BACK PAIN BLUES

OK PEOPLE HERE GOES,THE NEUROLOGIST TELL ME THAT MY SCANS REVEAL THAT I HAVE TWO MILD BULGING DISK, BUT NO ONE WILL FIX THEM, THEY WILL ONLY GIVE MEDS AND THEN MAYBE TRACTION...WHAT THE HELL...I'M IN PAIN 24HRS WITH THIS MILD BULGING OF THESE DISK...WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO DO??????

[pofdog]

I feel your pain. Not including the herniated discs I have had, I have a bulging disc also. I get treated for years like it shouldn't hurt so bad. Well, like I tell my doc. What the textbook says and what I am feeling are two different things.  They want to try everything to avoid surgery with a herniated disk, but bulging ones are ignored untill they eventually herniate. Maybe an MRI sitting would show more?
     I also had a problem for years not knowing my limits with the bulging disc.  My mind was used to doing things and my back said NO.  After awhile I realized I was doing things that made swelling that hurt just as bad as a herniated disc.  Scar tissue does it also.   Good luck.

[anjel75]

I agree with the sitting position MRI. I, too, have 2 bulging discs. When I lie down, they aren't in such a crunch but when I sit too long.... holy ****! They say there is no nerve involvement but I think there may be when I sit. I wish they would tell my back that there is no nerve involvement!

[versute1]

Glad to find people who can identify with me.  I too have had no luck with doctors and my disk problems.  They just want to give me pain medications and physical therapy, which hasn't helped.  I'm a 33 male, and I think/know that I have been a victim of age discrimination.  The doctors look at me and think I'm too young to have problems that older people normally have.  The one thing(among others) they ignore is that I tell them that I have lifted weights the past 15 years of my life, and picking up 400+lbs off the ground several times per workout over the years has accelerated my disk degeneration.  I had know idea what I was doing, even when my back hurt.  Anyway, I am sick of not getting any treatment that will help me.  I laugh when I read all these recommendations about how long you should be in pain before you have surgery.  Sometimes they say 3-4 months, or even 6 weeks of pain.  Well, let me tell you that I'm going on over a year with this pain.  The doctors I visited are thousands of dollars richer, while I am no better.  What other profession besides a doctor can take your money for telling you there's nothing wrong with you, and have you walk out the door in so much pain you can't sit????

[MKappelmann]

Have you had an diagnostic testing? MRI, CT, Xray?