7 YEARS OF PAIN AND GOING

[dlkisafraidoffuture]

At age 33 in 2003 I was very athletic and phyical, then as a painter I was sanding kitchen cabinets below sink level for quite a few hours. Upon erecting my back blew out. It was the most terrifying pain i,ve ever felt. As I cried and shreiked managing to sit in my truck and wait 6 hrs. until Kaiser would see me. I was told I just had a lower acute back spasm and sent home with some mild meds. No x-rays or test were done and it took 4 plus days to recover after much crawling in fear of standing erect. I went to phyical therapy after healing and thought things were normal. WRONG!!! I lost my heallth ins. and it seemed every 3 months my back would blow out again from doing simple things like sneezing,bending over the bath sink, any bending basically. To this day I have to be cautious of every move! In 2006 I had x-rays and MRI and bone density test. They revealed degenerative disk at L5-SI and a compression fracture on L-1 "anterior wedging". They said the fracture looked old. Got me when it happened? I was into extreme sports also. Every time I did phys. therapy I felt okay. With no INSURANCE now,every movement feels like a bone is going to pop out of my back. From 2007-2010 I've been in constant pain daily. It seem every time I've talked with a doc, they don't understand the intensity of pain. When the "spasms" happen I think I can relate to the discription of a females hips spreadind during pregnacy. The CHIRO's I've seen say the can tell my spine isn't right. I never felt any numbness though something is concentrated toward my left buttocks. It often feels more like multiple 110 volts in LFT buttocks down leg. That sure isn't numbness! I've had pain meds. that do nothing, steriod and inflamation shot to no avail. The last 3 year when my back really blows it drops me to the ground and averages 2 months to feel slightly better and that can last just a few days, then it happens again. I'm about to turn 40 and feel soon I'll be immobile. "I FELT OVER THE HILL FOR THE PAST 7 YEARS"
  Hope somebody has some advice. THANKS!

[FloydRP59]

No - I have not tried acupuncture.  At this point, after one laminectomy five years ago and six weeks post lumbar fusion surgery, it may not be necessary for me.  But it's worth a shot for dikisafraidoffuture.

[questionnone]

have you guys ever considered acupuncture?

[FloydRP59]

First off, let me tell you that my heart wanted to break when I read your post.  The pain that you are in is obvious and the frustration you feel as a result of not always having that pain understood or acknowledged is equally palpable.  

You should know that I have never posted in these forums before now, but your plea moved me to do so.  You should also know that I am not a doctor.  However, I am 39 years old and suffer chronic back pain, which began with back spasms just like you, even though my spinal problems have been diagnosed more clearly than yours.  

Hear me clearly:  Muscle spasms in the lower back are some of the most intense pain that a human being can feel.  That is no exaggeration.  Four days to recover enough to stand your first time around sounds about right.  The first time it happened to me, I called my doctor at home (at midnight) because I thought I had broken my back.  Spasms literally knock the wind out of you as well as suck the life out of you.  

The herniations are also no small problem and this is to say nothing of the fracture.  I have experienced everything you have except the fracture.  I have a series of questions for you, but unless someone else more versed in these matters does so, let me ask you first about the pain that you describe as radiating down to your buttock.  Is this the extent?  Does it ever go or has it ever gone any further down your leg?