Thrown out back.
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.
Comments
NO FRIGGIN AROUND...
GO....
Man no bullshit..get someone to drive you..
Better safe than sorry....
If you're still online, get off the computer and go to the emergency room NOW.
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...
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...
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.
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
Whatever you do, do not go to chiropractor. My mom did and it almost killed her.
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!)
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 ...
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...
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
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
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.