Best wishes, s.s. I’ve heard lots of great things about microdisectomies !
Congratulations! No, wait…
Let’s hope it’s successful and you can get on with life pain-free. What’s your down time going to be?
Erm, computer just crashed so I lost my post. Booooo. I will see if I can remember most of it.
Um, for one thing I read your blog entry and they had you running?! With a back injury for PT? That’s crazy talk. Running is high impact and I was told absolutely NOT from my PT. They had me do a reclining bike instead. Also, PT takes time to work. A month (especially with running?!) is a Very Short amount of time. I know you have college and work and need to be functioning (and you don’t need to be in pain even if you didn’t have something immediate to go do).
You may want to get another opinion from say this guy (I don’t know them, I never went there, but read post #8 on the Osteitis Pubis thread) Dr. Friedlis at https://www.treatingpain.com. Apparently Dr. Friedlis is an equestrian himself and has helped many world-class equestrians with back/spine/pelvis problems. From my experience many, many spine docs jump straight to injections and surgery because that was the old-fashioned way to do things but it is not always necessary anymore. Of course there are sometimes it IS and I am not one to say live in pain just to avoid surgery! Just that I would get a 2nd opinion. You would get a 2nd opinion if your horse was having surgery after all! 
Anyway, I don’t want to come across as a “Majukul happy thoughts, pretty krystals, and the right NATCHURAL herbs will cure Anything!” sort of person. But I’ve had a LOT of pain problems and doctors and such and something about what they are recommending to you is pinging me wrong so I thought I should speak up. Obviously it is your body and you are the one talking to these doctors and such (nor am I a doctor of any kind!) and I wish you the best of luck!
Well… I had the surgery yesterday morning. I guess it went well, but I had to stay overnight at the hospital because the pain wasn’t very manageable at first and there’s no way to get into my parents’ house without stairs. I had a pain pump for most of the afternoon. The good news is that I get to go home today, just not sure how that’s going to work as it’s still very uncomfortable to move. We’ll see.
Oh, you poor thing. So sorry. But, at least the bad parts are out, very
kewl! I’d be thrilled about that. Once you get past this, you’ll be great. Be sure you get lots of good meds to go home with. After you are home, If they aren’t working be sure to call them. Maybe some Benefiber in your drinks at home, too, as the pain meds can make for an immobile gut. What kind of pain & where, btw, sharp, radiating, pressure, etc?
Do not dispair!! I’ve had the worst of all back problems and am now stronger then eve
[QUOTE=supershorty628;7268427]
COTHers, I need your collective wisdom, please!
Does anyone have experience with getting injections after a herniated disc (L5-S1)? I got sidelined in August with this, got sent home from doing research in Madagascar in October, and now after a month of PT, still am not seeing any improvement. My doctor arranged for me to get cortisone injections next week, so here is my question for those of you who have gone through this before:
What should I expect? I’m 22… I’ve never had to deal with stuff like this.
Did you find that you could return to normal activity fairly soon after your injection(s)?
Did it work for you, or did you end up having to have surgery? This is my last option before we have to consider surgery, and given that it would be my third surgery in 2 years, I’d like to avoid that…
Thanks![/QUOTE]
Hello to you and every body suffering from back pain. Read this carefully. Stop using the epidural injections. I’ll try to explain in detail. No, they are not demonic, and that the cortisone has a bad effect on your bones strenght hasn’t been truly proven, but even that is not important. What I am about to say is a conclusion of 1 years of reading everything there is to read on back issues!!! i’ve read every medical study, every 20 year during study, every forum with 10000 of users and this is what I have learned (i acted upon it and I’ m strong as hell now, and i was almost paralyzed only 4 years ago).
So I’ll begin by describing what happens 9 times out of ten.
People like you and me, started going to school at a youn age and were obligated to sit for hours. Our back muscles, our glutes (muscless in your butt), the hamstrings, all became weaker and shorter. But as long as we were young, we didn’t really feel the effects of that. Up until we had to go to work, and bend all the time, or lift heavy all the time. But even worse, some of us never lifted something heavy, and yet we got sore backs all the time. all of you know that 70 % of the people you know have back pain. And all of you had a day where you just "turned around and suddenly you felt a sharp pain, went to the doctor who told you that you had a lumbago, or a herniated disc, or a worn out disc. AT THE age of 30 this should be impossible; SO what happened? Our muscles in our back are non existend. But know what? You go to the doctor and what does he tell you as a solution? To get an injection so get rid of the inflammation and pain. And most of you had succes, for a couple of months and then the pain started again. I know I’m right. So what is the problem with the injection? The problem is that, according to leading scientists in the field, the iinjection is only to treat the symptom, that is the pain and the inflammation; Byt after the injection, no doctor tells you need to lift weights (no, not as a bodybuilder, but weights according to your size). You need to do excercises to strenghten the core muscles, the back muscles, the glutes, and the hamstrings. If you do that, the vertebrae will be less “attacked” and pain will not return. Look at the injection as an aspirin for a head ache. If you lost your glasses and run into the wal every second, then an aspirin will help for the head ache, but after the headache is gone, you need to get glasses? Now, this was the first part. Now, i told you that excercise in neccessary but even this will not always work. Why? Because some of us have waited to long and the discs are too worn out, of there is a broken vertebrae that has sipped; Or there is a hernia. Well, in this case, doctors still don’t prescribe excercise, but injections, and that does not make any sense because the cause of the inflammation is not gone! that is why the pain keeps coming back. So what to do? Well, if you have a sudden pain and they see no real structural problem, try excercise for 6 months. and indeed, for the first 2 weeks, the injection will help to deal with the pain. But do the excercises then. For 6 months and pain wil no longer come back. But, if they do see a structural problem then no amount of injections wil help. Then you need surgery to correct te structural problem. Afterwards, you do the excercises, and pain won’t come back bacause the cause of the pain is resolved and you’ve strenghtened the needed muscles.
I’ve had a plif of 3 vertebrae, have 6 screws, was almost completely paralyzed and it is thanks to reading thousands of articels that i knew operation and then excercise were crucial. i’m 36 now, and I run the 100 meters faster then when I was 20. I deadlift 160 kilos and have the videos and the scars on my back to prove it. So listen to this advice, and contact me whenever you want, bacause i want to help people who suffer as i suffered. My pain was so horrible that i was thinking of killing my self. the only thing that stopped me was my new born child and my wife. The pain was worse then cutting my wrist to the bone with a blunt knife (trust me, i know what i’m saying) so PLEASE, read this, and apply this; Do not accept injections, for years. it is a diagnostic tool (if i put the injection in the l5 and the pain goes away, then i know that the problem is the l5) and a painkiller. It is just only a fighter against a symptom. It has it’s use but not when you have structural problems. Good luck guys and convey this message to every one you know and tell young people to start deadlifting very light weights, in a good form (so they must be thaugt) and back pain wil dissapear in our society!!!
Good luck!!!
Im sorry you are going through this. I got the results of my MRI today and I have three small protrusions in T10-11, T9-10 and T8-9. I have has moderate to severe back pain since April with my only documented injury being a fall, landing on my hip in January. My doctor stated that the series of thoracic protrusions is most likely genetic. I’m absolutely devastated. I am going to try anti-inflammatories and PT first then we may ramp up to an injection.
Im only 24.
PLIG, I am so sorry you went through what you did, but I am glad you are better. I would just like to caution you against speaking in absolutes. One can read all the studies in the world and read what others have experienced, but each patient is an individual. Genetic components, pain response and threshold, anatomy and physiology, diet, smoking, age, and other factors all play a part in back pain.
Not all doctors say the things you mentioned as treatment modalities vary. Patient response is individual and treatments must be tailored accordingly. Perhaps a disclaimer or “in my experience” might be helpful to your post.
“I am not wrong” is rarely used in medicine. Just saying.
Agreed with Zuri.
I was in VERY good physical condition when my back issues began; I work out extensively to be fit enough to do the Grand Prix jumper classes. There is a family history of disc problems on my mom’s side, so I’m not entirely surprised that I had problems. I had scarlet fever as a kid; I’m predisposed to joint problems. I saw my MRI - the herniation was big and ugly.
I did a lot of PT before the injection, and even went to Madagascar to do a study abroad program - for those who don’t know, Madagascar is extremely mountainous and I was hiking for 5-6 hours almost every day tracking lemurs. But nothing worked for my back.
The injection didn’t work either. I have a very high pain tolerance (I broke my sternum and my only reaction was to swear). The injection made it worse.
I ended up having a laminectomy, rather than a microdiscectomy, and while my back still hurts when I do the big jumps, it’s at least functional and I can work through the pain. I can live with that. I don’t expect it to be 100% pain free when I put so much concussion and stress on it.
[QUOTE=Zuri;7605183]
PLIG, I am so sorry you went through what you did, but I am glad you are better. I would just like to caution you against speaking in absolutes. One can read all the studies in the world and read what others have experienced, but each patient is an individual. Genetic components, pain response and threshold, anatomy and physiology, diet, smoking, age, and other factors all play a part in back pain.
Not all doctors say the things you mentioned as treatment modalities vary. Patient response is individual and treatments must be tailored accordingly. Perhaps a disclaimer or “in my experience” might be helpful to your post.
“I am not wrong” is rarely used in medicine. Just saying.[/QUOTE]
May be you did not read well enough what i wrote, or maybe i did not write it well enough. English is not my native language. I’'ve learned it trough television and Paul Anka 
I’ll try to clarify.
Indeed, every one is different, on causes and reaction to treatment. What I wanted to warn for is that after learning for 15 years about back problems and their treatments, i see a global and internation common way in reacting, by doctors, to back problems. What is common about it is the following: patient comes in with back pain. De doctor doesn’t do any scans (luckily), listens to the story of the patient, examines him manually and then prescribes anti inflammatory medicin and pain killers. So far so good; Seriously.
A lot of the people get well and never have back pain again, it was just a fluke. But a lot of people get backpain again, and again and again. ANd for months or years their doctor doesn"t change the treatment; He does not even prescribe excercises and stretchings. After a year or so, when the patient is fed up, he demands a scan, mri, x rays,… The doctors looks at the results and in stead of prescribing the excercises, he says: i see a potential structural problem that causes your pain and causes the inflammation", and what does he do? he prescribes an injection. But he does not use the injection for what it really is: a diagnostic tool to determine the exact location of the cause of the pain. Yes, off course it has anti inflammatory benefits, and deminishes the pain, but the doctor stops at that point, and that is the mistake most doctors make. They should prescribe, excercises to remedie as much as possible the cause of the problem. And only when, after six months of thraining, the docter sees that the structural problem was not overcome, then he must talk about correcting the problem by way of surgery. So in NO way i explain that one solution fits all or all patients are the same. I explain that doctors misuse the injection and forget about prescribing excercises. Of course, no excercises should be prescribed if the structural problem, seen on the mri, is to great. I’ll explain my case: had an car accident,where a car hit me and 55 miles an hour when i was 5 years old (no break marks because there was ice on the road). I flew 20 meters and should have died instantly. But i got up and shook it off. The ambulance came, examined me on the spot and let me go home, on the spot (crazy!!!). started having huge back pains at the age of 14 and at the age of 17 it became unbearable at some times (at the end of a school day). I went to see the specialist and he said: you got the back of your mother, you’ll have to learn to live with it;" He did not prescribe me excercise, nor did he take mri or x ray. If he had done that then he would have seen a broken vertebrae (l5 l 4) and i would have gotten an operation musch sooner. At the age of 28 it became 24 hours a day of torture; Went to see a worldfamous hospital but they did take the x rays the wrong way. The images did not show structural problems. Once again, the doctor did not prescribe excercises, only pain killers and anti inflammatory drugs; At the age of 30, he started talking about injections. First one worked a bit, second one, a bit, third one, nothing. ANd that was it:" you’ll have to learn to live with it. You’ll need two or three injections a year".
I moved to Brussels, wich was what saved me. At the age of 31 or 32 the specialist in the new hospital saw that the x rays were badly taken. He ordered new ones and an mri, and he called me, almost panicking, ordering me to come immediatly (risk of immediate total rupture of the nerves). He said: no amount of injections could have helped you. I had a PLIF and now I’m stronger then ever. He said: "doctors do not learn from the hundreds of hours we still spend learning about the new studies; The way to treat ANY patient is simple (and he explained the steps i described earlier: checking manually, prescribing meds, if it return, then x ray and mri. If no structural problems then excercise. If structural problem is light, then excercise. If structural problem is severe, then operation. Injections is only to determine exact location of pain with the extra benefit of TEMPORARY pain relief) After operation, EXCERCISE.
You see i do not generalise all treatment, all causes, all people. I talk about the way the doctors misuse the injections.
Of course there are some doctors that don’t and that is what saved me.
[QUOTE=supershorty628;7605361]
Agreed with Zuri.
I was in VERY good physical condition when my back issues began; I work out extensively to be fit enough to do the Grand Prix jumper classes. There is a family history of disc problems on my mom’s side, so I’m not entirely surprised that I had problems. I had scarlet fever as a kid; I’m predisposed to joint problems. I saw my MRI - the herniation was big and ugly.
I did a lot of PT before the injection, and even went to Madagascar to do a study abroad program - for those who don’t know, Madagascar is extremely mountainous and I was hiking for 5-6 hours almost every day tracking lemurs. But nothing worked for my back.
The injection didn’t work either. I have a very high pain tolerance (I broke my sternum and my only reaction was to swear). The injection made it worse.
I ended up having a laminectomy, rather than a microdiscectomy, and while my back still hurts when I do the big jumps, it’s at least functional and I can work through the pain. I can live with that. I don’t expect it to be 100% pain free when I put so much concussion and stress on it.[/QUOTE]
You confirm my point: you had structural problems and they tried to remedie this, long term (?) with injections; Of course this wasn’t going to work, and off course excercise wasn’t going to work, even before or after. If there is a severe structural problem, only operations can help. Is it clear what i meant to say now?
PS: glad you feel better now and that you can continue to ride and such. I remember when i was suffering so much that i just wished to have less pain. Sports, walking and runnign, i would gladly give it up for some less pain. But once the pain went away, boy, did I went crazy. I still get tears in my eyes when i think of the torture, it has mentally traumatized me and still haunts me sometimes; And when i pick up the 160 kilos from the ground, man, do I feel lucky and happy. I see friends of mine, 36 years old, never had a day of backpain in their life, did some sports when they were younger but now they all have beer bellies and such. And now I’m the one that is fast,… My eyes (the skin under the eyes) reveals the years of pain; Makes me a bit sad thoug. But hey, can’t win them all right?! Cheers! and be careful!!!
[QUOTE=supershorty628;7605361]
Agreed with Zuri.
I was in VERY good physical condition when my back issues began; I work out extensively to be fit enough to do the Grand Prix jumper classes. There is a family history of disc problems on my mom’s side, so I’m not entirely surprised that I had problems. I had scarlet fever as a kid; I’m predisposed to joint problems. I saw my MRI - the herniation was big and ugly.
I did a lot of PT before the injection, and even went to Madagascar to do a study abroad program - for those who don’t know, Madagascar is extremely mountainous and I was hiking for 5-6 hours almost every day tracking lemurs. But nothing worked for my back.
The injection didn’t work either. I have a very high pain tolerance (I broke my sternum and my only reaction was to swear). The injection made it worse.
I ended up having a laminectomy, rather than a microdiscectomy, and while my back still hurts when I do the big jumps, it’s at least functional and I can work through the pain. I can live with that. I don’t expect it to be 100% pain free when I put so much concussion and stress on it.[/QUOTE]
Sorry to hear this SuperShorty. Did you go to a surgeon who does disc replacements if appropriate? Not all do. My disc issues are in my neck but my surgeon in DC has recommended a two level disc replacement with a mobi c prosthetic. Now it maybe a fight with my insurance company but I much prefer this option to a fusion of any kind. If you continue to have issues checkout disc replacement as an option.
