Creams/Gels

I've been using Voltarol for a couple of weeks.  I'd better read the side effects I think!

I take one co-codomol at night when necessary.

Thanks for the prompt reply. C.

I'd forgotten - I used to take co-codamol too, but was so worried about getting addicted to it that I stopped (at that point I was taking it every night), but it was useful when the osteoarthritis was keeping me awake so much so often.  I think to some extent it's a case of finding what works for you.  I found paracetamol worked just as well but I know the recommendations are that it shouldn't be prescribed to be taken daily because it's addictive and also that it stops working, but it's fine for a few days here and there.

That's interesting.  I bought a TENS for back pain and it worked incredibly well!  When I got it I'd been told by a pharmacy (I didn't buy it there) that they only work while you're wearing them, but that's not true.  I used mine as instructed for a few days and it sorted the pain out for a couple of months, until I had physio and it started again, so used the TENS again and a few days cleared it permanently.

Was your back pain from strain or some other cause?  Good to know that the TENS was so effective!!

I think the problem was linked to Ehlers Danlos syndrome and I developed scoliosis (curvature of the spine) which suddenly started to really hurt as nerves were trapped, I think.  Sitting was SO bad.  It would start not too bad in the morning but by the afternoon I'd be writhing. I tried heat and cold but they didn't work.   I was offered really strong pain killers but didn't want them so looked for an alternative myself and came across the TENS.  I bought one on a large online site and it said that the NHS used these.  It had four pads, and two went above the waist and two below, slightly further out (all this was on the instructions).  The moment I first used it the pain went, and it was SO worth having spent the money - I can still remember the relief of that first afternoon and evening when I expect such awful pain but got nothing, but I had no idea that it might be a permanent solution!  It's not seen daylight for months and months now, but there's no way I'd part with it.  I'd seen these around for years and never really thought they did anything LOL!  If you want to know which one I got, just email me privately and I'll give you the link.

Never heard of TENS.  Have just ordered one from Amazon.

Thanks for info. 

I so hope it works as well for you as it did me:-)))  Do let us know:-))))

One of the things on my results was mild scoliosis and to the left.

The painkillers do not address it anyway.

Sitting and too much walking are the killers!

Sounds like mine:-)))))  Oh the pain was SO bad.  I'd been to the doctors twice and they'd just said 'it's just arthritis' but hadn't looked at it, but they were surprised when I told them it had been diagnosed through a hospital department, more by fluke and them sending me for x-rays, than anything else.  I don't understand why no-one suggested TENS though. 

That's strange, nearly all my pain comes from lying down.

If the x-rays and ct scans show degenerative changes surely the bones must be thining?  I don't understand!

Me too. Maybe the density scans do not take into account one has small bones to begin with.

Just a thought - could the degenerative aspect be to do with discs, rather than bone?  Sorry to go back to the Ehlers Danlos thing again, but I have scoliosis (curvature of the spine sideways) but no osteoporosis in the spine, so it's the connective tissue fibres in the discs that are the problem.