I NEED HELP!

Thanks in advance for reading.

I have been dealing with the life altering affects of lumbar back pain for the past 5 years. I am in desperate need of advice and am reaching out to the online community.

In 2005 I started feeling pain in my hamstrings and lower back when sitting. I was initially misdiagnosed as having pelvic malalignment by a sports injury specialist and was told to do a set of excercises that would fix the imbalance and stop the pain. This failed to achieve any results.I was than was mistakenly diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis???. Only after being misdiagnosed twice would the sports medicine specialist finally give me an MRI (10 months later) which showed these results......

MRI REPORT

Of the five lumbar vertabrae there is desiccation of the L5 / L5 disc as well as the L5 / S1 disc. There is narrowing of the L5 / S1 disc and note is made of an annular tear involving the posterior aspect of the L5 / S1 disc. The conus ends at the level of the L1 / L2 and the visualized portion of the lower thoracic cord is normal in signal and morphology.

Note is made of disc dessication and disc space narrowing at the T 11/ T12 level with an associtaed disc buldge . Depsite the disc buldge the spinal cord is not significantly narrowed. No abnormailty is present from T12 throught to the L3/ L4 level.

At the L4 / L5 , there is disc buldge whitout narrowing of the spanl canal. At the L5/ S1 level there is a small paracental disc protrusion with the the disc protrusion minimally dipslacing the traversing right S1 nerve root in the right lateral recess. the spinal canal is not significantly narrowed at this level. The exiting nerve roots are not compromised.


So after the specialist saw that there was damage in my back (likely caused by snowboarding) he recommended I do physiotherapy to strengthen my back. It has now been 11 months since I started physio which included spinal decompression. All of this treatment has done liitle to help my back pain and I am now headed back to the specialist. I am only 25 and I feel as if my life and future prospects have been drastically altered for the worse. I am no longer athletically fit, I have difficulty siting for periods of time, and my quality of life in general is poor. I am always in some state of pain and often unable to do much but lie down.


After the initial mishandling and misdiagnoses I have been left with very little trust in the medical system (I live in Vancouver, Canada) And at this point I have been left with the disheartening advice that I should live with the pain by using medications and hope that in the future that some surgical procedure is invented that can repair my back. The doctors rational for this was that If I had surgey using current methods it coud result in my injury becoming worse.

Does anyone agree or disagree with this asessment or now of any treatments/procedures that I should be considering? ( should I be looking into private health care options or treatment in other countries?)


If anyone has dealt with a similar injury and has any advice that would be greatly apreciated

thanks

hello,
I'v had the lumbar fusion of the L5/S1 and that was in 04' today I'm in serious pain and on medication. Can't say that the surgery was a success for me. There are times when I wish I had never had the surgery and that I had done something different. I've tried different things to help me but not much has helped. Now I'm doing O.T. which is slowly helping with some excersises that I was given from PT. They tell me that I need to strengthen my back and that will help. I also carry a tens unit with me. That's just a few things that I've done. Hope that I haven't bumbed you out to much......

Hi Canuck 84,

Welcome yo Healing Well. I am so glad that you found us but I do hate to see someone young come long with the problems you are living with.  I am so glad that you found us, as one thing we all understand very well and thats pain. So, you are not alone. We totally understand how pain affects your life in general.

None of us here at the forum are doctors. We only speak from our own personal experiences. One thing I suggest you do is get online and educated yourself about your condition. The more knowledge you can gain the better. Find good reputable web sites and look up things like annular disc tear, bulging/herniated disc,  disc dessication and narrowing of the lumbar spine. Learning about your condition will help you understand why your body is doing what it is doing. Look at various options for treatment. Having knowledge will help you make better choices concerning your care.

You are so right, drs do not like to operate on young people. As far as the annular disc tear goes, it can go either way, some drs say leave it alone and let it attempt to heal on its own and at last resort sometimes they will do surgery. When a person has back surgery many times the disc above or below the surgery area can bulge or herniate out over time, mostly due to stress on the joint. Then a person could very well be looking at a second surgery. Many times when a person has narrowing in the spine they have pinched or compressed nerves. Sometimes this does not show up on an MRI Scan. So in essence what your drs told you about doing surgery now is very true.

Do you have any pain down the back either of your legs? Do you have any numbness, tingling or burning in either of your feet or with any of your toes? If you have a pinched nerve they can try to decompress the nerve by doing a discectomy, but that most likely will not relieve your back pain at all. Nerves are very complex and they can either heal on their own or not.

It sounds like you have seen pretty much the usual dr gambit. Are you or have you seen a pain mgt dr? If not asked you should ask your PCP to refer you to one. They are better trained to handle pain patients and usually have more info on different kinds of medications to try to help relieve the pain.  No one likes to take medication period. But, for most of us that is the only way we can have some quality life.You are in a really tough spot because age is a big factor and thats exactly what the drs are looking at, your age, I really wish I had more info to give you . There are others that will read your post and hopefully they can come up with some good ideas for you.

Take care and let us know how you are doing.

                                                                                  

First let me say welcome to our forum.  We are all in the same boat here so no question is a stupid question and we always welcome any replies you may have.

My lumbar problems also started 7 yrs ago with just an annular tear at L-4/5 which is the outside lining of the disc.  This can definately be painful and as far as I know they will not heal themselves.  Looks like you also have bulging disc that can cause alot of problems.

I too would advise you to see a pain management doctor if possible.  These doctors are trained to control pain be it with medication or injections, do make sure the pm doctor does both.  I have had success with steroid injections into my bulging disc but the relief only lasted for 2 months but everyone is different.  If there is any nerve issues you may find some relief from a med specifically for nerve pain such as Neurontin, which has a generic Gabapentin, or Lyrica. 

When I first started out using pain medications I was using Ultram, generic is Tramadol.  This is non-narcotic and can help with mild to medium pain.  This could be an option for you if you are nervous about using narcotic pain meds.  Also alot of people are helped with Cymbalta, a anti-depressant that is also used for pain.

I know you were seeing a sports injury specialist with little success.  Sorry to hear this but a good physical therapist can help with lower back pain.  They will help to strengthen the surrounding muscles to alleviate pain and teach techniques in proper posture.  Maybe a different therapist could do you some good.

Hope this helps give you some ideas to discuss with your doctor.  I do use narcotic pain meds and Neurontin along with a anti-spasmatic drug, Zanaflex, for muscle spasms but plain old Tylenol in small quantities still helps alot too.  Good Luck and keep us updated on your progress!

To all of you whom have replied to my post and shared your experiences and advice I am extremely grateful

Sorry it has taken me a few weeks to respond...... Since I originally posted my story I have been to see the sports med specialist again (a different one from the first) and have more or less gotten the same response. Which is that surgical intervention is not an option for me at this point.

I have been referred to a new physiotherapist and have re-focused on strengthening my back and core. I am exercising multiple times daily and have lost 15 pounds already. I am going to continue to train my back and body in general until I am in peak physical condition. If I am still not able to function properly after that then I guess I will have to look at other options...?

I really like my new physio and I am feeling positive and hopeful that my condition will improve. Unfortunately, I am currently still in a lot of pain and have been struggling to find the right pain meds. My doctors latest advice has been to take tylenol extra strength multiple times a day as well as taking Tramadol. My doc is hesitant to prescribe any of the stronger opiates out of fear of there addictive nature.


Once again thank you all! Reading your replies has been very helpful. It is reassuring to know that there are other people in the same(or more severe) situations as myself that are managing to continue living their lives to the best of their abilities.

I look forward to reading and posting in this forum in the future

cheers,

chris