About 9-10 months ago, I slipped on the stairs. Nothing spectacular, but I landed on my bottom. BTDT, no big deal. After a couple of days, the soreness was gone.
After that, every once in a while my lower back would hurt when it shouldn't. We went roller skating with the kids. No, I didn't fall -but the next day I could barely get out of the bed. Then when we moved this summer, my back was killing me the whole time. During my DIY home projects (painting and sewing), I was in so much pain I could hardly bear it. Finally, I went to the doc about it.
She first thought it was muscular. Gave me muscle relaxers and asked me to go give physical therapy a shot. The muscle relaxers didn't do much of anything, and I couldn't bear the thought of PT. I gave it a few weeks, but it just got worse. It was hurting all. the. time. It was starting to affect daily stuff. So back to the doc. She ordered a MRI.
I got those results - 2 bulging discs (L2-3 and L 4-5) and an annular tear at L4-5. Um, no wonder. She referred me to an orthopedic surgeon.
I saw the ortho about a week ago. Thankfully, he didn't go right to surgery for me. If you do any reading about back surgery, the odds of improvement aren't that great. So he suggested that I try everything else (PT, yoga, injections, voo doo) first, and then think long and hard about it if nothing is working.
Now I am a physical therapy patient. Yes, I finally took the plunge. They evaluated me this week, and I am pretty jacked up. In my pelvic area, the right side is higher than the left (consistent with falling on my butt on one side) and the pelvis is tilted. They are trying to correct it using exercise and manipulations. I had no idea what 'manipulations' were - but now I do. Torture. At some point, I was laying on a table and they were yanking on my right leg. There were about 4 other manipulations that they did. That was 2 days ago and I still feel like I've been hit by a car. Fun times.
This is an injury that I would have recovered from on my own years ago. But now, I guess I'm not as resilient as I'd like to be.
3 comments:
Oh, Cindy, that's awful! Back pain can be so difficult to resolve. However, you are very wise to purse all other options before thinking about surgery, because the studies show clearly that surgery actually produces a benefit in very few people, and sometimes makes the situation worse. While I am acutely aware of our rapidly progressing age, this makes me even more depressed than watching all you early-birds roll over 39 lately....
I would try a chiro. I have had low-level back pain for years related to scoliosis. I have been seeing a chiro for just over a year now. It started at 2X per week. I am now down to 1 per month. I am amazed at how much better my back is. When I started the pain would return the day before the next appointment, but now I can go the full month without pain. I still don't have the range of motion in my shoulder I was hoping for, but the pain is less than when the original p.t. worked on me. And my chiro had a p.t. that saw me for a while to facilitate my recovery.
Cindy,
I am with Alice. Try a chiropractor. I have been going for almost 2 years. I couldn't walk and still have no feeling in my right outer foot, but I refuse to have surgery. I go monthly. Hope you feel better soon. Shannon
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