from an injury at work over 20 years ago now..
Once the disc has protruded, it's always prone to happen again in the same area.... and at the same time, the ligaments that support the vertabrae get stretched and become weak themselves, making the problem worse..
A treatment I have had this summer is called 'prolotherapy' also known as 'sclerosant injections' .. It's available on the NHS now, although only in a couple of places in the UK as far as I'm aware (I had mine done at the Royal Orthopaedic hospital in Birmingham)
The idea is to inject an irritant into the ligaments that support the protruded disc, stimulating repair of the ligament, which strengthens it and then in turn, this supports the vertabrae again, lessening the pressure on the disc.. resulting in less pain..
The procedure is done once a month over 3 months and each time they inject your back between 5 and 10 times, they use x ray to guide the needle into the ligament.. the pain afterwards varies, the first time I went, I was fine 2 days later, the 2nd time, I was in agony for 2 weeks.. It takes 6 months to see the results fully, but I definitely have less pain now when I'm riding..
http://www.****/health/article-143979/The-secret-cure-pain.html
Check the link..
Not had the epidural type injections, but as has already been said, it looks as though it's a temporary fix..
Good luck!
thanks - arch stanton that looks interesting. Sadly my NHS offer is firmly in the camp of meds to mask the pain, and no repair option.
Jambalya - yep. Done an awful lot of physio, stretching, core strength and pilates over the years - consultant was v impressed with flex/strength etc and encouraged it further, but suggests it's not going to remove the pain 🙁
Chao here is having some very new electrotherapy thing instead of injections that gave scant relief. Seems they put an epidural type thing into the muscle near the nerve and blast it with either ultrasound or electricity. One side it works, the other it doesn't!
I've had a few of these now due to slipped L4 & L5 discs. The first one was unreal, I went from not being able to put my socks on and barely able to walk to feeling like my back was brand new in the space of about 15 minutes. As Gary says the difference it makes to your general happiness is unbelievable, it really makes you realise just how much chronic pain grinds you down when it's suddenly lifted.
Unfortunately it wore off after about 3 months, I subsequently had another two but they did nothing, apparently the law of diminishing returns is quite common with epidurals. After a few more episodes of severe flare up resulting in 6 weeks off work each time (would have been more but I couldn't afford to drop onto half pay so had to limp in) my Consultant told me next time it happened he'd put me on the list for surgery. This is far from a guaranteed success and can make matters worse so is to be avoided if at all possible. Luckily for me the pressure on my sciatic nerve lifted overnight about 2 years ago, don't know why but I'm hoping it will continue. Consultant also told me that if I look after myself and am lucky I may not have anymore significant problems until I'm 60ish. It is classed as degenerative disease of the spine once slipped discs are beyond the stage of repairing themselves so do everything you can to get it sorted now. I injured my back 20 years ago so a bit late for me....
I'm fortunate to have a good boss who cut my driving from 700 miles a week to less than 100 which made a massive difference, the other key points for me are that posture is everything, even more so than stretching, and sofas are the devil's work. I got a Stokke/Varia reclining chair that lifts your knees above your waist and takes all the pressure off your spine, expensive but a godsend. I'm riding again, albeit with my bars about 8 feet high, back still gets tired and sore but it's not too bad, foot a bit numb sometimes. Sounds like you might still be able to get it sorted properly, good luck, I know what's it's like and it sucks!
Aus.. I had to keep on at my GP to refer me and eventually he put a case to the PCT and they agreed I could go over to Birmingham.. once there, they were great and offered me not just Prolotherapy, but all the other solutions talked about here.. however, the advice they gave was fixing it has got to be better than masking it..
gotta be worth asking your GP the question at least?
thanks - my GP was good up to a point, but he's under 'orders' that I need to go thru a (hefty) medication route before they can progress to other means. But again, thanks, I'll keep pushing. The private option is horribly horribly expensive!