Back Injury Advice

[DeathBrewer]

I have a slipped disk. i was injured almost 2 months ago but my doctors took their sweet time getting me an MRI so i just officially found out today.

the doctor wants to give me a Lumbar Epidural Injection. Has anyone else had one of these? it's a cortisone/steroid mixture that works as an anti-inflammatory and will releave pressure and pain.

does anyone know if i have other options?

i am far too young to have surgery on my back so i don't want it to come to that. any advice would be much appreciated.

Danke

 

[david_42]

My brother used to get them, but he ended up having surgery when he was 34.

 

[EdWort]

Try hydrotherapy (underwater massage therapy). Basically you lay naked in a big bathtub while some guy works you over with a high pressure hose. I know it sounds kinky, but while you are underwater the pressure from the water hose is massaging your lumbar regions and pushing those discs back in place. I had it done in Germany when I hurt my back. It did wonders for the pain.

I see Better Bottles for you in the near future.

 

[Fingers]

This may sound stupid, but how about chopping a couple of cords of wood? Whenever I've had back troubles, and I've had slipped discs, I found that if I took it easy it prolonged the injury. If I continued to work, it would just jump back into place.

It was most evident one night when my back was really bad and I was once again being completely unreasonable in the face of SWMBO's unquestioning logic. I went outside and had at the woodpile for a very aggressive hour of chopping. At the end I was still an a$$hole but my back was better. There was still some residual soreness or course but it was very evident that was was out of place was now back in.

As a preventative measure, start doing crunches to strengthen the abdominal muscles. Don't let your belly sag and turn into a beer belly and that will do wonders for you.

 

[ScubaSteve]

DISCLAIMER: I won't give you medical advice, but common sense applies to this situation. I work in the medical community, and the best thing I can tell you is to do research on your own (looks like you are) and compare with what your MD is doing. Don't be afraid to shop around and ask a second opinion. Contrary to what most people believe, Doctors are not perfect, and they are not always an authority on what they are doing. They can and do make mistakes. The burden is on you to make an educated decision and not get pushed into a procedure you don't want done. Epidural injections are done pretty often nowadays, but they are not without risk. I can tell you from personal experience that I had a similar problem with a damaged disk, and I took oral steroids (methylprednisolone). They worked REALLY well. In the long term, you may want to seek a physical therapist for core strengthening exercises so that you can treat the source of the problem. Hope that helps point you in the right direction.

 

[ScubaSteve]

This may sound stupid, but how about chopping a couple of cords of wood? Whenever I've had back troubles, and I've had slipped discs, I found that if I took it easy it prolonged the injury. If I continued to work, it would just jump back into place.

It was most evident one night when my back was really bad and I was once again being completely unreasonable in the face of SWMBO's unquestioning logic. I went outside and had at the woodpile for a very aggressive hour of chopping. At the end I was still an a$$hole but my back was better. There was still some residual soreness or course but it was very evident that was was out of place was now back in.

As a preventative measure, start doing crunches to strengthen the abdominal muscles. Don't let your belly sag and turn into a beer belly and that will do wonders for you.

Woodchopping and crunches are both core strengtheners. "Supermans" are also great. If you're having back problems already though, agressive exercise probably will just make it worse. Prevention is the key...gotta go do some crunches now

 

[DeathBrewer]

thanks for the advice. it will be a few weeks before i am even approved for the injection, so i will definitely be investigating other options in the meantime. my doctor has advised me to do swimming so i can work out with little resistance.

i cannot lift anything. i've tried and anything over about 20 lbs causes great pain. the other day when i was making enchiladas my back went out on me from ripping apart the meat. it really sucks.

I may try some crunches. i've gained almost 20 lbs since i was injured...another reason the swimming is absolutely necessary (since it's not like i'm going to stop drinking!)

and yes...i think no matter what, my superman days are over. i'm going to be nice to my back so it will be nice to me. better bottles may indeed be my next homebrewing investment.

 

[AnOldUR]

I had pretty much the same problem last winter / this spring. It took an MRI to get a good diagnoses for me also. I tried chiropractic, massage, heat therapy, ice therapy, oral steroids, anti inflammatory (Celebrex), lots of physical therapy. None of this was working. At the time I couldn’t sit or bend far enough to put on my shoes or pants. Lots of pain!

Finally, I went to a non-surgical orthopedic doctor. He recommended the epidural and after checking it out decided to give it a try. It hurt more then anything you could imagine. The doctor said that my situation was extreme because of a lot of inflammation in the L5, S1 area where the bulge was. The epidural was not a cure in itself, but it did reduce the inflammation so that other therapies could work.

I had looked into a therapy where they stretch your spine. The theory is that it creates a vacuum between the vertebras and sucks the disk back into place. I told my chiropractor about this and he recommended trying an inversion table. It basically does the same thing and give you control over when and how much. I picked one up on the internet for $150 (that includes shipping).

My back will probably never be what it was, but if I’m careful, I can do most of what I could do before the injury. It all boils down to not being stupid again and lifting stuff I shouldn’t be lifting. (Although I’m still picking up 5 gallon carboys. You have to have your priorities.)

What worked? The main thing was first to reducing the inflammation (the epidural). After that the inversion is what corrected the problem. Physical therapy was good, but only got me so far. I still take Celebrex on occasions, but I hang for 10 minutes every night before bed. When I get lazy and skip a few nights the pain begins to creep back.

Hope this helps. Good luck finding your cure.

 

[Chillibeerman]

I have had the same thing happen to me. After countless tests to confirm the condition, my physician recommended some exercises and rest. Surgery wasn't really recommended. I neglected to do the exercises, but after awhile the pain stopped. I will undoubtedly experience "flare ups" from time to time. I see work related back injuries all of the time. It seems that the employees who elect to have surgery rarely recover fully, and often have other problems. I will take my chances

 

[DeathBrewer]

the pain has gotten worse. i have to really keep on my feet...if i sit too much the aching really gets bad

i'm looking into this inversion table. that looks like a great way to stretch my back out nice and straight.

i'm going to get the injection, but i don't think that will be any sort of cure, it will just ALLOW for the disc to go back into place...i'll need to get it back to normal myself.

i'm also going to start a bit of a daily exercise routine. i'm going to try to swim at least 3 times a week and take a nice walk 3 times a week. i also need to do some kind of crunches, but i think i need to get a machine for that...i can't do any type of sit-up right now without really hurting my back.

i'm also looking into massage therapy, just so i can RELAX! my neck and upper back are all tensed up from the stress of this.

 

[Brewiz]

I had the surgery 3 years ago and luckily I have not had any problems since (knocking on head). I can tell you that the most important part of getting it under control is exercise.
My disc had ruptured and I had to have the surgery to repair it, but since that time I have become an avid walker. I usually walk 3 miles a day 5 days a week and workout too and even got into cycling for a while.
Once you get over the flair up start exercising and make sure you see a Neurosurgeon and not an Orthopedic.

 

[mrb]

I HATE back pain!!! This reminded me that I need to see someone too.
Too bad us brewers aren't spineless.

 

[Beerrific]

I don't have back problems but my dad has. I am nt sure exactly what caused it but he has a pinched nerve. He this injection, I am pretty sure he said it hurt a lot but helped the pain (he could barely sleep before). But after that the doctors could do very little for him. For what ever reason he decided to go to a chiropractor, they have all but fixed him, gave him some insoles that raises one leg. He said he couldn't remeber the last time he was able to walk so easily.

 

[AnOldUR]

Danke

Glad to here that you will be using exercise as part of your recovery. Running is my mental and physical outlet. Although I was never convinced that it was the cause of my problem or that it made it worse, my doctors convinced me to stop for a couple of month. Against doctor’s order, after the epidural I started to slowly reintroduce running. I think the overall fitness (and loosing the weight I gained while sedentary) was and important part of my healing. When ever possible I try to hang (inversion) after my runs. If I told you the things I’ve done, post back injury, you’d think I was nuts. But it’s nice to be able to drink homebrew and not have to worry about the pounds.

(BTW I still can’t do crunches or any kind of serious ab work without back pain.)