Back pain...

[Western]

End of last year, I finally was diagnosed with Stenosis. After several years of light to moderate and sometimes severe pain, it was nice to find out what it was. It is a PITA, literally, when your lower back gets messed up.

Good thing is Doctor said at this point it is manageable, I.E. no surgery, that was probably one of the biggest factors in why I neglected to see a surgeon sooner. I have heard SOO many horror stories about back surgery, but the surgeon said
"those day's" are pretty much over with all the new technologies now.

Treatments right now are an occasional "stretching" (totally awesome) Steroid injections, (haven't done that yet) and of course the "knife" ( don't want to).

Last 3 day's been laid up and all I did was take the wife fish'n:thumbsup: Better today, actually got out and watered the flowers.

I am only a "hard" 48 years old, doc said I have really overworked my back and he see's that more now day's in the younger folks, used to be nothing to grabbing 2 square bales and head for the trailer.

Word to the wise::: Take care of your back and pay attention on how and what you lift, it "aint " worth the drama to be a tough guy when you start getting older.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Good luck with your back...Have you tried a chiropractor? My mom (who has back trouble) is always telling me to watch when lifting things. Guess I should listen. I guess that's what we have FEL's for. Also, a nutritionist told my mom that he would never get back surgery unless he was going to be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. I tend to agree...

 

[retiredmgn]

Word to the wise::: Take care of your back and pay attention on how and what you lift, it "aint " worth the drama to be a tough guy when you start getting older.

Sissy (says nelson as he downs a muscle relaxant to counteract a day of splitting and moving firewood).

It's good to spread the word. It's tough to get the word 'believed' by testosterone fueled young guys. I recall some warnings said in my direction. I never payed attention. Did you?
Just don't understand these young guys. Ya think they'd listen to us.

And the circle goes round and round...

Nelson

 

[YesDeere]

I see people lift things wrong every day. I take the time and tell them how to lift and why. All I ever get is "ok man whatever". So then. Whatever. I'm 36 now and feel pretty good. Back has been strong so far. But I was Harped on as a young man how to lift properly.

 

[bp fick]

Baled hay as a youngster, over and over and over again. Onto the wagon, and up in the lofts. Literally thousands and thousands of heavy bales. It about crippled me, to be honest.

Yup, I pay the price for that today, no doubt. I've learned my limits and how to rest and stretch. I intend to avoid any surgery for a long, long time. Hoed the garden today. Slow and deliberate, lots of breaks, but after 7 hours, I called it quits. I am bushed and very stiff. Tomorrow's another day.

 

[dmccarty]

I messed up my back a few years ago tiling a $%^&*( bathroom. Had one foot in the tub. One out. I was spreading the sticky stuff when I reached too far back and too fast. I heard the pop.



I said this is going to hurt. It did a few days later and got worse and worse and worse.

Ended up in the ER at 0200 on a Sunday morning. Waste O Time. They thought I was there to get pain drugs which was exactly what I need. The gave me a script for 800mg of over the counter meds and sent me home. Where was I going to get meds at 0300 in the morning.

After getting to an MD and being drugged out of my mind, which at least stopped the pain, but did not fix the problem I went to a bone cracker who did fix the problem. Hurt the back again in a car accident and went back to the bone cracker. Much better than missing works due to being drugged at home in bed. :thumbsup: Amazing what ice packs will do for you pain wise.

I never thought I would be one THOSE people with a bad back but I am.

Be careful with the back. You only have one. If you mess it up YOU will pay for it in money and pain.

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

I know there used to be lots of horror stories about back surgery, but the last few people I've known who had back surgery say they wished they'd done it sooner because it stopped their pain. I think there's been lots of improvements in techniques.

I guess the same could be said for chiropractors, but I'm still leary of the bone poppers. Way back in the '40s one of my great grandmothers went to a chiropractor. He broke her hip and she was a bedridden invalid the rest of her life. Now it is possible that she had undiagnosed bone cancer that had something to do with the hip breaking so easily. And then in the '50s one of my grandmothers went to see a chiropractor and after he worked on her, he had to call an ambulance to come get her at his office and take her to the hospital. Maybe someday, but for the time being, there's just no way I'd go to a chiropractor. However, my younger sister used to have back trouble and said her chiropractor was the only thing that helped, so who knows.

My wife started having back trouble about four and a half years ago and went to an orthopedic spine specialist. He sent her to physical therapists in 2007, which helped some, but not enough. So she went to a pain specialist twice in 2008 for injections in her spine in his office. Then in 2009, he had her go to a surgical center where they could put her to sleep to do the injections, then once again in June, 2010, and in January of this year. The injections helped a great deal for 4 to 6 months until this year. The one in January didn't help much. So in the last month or so, she's had a bone density test, x-rays, and MRI. Pretty serious osteoporosis, as well as arthritis, so they've put her on Actonel (that's the one Sally Fields advertises on TV), sending her to physical therapy 3 times a week for 4 weeks, and this Thursday back to the surgery center for another spinal injection.

The orthopedic surgeon said he didn't think surgery was necessary YET.

However, my wife has a brother who turned 74 last month. He was in the army 10 years and was kicked out on a medical discharge in 1969 or 1970 because of severe arthritis in his back. He's walked stooped over as long as I've known him. But he was always a hard worker and alway held a pretty good job installing and maintaining communcations equipment. But he ate aspirin by the handfuls until it ate through his stomach and he nearly bled to death one night in 1993. So his doctors tried every medication imaginable for years, and finally a little over a year ago, they did surgery to burn the ends of nerves to block the pain. He said the pain was worse than ever for a day or two after that surgery, but NO PAIN since. He's very happy that he had the surgery.

 

[Western]

I've tried chiropractors, that is who referred me to a spinal surgeon. They did the MRI thing and several X-rays and found the nerves pretty quickly with the swollen tissue, also a slipped disc.

Ibuprofen works on the normal day, cold packs work real good as mentioned, for a time.

I will consider the surgery route if I get a few more "episodes" like this last one. I am hearing allot better results with the current surgical procedures. The surgeon said that in my case, a surgery 20 years ago would have opened up my back and went on a "sight seeing" mission, now day's it's a small incision and much less invasive, almost "micro" surgery. Makes sense that this would have a better outcome.

I like the sound of burnt up nerve endings I have heard the shots are a temporary relief and not sure I would want to go that way, but it may be a reprieve.


As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not indestructible, but you couldn't have told me that till I got into my 40's. I used to like being "sore", made me feel like I got something done.

I am blessed though, it could be worse and for me it's just a quality of life issue that can be dealt with at this point. I wish I would have had some one telling me to "take it easy" when I was young, but back then us farm kids where the FEL.

 

[caver]

Two micro surgerys on the same disc and it helped me both times. I was back to work in a couple weeks and full duty in less than two months.

 

[mmurphy]

I am 48 also. have had back problems since I was 35. Started doing so called proper lifting, and now my knees are screaming at me!!!

When I was a teenager, I thought all them old people were just whining! I was hoping I would have been old before I had to start in.

Now the only thing I have to look forward to is, being that grumpy old man that growls and cusses at everyone when they walk by.