Lumbar Spondylosis ( degentering disc disease )

[AprilR.]

I fell at work about a month ago since then I have been seeing a doctor which have said that I have spondylosis. I'm in physical therapy now which hurts soooo bad and they put me on a back stretching machine and you are sopossed to do half your body weight and that makes me 60 lbs to go and I could hardly do 40 lbs. He ended up taking me off of it. I'm still no better with pain. I'm taking a 750 mg of muscle relaxer and hydrocodeine 5/500. I take 2 of them. I've only had x-rays. Would a MRI show more than a x-ray? The guy at pysical therepy said that he thinks I have a SI joint problem as well. What should I do or request to be done. I'm missing work because the doctor will not let me return. Is there a cure of more procedures to find out what exactly is going on? Pain meds are not helping for very long and doesnt take the pain completly away. Any advise????

[Enoch Choi]

I actually don't believe in chiropractic treatment since there was a meta-analysis that showed no definite benefit in low back pain.

In some cases, chiropractic treatment can be dangerous.  

I would stick with your doctor.

Enoch Choi, MD

[chirotor]

I suggest you consult a good chiropractor.  You can find a good referral at www.gonstead.com or www.chiropractic.org.  While PT helps with general mobility and strength, a chiropractor works by adjusting specific vertebrae to restore motion/alignment to that specific segment.  Good luck.

[Enoch Choi]

Low back pain sucks.  It's really tough to work on low back pain.  The problem with medications like robaxin 750 and vicodin are that they just cover up symptoms and don't get to the underlying problem, whatever it may be.  They both also have serious side effects of sleepiness and tolerance (physical dependance on the medication, and decreasing effects requiring higher doses to help).

Whenever one feels uncomfortable with a diagnosis and treatment regimen, it's reasonable to seek a second opinion.

Enoch Choi, MD