Backpain for about 6 months, and begining to lose hope
Posted , 4 users are following.
I am from Denmark and I have been living with back pain for the last 6 months. I have tried a lot of treatments with No luck and I am staring to lose hope for a fix. Before this i never had Any back related problems at All. I never took painkillers, and All in All I was very rarely sick. But 2018 was a tuning point. I was sick several times, and had a lot of health related problems, especially regarding my back.
First off, i want to describe how my back pain behaves. The pain shifts around My upper back, in a lot of different ways. It can go to My shoulder blades, mid back and My sides/ribs. Furthermore the pain can be really severe or it can be there without disrupting My daily life. I found that one of the weirdest things about My back pain is that it can be there 3 days in a row and then disappear for a week or i can have it for a week with intense pain. As you can see, the pain changes a lot. Another weird thing, is that it sometimes helps to lie down for a period, while it other times ends up making the pain worse. The same is true about small walks, sometimes it can be good for My back, and other times it makes it Hurt even more.
My story:
It all started the summer of 2018. I was at a festival with My firends that lasted about a week. One of the last nights of the festival, i had a severe incident. Everytime i took a step it felt like i got stabbed in the back, the same happened when i took a half deep breath. The following night i had the worst upper back pain i have ever experienced in My life.
After the festival i had a decent week. I spent most of the week at home, relaxing after along festival. I had a few back related problems along the week, but not anything severe.
At the end of this week i went to Amsterdam with My Mother. This week, made me realize that i had developed a persistent problem with My back. Most of the trip i had to sit down every hour and had a lot of pain. I Even threw up once, because of the pain. Before this back pain, i never took any painkillers, but during this week i took several whenever i could. This week was a long one, and filled with pain.
As soon as I came back from this trip, i went to a physiotherapist. After just one session, i felt way better and I actually thought the problem was over, but just 2 weeks later, it came back. Every session with My physiotherapist the next Two months only helped very little. My doctor told me, that All hr could do, was to scan me. He also told me that the scan would likely just be a waste. So i ended up contacting an osteopath. He was extremely helpful at first, and He was insanely skilled. The first Two sessions was very helpful, however when i went a third time, it again did very little to help.
As I wanted a second opinion on the matter, i contacted a New physiotherapist. He recommended that i should do some specific exercises to strengthen My back. So i did that for about a month, with No results whatsoever.
And that laves me here. My pain is getting worse Day by Day, and I have No idea what to do next. I feel lost, because No one can tell me what is wrong.
I have though about the fact that My pain might be completely caused by My brain. If that in fact is possible, how do I even begin to treat it?
0 likes, 11 replies
lis10127 Alex5624
Posted
Hi Alex, that all sounds extremely frustrating. I have had lower back pain for a year now. It has at times been very painful but it has now got to the point where i can 'manage' it a lot better. I now know what aggravates it and how i can stretch it to help. I stretch every day, I avoid long periods of sitting and i avoid lifting anything heavy. I was very fit before my back problems started and although i can walk and do some forms of exercise i have had to accept that at 52 years old I can stay reasonably fit but i am not able to exercise at the level i used to be able to. Like you i tried various forms of treatment:- physio, accupuncture, Bowen therapy, Osteopath etc and all of them seemed to help for a bit and then lose there effectiveness. I never really was given an answer as to the direct cause other than 'wear and tear'. I succumbed to strong painkillers in the way of antidepressants as i had severe tingling in my calves and the tablets helped with that but i will need to wean off those at some point which is daunting in itself. I do know that stress did make my back worse, if i felt tense about something i could make a direct correlation to my spine being more rigid and tense which caused more pain. Of course the more pain i had the more tense i became - a vicious circle! I think backs are so often undiagnosed as it were as there are so many structures in your spine that can cause problems. Unfortunately as everything is interconnected what can start as a muscular strain or such like can manifest itself in many ways as everything in your spine can be thrown off kilter to compensate for the injury. I'm not sure if any of this is helping but i guess i just wanted to share my experience and to let you know i sympathise with how tedious it can all be. Many days i felt very down as i thought it would never get better. Reading the stories of other people on this forum really helped and i received much good advice. Unless someone has had back pain they cannot understand how debilitating it is as you use your spine for every basic movement. You mentioned your Doctor saying all he could do was scan you, have you had this done? i'm presuming any other medical condition that could be causing your pain has been ruled out by blood tests etc. Has your doctor offered advice on pain management? Although no one wants to resort to medication, if it helps to relax you a bit then that can take some of the spine tension away which can ease some pain. I think if it were me i would go back to my doctor and ask again what he/she suggests? If none of this has helped then at the very least i wish you all the best!
Alex5624 lis10127
Posted
Thank you for the response 😃. One of My biggest problems with My back, is that i cant figurer out what triggers it. I would love to know how long it took for you to figurer out what triggers the pain, and if you have Any tips on how to figurer it out.
As for My doctor, all he did was to tell me a scan was a bad idea and then sent me to the fysiotherapist. He never offered Any blood test or Any advice on pain management
lis10127 Alex5624
Posted
Hi Alex, I can't understand why your doctor has said a scan not a good idea. Yes it may not show up anything significant as very often even when someone is in a great deal of pain an MrI scan doesn't give any answers but on the other hand it might. I would definitely go back to your doctor and insist on an MrI scan referral. I bought a lot of books and googled a lot of information on my particular symptoms. I also did back exercises daily, Stuart McGill's big 3 exercises helped me a lot and his other advice in his book. You have to be patient though, persevere with back strengthing exercises and get some decent pain medication to help you keep up with day to day activities. I only went to the Osteopath once a fortnight as it was all I could afford. He was great but it took trial and error and sourcing out information myself as well as treatment from him to notice a difference. The most important thing is don't give up and keep as active as you can otherwise muscles become weak etc which can make your back more vulnerable. Good luck.
derek76 lis10127
Posted
GP's nowadays are prisoners of the NHS or MSK whoever covers muscular skeletal care in your area. Our GP referred my wife to the local hospital for an MRI scan of her spine. A letter came back saying that they could not do it and she should be referred to MSK. They refused her a scan . We had one done privately and gave it to MSK after her GP said that her back was the worst he had ever seen.
If MSK did not win the contract for care in your area you are extremely fortunate.
Alex5624 lis10127
Posted
I live in Denmark, which means i have free health care. To be honest, i think My doctor wont recommend a scan, because it usually turns up with nothing and Costs a lot, especially when i am only 18 years old... I forgot to mention that i have scoliosis, but it is only a very little bend in My spine. Both my doctor and physiotherapist said that a lot of people have a larger bend in the spine, and have no problems whatsoever. I think you are right, and I will contact My doctor as soon as possible and try to get a scan. Thanks for the tip about the book, il make sure il read it, and thanks
lis10127 derek76
Posted
There's a thought.......I don't actually know who does what in my area as i've just moved here. I had an MrI scan in Scotland. I am now living in England and i haven't even registered with a Gp yet so i'm unsure how the system works here in the area I'm in. I'm sorry to hear your wife was refused a scan and that you had to pay for that privately. I hope she is now getting the right treatment and is making a recovery.
lis10127 Alex5624
Posted
Hi Alex, you never mentioned you were 18. My son is 18 and often complains of lower back pain. He sits at a computer a lot and i'm sure that aggravates his back. That may not be something you do as obviously if you have scoliosis that makes things slightly different. It was just when you said your pain not there all the time, it can be severe for a few days and then go away. It sounds as though maybe something your doing or a position your putting your spine in could be aggravating it. Just a thought but i could be completely wrong. Best of luck anyway and i'm sure you will get it sorted. At 18 your body's ability to recover is immense . All the best.
derek76 lis10127
Posted
Her main problem is osteoporosis that not a lot can be done for. Her GP also asked for a bone density scan and utter silence. After chasing them up they replied that she is 80 and that is the cut off age. We have since been to a private consultant who does not offer much help either. Her MRI scan also showed two fracture vetebrae caused by pressure on her spine one of which is partly healed.
I was told by neurologist (in 2015) that I should have a whole spine MRI but I was having a pacemaker fitted later that week so left it till later. I made sure that I got an MRI compatible one but then found that there was not an agreed protocol for resetting it for the scan. I paid for a CT scan and went to see a neurosurgeon who said it did not give as much detail as an MRI so had to seek out a private hospital that could reset my pacemaker and do a whole spine MRI. The neurosurgeon found problems but none that needed his knife.
My problems are worse when standing so I thought a standing MRI with pressure on my spine in one of the few open scanners would be a better option but none of them will do pacemaker patients. The pacemaker company will send a rep to reset it but we also need a physiologist present and cannot get one.
Only recently has a protocol been agreed for resetting pacemakers at my local hospital but MSK would not refer me. However I have a helpful cardiologist who did and I had another MRI scan two weeks ago and we are still waiting for the results.
hypercat Alex5624
Posted
Hi I have suffered life long pain but managed it by regular sessions with an osteopath. Unfortunately the pain won't now go and I got sent to physio by my doctor and got a list of back exercises to do. These help around 20% which is good but I still can't walk far and not at all without pain.
I am about to go to a chiropractor (recommended by my sister) to see if she can sort it out. Back pain is horrible and when I was young doctors said we don't do backs - see an osteopath, and now I am older they call it old age and say it is normal. That's a load of old tosh and have faced that I will have to pay for treatment as osteopathy etc. isn't available on the NHS.
One thing I will say is it often takes more than a few treatments to see any effects and it can be sore for a while afterwards. You aren't doing yourself any favours by only going a couple of time and expecting results. You might need to go for a dozen or so treatments for it to really start helping. Meanwhile look online for back exercises and start doing some of those. If it hurts too much though don't persevere with that particular exercise. x
Alex5624 hypercat
Posted
Thanks for the reply. I started out by going to the physiotherapist for 2 months while doing exercises at home too. But it never really helped. I only went to the osteopath for about a month and a few weeks because it got very expensive, and I had a Hard time affording to do it multiple times a week. Furthermore it lost most of its effectiveness after some treatments, just like the physiotherapist did.
I might try a chiropractor, but as far as I have heard, its a lot like a physiotherapist or osteopath, but then again i might be wrong.
Anyways thanks for your thoughts on the matter 😃.
hypercat Alex5624
Posted
Ok I understand the financial implications but am confused why you would need to go 'multiple' times a week? Every time I have gone it is once a week or every 2 weeks? It's still expensive but I think well worth it. x