ruptured disc

[trigger]

damaged a disc at the start of may and have been going to the hospital for regular physio but doesnt seem to be getting any better,its giving me really bad sciatica and i`m pretty fed up now with the lack of progress. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i`m sick of doctors and physio saying give it time, spring will be here before we know it which is a busy time for me and would liked to of seen some improvement by then.

 

[Surgery]

Had something similar , all done in my case of tight hamstrings from sitting on my arse all summer tractor driving and then the sudden shock of stock work in the autumn , 5 trips to a good farmers daughter physio and a lot better thankfully , it still took 6 weeks to clam down mind and a lot of strech which I am still doing

 

[trigger]

yeah i`m putting mine down to tractor driving but unfortunately thats what i do most of the year,think i`m gonna have to try a different physio or maybe one of those traction devices you can buy that gently stretch your back.

 

[kill]

yeah i`m putting mine down to tractor driving but unfortunately thats what i do most of the year,think i`m gonna have to try a different physio or maybe one of those traction devices you can buy that gently stretch your back.

Is it worth a trip to a local private hospital for an x-ray or MRI scan? I have been suffering most of my adult life with back pain and it's getting to the stage now that the NHS are frustratingly slow as have finally got an appointment with a rheumatologist due to constant pain in my lower back and hips but it's a very long wait and the hospital I will see them at has no x-ray or MRI as it's very small so I can see this dragging on for many more month's of unbearable pain with mostly sleepless nights.
Any chiropractor I have tried just leaves me with aggressive inflammation that last month's.

 

[Adeptandy]

yeah i`m putting mine down to tractor driving but unfortunately thats what i do most of the year,think i`m gonna have to try a different physio or maybe one of those traction devices you can buy that gently stretch your back.

We've got one of the inversion tables, basically you do an impression of a bat, samba gets on brilliant with it, on average gains 2" in height for a while after a few minutes on it, I find it frustrating, as I can't seem to relax enough to have the fun effect, must admit it did help when my disc problem flared up again in September, worth a risk of £100 ish imho

 

[richgeary]

I have 2 bulging disks and tried physical therapy ,physio therapy an epidural and a nerve block over the last 18 months. A different physical therapist got special authotics made up for my feet and straight away the pain is going from my back at last. It's a common complaint in farmers wearing boots for 18hrs a day.

 

[trigger]

thanks guys, gonna have a word with the doctor next week about a scan,they seem keen to give me an epidural but dont like the thought of them sticking a big needle in my spine i`d rather they try and sort it out instead of hiding the pain

 

[richgeary]

the epidural will ease the pain but it also contains an anti-inflammatory that will reduce the swelling and relax the muscles in your back hopefully allowing the disk ease back into position hopefully . in my case the needle was inserted under the assistance of an x-ray machine too avoid the spine .

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

See if you can find a good local Osteopath. They may be able to work wonders for you and, as a private operator, see you quickly. They are qualified and regulated unlike many other "alternative" therapies.

One worked wonders for me 15 years ago

 

[mire man]

when i get back pain i arch backwards on a couch. If you think about it, your constantly arched forward from bending over to sitting etc and this puts pressure on the spinal disks. If you arc back in opposite direction by lying in the floor or couch with pillows under your chest you are then balancing the pressure. Try and stay in this position for as long as you can stick it over a period of days and you will get relief. I spoke to a medical consultant a few years ago and he said your back is a mechanical structure so treat it as such.... if you bend one way then you must bend the opposite way to straighten up.

 

[B&B Pig Man]

I was very sceptical when somebody suggested acupuncture- but it's the only thing that helped my back when I was farming.
Certainly worth a go.

 

[trigger]

i`ve had acupuncture twice and it does help but only for a few days till the muscles tense up again and i do all the excercises that my physio gave me but no improvement

 

[sixrow]

I went for 2 years like that eventually got a discetamy done 5 years ago and have been good since.

 

[Exfarmer]

I an currently writing this in agony from putting my back out yesterday. A frequent occurrence for me.
I would in the past always recomended a good osteopath, have tried chiropracters , but think most are quacks.
So probably are some Osteopaths.
However after my wifes experience , i would strongly urge having a scan done, privately if you cannot get it done on NHS.
A lot of damage can be done by any back manipulation if the disc is indeed ruptured or possibly non existent.

 

[Fleeced]

NHS guidance is leave alone for six months. You've been longer than that. Insist on an MRI scan from your GP. You qualify due to time lapsed and experiencing neuropathy. I'd strongly advise against any sort of manipulation until you know what you're dealing with. Spinal xray's aren't very helpful in these cases.

 

[Exfarmer]

Leave for 6 months WTF. You can tell who is self employed and the jobs for life sadists

 

[Fleeced]

Sorry, I've been misleading there.By 'leave alone' I don't mean ignore. Patient's should be thoroughly assessed and diagnosed with 'simple back pain with or without sciatica'. Then given appropriate medication and exercise advice to use. Most simple back pain will resolve after 6 weeks but if there are no other indications or new symptoms it would be unusual to get a scan before the six month period. The problem with scans is that if everyone was scanned they would all show clinical pathology of the aging spine, but it often doesn't tally with people's pain experience. So the treatment is symptom management. Occasionally the scan info and the pt experience do line up and invasive treatments might then be appropriate.

 

[Dan7626]

I'm in the process of trying to get my back sorted. I've had a bulging disc for about 8 years now. When it initially happened I went for an mri scan and had an epidural eventually. Didn't really help but left it at that until the pain got much worse about 18 months ago. I self referred myself for physio knowing full well it wouldn't help but it would get things moving as he kicked the doctor into touch who arranged another mri scan which showed the bulge had got worse unsurprisingly.
Saw a specialist at the hospital this week who basically said he can see I have nerve pain and it's causing discomfort (no sh!t) so has booked me in to have a nerve block injection in 5 months time!!!
So I'm now looking in to having it looked at privately and seeing if they would do things differently and faster.

 

[Fleeced]

Benendon Health care are excellent in providing cover at a very reasonable cost. I can highly recommend them. No doubt other private suppliers are equally good.
This NICE guideline shows the NHS guidance and what you can expect.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG...ions#assessment-of-low-back-pain-and-sciatica

 

[Campbell]

When it's that bad surgery is your ultimate answer. Get on the list ASAP.