Prolapsed Disc

[Joss]

Hi,

Has anyone ever suffered with a prolapsed disc in their lower back. I had lower back pain in late Nov 07 that generally got better as the day went on, however I soon developed sciatica(Very painfull) in my left leg and struggled to bend over.

Doc gave me painkillers (Cocodamol) and anti inflam (Diclofenic 1 a day slow release). Started seeing physio early this month(Twice a week), however still too painful to do too much physio.

Bit of a long winded way to ask but how long generally does a prolapsed (Slipped Disc) disc last. I dont seem to be making any head way and it's making my anxiety flare up.:wacko:

Anyone advise on solutions to resolve this problem, what if physio doesnt work!

Thanks for taking time out to read my post.

Joss

[Janieb]

Hey Joss, had to read that twice my husbands name is Joss and recently had a back problem ...wierd huh

Anyway has your physio mentioned Pilates to you? a lot of people with back problems go pilates, not to be confused with Yoga! Maybe next time you see the physio ask, I have a friend who has a cracked disc and she swears by it,.

Hope you start feeling better soon, backs are always tricky as you kind of need them it's not like an arm or something which you can stop using for a while.

Take care,
Jane

[Tom_M]

It'll settle down eventually Joss. I had the same thing and it lasted about ten weeks before I was up and about, and the pain went away. When it first happened, I went into hospital where they put me on a continuous epidural drip (pain block), which was ok until they took me off it, then the severe pain came back for awhile.

[Joss]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Physio has mentioned putting me on a pilates machine, Jane(Sounds like medievil torture).

Thanks for reassurance Tom. It really wears you down being in constant pain. Suppose I should not be so impatient.

Joss

[sarajane]

Hi Joss, I have had prolapsed disks also. The best therepy I got was doing gentle exercises in a heated swimming pool. Even when u get better, which you will, you will need to continue doing back exercises for the rest of your life. If there is a local heated pool near you give it a go. Worked for me. Good luck SJ

[JennyW]

I have a prolapsed/slipped (whatever you want to call it) :D disc in my lower back caused by excessive exercise many years ago. It was very painful when it happened and took a quite a few weeks to settle but unfortunately has never been the same since. However it’s fine and well managed with just some thought on posture, correct lifting etc. I have now found a very good physio and with the odd session just to loosen things up, bit of ultrasound, I’m fine. It’s getting over the initial injury time that’s the problem. But I agree with you, the pain in the lower back is very draining and can make you feel very miserable :weep:

Oh and yes a physio will give you gentle exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles and keep things moving. I agree with sarajane too, you will have to do them for the rest of your life. I do mine every day.

[jimlfc6]

Hi, just did a search on this as i am currently struggling with it.

went to my doctor with complaints of back pain and sciatica, after playing football on average 4 times a week.

was told it was a prolapsed disc, and that i wouldnt be able to play football for atleast 4 weeks.

i took the pain killers and anti inflams, and noticed after a few weeks the sciatica pain was easing, but was having problems with my bowels, ie diahhrea.

the bowel problems eased up on thier own and everything went back to normal, until today.

I got out of a taxi, and instantly felt my back pain in a different place, a little higher up the spine, and my sciatica has come back. All this because i got out of a taxi, anyway i noticed that i had diahhrea again after i injured my back, and am a little worried what is going on.

I see a counsellor about my health anxiety, but have had a break for a month to see how things progress without his help, which he though would be a good idea.

I dont think it has helped me not seeing him, and feel very anxious again, and cant see to stop doing regular bodily checks which makes me anxiety worse. feel like i am back to square one with both my back and health anxiety.

i went to see a private physio also about my back, who confirmed that it was one of the bottom two discs that had prolapsed, so that is two trained people who have confirmed the same thing, so i dont know why am am worried about tumours, but seem to not be able to stop it.

any help would be appreciated

Regards

James

[miss diagnosis]

Hi

I had two slipped discs in my lumbar spine when i was 17.
cos i was so young it took them nearly a year to diagnoise it.
I didnt feel any pain in my back at all just my leg and they kept telling me in a&e that id pulled a muscle.Eventually I had an MRI and I had 2 epidurals to try and disolve the discs...it was v painful and didnt work and i had surgery in the end.Unfortunatly it was left so long i now have artritis which flares up quite a bit.

Surgery isnt always necessary though and its a last resort these days.
Id recommend yoga or pilates.they really help me.Be careful with the painkillers as they are harsh on the stomach

Any questions at all PM me. id be happy to help

[DeMac]

Im with u on that one Miss - Surgery isn't always the answer as id back surgery on 3 discs which was called a triple laminectory - the discs had buldged/prolapsed/slipped - each Orthopaedic doc used a different term but it all boiled down to the same thing which is pain!

Id suggest to you Joss to try a hydrotherapy pool as well - can be very relaxing invigorating - helps ease the pain.

Wishing you well - Dee

[Jo3016]

Hi guys

I think I may have a similar thing. I have had a continuous cramp, ache (feels like muscle pain) in the left leg for about a week. It hurts from my groin, down my thigh and through my calf. Sometimes my foot and toes even ache. I feel stiff and at times tingly. When I sit, it is a lot worse near my coccyx and hip. It feels better if I walk and stretch although sometimes that can cause shooting pains.

Ibuprofen doesn't really touch it - heat makes a slight difference. My other leg aches slightly although not as much and I don't have the shooting pains there.
Does this sound like sciatica? Not sure what to do about it really!!

[DeMac]

Hi Jo - what you have described does sound very like disc problems and or sciatia - I can totally relate to the coccyx bone pain as Ive had a lot of trouble in this area. People always remind me this is a redundant peice of bone and doesn't do anything - which is wrong it does do something - HURTS!

I invested in a memory foam coccyx wedge cushion - worth their weight in gold as it does help relieve the symptoms of coccyxdemia which is what I have among many other problems. If your meds aren't helping go back and speak to your doc

Hope you feel better soon

Dee :hugs:

[kittykat]

Hi Jo,

Sorry if this is a bit long but can i relate to this post or what ! I had 2 large prolapsed discs that caused me excruiating pain, i think brought on by a) done a lot of ballet into my early 20,s and b) a job in Greggs which was really heavy going with a lot of continuos standing and lifting.It started with bad sciatica gradually going down both legs, sharp stabbing painright down into my footand also bad cramping in the back of thigh, then numbness kicked in down the back of my right thigh and side of right foot also muscle weakness in large toe and couldnt stand on my tiptoes, got really bad that i couldnt walk . The physio was actually making it worse. This by this time had been going on 3mths , eventually couldnt stand it no more as painkillers werent even touching it. Got a referral for an mri in january this year but before tht happened had to call in the doctor for a morphine injection as i couldnt function, eventually was put on gabapentin , morphine and diazepam,diclofenic etc lovely cocktail of drugs.
When i got the mri it showed 2 large disc bulges that were pressing on the spinal cord and also a severe form of arthritis, they even said i might need an urgent op ( which they ended up not doing because of arthritis).
Too cut a long story short, it does get better but because with me it was left too long it has left me with permanent numbness and weakness still cant walk or stand for long periods of time and now walk with crutches, the pain is more under control.
Now dont panic this is also because of my arthritis but what my consultant said is that sciatica isnt a stand alone condition something has to cause it usually coming from the back. It sounds like to me you neeed to get better pain relief and if it doesnt get better after 3 mths i would ask to get referred maybe even for an mri to check out the discs as i know what the pain can be like in pulling you down,and definately lay off the physio for the moment, i hope you start to get better soon but it will take a while, sorry for the long post again , you take care now xx