Hello! I was referred to this board and told it was very helpful.
I'm sorry is this is long, but I'm so hoping somebody can help me -
about 10 yrs. ago, when I was 21, I took a nasty spill on ice. Fell right on my butt in a parking lot. Of course, it hurt when I fell, but the I wasn't in a lot of pain that night so I went in to work. I was waitressing at the time. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I was told by everybody around me to go to the hospital, but me being the stubborn dummy I am - refused to go. I thought I was fine. Until about a year or so later, when it really started acting up. I went to a walk in clinic, who told me my back was strained from waitressing, and gave me some pain pills to take. A few weeks later, one of my girlfriends forced me to go to the ER with her, the pain had gotten so bad. That's when they took an Xray and found that I had an an L5 compression fracture with mild disc dessication. The doctor kept me out of work for 6 weeks. I eventually went back to work, but the pain never got any better.
I went to my GP who referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. A dirty one who upon one visit with me determined nothing was wrong. After that, I went to one more orthopedic surgeon, a neurologist, another GP, 2 chiropractors, and they supposedly never found anything wrong. Fast forward 10 yrs. to now, and I am in such horrible pain every day. I haven't been to any doctor for this problem in years because I have crappy insurance. I have reached the end of my rope. And since I originally hurt myself, I have gotten in a fender bender, and fell off a chair on to my concrete basement. Which didn't help matters at all!
If I do too much housework, I'm laid up in pain. If I walk too far, if I sit too long, or if I stand in one spot too long, I can barely move at the end of the day. I have a hard time even standing up long enough to do dishes. Laying down is uncomfortable, too. I pulled a nasty weed out of my yard one day and was in pain for weeks after that. Shooting pains ran all through my back. I also just started noticing that my back is warm to the touch every so often. I had my mother feel it to see if it was just me, and she was able to warm up her hands on my back. I also have family that lives just 2 hours away, and when I go up for holidays - I can't even move by the time I get back. And the holidays are right around the corner.
I was told that fractures usually heal after 6 months. That confuses me, seeing as how they found it a year after I injured myself. I'm also baffled as to why it's bothering me almost 10 years later. Is this something I just have to live with? I'm already in a bit of debt, and my health insurance barely pays anything. I don't even know where to go from here.
I've also tried exercise - but it didn't help much at all. I tried to do Pilates last night on the advice of somebody, but I was in more pain after I was done than when I started!
I don't have a doctor now, as I don't even know where to turn. My GP isn't very much help, and just keeps plowing me with pain meds when I go in. And I have a very low tolerance for pain medication.
So do I go back to him even with crappy insurance that pays barely anything, and start back at square one, or just give up because it's been so long there's nothing anybody can do about it? Any advice would be much appreciated!<!-- / message -->