Disc Injuries: Non-Surgical Treatments

[Bicoastal]

Mother’s Day Oops- How much damage did I do?

Whiney vent:
One of the 15 Mother’s Day guests was my 3yo cousin. He bashed his finger in a door and was shakily coming up the two flights of stairs by himself, crying for his mom. Without thinking I leaned down the last three steps from the top of the landing –and picked him up. My back instantly screamed at me. :eek: Oh My God what have I done?!! The left side of my back from hip to the bottom of my shoulder blade is wrecked. It feels muscular.

I didn’t get home until late but once home I iced and took two Tylenol. I do not take prescription pain relievers or muscle relaxers as I’m scared of addiction and they make me lightheaded or nauseous or both. Last night, pain was 9 out of 10. This morning it’s a 7/8. Because I’ve had prolo and am undergoing disc regeneration which contains prolo, I don’t take anti-inflammatories. (I know icing is a No-No if inflammation is encouraged, but I had to do something to keep me from jumping off my balcony in desperation!)

I get confused about when you should ice and when you should use heat . One doctor says one thing, another says another thing, the PT says another thing.

Seeing my doctor Thursday morning. I’m just so :mad: at myself. After reading threads like the one about chronic pain and insomnia, I think I’ll ask my doctor if I can be evaluated for depression. I’m bummed all the time, have NO energy, avoid some social situations because I’m embarrassed or fear pain, I’m embarrassed yet hopeless about the weight gain brought on by complete lack of activity, can’t sleep through the night, have no interest in my old hobbies (I ride and do obedience and hiking with my pup. Riding is forbidden and bending down to my low-rider dog over and over again is crippling.)

My biggest fear is ruining the couple thousands of dollars and nearly a year of No Riding. I want to sleep, and hike, and laugh and RIDE.

I should be able to lift a crying kid. And should be able to drive a car longer than 20mins without pain. And should be able to bend down and leash the dog, or lift groceries from the car, or paint my toenails, or walk a XC course without pain, and hey I should be able to ride. That’s my goal!

I’m kicking myself at my reflexive, thoughtless action and dreading the next week/next doctor appt/next disc regeneration. Just venting to those going through similar things.

[whicker]

Wails Approved!

Bicoastal, {{Big Hugs}}

What a wretched finish to Mother’s Day! Naturally you helped the child- it is hard wired into us. Please don’t beat yourself over the head and make yourself feel worse in your own eyes. You care. That is a very Excellent Thing.

There are pain medications that you can take that won’t screw up the stem cell work. I personally know.

I’m sending you a p.m.

[cbiscuit]

Oy, I just last week managed to rupture two discs in my lower back. My MRI looks like a stack of jelly donuts where one exploded. I was in pain for a few days before, and it got worse on Saturday. I knew I shouldn’t do the jump off, but I did it anyway. But the pain didn’t get really bad until later that night.

So now I am looking at a my whole summer of plans for showing and riding and thinking that this sucks. I see the spinal specialist tomorrow. Have improved a TON in the week since it happened on Flexeril and oral steroids - I am hoping that is a good sign, although I still have numbness and occasional foot pain and I haven’t been DOING anything besides walking my dog (he promised not to pull :)), so I don’t know how durable my improvements are.

Anyone care to tell how quickly they were back to riding after a disc rupture? The spine guy I’m seeing apparently treats a lot of athletes, so I’m hoping he will understand why I want to get back to riding asap.

[Whiz_Kid]

I badly ruptured L3 L4 on Dec. 31st with full paralysis and foot drop to my left leg and was in the OR on Jan 11th for a microdiscectomy, an MRI with discs that look like exploded jelly donuts are unlikely to heal on thier own, by the time i had surgery , I had little pain in my back thanks to the steroids and pain meds, but I had very little function in my left leg. It will be interesting to see what the spine specialist says, My experience was with a neurosurgeon. I was back riding…walking about 6-7 weeks after surgery, I just found out that the disk is reherniated. I never got full feeling back in my leg or resoulution of the foot drop. I am still riding, I post trot on the good days, but mostly walk. its extremely hard to post off a dead leg…I am currently avoiding going back to the surgeon because I know they are going to want to fuse this time. I wish you the best of luck!!! I wouldnt wish what I have gone through on anyone, Im 35, and a hot mess.

[cbiscuit]

Ugh, that sounds awful! I hope you feel better soon.

[Bicoastal]

cbiscuit- mind PMing me the name of the spine specialist? I’m guessing from your location it’s someone in the DC metro area…? I have 3 ruptured discs, SI hypermobility, scoliosis, DDD, arthritis, etc. I just turned 25 last month.

Good luck to you! I don’t have a time frame for you; still working on mine with disc regeneration and prolo. I am not a candidate for fusion. My doctors are still looking for solutions.

I too can do nothing but walk my dog for the last 6+ months, and he has had to promise not to lunge after the squirrels

[cbiscuit]

BC - Ouch! That’s a lot of stuff! I have two ruptures but one is asymptomatic and may have been there a long time. Will PM name of doc I saw.

My bad news is that I can’t ride for 6 weeks. So the awesome chance to lease a great horse, the summer of showing, the goal of qualifying for indoors - pretty much gone. Instead I am setting a goal of getting back to riding and showing before the end of the year.

But I’m in no pain most of the time just on oral steroids 10 days out from rupturing the disc and I know that is huge and very lucky, so I am trying to stay grateful and optimistic that the numbness and weakness will go away on its own without surgery too.

[gdolapp]

I do not have any advice on injections, however having broken my back in three places in a riding accident I now have to deal with the back pain
for the rest of my life.
This is what I have done.
Accident in 11/07 with surgery
all five lumbar disks have damage
L-2 is filled with bone cement and will NOT move L-2 also has
narrowing of nerve canals and a bulge toward my spinal cord.
L-1 and L-3 both have narrowing of nerve canal and L-3 has
a hole in it and is herniated.
L-3 4 and 5 are tipped at a right angle and rotated 45 degrees forward
everything from L-1 upward is tipped to the left a half an inch.

Once released from surgon in Jan of 08 I started seeing my family Practioner
for pain controll, I also on my surgeons recomendation started seeing
a chiro that specializes in sports med.
I keep my back as warm as possible in the winter time.
I have a home medics gravitational recliner that I pretty much live in.
To sleep I put two pillows under the blankets at the foot of my bed,
I place my feet infront of the pillows and pull the covers up over the pillows and me. Thus the pillows form a tent wich takes the blanket weight
off of my feet so my leg and back muscles are not pulled on while sleeping.
I ice my back alot and have to also use stuff called bio-freeze.
When I know there is a bad storm comming I start taking IBU wether
I need it or not as my lower back is already full of arthritus and
the weather changes greatly affect me.
I do simple stretching excersises when I get out of bed and before I go to bed.
My Dr changes my pain meds every three months so that my body
does not get accustome to the same drugs I also change IBU brands
every two months.

Though I have back trouble I have chalked it up as a part of life and
I deal with it each day as best I can. Some days I just want to do nothing but cry as I can’t do alot of the stuff I used to beable to do. However
I still ride and riding for me is not only great physical therapy but
mental therapy too.

[Bicoastal]

Update: h-o-p-e??

I was feeling desperate and teary-eyed much of Wednesday after shelling out big $$$ for medical procedures over the past three days that I don’t think help.

Much to my surprise I’m feeling a bit better! I have mid-back pain and I am ok with that. The real culprit SI/low back is getting a bit of a reprieve! I am accepting the mid-back as fatigue. This usually happens at the end of the work week. This time I think the early onset mid-back pain is from the COTH Hunting Princesses weekend of driving and walking: I am happy to pay the piper for that!

The hunting weekend left me sad and confused. Some folks tough through back pain and ride. It is what makes their quality of life-with-pain better. That is not for me :no: and I was feeling like a sissy or not ambitious/addicted enough to ride through pain.

There are talks of hunt trail rides and scenic battlegrounds and blooming flowers all to be enjoyed from the back of a horse and I am pouring $$$ into helpless causes :(. But maybe not! I had my 4th osteopathic adjustment Wednesday morning coupled with prolo shots to try to stabilize my newly adjusted SI. Lo and behold I stood for a minute waiting for the elevator and realized I had no pain! I’m sitting at my desk with less low back pain (but a $%^%^@*% lot of mid back pain).

I keep grumblingly analyzing: if I could have spent all of this time, energy, and money from my back –that has failed!- into my riding, well shucks I could be going training level (on a narrow, responsive, kind packer ;)) at Morven Park this Spring.

Maybe, just maybe my back is now being stabilized correctly. Maybe, just maybe I can go on a trail ride this spring?! I am letting myself hope again. For others who have given up hope, keep trying! The temps are warming, the sun is longer, the flowers are coming up. The Earth is rejuvenating and so can you!

[Wraper2]

[QUOTE=Bicoastal;4730994]
I just want to know what works and what doesn’t. Maybe I’m looking for encouragement as I’m facing the very painful discogram tomorrow and more prolo at the end of the week.

Thanks to those who shared![/QUOTE]

I have a friend that is ‘in the business’ of back/spinal injury/fixes.
Her reccomendation- avoid surgery unless it it to protect spinal cord. She highly reccomends neural implants. says it has done wonders for her patients. (She is in/around Atlanta, Ga)

I did not know this before my own surgery! l4-l5 and l5-s1 fusion with hardeware. Disk degeneration and mild scoliosis. I tried PT… no go. Tried injections… 1st worked ok for a week, second made it worse! The hardeware is not so bad, but there are problems. I had scar tissue break off one screw head… so now any bending and twisting causes the muscle to scrape on the head… painful and causes muscle spasams. I am riding again, but can’t trot/canter more than a few strides. I still have to take Lortabs multiple times daily, and still have sciatica and muscle spasams. (3 yrs post op) Waiting on a disability determination as I cannot stand or sit for prolong periods to be able to work.

[JSwan]

@Bicoastal;5504172

The hunting weekend left me sad and confused. Some folks tough through back pain and ride. It is what makes their quality of life-with-pain better. That is not for me :no: and I was feeling like a sissy or not ambitious/addicted enough to ride through pain.

Knowing what you’ve been through, and what you are going through - I don’t think you’re a sissy at all. The only difference between us might be that we’ve dealt with back pain (and surgeries and everything) for many years. But look at it this way… we’re STILL riding. We’ll never win an equitation class, and we medicate, do PT, and do all sorts of stuff to be able to ride - but we do.

There is a time to rest, to avoid or stop doing things that hurt. I was in PT for months last year, and it was painful. I’ll be in PT again soon, and it will probably be more painful. I am just managing my back like you would a chronic disease. Flares, remissions, good days, bad days. There it is.

But these are the things I do in order to ride and work on this farm, and will hopefully allow me to avoid more back surgery (doesn’t look good but I’m trying) Even if I am faced with no choice but surgery… I will not stop riding. No way.

A friend suggested A.R.T. to alleviate symptoms. Check them out activerelease.com

I’m glad you’re feeling better, and I hope you continue to improve. Don’t be a stranger! You’ll be riding again - don’t give up. Please don’t.

[Bicoastal]

Thanks JSwan

for you thoughtful reply.

I’m not giving up. On one hand I expect to always have back issues and will have to manage it as you laid out; on the other hand I’m too young for this s*** and want a cure (not management)!

I started this quest so that I can ride again: devote all of my resources fully into the problem so that I can fix it once and for all. Sigh. Now I don’t think there is a once and for all. So then what?

I am trying massage therapy and acupuncture in April and meeting with my main specialist April 4 to hash out what I’ve tried and where I’m at. It is enormously frustrating to devote thousands of dollars and hope into a procedure that doesn’t help. Four weeks later you do it again in a different procedure. It is maddening.

My SI and low back has returned to normal today: a band of pain across my hips and the nest of torment centered at my SI. Ahhh, my old friends .

But I won’t give up. You are an inspiration. As is whicker, wateryglen, and Dr. Doolittle. I wish I could kick on like you gals, but I can’t right now. Still hoping for a cure.

[Bicoastal]

Active Release Technique

There are several ART providers near me. I’ll ask my doc about it April 4. Thanks for the info, JSwan. I have to keep trying stuff til something works!

[whicker]

Big Hugs

Bicoastal,

Big Hugs!!

Let’s talk.
I’m on my way to the vet’s with 2 of the horses. (not the mares)

we will come up with a way to break down into steps how to just get you up in the saddle with the magic seat saver. It has taken me 5 years to get to that hunt you saw. And I didn’t look so hot that night or the rest of this week. Still don’t.

And Kabuki was too much puppy for the agility class, so we were asked to withdraw and repeat the obedience class. He was lunging and bouncing, not the off lead wonder that the instructor expected… So time to find another way to teach him.

It seems like researching and trying new ways to do things is the way I manage not to puddle in despair. And I give myself permission to rest and not do things that will make me feel worse.

[Bicoastal]

Whicker- Hi there! I am not despairing. Promise cross my heart I’m not.

Researching and trying new procedures is what keeps me from falling into the abyss, too.

Going for acupuncture the Friday before the agility championships so I’ll be able to tell you alllll about my experience during our car ride ;).

Kabuki too much for agility class? Never! Hhah! He IS a Mal puppy. :winkgrin:

Two weeks ago I was hugged in front of the entire class and told the problem wasn’t Timber but me. I’m working on undoing the damage now. Try not to feel too discouraged about agility class. Next time I come play I’ll bring my wobble disc and we can play with Kabuki on that if you like.