Constant Back Pain

[lizzi1027]

I am 34yrs old and pretty healthy.A little over a month ago I began having mid back pain.I went to my family dr and he ordered blood work and an ultra sound of my abdomen. All of my blood work came back great.My ultrasound came back showing that I had gallstones. My kidneys, liver and spleen all appeared normal.Now I had had gallbladder attacks in the recent past so I was not suprised.My dr prescribed me some pain meds and sent me to a surgen to have my gallbladder removed.Over the next 3 weeks the back pain continued.It is pretty much constant,I will occationally notice that I dont hurt but then shortly after I notice it returns. It is in the middle of my back on both sides. It does occationally move down to right under my rib cage. I had the surgery and shortly after returning home I noticed the back pain was still there. I called my surgen who had me go to the er. In the er the ran more blood work and did another ultra sound and a ct scan and took a urine.Again all the blood work was normal. The ultra sound showed nothing abnormal and neither did the ct scan.They said MAYBE I was starting a uti and put me on cipro for 5 days. I know at the hosp they had a uroligist look at my bloodwork, urine and ct scan and he said there were no stones and my back pain was not caused by anything from a urilogical stand point.I made the decision to go to a ciropractor/physical therapist.After speaking to the dr he did an xray of my back and said that there was "Wear and tear" in the area where the pain was.He said it was mild osteoarthritis.I have since had 1 treatment.I have been on pain meds(vicadin) for the past month and have also tried Naproxen.The vicadin does take the pain away.The Naproxen does nothing.  The pain is not getting any better.I dont know where to go from here.Do I continue with the pysical therapy? Should I notice a difference after 1 treatment.this is effecting all aspects of my life.I dont know what to do. Does this sound like arthritis?

[Adam Tanase, D.C.]

It's a shame that they had to remove your gall bladder. In my opinion, surgery should always be the *last* resort, not the first.

Now, it's important to clarify your terms. Chiropractors are not Physical Therapists. Chiropractic care is not physical therapy. You cannot interchange the two, as each serves very different purposes.

Physical therapy is good for muscle strengthening and rehabilitation.

Chiropractic care is good for evaluating the effects of spinal structure on your nervous system.

Whether it be PT or Chiropractic, it's unlikely that you would notice any change after only one treatment, so I would not write off the care you received just yet.

[lizzi1027]

The Dr is a Ciropractor but works in physical therapy office.  There is also a nerologist that works in the office.  After reading my post do you feel that I am on the right track or should I go to a different dr?

[Adam Tanase, D.C.]

I can't tell you to go somewhere else... you may very well be under excellent care... That being said, however, "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten."

If you've not made any progress under your current course of treatment, it may be time to think outside the box.