Slipped disc recovery and weakness

TheSylv007

TheSylv007

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www.ridewelland.co.uk
Just wondering if anyone else had any experiences with a slipped disc. Mine went at the beginning of October and resulted in excruciating pain down both legs (I couldn't walk without crutches for some time and could only stand up unaided for about 30 seconds at a time), I have to say I have never known pain like it and it was debilitating. I've been on the road to recovery since then and am so much better that I have been able to walk my horse (who is on walking rehab following a tendon injury) for 20 minutes or so without needing a sit down!

I still have some pain and standing for a while is still not very pleasant but I am almost functional and just have sciatica in one side now. The vet said to me that I could back on my mare around 7 weeks ago but I haven't able to ride as I can't cope with sudden movements (my horse is violently spooky) so I am still just walking her. What I have been left with is very weak ankles which I suspect is as a result of the pressure on the nerves which means I have a tendency to go over on them if I'm not careful. It also means that I wouldn't feel secure in the saddle as I haven't got the strength to anchor myself through keeping my heels down. I was just wondering if anyone else had had anything like this and whether it ever goes away, or if there are any exercises I can do to help with the weakness? How long did it take you to be able to get back in the saddle safely? The disc itself is healing and I'm doing my physio exercises for that but I just have this weakness.

Thanks for reading, hoping next year will be less injury prone!
 
Find your nearest Bodybalance class, is my advice, or start with Pilates if your core strength isn't up to it. BB helped my balance and weak ankles a lot, and I start to regress if I don't do it for two weeks. Swimming will strengthen the muscles in your back, too, but proper swimming, none of this head above water stuff! Walking her will help a lot. As you get fitter you can take her on 'hacks', but in hand. It's actually quite nice to do that and it'll build her confidence, too. Just make sure you have some proper, supportive boots.
 
Illusion100 said:
Have you had an MRI?
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Hi, no, the GP didn't want to go down that route straight away, they seem to be very conservative with this sort of thing and I was sent for physio. As things have been improving and the physio was happy with the progression, I haven't pushed for any other diagnostics as they both agreed that a herniated disc was what it was. Do you think I should go back to them?
 
My daughter 34, hand horrendous pain and could not walk properly. She had spinal operation for protracted disc and is now fine. Riding and carrying things. She came right almost straight away. She had pain in legs and started to walk hunched up. See if you can have MRI scan . Help you got sorted. She went to chiro but it made it worse
 
TheSylv007 said:
How long did it take you to be able to get back in the saddle safely? The disc itself is healing and I'm doing my physio exercises for that but I just have this weakness.
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I had 4 slipped discs in my lower back, diagnosed by MRI. Needed 5 months off work, and three years out of the saddle.

Can you twist from the waist when you walk your mare out, so that you can see her? I still find that the most difficult action, seven years down the line.

I didn't suffer from weak ankles, though. Would walking boots give you some support?
 
KrujaaLass said:
My daughter 34, hand horrendous pain and could not walk properly. She had spinal operation for protracted disc and is now fine. Riding and carrying things. She came right almost straight away. She had pain in legs and started to walk hunched up. See if you can have MRI scan . Help you got sorted. She went to chiro but it made it worse
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That sounds a bit like me. The doc wanted to wait and see what happened with physio I think. I've been seeing sports physios but I might go back and ask whether I'm on the right track.

Tiddlypom said:
I had 4 slipped discs in my lower back, diagnosed by MRI. Needed 5 months off work, and three years out of the saddle.

Can you twist from the waist when you walk your mare out, so that you can see her? I still find that the most difficult action, seven years down the line.

I didn't suffer from weak ankles, though. Would walking boots give you some support?
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That sounds horrific. I can twist from the waist pretty well. Bending over (double, as in picking something off the floor) is very painful though and makes my scaitica flare. Think I need to get the right boots and practice walking on tiptoes to try and strengthen up!
 
TheSylv007 said:
Hi, no, the GP didn't want to go down that route straight away, they seem to be very conservative with this sort of thing and I was sent for physio. As things have been improving and the physio was happy with the progression, I haven't pushed for any other diagnostics as they both agreed that a herniated disc was what it was. Do you think I should go back to them?
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I absolutely think you should have an MRI done. As far as I'm aware if the disc has slipped but isn't pressing on nerves then the route you are going down is fine. If the disc is pressing on the nerves that is very different! It would also assess if the disc is damaged (partially or fully ruptured). This would mean neurotoxins are leaking from the disc and causing pain and inflammation and prolongs recovery.

I say this because I suffered badly from sciatica for 8 years to the point of having bouts of temporary paralysis of both legs. Docs wouldn't investigate. I ended up requiring major spinal surgery to rectify advanced spinal canal stenosis (my spinal cord was compressed to 1/4 of its size) and a completely ruptured disc. I am left with permenant nerve damage/weakness because the condition went undiagnosed for so long. However the surgery had amazing results so it's all good! :)

I'm not trying to scare you, it's just I know the agony you must be in and wouldn't want things to get worse for the sake of having an MRI done to see what's actually going on! Otherwise they are just guessing what's wrong and guessing how to treat you! Sending painkilling vibes!
 
Illusion100 said:
I absolutely think you should have an MRI done. As far as I'm aware if the disc has slipped but isn't pressing on nerves then the route you are going down is fine. If the disc is pressing on the nerves that is very different! It would also assess if the disc is damaged (partially or fully ruptured). This would mean neurotoxins are leaking from the disc and causing pain and inflammation and prolongs recovery.

I say this because I suffered badly from sciatica for 8 years to the point of having bouts of temporary paralysis of both legs. Docs wouldn't investigate. I ended up requiring major spinal surgery to rectify advanced spinal canal stenosis (my spinal cord was compressed to 1/4 of its size) and a completely ruptured disc. I am left with permenant nerve damage/weakness because the condition went undiagnosed for so long. However the surgery had amazing results so it's all good! :)

I'm not trying to scare you, it's just I know the agony you must be in and wouldn't want things to get worse for the sake of having an MRI done to see what's actually going on! Otherwise they are just guessing what's wrong and guessing how to treat you! Sending painkilling vibes!
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Thank you so much for the advice. I think a repeat visit to the GP might be in order to get a final diagnosis. They are so reluctant to do anything so you're just left with it. Glad to hear that you had a good (if not perfect) outcome in the end.
 
I had a mild disc prolapse at L4/5 in 2010 (diagnosed by MRI that I paid for myself at a local diagnositc centre as the NHS weren't particularly interested). It rumbled on for a while and I tried to ride through it and carry on working etc (at that time, it was nowhere near as bad as what you are currently experiencing). Then I did a mini ODE in 2011 and caused the disc to properly rupture. Cue several weeks laid on the floor in agony unable to move. I am not sure what was worse, the physical pain or the depression that came with it. It clearly was never going to improve itself so when it got really bad they did a discectomy as I was at risk of cauda equina (which is basically where the disc squishes your spinal cord and you can end up with bowel paralysis). 3 months off riding after surgery and now my back has never been better although I have lost a lot of sensation in my lower left leg and foot due to nerve damage.

Like you, sudden movements would have finished me off. I remember a time when my horse just caught my shoulder gently with his head and my whole spine seemed to give way. I felt like I was made of china. My recommendations would be:
1. Get an MRI done, either on the NHS if possible or if you can self fund it, then do so - without this, you have no idea how bad a problem you are facing.
2. Make sure they have prescibed you decent painkillers - gabapentin, 30/500 dose of cocodomol, amitriptyline etc. Over the counter stuff wouldn't have touched my problem.
3. Do not do any one thing for more than 20 minutes (e.g. if you are sitting, you must stand after 20 minutes and vice versa). I got an egg timer which buzzed every 20 minutes to remind me to change what I was doing and I couldn't believe how quickly 20 minutes passes. Do not drive or sit in a car for more than 20 minutes without a break. Yes, this is massively prohibitive but if you want to avoid surgery its a must.
4. Don't practice twisting or turning unless a professional tells you to. Twisting and turning in my view is akin to waving a red flag at a bull in this scenario.
5. Get a good physio or chiro to help relieve the associated muscle spasm you will be suffering, but obviously no manipulation at this time. I invested in a decent hand held massager thing so that I could try to ease the muscles myself.
6. If you have a lot of pain in the bottom of your foot from the sciatica, place a tennis ball under it (whilst sitting down) and gentle move the ball around. I actually use a golf ball as the dog ate my tennis ball but you have to be careful with that as its quite hard.
7. I assume someone has already mentioned sleeping with a pillow between your knees to try to keep your pelvis stable?
8. Go to a podiatrist to have your gait and footwear analysed. I ended up with insoles for while to try to correct the fact that my foot turns inwards. He also told me to avoid high heels (obviously) but also to avoid flat shoes as they don't give sufficient support. A small half inch heel is apparently best.
9. Back supports - some people love them, some people hate them. I personally think mine is great and I ride in it whenever I feel a bit fragile.
10. Keep your back warm. I always have a vest tucked into my jodhs under whatever else I am wearing. It may not be sexy, but if the cold gets into my back then the position I get stuck in is far less sexy!

Take it easy. Patience is key but gosh it is hard not to push yourself. As soon as you have recovered from this occurrence make sure you get to a decent pilates class to strengthen everything up. I did one on one sessions with a lady who specialises in people with my type of injusry before I felt able to join a "normal" class.
 
Gosh it sounds like I got it easy compared to you guys.

I was diagnosed with sciatica 2 years ago and just given stronger and stronger painkillers. Finally got a referral to a physio who said it wasn't sciatica but a slipped disc, which had exacerbated a sacroiliac joint problem. The joint had effectively locked up. I had shooting pain down my left leg plus a constant 'buzzy' feeling under my foot.

I had physio for the slipped disc and have now been discharged as the physio thought the disc had almost completely stopped bulging. However, my SI joint is still absolutely agony and I don't know what to do about it. Pain wakes me up every night and painkillers do nothing.

I think I've learnt not to put up with it any more though and think the best thing is to just keep pushing your GP for referrals until it is properly diagnosed and a decent course of treatment put in to place.

Really feel for you guys who've had it bad.

ETA: the one and only thing that has made any difference to my pain levels is taking up Pilates and strengthening my core muscles and generally improving my posture.
 
southerncomfort said:
Gosh it sounds like I got it easy compared to you guys.

I was diagnosed with sciatica 2 years ago and just given stronger and stronger painkillers. Finally got a referral to a physio who said it wasn't sciatica but a slipped disc, which had exacerbated a sacroiliac joint problem. The joint had effectively locked up. I had shooting pain down my left leg plus a constant 'buzzy' feeling under my foot.

I had physio for the slipped disc and have now been discharged as the physio thought the disc had almost completely stopped bulging. However, my SI joint is still absolutely agony and I don't know what to do about it. Pain wakes me up every night and painkillers do nothing.

I think I've learnt not to put up with it any more though and think the best thing is to just keep pushing your GP for referrals until it is properly diagnosed and a decent course of treatment put in to place.

Really feel for you guys who've had it bad.

ETA: the one and only thing that has made any difference to my pain levels is taking up Pilates and strengthening my core muscles and generally improving my posture.
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I have an SI joint injury I was in agony to sit down, had 6 sessions with physio been given a belt to wear it is better but still in pain near my cococcyx I'm giving it until christmas then I'm going back has any one else had this condition ?
 
I slipped disc about 7 years ago, have sciatica but have had nerve blocks into my spine which have all but cured the sciatica issues (whilst it lasts). I have found using an inverter amazing when it's really bad, these are pieces of kit that allow you to hang by your ankles thus stretching your spine and allowing disc and vertebrae space. I still have days where I get some loss of strength, example if I step off a curb or go in a rut in the field, it still scares me when you legs go out from under you. I'm under a private consultant and can echo what the others have said, MRI is vital for diagnosis, mine also used the MRI to place the nerve block, hit the nerve straight off, it hurt like hell at the time but took the nerve pain away.

This is the inverter:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_4i4y2fzxg2_b
 
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I agree with others regarding Pilates, my back went in 2012, like you OP couldn't sit, stand or do anything, NHS no help whatsoever apart from pain relief...Pilates for core strength has been a massive help, you also have to be careful what you do from now on, I find regular gentle excersise helps, I will not bend my back while lifting and if people want bags carried out at work I will refuse to load into the back seat of a 3 door car, bending and twisting is a big no-no! Hope you feel better soon.
 
Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply, you've all given me much to think about and it's so nice to hear from people who understand! I think it's definitely a good idea to go back to the GP or look into getting an MRI done privately. Fun Times, thank you so much for all your advice, very much appreciated.
 
Really feel MRI is a very good choice.

In my case the NHS would not investigate. My parents live in Spain, so I flew out and had x-rays done. They indicated a spinal issue. At next NHS appointment, I took them but the consultant wouldn't look at them and told me to stay away from 'Spanish Doctors'. Got sent to 'top' spinal consultant and he said my symptoms didn't make any sense and referred me to Psycharitrist (sp!) even though they kept prescribing a cocktail of drugs that would knock down a donkey but didn't do much for the pain.

By this stage the pain made my life unbearable and every time I collapsed and couldn't use/feel my legs was terrifying. I flew back out to Spain and had an MRI done. A lady in broken English asked why my doctor hadn't told me. We had the scan read 5 mins later and was told nothing was wrong apart from a ruptured disc that wasn't pressing on any nerves.

We then had the scan read by a spinal surgeon. He was very concerned and wanted to perform surgery ASAP. Within the month I flew to Germany and had a major op. The improvement it made to my quality of life is indescribable. I have pre and post op pics of my spinal cord (when they opened me up and removed damaged tissue and part of the vertebrae) Pre op looks awful, post op normal. They had drilled away all of the bone crushing my spinal cord and the crippling pain was gone.

A few weeks after I got home my appointment with the shrink happened. I took the surgical paperwork. She was mortified.

So if I was you I would get the MRI either way and get at least one other independent opinion on it. Keep us updated and wish you the very best in getting the scan ASAP.
 
Illusion100 said:
Really feel MRI is a very good choice.

In my case the NHS would not investigate. My parents live in Spain, so I flew out and had x-rays done. They indicated a spinal issue. At next NHS appointment, I took them but the consultant wouldn't look at them and told me to stay away from 'Spanish Doctors'. Got sent to 'top' spinal consultant and he said my symptoms didn't make any sense and referred me to Psycharitrist (sp!) even though they kept prescribing a cocktail of drugs that would knock down a donkey but didn't do much for the pain.

By this stage the pain made my life unbearable and every time I collapsed and couldn't use/feel my legs was terrifying. I flew back out to Spain and had an MRI done. A lady in broken English asked why my doctor hadn't told me. We had the scan read 5 mins later and was told nothing was wrong apart from a ruptured disc that wasn't pressing on any nerves.

We then had the scan read by a spinal surgeon. He was very concerned and wanted to perform surgery ASAP. Within the month I flew to Germany and had a major op. The improvement it made to my quality of life is indescribable. I have pre and post op pics of my spinal cord (when they opened me up and removed damaged tissue and part of the vertebrae) Pre op looks awful, post op normal. They had drilled away all of the bone crushing my spinal cord and the crippling pain was gone.

A few weeks after I got home my appointment with the shrink happened. I took the surgical paperwork. She was mortified.

So if I was you I would get the MRI either way and get at least one other independent opinion on it. Keep us updated and wish you the very best in getting the scan ASAP.
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Wow, sounds like you had an absolute nightmare. There is definitely an attitude of 'wait and see if it gets better or worse' with the doctors. They always suggest physio and aren't too bothered about finding out exactly what the problem is. I'll look into getting one done privately. Any suggestions of who to go to? Had a quick look on line last night and BUPA came up but of course mentioned no prices!
 
This thread's great - I've had back/hip problems since I was 16 which I hve put down to sciatica but I suspect a bulging disc or something. I can be walking along normally and then BAM, a steak knife gets plunged into my pelvis. Sometimes it'll just stop me walking a few steps, but other times it hangs around for days. I also get buzzing tingling feelings in my left shoulder now and it's started travelling up my neck and giving me headaches sometimes if I have overworked :( NHS just advised to take painkillers which i didn't want to do in case I ended up overdoing it without realising so I've plugged away with it for 12yrs and it finally got so painful I took the painkillers...and was shocked at what a different person I was! I moved freely and just felt better in myself and not 'dragged down' with lead weights.

Thing is though, 12yrs on and it's getting worse not better but the NHS still just say 'oh bad back, nothing we can do'. I need one of these scans!
 
DanceswithCows said:
This thread's great - I've had back/hip problems since I was 16 which I hve put down to sciatica but I suspect a bulging disc or something. I can be walking along normally and then BAM, a steak knife gets plunged into my pelvis. Sometimes it'll just stop me walking a few steps, but other times it hangs around for days. I also get buzzing tingling feelings in my left shoulder now and it's started travelling up my neck and giving me headaches sometimes if I have overworked :( NHS just advised to take painkillers which i didn't want to do in case I ended up overdoing it without realising so I've plugged away with it for 12yrs and it finally got so painful I took the painkillers...and was shocked at what a different person I was! I moved freely and just felt better in myself and not 'dragged down' with lead weights.

Thing is though, 12yrs on and it's getting worse not better but the NHS still just say 'oh bad back, nothing we can do'. I need one of these scans!
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I can totally sympathise with the steak knife feeling, its like being stabbed and then someone twisting the knife. There doesn't seem much impetus from the NHS to do much other than give you drugs (which don't work with nerve pain I find). Have you had any physio at all?
 
DanceswithCows said:
I haven't....have been referred there but I dunno, I just can't see how being prodded is going to make this better? :S IS it any good?
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I have found physio to be helpful, they gave me exercises to relieve the pain when it hits and things to do to try and get things back to where they should be. I would definitely give it a go.
 
I did mine in April 2011 whilst I was working as a fitness and poledance instructor. Went straight to chiro as had no faith in doctors for back injuries. Chiro diagnosed prolapsed disc at L4/L5. I was in agony, never felt anything like it. I had to keep on teaching but could barely move. I think keeping in my feet (and hanging off poles!) helped me although now I look back it took 18months for the pain to reduce to levels where I didn't want to cry daily and 3 years from injury to feel almost normal. I rode from the outset, I had only just rebacked my 4yr old and he was a hot spooky ride which was really tough. But I figured riding wasn't making my daily pain levels worse and in fact when he was behaving it felt a bit better so I persisted.

When I did go to GP the moron said he thought I might have pulled a muscle but sent me to Physio anyway who confirmed chiro assessment of slipped disc. Physio didn't make any progress and told me to wait it out and if after 18months from injury it hadn't calmed down I should get surgery. They said no point in MRI as the visible picture bares no relation to pain levels, some people scan with massive bulge and minimal pain, others in agony have minimal bulge.

So basically for me I made no real changes, I taught pole every day even if I had to talk people through it, I rode every day and I walked every day. 2 years after injury I was able to run for the first time and did a mini triathlon, this year (3yrs) I did a triathlon and 10k race, am weight training on heavy Olympic lifts and it's really just my flexibility that's shocking. I do wonder if I'd rested if I'd have recovered faster but at the time it seemed the right thing to do. Looking back now I can't believe how incredible the pain was. Sitting was the worst for me, just 30mins in a chair had me in tears...and I'm pretty tough!
 
KatPT said:
I did mine in April 2011 whilst I was working as a fitness and poledance instructor. Went straight to chiro as had no faith in doctors for back injuries. Chiro diagnosed prolapsed disc at L4/L5. I was in agony, never felt anything like it. I had to keep on teaching but could barely move. I think keeping in my feet (and hanging off poles!) helped me although now I look back it took 18months for the pain to reduce to levels where I didn't want to cry daily and 3 years from injury to feel almost normal. I rode from the outset, I had only just rebacked my 4yr old and he was a hot spooky ride which was really tough. But I figured riding wasn't making my daily pain levels worse and in fact when he was behaving it felt a bit better so I persisted.

When I did go to GP the moron said he thought I might have pulled a muscle but sent me to Physio anyway who confirmed chiro assessment of slipped disc. Physio didn't make any progress and told me to wait it out and if after 18months from injury it hadn't calmed down I should get surgery. They said no point in MRI as the visible picture bares no relation to pain levels, some people scan with massive bulge and minimal pain, others in agony have minimal bulge.

So basically for me I made no real changes, I taught pole every day even if I had to talk people through it, I rode every day and I walked every day. 2 years after injury I was able to run for the first time and did a mini triathlon, this year (3yrs) I did a triathlon and 10k race, am weight training on heavy Olympic lifts and it's really just my flexibility that's shocking. I do wonder if I'd rested if I'd have recovered faster but at the time it seemed the right thing to do. Looking back now I can't believe how incredible the pain was. Sitting was the worst for me, just 30mins in a chair had me in tears...and I'm pretty tough!
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Crikey that sounds horrendous - and 18 months of it! I thinking hanging upside down is helpful, one of my physios lent me his inversion machine which relieved the pain whenever it started biting. There were a couple of occasions where I would be found hanging upside down at 4am like some sort of bat!
 
TheSylv007 said:
Crikey that sounds horrendous - and 18 months of it! I thinking hanging upside down is helpful, one of my physios lent me his inversion machine which relieved the pain whenever it started biting. There were a couple of occasions where I would be found hanging upside down at 4am like some sort of bat!
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Definitely! People kept telling me to rest not understanding that the only time I got any kind of relief was when I was dangling off things!

I should also warn of the dangers of painkillers, I was taking 8 x 200mg ibuprofen tablets a day to get me through the day and it gave me the early signs of stomach ulcers which were very painful. So do take care!
 
Abby-Lou said:
I have an SI joint injury I was in agony to sit down, had 6 sessions with physio been given a belt to wear it is better but still in pain near my cococcyx I'm giving it until christmas then I'm going back has any one else had this condition ?
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Yes! I told the physio that I could feel my coccyx move after my SI joint was seized and he said that's normal! I actually feel it 'pop' from one position to another and can't sit on certain saddles. I bought a brand new wintec earlier this year and it's barely used, as I get coccyx pain if I ride in it for more than 20 min. How much is an MRI privately? Tempted to get one myself!!
 
I have no one to recommend in this country! Believe it or not it was much cheaper to fly to Spain, have appointment and MRI scan than it would be in UK. During appointment the hospital was called to book MRI and 4 hours later scan was done. No waiting for weeks/months!

http://atos-muenchen.de/en/our-clinic/ This is where I had my surgery.

If you wish to consider flying out to Spain for MRI, PM me and my family and I will do our best to help you out with anything.

P.s I found that heat pads were a godsend for pain relief!
 
I had a bulging disc last year and sciatica down one leg, never had pain like it before, was like hot knives in my leg. I also had trouble with my ankle and kept going over on it, something to do with the nerve. I actually found tha riding didn't hurt, presume because my leg was hanging so taking a bit of pressure off. I had 3 weeks off work and was limping around for a good couple of months. It gradually got better but it does 'twinge' when I catch it sometimes so I am very careful now.
 
Gosh it's good to see that if your horse is ill HHO recommends you get a vet... if a human is unwell then the doctor's and physios opinion shd be ignored. the natural history of disc disease is 2 years and often surgery makes thinhgs worse - i wouldn't rush into the MRI/surgery route... unless recommended by a physician
 
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