The Zohan

Apparently and according to my GP who i have been getting to know this week.

It is fecking agony to move in any direction. as a bonus I have some serious painkillers that make me drowsy and feel sick!

Doc offered to sign me off to two weeks - TWO WEEKS!, will it really take that long to get better. I took a sick note for a week as i have a job and would like to keep it.

Any advice on what to do and what not to do to get it healed abd me mobile again.

Oh and to cap it all i have an eye infection which has closed my right eye - i now look and feel like Quasimodo as i move around!

hotsam

I have 3 slipped discs, as well as a compression fracture and arthritis. Pain killers do nothing for me. I've found that lots of walking is the best way to deal with the pain.

chris1scouser

most physio's say rest is not the thing to repair a back injury. not moving about to try and rest the injury results in the muscles weakening.
its best to try and do as much as you can. you could visit a chiropractor, however they are not cheap.
i suffer from a bad back on occasions and i find that moving about helps me. the chiropractor never after 3 x £45 visits
try ibuprofen it may help.
if you don't feel good taking what you were prescribed don't take them, most GP's mine included, give medication to aleviate symptons and never treat the cause.
if you know any decent physiotherapist give them a try, they're the experts.
hope i've helped.

mart360

Hi Paul,

Without wanting to sound patronizing.

Do you know what a slipped disk entails?

Hopefully your doc, has explained what has happened,

the disk of cartilage / between one of your vertebrae has been squeezed

out, and is now nipped between it and the vertibrae above.

It is painful, and also can give bigger probs where the verts are not fully

supported.

There are two ways of looking at it.You can stay flat on your, back, side,

front which ever you find comfortable, and take painkillers and anti

inflammatory muscle relaxants etc and let time & nature do its course, or

you can go to a chiro / physio and get some manipulation.

The former takes 7 -10 days, and has the benefit that by being immobile /

restricted activity's, prevents you from doing more damage.

By thinking because the pain isnt there i,m fine... / physio / works.. etc...

is short lived.... it will be there when you fully displace the disk!!!!

With the latter option, you run the risk of popping an inflamed & swollen

disk back into a place where its liable to get clobbered again.

Your answer is really a mix of both.

From experience:

Voltarol & co dydramol to take out the swelling and ease the pain.

& Ibruprofen on the side

7 days rest, not at work, rock climbing, washing the car mowing the lawn

etc Just walking round the house, sitting, lying, general light activities.

One the pain and the swelling has subsided, and you have good pain free

mobility in you back, then a trip to the physio/ chiro, and some excersises


Depending on what you find best, either lying on a hard floor with a hw

bottle may bring relief, or a wheat pack can help


Mart

ian_sadler

All I can say is ....... OUCH

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

get different pain killers, i've had a number of different types since i knackered my back and my GP has been great in trying different ones to see how i react to them.
personally i found them a waste of time and all i got out of it was a painkiller addiction, but hey ho you live and learn

anti-imflamatory pills have been the only thing that's brought any relief, but that's for a herniated disc and sciatica so might not be applicable to your case.

as for recovery time, there's no hard and fast answer i'm afraid mate, might take 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months... all depends how your body heals itself i know a guy that slipped a disc and went to an oesteopath(?) he popped the disc back in and the guy was 100% walking out and never had any problems since. i don't think this happens often though!

those strap on heat belt things worked wonders aswell

best of luck, back trouble is a pain in the ****!

Mog

I thought heat was a no no with bad backs.

Mog

SunnySideUp

Tylex was the best thing I had to ease the pain, let me sleep well and reduce the tension in the muscles.

It was agony, I was trapped under the Scooby - couldn't move, ambulance called and driven to emergency at 5 MPH!!! They thought I had broken my back!

It happened when fitting a towbar and electrics - a job I have done many times before ....... it didn't help that I was pulling big weights at the gym in those days, so the muscles which contracted to protect the back were massively powerful.

Good luck with the recovery, it took me about 5 days to move around freely - took many years to learn what I can and cannot do! I still think I'm 20 see?

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

dunno, worked well to loosen things up.

it's a bit of a minefield, GP said ice, oesteopath said heat and ice (2mins of ice, 2mins of heat) for blood ciculation and physio said heat

keeping moving is something they all agreed on though

HankScorpio

My mrs tore a disk and advice was heat and keep moving, that was dec 07 and still has bad days, was signed off for close on six months.

On the other hand, David Tennant slipped a disk, had an op and was back working two weeks later.

So every case is different, no help there

andys

yep when I did mine, I had no pain but just could not feel my legs. I had 2 weeks confined to bed and then had to use a surgical corset for 6 months

AL99

iTrader: (1)

i done mine in september 08. The first month i could barely walk. but now after 5 months im much more mobile but still have pains in my legs and my left leg has very limited strength in some movements. Due for an MRI scan in the next few weeks. good luck with it, hope your back eases soon - its not nice at all.

Lee247

Spot on. His nibs has had this problem for years and that is the exact advice he has acted on

Is this a Man thing???

Hanley

I had a severe pro-lapsed disc (L4-L5 - lower lumbar region) in 2001.

I was in absolute agony, the pro-lapsed disc was pressing against the sciatic nerve so I also had shooting pains down my left leg.

I was taking co-codamol 30/500 for the pain, voltarol for anti-inflammatory and a strong muscle relaxing drug which I can't remember the name (begins with D) - I was living on cloud 9 with the cuckoos, drugged up to the eyeballs for 2-3 months.

As the time approached for my spinal operation I could only walk a few feet, any longer was a wheelchair.

August 2001 I had spinal surgery where they shaved away the disc that had popped out, they took a third off, the other 2 thirds were apparently okay.

Over 7 years on and I still have trouble occasionaly, unfortunately once you have a bad back you have to be careful for the rest of your life, certianly in my position anyway after requiring surgery - which I must add the doctors stress is the last resort.

I can feel fine, bend down to pick my car keys off the coffee table and my back will go and I'll be on pain killers and walking like I've **** myself for a few days

Overall I would simply say do not underestimate the injury you may have, certainly don't do anything that may make the condition worse and listen to your doctors advice.

Hope you get it sorted

Hanley



p.s My wife used to heat up a wheat cushion in the microwave for 2 minutes, they retain their heat for a long time and it offers a lot of releif when its placed on your spine

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Man up you wuss for pete's sake













Only kidding, sounds bad mate. Mum had this for years and still suffers from it now, not a nice thing to have at all

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

I did my L5 S1, fecking hurts like hell, I feel for you. I was in fetal position on the floor for about two weeks......didnt even think about going back to work for a long time.

Stealth

iTrader: (4)

I slipped mine and it was putting lots of pressure on the nerves that run down the right side of my body, restricting leg movement, body movement and I was signed off for a month because the stuborn little bugger would not go back or ease off.

I was given Voltarol, Codien and Diazipam which I popped with co-codemol and Ibuprofen and it still didn't shift the pain, I couldn't even stand up.

All I can say is go to physio make sure you do EVERYTHING they tell you to do and do it religiously, take the pills, don't think that because you feel better that you can ease off, you really can't, you have to keep it up for sure.

Oh and make sure you drink A LOT of water, when the body get's dehydrated everything tightens up (muscles) and the disks shrink...... keep well hydrated mate and it will help no end.

Once I was feeling better I joined the gym and keeping active has made me feel so much better along with the daily dose of volts........

As a result of my slippage I can't really do much prolonged running as it jars the bottom of my back and renders me useless for a couple of days

Hope you make a speedy recovery buddy !

every1sgottablue1

I to have also had a discectomy where they shave the disc in your back. I waddled around for two years before I had a MRI scan, where they turned round and said "oh it is bad!"..... I know that numpties I haven't walked properly for two years, and been to the Doctors 100 times before they done something about it!.

I had a very physical job at the time, and had to grin and bare it!.

Anyway the longer you live with it the more damage you do to the sciatic nerve, and believe me it is extremely painful.

I still have trouble with it now, as matey said above, I can lift all day long and be fine, another time I may sneeze and walk around like a duck for two weeks, drugged up to the eyeballs!

Just be careful when it gets better. My worst problem is not treating it with respect, when it doesn't hurt.

Get better soon, I know how you feel.

There are better forums out there than scoobynet, to give you advice, and also some exercises to do.

Try this FREE Health Advisory on Sciatica

ScoobyJawa

Hi mate

You have my sympathy as my Dad once had this and it hurts like a bitch

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery and hope bar this all is ok with you

mart360

Coco's co-codamol

yup you float with the clouds...

take two the doc says you might feel woozy,

took two in the kitchen at 9am, and by 910 i was floating.

dropped them down to one, still killed the pain, but you get a real cool

approach to everything.

Mart

Spooky Mulder

Karma

IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

I can sympathise with you, I suffered from a bulging disk a number of years ago. At the time I worked in 'manual' type jobs, took me 3 months to fully get over it but that was the end of manual labour for me, now I work in office jobs!

Leslie

Sorry to hear about it Paul, it must be agonising.

I think you have to accept what your GP says, he is supposed to be the expert anyway. When the disk relocates itself as I understand it, you still have to let it recover fully or it will do it all over again. Good advice from Mart.

Les

IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

co-codamol maaaan

I find they're ok on their own but as soon as you mix em with other painkillers/antibiotics etc you will fly like a kite - from my experience anyhow

Ted Maul

do not get physio. my wife had a discetomy, the surgeon told us that having physio on a very bad slipped disk can cause major problems, perm damage to nerves. Get an MRI done first.

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

the trouble is that is the routine in the NHS follows the lines of pills, physio and then if you haven't buggered off to get it private, an MRI. IIRC to get it done yourself is about £700.

a good GP on your side is worth it's weight in gold, i got knocked back for even a proper consultation and my GP got me into another hospital luckily, so push like hell Paul if you're not getting anywhere as they seem to have to deliberatly try to get you into seeking private care

The Zohan

Hi All

BIG thanks for the kind words and the advice!

It feels a little better although it could well be the co-codamol masking the pain. I have rested it all week, just the odd short walk (to and from the fridge and bog) I plan to go back to work next week however after reading this thread i wil wait and see if it is really better. Sitting upright in a char sends shooting pains down my right leg which is not nice.

Paul

Hanley

Paul

I'm afraid that's the sign it's not time to go back to work Your disc is obviously pressing on your sciatic nerve

Listen to your body

Heat works for the pain by the way

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

i'd agree with this, but you need to find out why you're getting sciatic pain.

all well and good saying don't go back to work, but sciatica can hang around for months, even years.

a scan is the only way to know what's going on. it's not an ideal situation for the reasons i've posted already and i don't know your personal situation with work or healthcare Paul, so wouldn't really like to comment on what's best for you.

shame all us back sufferers aren't footballers, Terry had a disc prolapse and got diagnosed, operated on and was back kicking a ball within a month! ******!

mart360

To relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve, you can try the stretch and drop technique to ease things,

However to do it require some flexibility in the back as you have to twist your hips to move your legs so they drop.

if you've got a fubbarred disk, then don't try it. Live with the disk until you have mobility then try the stretch and drop on your legs


mart