ADVERTISEMENT

OT back pain follow up - surgery

start sleeping on the floor.. it will change your life.. I won't ever go back to a traditional style mattress
 
  • Like
Reactions: HuskerHusaria
So apparently I'm of the age where intermittent back pain has gone to constant nagging and occasionally debilitating. I'm not really surprised with motorcycle accident, construction background and general youthful stupidity/sports. Now we're looking at epidural injections. I'm curious about others experience. Apologies if this has come up before.
I've had two of them. It's not painless. I have the same lifestyle and job , it's all accumulative . Been through rehabs, alternative therapies, etc. Best thing I found is to recognize the issue and plan /live accordingly. Stretch all day . Keep weight off and core like steel. Aleve is my buddy.
 
So apparently I'm of the age where intermittent back pain has gone to constant nagging and occasionally debilitating. I'm not really surprised with motorcycle accident, construction background and general youthful stupidity/sports. Now we're looking at epidural injections. I'm curious about others experience. Apologies if this has come up before.
This may be very unique to what you are experiencing. However, I wanted to share an instance where I advocated for myself and ended up making the right choice. I began having back pain in the mornings that made it difficult to walk with proper gait. It wore off by the afternoon and was back again the next morning. Went to the doctor, who told me that I was a 35 year old youngster with a sore back and maybe a pulled muscle. I told him I thought something was really wrong, and he said that he would order me a CT and bloodwork to ease my mind. But he made me feel like a hypochondriac to have been so insistent. Turned out I had undiscovered and very severe Crohn's disease. It was scary and all that, and it still gets out of control from time to time, but I am so glad that I insisted on further care when the doctor was being dismissive.
 
Everyone is different and there might be some fixable and specific, identifiable reasons for your back pain.

However, before surgery shots or chiropractic I personally would try the following.

Dont eat sugar for at least 2 months. Like, zero unnecessary sugar. No bread, pasta, rice, or regular potatoes. Sweet potatoes are fine. Avoid a lot of sugary fruit. Eat Lots of eggs, meat, veggies. Broccoli, peppers, spinach, etc. eat eat eat all you want but avoid heavy carbs and all sugar. No processed foods only real foods. Nuts. Beans. Butter all good.

Then sometime during that, do a 3 day fast. At least three days, if you can go 12 hours over 3, even better. During this fast you cannot put any food in your mouth. Not even a raisin, it will ruin the fast. No nibbles of anything. You should drink lots and lots of water, salt water from time to time to get plenty of salt. You can do a hydration drink but check online first, it must be fast friendly and sugar free. If it isnt, like liquid iv, you may as well not even be fasting. Best to try water and plenty of salt.

Sounds terrible but honestly the first 12 hours are the worst. After that, it isnt that hard. Your hunger goes away. Look up what to eat coming out of the fast. Basically after three days of fasting your cells start to regenerate. Every hour past three days is good so go as long as you can.
 
Everyone is different and there might be some fixable and specific, identifiable reasons for your back pain.

However, before surgery shots or chiropractic I personally would try the following.

Dont eat sugar for at least 2 months. Like, zero unnecessary sugar. No bread, pasta, rice, or regular potatoes. Sweet potatoes are fine. Avoid a lot of sugary fruit. Eat Lots of eggs, meat, veggies. Broccoli, peppers, spinach, etc. eat eat eat all you want but avoid heavy carbs and all sugar. No processed foods only real foods. Nuts. Beans. Butter all good.

Then sometime during that, do a 3 day fast. At least three days, if you can go 12 hours over 3, even better. During this fast you cannot put any food in your mouth. Not even a raisin, it will ruin the fast. No nibbles of anything. You should drink lots and lots of water, salt water from time to time to get plenty of salt. You can do a hydration drink but check online first, it must be fast friendly and sugar free. If it isnt, like liquid iv, you may as well not even be fasting. Best to try water and plenty of salt.

Sounds terrible but honestly the first 12 hours are the worst. After that, it isnt that hard. Your hunger goes away. Look up what to eat coming out of the fast. Basically after three days of fasting your cells start to regenerate. Every hour past three days is good so go as long as you can.
Fasting is good for many reasons. Not the least of which is to prove to yourself that you are fully capable of self control. I've gone as much as four days. Brain fog goes away, aches and pains subside, etc. Even better if you can do this while on keto. Quite honestly, once you reach the three or four day mark, you almost have to convince yourself to eat again just because. Not because you're hungry but because you generally realize that you will need to resume eating again at some point.
 
So I've done chiropractic for years, I work out, I weight 220, so a bit heavy. I tried an injection and he wouldn't give me a 2nd, said he nailed the spot. Surgery consult, so now I'm getting a discectomy middle of April. I'm worried but the sciatica is fvcking wearing me down. Surgeon says it'll be completely resolved. Anybody take this path?
 
So I've done chiropractic for years, I work out, I weight 220, so a bit heavy. I tried an injection and he wouldn't give me a 2nd, said he nailed the spot. Surgery consult, so now I'm getting a discectomy middle of April. I'm worried but the sciatica is fvcking wearing me down. Surgeon says it'll be completely resolved. Anybody take this path?

I haven’t done it yet but I’ve had multiple friends do it and they all got immediate relief. Delaying it can cause permanent nerve damage. Have a friend who delayed it too long and now he’s using a cane and has profound weakness in his legs. Too late.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vanhusker
So I've done chiropractic for years, I work out, I weight 220, so a bit heavy. I tried an injection and he wouldn't give me a 2nd, said he nailed the spot. Surgery consult, so now I'm getting a discectomy middle of April. I'm worried but the sciatica is fvcking wearing me down. Surgeon says it'll be completely resolved. Anybody take this path?
Microdiscectomy cured me 95%. Instant sciatica relief. Take it easy for a whilr to let your muscles heal in there but this surgery was a game changer for me. I get a flare up once in a while if I overdue the bending or running/walking, but for the most part its gone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vanhusker
No truer words have ever been spoken, at least when it comes to back pain. I know way more than I wish I did about this topic. Having dealt with 3 family members who've been through various degrees of it. There is not a single suggestion here that will be a one size fits all answer.

Have one family member who uses ongoing monthly chiropractor/massage/injections/etc successfully to essentially maintain and live with it fairly comfortably

Have another family member who actually had their chiropractor herniate a disk during one of their monthly maintenance sessions. That required surgery. Then a completely different physical therapist during recovery from the first surgery re-herniated it requiring a second surgery. This person had 3 epidural injections prior to surgery with zero improvement. Pretty sure the insurance companies require this before surgery.

Have another family member who was lined up to get injections prior to what everyone thought would undoubtedly inevitably be surgery, and the first injection worked and they've had almost zero problems since.

Total crap shoot. And everyone's mileage will vary.

I will say this, if you end up needing surgery, there are huge differences in procedures. Minimally invasive is the only way to go. And some doctors call their procedure "minimally invasive" but there are still varying degrees of how invasive all of that is.

Good luck...wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

No truer words have ever been spoken, at least when it comes to back pain. I know way more than I wish I did about this topic. Having dealt with 3 family members who've been through various degrees of it. There is not a single suggestion here that will be a one size fits all answer.

Have one family member who uses ongoing monthly chiropractor/massage/injections/etc successfully to essentially maintain and live with it fairly comfortably

Have another family member who actually had their chiropractor herniate a disk during one of their monthly maintenance sessions. That required surgery. Then a completely different physical therapist during recovery from the first surgery re-herniated it requiring a second surgery. This person had 3 epidural injections prior to surgery with zero improvement. Pretty sure the insurance companies require this before surgery.

Have another family member who was lined up to get injections prior to what everyone thought would undoubtedly inevitably be surgery, and the first injection worked and they've had almost zero problems since.

Total crap shoot. And everyone's mileage will vary.

I will say this, if you end up needing surgery, there are huge differences in procedures. Minimally invasive is the only way to go. And some doctors call their procedure "minimally invasive" but there are still varying degrees of how invasive all of that is.

Good luck...wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Sorry this is a late reply but thought a response is warranted for the record
(for over 20 years -it is well established in LEGAL medical malpractice cases(every medical expert including spinal neurosurgeons and chiropractic experts have testified ) that a spinal manipulation CANNOT cause a herniation of lumbar vertebra disks specifically with diversified which the majority of chiropractors use- sorry about your family member though .

This is why Chiropractors have lowest malpractice premiums in the malpractice insurance world - i work in this field
 
I had a ruptured disc in my lumbar spine about 15 years ago. Debilitating pain, could not walk, bedridden, lost lots of weight, etc.
Insurance made me go the injection route. Probably 5 or 6 times and zero relief. Eventually they allowed surgery. Had the extrusion removed and instantly felt 95% better. Still have back pain and have to be very cautious with too much exertion, no more running, etc. but not sure there are other options. When the pain comes back, I have some stretching routines and also sleep on the floor. Can take days for things to recover but it is at least bearable. Wish there were some other ways to allow running again, but if I do run, I'm in terrible pain for days.
 
Last edited:
I had a ruptured disc in my lumbar spine about 15 years ago. Debilitating pain, could not walk, bedridden, lost lots of weight, etc.
Insurance made me go the injection route. Probably 5 or 6 times and zero relief. Eventually they allowed surgery. Had the extrusion removed and instantly felt 95% better. Still have back pain and have to be very cautious with too much exertion, no more running, etc. but not sure there are other options. When the pain comes back, I have some stretching routines and also sleep on the floor. Can take days for things to recover but it is at least bearable. Wish there were some other ways to allow running again, but if I do run, I'm in terrible pain for days.
This last flare-up was so bad, I'll spare you the details but it's hard to use the toilet when you can't bend at the waist
 
  • Like
Reactions: otismotis08
Buying the old people picker up grabber thingy, to pick up shit you dropped on the floor (Fail) Then buying more to have them all around the house, so you don't have to hunt it down every time (Bigger Fail) Saying F@#$ it and buying one for work, cause you can't take the pain any more (Biggest Fail :(
 
Get the surgery. I had Herniated disc at 42. Waited to long to have surgery because I listened to those who said don’t let a surgeon touch your back. Four months of physical therapy, chiropractor and injections did not help. Laparoscopic surgery repaired the issue, but by the time I had surgery, permanent damage was already done to my sciatic nerve. I have permanent weakness and numbness in my left foot and ankle, paralyzed pinky toe, periodic cramping in others toes and often feel like I am walking on a crinkled up sock. Not so bad that it is debilitating, but it does get irritating. Good that you are having the surgery if still an issue.
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT