Bad back :(

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splashjack

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Does anyone else on here suffer with a severe bad back and sciatica.?

I put my back out two years ago and it just seems to get worse and worse. Then in September last year I started to suffer with chronic sciatica. My doctor prescribed naproxen, diazepam, dyhydrocodeine and paracetamol. I have been practically living on tablets since then, I feel like a walking chemist,!!
I have seen a physio and have been using heat packs but would take any other ideas on board as its now affecting my horsey time
I have been struggling to muck out, I can ride, gettin on is a prob but once aboard I ok although if I don't concentrate I find my self dropping my left hip to compensate for the pain in my right lower back and leg.
It's so frustrating as I am so used to bein really mobile.

Ideas pretty please :) .x
 
A physio taught my husband to manage his back pain using The Mackenzie Method of back excercises. He now has very little pain, copes with all his work as a farmer and he is also missing half a disc from a previous operation.

See if you can get hold of the book "Treat your own back" by Robin Mackenzie. This shows you the exercises and teaches you how to manage the pain.

Without this book and the Method I am convinced my husband would have been crippled for the last 15 years.

I hope this helps.
 
Helen75 you have my sympathy hun
I have never tried a proper back support, but do find riding in my body protector helps?
It wasn't so bad till the sciatica started, I have never felt pain like it was crippled for a week, boy was I grumpy ha ha!
I hate being immobile lol.

I am only 33 and feel like a flipping cripple lol ;)
Hoping people have some good ideas :)
 
I too feel for you, mine started when pregnant years ago, when its real bad I can hardly crawl up stairs on hands and knees. Have given up riding, so drive instead, and to top it all my job description will change in 6. Months when I won't be able to do my job from my seat, as my counter is moving to another part of the store where staff are expected to stand whole shift..!!! Going to be interesting in the least.
Swimming helped ease it, I found a private health club that did physio too.
 
Hi,

I don't know if you are in a similar situation but I have terrible lower back pain and sciatica and Osteos etc have done nothing, so I have been doing a bit of research.....

My own situation is that my movement is limited, if I try to raise my knees, like I am marching, they barely come to my waist, whereas 'normal' movement should be much higher.

I have an office sitting job and try up to 3 hours a day communting.

So I have found that my hip flexors are tight and to cut this a bit short, have found that working with kettlebells to be the answer.

If you can relate to any of this, here is some more info - http://www.performbetter.com/webapp...51&catalogId=10751&languageId=-1&pagename=258

Hope this might help someone as it has helped me
 
Aww brilliant Helen75 thanks for the link I I'll definitely get this book. Hope it can help would be great to walk and stand normally again lol.

Romany when my sciatica first hit I to was reduced to crawling its awful isn't it :(
Whenever I sat down it felt like someone was stabbing up my leg through to my butt with a hot poker!
I tried swimming it did help a bit. :)
My job is very demanding on my back aswell can sometimes involve heavy lifting and I am up on my feet most of days so that doesn't help.

Hope your change of job doesn't make yours worse hun. Standing can be a nightmare on the back!
I hate feeling like I can't do my horse have always done my own since I was 9,
Doctor wanted me to rest a month. As if lol x x
 
nedzy said:
Hi,

I don't know if you are in a similar situation but I have terrible lower back pain and sciatica and Osteos etc have done nothing, so I have been doing a bit of research.....

My own situation is that my movement is limited, if I try to raise my knees, like I am marching, they barely come to my waist, whereas 'normal' movement should be much higher.

I have an office sitting job and try up to 3 hours a day communting.

So I have found that my hip flexors are tight and to cut this a bit short, have found that working with kettlebells to be the answer.

If you can relate to any of this, here is some more info - http://www.performbetter.com/webapp...51&catalogId=10751&languageId=-1&pagename=258

Hope this might help someone as it has helped me
Click to expand...

Really interesting. My hip flexors are super tight......
 
Thanks Nedzy I am willing to try anything. I have noticed my movement is restricted can no longer mount my 15.3 cob from the ground as can't get my leg high enough I even struggle to get on the mounting block. Have also randomly noticed I have restricted movement in my neck when turning to the left.
I prob don't help my self a I am determined to carry on as normal not to let it get me down. Can only manage this with painkillers though :(
 
What treatment did your physio do?

I've dislocated my facet joints a couple of times over the last year from falling off.

After twisting me back into position physio treated it with some metal plate elctra thing (sorry have no idea what the correct name is) and ultrasound which helped enormously.

I have been left with a weakness though and really need to do some exercises to strengthen.
 
My physio did manipulation and said I had a protruding disc in my lower back. He also did some acupuncture and somethin involving warm towels but can't remember what he called it.

That's interestin info Nedzy thank:)
 
Fellow sufferer here. Never felt pain like my very first attack of sciatica. I too felt like I was being stabbed inside my leg. I spent 10 days lying flat on my front on the floor all day. Took me half an hour to get in position, all the while sobbing with the pain, but I did get some relief once down there. I found nothing helped other than prescription strength painkillers, which enabled me to get moving again, which in turn helped in itself. Chiro and osteo did nothing for me. Whilst I don't practice what I preach, I've heard that cold is better than heat - reduces the inflammation. Also, get a tennis ball and sit on it, with it in the fleshy part of your bum cheek, effectively using it to massage deep into the muscle.
 
I've had back pain, sciatica, and hip and knee pain for years. I could hardly walk 2 steps a few years ago. I've got arthritis, fybromyalgia and osteoporosis, then, just to make it worse I came off on the road a couple of months ago and I think I've broken my coccyx.
I ride a fiesty 13.2 pony, and I can't get on without a mounting block, and because I'm so weak and unbalanced I come off regularly!
BUT - I'm riding!!!! :D When I couldn't walk, what really bothered me was that I may not ride again. I just eat some painkillers, and sometimes cry a bit, but when I'm up there I have a huge grin on my face. Wish he was quieter though! :eek:
 
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regular chiro and sports massage have helped me , i started off going to chiro twice a week but now only have to go every 6 weeks then have sports massage in between
chiro also said cold better than heat
i hope you find what works for you
 
I have turned the corner with my back problems since I religiously wear my sportac lower back support for anything physical I have to do. I never thought it would make this much difference. I used to be so bad I couldn't put my socks on ar even walk some days.

OP why has your doc prescribed diazepam? I thought that was for anxiety and it's very addictive.
 
Pilates helps loads - hubby and I both do it and we can really tell when we've had a few weeks off. For me the twinges start again and hubby usually ends up putting his back out!
 
Whoatherejig you have my completely respect :)

PoppyAnderson my physio told me to try the tennis ball, I put it where the pain is and lean on a wall to move it around. It has actually had me in tears at times and before this I considered my self quite hardy lol

Having just read some of the link from Nedzy I found it very interesting. Especially the point the guy makes about doin everything one sided, if we kneel we use the same knee, we put the same leg into our trousers first. I am goin to alternate these things now as well as other things he suggests.

Certainly worth a try. X
 
Wagtail the diazepam was to help relax the muscles which he said had gone into spasm and were pressing on my sciatic nerve . I took them for two weeks solid but I only take them when it's terribly bad now usually weekends after I have ridden and done more at the yard.
I mainly quick with the paracetamol, dyhydrocodeine and naproxen now lol. I hate takin medication hence lookin for other ideas lol :)
I am goin to look into gettin a good back support. Hopefully if that helps my back the sciatica will ease to x
 
Suffered sciatica for years, doc just dishing out pills. I was recommended Bowen treatment by a friend and it is fantastic. Just had a bad attack and was straight off to see my practitioner. Sorted.
It was the first attack I've had in 2 years, I used to get 4 or 5 a year.
Can't recommend highly enough.
 
From my experiences it is essential to find out the cause of your pain. Go to your gp and request an MRI and CT. There are also other families of drugs available for nerve pain (gabapentin,lyrica ect) and antiinflamatories (diclofenic) which can be tried if appropriate.
There is no point in pursueing "natural" therapies, quack chiros and physio exercises which could be making the problems worse with devastating consequences.
Your doctor has suggested a months rest, why is this impossible if you value your health and welfare?
For example, a nurse I knew had terrible back pain, sciatica numbness in one leg ect, she carried on working in agony for weeks before being rushed to hospital when she was found collapsed result - permanent paralysis below T5 due to bleeding within the spinal column from a ruptured disk, and now bedbound and unable to move from the mid chest down.


I struggled with back pain for years, I'm only 36 but I felt like a ninety yo. It would come and go and I would get on with it. During a particularly bad time I went to a chiro who made it worse, got physio for 3 months (got better then worse), went swimming, cycling, horseriding as gp thought I needed to keep it moving- all in agony only made bearable with huge doses of combination drugs.
I kept thinking it will get better, I cant rest I have a horse to look after, a job, a house to keep. I started walking with a limp, lost all sensation in my left foot while my left calf felt like it was a cramp all the time. Pain in buttock so bad I couldn't sit but standing was worse. Cried dipping the clutch in the car. Sat with alternating hot and cold compresses tucked into my knickers. I visited an oesteo who wanted to put me in a decompression machine to open up the joint spaces???

I couldn't afford this and finally my Physio sent me for an MRI. While getting the mri I was immediately admitted for emergency surgery for a ruptured disk which was completely compressing the spinal cord. Consultant said I was lucky to avoid being left incontinent or paralysed. 6 months post op I'm now pain free and feel great.

Moral- don't mess with your back. People always think it cant be that serious, it wont happen to me, its only muscular ect. But it could be you, it could be serious and you owe it to yourself to try and find the reason why it hurts.
Folk might think these are extreme cases I'm highlighting but I work in the NHS and see this everyday. Young fit people who ignored a problem as they were too busy, and they end up losing everything in dreadful circumstances
Rest is essential to allow the body to heal, you would rest your horse if they needed it so why not your back?

Please please get a diagnosis and take it from there, go private if you have to.
 
Ribbons have never heard of Bowen treatment? What does it involve?

Angel 7 thanks for your advice if it gets no better within the next month I will request it is looked into further and treated differently.

Unfortunately a months complete rest although needed is impossible for me, my partner is epileptic so I care for him, he is unable to work so I am the main bread winner and work full time to pay my expensive mortgage (when we took the mortgage on my partner was healthy and working).
I also have two horses who need lookin after. Sometimes sadly it's impossible to put ones self first.

My life is a hectic one lol x
 
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