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Lower back pain when coughing or sneeze

I had back surgery in 2005 for leg pain and leg numbness. The surgery took care of that problem.
After surgery it felt like my tail bone was broken and after 5 months when I blow my nose, cough or sneeze I have terrible pain going into my buttock and legs. This also happens when I bend over to the floor and especially when I pick up something while bending over.
What is the cause of this problem?
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Avatar universal
I had similar surgery in 2007.  My doctor told me to do physical therapy after the surgery, which I did for a few months and then stopped.  I never really felt 100%, and continued to have the symptoms you described.  This summer I finally decided I needed to seriously exercise and lose a few pounds.  I began exercising regularly (I use Wii but I guess anything regular is good).  Two months later I've lost five pounds, but more importantly I've lsot nearly two clothes sizes and have almost no back pain, either to bend down, sneezing, coughing, etc.  Oh, one more thing, I went to two acupuncture visits because I had a slight pain in my leg when I started my exercise program.  I really think the exercising was the key; I've been told that building a strong core and protecting your spine will reduce this kind of pain, and I've found it to be true so far.  Good luck!
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Avatar universal
I am stunned too, I have had mostly all of the symptoms you list and I'm going for a MRI scan next Tuesday ! I have small white patches on my red palms and fingers !
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Avatar universal
Wow, I promise you are so on the money!  Everything that you have said is exactly what i am and have been going through the majority of my life.  I feel like you looked into my crystal ball and read my story.  currently "they" say that we are gonna test for lupus, which "they" have been testing since i was a teenager and im now 32.  thanks for the confirmation, only wished "they" would listen to me, then maybe we could find a treatment or cure!
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748226 tn?1233268837
Dear Wiggie, Sorry for your miserable experience. The people who helpfully gave you suggestions were wrong with their assesments. I will tell you what is wrong with you.

See my introduction to see my experience! First of all most people who have low back pain do not have herniated discs!!! That is a great dogma that has been around since the late 1800, at least, when Palmer who started chiropractery thought he could fix a person's spine by twisting a vertebrae with his fingers. After things got more advanced, surgeons started working on alleged herniated discs and x-rays made things look suspicious. Then CAT and MRI scans showed up and they could look at all the arthritic bones of the spine better and it looked interesting. They could see bulges, arthritis, etc. and the "old idea of herniated discs" held on and so more surgery was done, again and again, but it is only rarely that people get better a short time after surgery. The surgeon has a "pocket of dough" after a few hours work, sees the patient a few times, and then hopes they will vamoose. The reality is this: All these scans and even MRI's do not have the resolution to see nerve roots well. The reality is that most low back surgery is erroneous and seeing a bulging disc is a red herring. The other thing is that no one has a herniated disc in the thoracic spine!!! People are supposed to have them in the cervical spine, but the story is the same: people rarely get better with cervical spine surgery either. Some people get better with lumbar/buttock pain and shourlder/cervical pain and have no treatment. Some people get better with steroids, IVIG intravenous treatments and some people get better with surgery through the buttock (Aaron Filler, MD ck web).

The reality is that all you people out there, 70 to 80 percent of people during their lifetimes, have an inflammatory disease that is severe enough that it causes the large nerves going through a snug passageway in the shoulder going into the arm or the pelvis/hip going into the leg and with all the motion in the hip and or the arm, with the tight passageways, and with an accident, lift, flail leg or arm accident, or an over use injury, the "blood vessels in the nerves" become more inflammed. That is right, compression and abrasion of the blood vessels make them more inflammed and swelling is part of that and so a person gets locked in pain in the snug passageways wherethrough the nerves pass.

Look at your palms: they will be ruddy or red! Look at the bottom of your feet: same. You might have moles and age marks (seborrheic keratosis), you might have had plantar fasciitis or perhaps tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome or other maladies caused by the underlying, inflammatory, autoimmune disease. It is caused by infection, during your lifetime, such as tonsillitis, ear infections, sore throats, flu, like respiratory disease, sleepy, sore throat maybe, head ache, nausea and vomiting maybe, rash maybe, prostration and feeling like sleeping for a day or three, fatigue after and you could of said, wow, that was the worse flu I have ever had. The rash at times is mistaken for chicken pox or measles. Chronic tonsillitis is bad for stimulating the inflammatory, autoimmue disease process. Rosacea, or pink cheeks, nose, chin and "v" of the neck if a person is out in the sunlight quite a bit is also prominant. Some people kind of get red all over.

Well, That is a start, what do you think; do you match up at all? Many people with low back pain experinece mild arm problems such as lying on the shoulder at night and having the arm "go to sleep" or driving and having tingling into the hands.

Well, Adios,

Norsk
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Avatar universal
Theres a good chance your SI (Sacroiliac Joint) joint is not functioning the right way or the ligament that holds it is sprained. There are alot of nerves in that area that can spread referred pain to the back of thight and calf. Do some research on it!
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Avatar universal
This is actualy an orapedic test called Valsalva. It indicates a space occuping lesion such as a cyst or herniated disc or anything in the spinal chord. I would suggest an MRI.

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Avatar universal
Sorry for the delay in answering.
I don't get incapacitated for days, I have pain for hours when I abuse the pain spot.
I had surgery because my right leg was getting numb as I walked any distance. The operation took care of that problem.
After the surgery I developed this sharp pain if I took a deep breath, coughed, sneezed or bent over. Where I get in trouble is when I bend over and pick up something. Thats when I suffer later. I have a butt pain like a headache most of the time.
Now, I took an MRI and it shows a cyst at L4. The Dr will do a epidural and also draw fluid out of the cyst. I hope that relives the pain.
The bad news= he said the cyst probably would come back.
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Avatar universal
Hi,

I have the same problem. Just a sneeze, bending over, etc. and I have excruciating pain that incapacitates me for up to 2 weeks at a time. This means I am too weak to stand and must stay in bed (no choice!)

Anyway, I have not had surgery yet. What sort of surgery did you have? If they operated on one area, it is very possible you have another area that needs treatment. The pain that you describe above comes from my bulging discs pressing against my nerves. I would imagine this is the same for you?

Cheers!
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