Thrown out back.

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Ok. I am hoping someone is up at this late hour (Well, it is late here at least-2:07 AM.) to hopefully give me some advice. Sunday night I felt fine. I went to bed, and when I woke up the next day, I found my lower third of my back was a bit sore, but didn't think too much of it. Later that day, I went mountain biking, and felt pretty good, except it hurt a bit more. On Tuesday I woke up and it felt a bit worse. It would hurt some to bend and such. Getting up and down did not hurt very much at all. That night I did not lift anything very heavy. So fast forward to Wednesday. It hurt to get out of bed. Around 4:30 or so I helped my dad lift a seat back into our van, and it really started to hurt. I help at the junior high youth group at our church, and when I got there around 6 it was killing me to really move or especially to twist. I promptly asked the kids to not jump on me because of how I felt. All was good until the end when a group of kids were having apillow fight and ran into me. I yelled something like "Hey! Get off me! My back is killing me!" so it was really hurting by that point. I took 3 advil and went home. Now it is really late. When I got into bed, it hurt to move at all. Twisting just kills. I can only breathe in at about half capacity, or it also kills. I must admit nothing has hurt this much since I broke my leg a few years back. I tried putting ice on it, because one of my friends recently had some back problems, and was like "ice ice ice". I tried that about half an hour ago, but that left my back REALLY feeling bad. I am now trying heat, and it seems to be loosening up stuff a bit. I could be totally wrong about this though. If anyone has any insights, I would greatly appreciate it. At this time, it hurts bad enough that I have been unsuccessful in falling asleep. Thanks a bunch for any help or for reading this.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    Go to Emergency...get to Hospital...Don't fool around....Don't want to diagnose..but get there ASAP.

    NO FRIGGIN AROUND...

    GO....

    Man no bullshit..get someone to drive you..

    Better safe than sorry....
  • Reply 2 of 21
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    Boy I hope he took your advice, that's the reason they're there. If he had an MD he could phone in and get a walk-in appointment, but the emergency room sees everything all the time.



    If you're still online, get off the computer and go to the emergency room NOW.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by drewprops

    Boy I hope he took your advice, that's the reason they're there. If he had an MD he could phone in and get a walk-in appointment, but the emergency room sees everything all the time.



    If you're still online, get off the computer and go to the emergency room NOW.




    Appreciate your back up on this one Dewdrops...



    \

    Ps If any Ai member knows Jeremiah Rich or is in his vicinity...give him a call...who knows..ya might be needed...
  • Reply 4 of 21
    billybobskybillybobsky Posts: 1,914member
    does/did the pain wrap around to the front of your abdomen? was it sharp?



    The fact that it hasnt subsided concerns me the most, granted this also is 8 hours late... Do you have a history of kidney stones? family history? that is what it sounds like to me. i have had a few in my 23 years of life so...
  • Reply 5 of 21
    Nope. It is just in the middle of my back. Thanks a bunch for caring. We are trying to get X-Rays scheduled today and doing ice and asprin. Today it hurts VERY VERY bad in any position I am in. It is in the very middle of my back, but at least it doesn't feel like it is on the bone. So ya. I will respond here when I know anything more. Thanks again for caring.
  • Reply 6 of 21
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    Hernia?
  • Reply 7 of 21
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    At the very least go to the emergency room. They'll be able to rule out all kinds of things and give you something to let you sleep.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    Hmm. I dunno. My friend knows a good deal about this stuff and suspects a slipped disc. (disk?) I am all but positive it is nothing related to bone, and using ice and asprin it seems to be feeling slightly better. I am 18 and going to be a senior so of course my medical care is through my parents. They said they will take me tomorrow to get it checked out and possibly get it X-Rayed. Thanks again.
  • Reply 9 of 21
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Jeremiah Rich

    Hmm. I dunno. My friend knows a good deal about this stuff and suspects a slipped disc. (disk?) I am all but positive it is nothing related to bone, and using ice and asprin it seems to be feeling slightly better. I am 18 and going to be a senior so of course my medical care is through my parents. They said they will take me tomorrow to get it checked out and possibly get it X-Rayed. Thanks again.



    Unless your friend is an MD and has X-ray vision, I would take everything he says with a grain of salt. Back pain is VERY complicated stuff, and can have origins that seem completely unrelated to your symptoms.



    If your pain is not getting better after 2 days, you are unable to sleep, and anti-inflammatories aren't helping, you need to get to a doctor.
  • Reply 10 of 21
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    not everybody will agree, including some doctors who don't want to recognize a competing discipline,



    but an alternative to the hospital (once you're satisfied it's not critical) might be a chiropractor



    pain that surfaces during sleep can be a result of bad posture, resulting in a torqued muscle or misalignment



    less than $50 for a consultation might at least give you an alternative 2nd opinion
  • Reply 11 of 21
    Shite, this sounds remarkably like the back problem my mom had last year. Could be a pinched cyatica (sp?) nerve in your back. Crippling pain that just keeps getting worse. She had to have some pretty risky surgery to fix. I hope it's a slipped disk or a really bad muscle pull.

    Whatever you do, do not go to chiropractor. My mom did and it almost killed her.
  • Reply 12 of 21
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by curiousuburb

    not everybody will agree, including some doctors who don't want to recognize a competing discipline,



    but an alternative to the hospital (once you're satisfied it's not critical) might be a chiropractor



    pain that surfaces during sleep can be a result of bad posture, resulting in a torqued muscle or misalignment



    less than $50 for a consultation might at least give you an alternative 2nd opinion




    For a few years I was having back problems where I'd feel a little soreness in my back, do some absoluting minor thing like bend a few degrees to pick up a towel or swing into a car seat, and end up with a sudden full-tilt spasm of pain such that I'd have to lie on the ground immediately and then couldn't walk for minutes, hours, or even as long as nearly two days. Whenever one of these episodes occurred, even once I was back on my feet I'd be in pain, limping, and unable to bend even slightly at the middle without extreme caution, for a week or more.



    Among other things I tried, I went to a chiropractor before being fully aware what chiropractic was all about. All I knew is that some people recommended chiropractors for back problems, and that they performed various physical adjustments of your spine.



    Little did I realize the pseudoscientific claptrap behind chiropractic. I think my chiropractors was still able to help out some, but often my pain just relocated (cramping leg instead of spasming back), and once when I felt an episode of back pain coming on, I tried going to the chiropractor first as a preventative measure but still had a major debilitating back spasm the next day.



    What help the chiropractor did provide I think was in spite of, not because of, the weirdness that is chiropractic "theory".



    Oddly enough, now that I've slacked off exercising and eating well like I should, I haven't had any really bad back problems for years. (Not that I recommend this as treatment!)
  • Reply 13 of 21
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline



    Little did I realize the pseudoscientific claptrap behind chiropractic.

    What help the chiropractor did provide I think was in spite of, not because of, the weirdness that is chiropractic "theory".





    Don't go to Chiropath's or Naturapaths.



    Chiropaths have been know to cause sever damage to people's necks..causing paralysis & in some cases..death..

    Naturopaths are almost as bad..coming up with some amazing bullshit diets that would be laughable if it wasn't that they charge so much for their psueo-scientific "advice"...



    A plague on both ...
  • Reply 14 of 21
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    Same goes with "Psycho-analysts "



    No qualifications needed...folks



    That's right !



    Just hang up a shingle with lots of gold lettering after your name & charge $100 per hour...



    Hmm If I wasn't so moral I would be tempted..but no way..I studied very hard for my bits of paper...
  • Reply 15 of 21
    mac+mac+ Posts: 580member
    Hi Jeremiah,



    I had neck and back pain once and went to a chriporactor - but all they did was provide momentary relief and never got down to treating the root of my problem. After fifteen minutes, my neck and back would seize up again - once at home. So frustrating!!! In exasparation, I went to see a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner.



    I had "the cups" and some acupuncture. "The cups" raise blood to the surface of your skin and if it is not flowing well, it bruises... you end up looking like you have been attacked by an octopus. Not pretty.



    However, after my first session, I was able to turn my neck and back with ease. Then after a few more sessions, my blood did not stay stagnant up near my major muscles when the cupping was done, so the bruising was not there. At first I was just grateful that this treatment worked. But, perhaps because I had such a successful experience with it, it is all I rely on now when I experience back pain.



    In fact, after this treatment I did not realise just how stiff I had let my back become. I thought all backs were like mine - hard as a board - but this showed me how supple and flexible your back could be.



    Anyway, that was about five years ago. Recenlty, after my first weekend of skiing, I decided to go back to the TCM practitioner and get the cups and massaging done again, because I realised how stiff I had let my back become after all those years. Now my back looks like an octopus attacked it again - but I am definitely feeling better!



    I hope things turn out well for you Jeremiah. Please don't ignore you back pain!



    Let us know the outcome of your situation too
  • Reply 16 of 21
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Having been through this myself, was on the couch all day for about a month, I'll tell you this.



    If you have a bulging or ruptured disk(btw "slipped" disk is a misnomer) DO NOTHING ABOUT IT. Don't let them cut into you. The 5 year outcome surgery vs nothing is the same. Plus they fsck it up sometimes.



    The X-Ray wont see much unless it's a problem with the spine. Same with CT, the soft tissue contrast is not good enough to see the nerves. Now MRI is ideal for this type of imaging. My MRI showed an L5-S1 ruptured disk "obliterating" (fancy medical term for pressing against) my S1 nerve root. I had classic sciatica. I was kind of lucky in that my MRI was scheduled two weeks after my GP visit and the Neurosurgeon was two weeks after that. I was feeling a little bit better then, still couldn't walk the half mile home from the hospital. Two weeks later I was back to half days at work and haven't had major trouble since then.



    The pain can be freakish. One nigh while I was recovering I was feeling a lot better. I popped up off the couch to get a drink. Ten feet later I'm on my hands and knees in extreme pain with my wife yelling "What's wrong what's wrong" 30 seconds later I was fine.



    IMO and that of others the major cause of this is stress. I've had other stress related illnesses. When you have a pain that comes and goes and move left to right and all over ... it's stress. So when my back starts to act up I consider what's going on in my life at that time. Most often I can find a few things that might cause my back to act up. Knowing that tends to make it better.



    Chiropractors are pure quacks. In fact everyone but a real doctor is a quack of sorts. And IMO when it comes to surgery for minor back pain the surgeons are quacks too.



    HTH
  • Reply 17 of 21
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mac+

    Hi Jeremiah,



    I had neck and back pain once and went to a chriporactor - but all they did was provide momentary relief and never got down to treating the root of my problem. After fifteen minutes, my neck and back would seize up again - once at home. So frustrating!!! In exasparation, I went to see a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner.



    I had "the cups" and some acupuncture. "The cups" raise blood to the surface of your skin and if it is not flowing well, it bruises... you end up looking like you have been attacked by an octopus. Not pretty.



    ...





    Not to be too rude but you were conned out of your money.
  • Reply 18 of 21
    i've read about back surgeries being done abdominally with great success. it's a new technique, done mostly to athletes so far. if you're going to have surgery, i'd check that out.
  • Reply 19 of 21
    vandewaalsvandewaals Posts: 450member
    Lower back pain near the mid-line of your back can also be a sign of kidney stones. 18 is kinda young to get that, I know, but I thought I'd throw it out there. Definitely push to get an MRI done of your back. And I also agree with Scott, don't let anyone start slicing unless it's life threatening.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    Ok. Last night it hurt the worst. My friend forgot about my back and pushed me out of my chair. (Ouch!) I could barely drive or anything, and it was like I had this huge muscle spasm in my back and around to my stomach. Anyways, that was around 9:00. We were editing a video until about 3:00AM. Around that time it started to feel quite a bit better. This morning when I woke up, it felt a bunch better. I have taken it easy all day and it is slowly getting better and better. If it is TOTALLY cleared up on Monday, I will cancel my doctor's appointment, but if not, I will go. Because of all of this, I am pretty darn sure it is muscular. Thanks for all of the suggestions and for caring and stuff.
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