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herniated disk
- Thread starter flytire
- Start date
Johnny Utah
You're no daisy
Water, Drink a lot of it every day. The constant bathroom runs are a lot better than dealing with that pain you got. Your hydration and stress levels play a HUGE part in your back. Wish you the best of luck with your back coming from a fellow sufferer.
Tight Louper
Just finished a River Runs Through it!
Masterbation and lots of it, seriously.
Pete
Trout Hunter
Beware of prescription pain meds....
Sometimes the doctors don't realize how addictive they can be.
When I had a much less serious back condition, my doctor gave me prescriptions for a muscle relaxer, and a pain killer.
The pain killer was a "generic", so I didn't recognize what it was.
Directions were 4 per day, as needed.
Three were plenty to keep me "high" 24/7.... so I looked it up.
Turns out it was generic Vicodin.
I actually had a hard time stopping. I didn't stop when the pain went away. I stopped when I ran out.
Withdrawal was a few sleepless nights. If the pain had been chronic, and the prescription was renewed a few times, I'm sure it would have been much worse.
I told the doctor to never prescribe that again.
The next time it happened, the nonaddictive pain med was so ineffective, I didn't bother taking it.
The muscle relaxer was the remedy, I could live with the pain.
Sometimes the doctors don't realize how addictive they can be.
When I had a much less serious back condition, my doctor gave me prescriptions for a muscle relaxer, and a pain killer.
The pain killer was a "generic", so I didn't recognize what it was.
Directions were 4 per day, as needed.
Three were plenty to keep me "high" 24/7.... so I looked it up.
Turns out it was generic Vicodin.
I actually had a hard time stopping. I didn't stop when the pain went away. I stopped when I ran out.
Withdrawal was a few sleepless nights. If the pain had been chronic, and the prescription was renewed a few times, I'm sure it would have been much worse.
I told the doctor to never prescribe that again.
The next time it happened, the nonaddictive pain med was so ineffective, I didn't bother taking it.
The muscle relaxer was the remedy, I could live with the pain.
Future Fanatic
Nirvana
It's times like these that we miss AK.
His response to this thread woulda been something like:
"Since you're never gonna fly fish again, I'll give ya $27 for all your flyfishing gear. You pay ME $20 if you include your ten year old rubber waders."
His response to this thread woulda been something like:
"Since you're never gonna fly fish again, I'll give ya $27 for all your flyfishing gear. You pay ME $20 if you include your ten year old rubber waders."
streamfisher
Northeast
Hi,
Haven't been posting much but I know how painful this can be. I've had the same problem for years (L4 and L5). Had the injections twice. They put me under and gave me 5 injections at different locations. It helped me survive the acute stages but not for very long (less than a month). imo, The injections are not a solution. My biggest problem is in muscle pain at the lower back. I don't have as significant a nerve thing in my leg as many people get - but the lower back pain can be debilitating. If you have the nerve thing... significant numbness or pain in the leg - surgery seems to be the most common recommendation. For me, I have 'movement' down there with arthritic buildup which would require a cage between the L4 and L5 with a 6 month recovery time and the likelyhood of future work. (once a cage is in, the next set of vertebra have more work to do)
What had kept me from the surgery so far? LOTS of stretching. It's taken me about a year to be able to touch my toes without bending my legs. It's amazing how much a real regiment with stretching can help. If you're really really tight, just start with bringing one knee to the chest. YOGA definitely will be a good thing to get in to. It's tougher than it looks. Then get in to strengthening the lower back muscles - Youtube for exercises.
Something I'm trying right now is Capsaicin cream (The hot stuff in peppers). I took about a pearl of this stuff and rubbed it in on the lower back. About an hour later I was burning like hell. It continued to burn until late in the evening. I was beginning to wonder what to do about this - but it eventually went away. After the burning went away I've been feeling much better about the 'pain that's always there'. Supposedly this stuff does something to the nerves. At the least, I feel much more confident about being able to avoid the 'acute stages'. A doc described it to me... The body believes the spine is in critical danger and locks the muscles around the spine to protect it. If you've been in acute stages, you know how this feels. I used to drive 90 miles to a river and then walk hunched for an hour while I tried to straighten out. Now, I move a little slow after the drive but I'm not all hunched over in extreme discomfort. Good luck.
I'd follow streamfisher's advice. Work on flexibility (back, hip flexors, hamstrings and calves) and core strength. If I keep up with a regiment to do that, my symptoms definitely are alleviated and much more manageable. Conversely, if I slack on it, my symptoms increase. Therapeutic massage worked well for me too. If you haven't exhausted those options already, I'd ask your doctor if you can try physical therapy. The PT would help you with all of that. The hydration symptom is interesting. I track my symptoms daily so I'm going to focus on that and see if it makes a difference.
Heat works quite well for me. If the symptoms are really bad, I usually ice first though since I've found that I usually have inflammation when the symptoms are worse. For that matter, spending a day waist deep in ice cold water usually alleviates the symptoms a bit too.
Good luck.
Heat works quite well for me. If the symptoms are really bad, I usually ice first though since I've found that I usually have inflammation when the symptoms are worse. For that matter, spending a day waist deep in ice cold water usually alleviates the symptoms a bit too.
Good luck.
The_Sib
Learning Latin
Check this out....
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57428677/a-new-hope-for-back-pain-sufferers/?tag=re1.channel
I saw the program and was very impressed.
Since I was at Kessler Institute for my initial rehabilitation following my leg amputation,
I saw a LOT of other patients who were recovering from spinal surgey.
Not a pleasant thing to see when they were still in a high degree of pain.
I think this place that was featured on CBS Sunday Morning would be worth a look see.
As I remember, the results were NOT instantaneous but patients said they experienced
substantial relief in a month or so.
I'm not a Doctor, but this an is out-patient type treatment that MIGHT be for you and your condition.
Then again, it might NOT be but is probably worth checking out.
You got nothing to lose except pain.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57428677/a-new-hope-for-back-pain-sufferers/?tag=re1.channel
I saw the program and was very impressed.
Since I was at Kessler Institute for my initial rehabilitation following my leg amputation,
I saw a LOT of other patients who were recovering from spinal surgey.
Not a pleasant thing to see when they were still in a high degree of pain.
I think this place that was featured on CBS Sunday Morning would be worth a look see.
As I remember, the results were NOT instantaneous but patients said they experienced
substantial relief in a month or so.
I'm not a Doctor, but this an is out-patient type treatment that MIGHT be for you and your condition.
Then again, it might NOT be but is probably worth checking out.
You got nothing to lose except pain.
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Trout Guy
Brookie's or Bust!
Listen to pete, painkillers are EXTREMELY addictive. And you build up a tolerance quickly...
First you take a few vics and next you know it your liver has become super efficient and then the doc has you on Oxycontin or Opana...
Your best bet is to opt for surgical correction procedure, somone i know had some sort of surgery in germany where they replaced your disks with some sort of synthetic material and he has been fine for 5 years and counting. I hear the surgery is expensive and super risky and the FDA wont approve it in the states.. but in this guys instance, he can now walk and run with no discomfort. He was in a wheelchair before hand.
If you get prescripton opiates, just save them for when you REALLY need them or just dont drop of the script.
dcabarle
Administrator
I'm thinking the old saying, "shake a leg" doesn't sit well with you?
