Ok, here I am again... I had my meeting with my Chiro today who had my MRI report and I brought along the films. He was positive I had a herniated disc or two but the report says its just the begining of it on some. , you can see a couple with the bulge but its not pertruding far enough in to be called a herniation yet.

Signal loss consistent with disc desiccation at L3-4...

L3-4 small disc bulge and some central disc protrusion.
L5-S1 has another small disc bulge

It says there is a some disc and bony degenerative desease at multiple levels. You can see the discs with it that are loosing their white color as they loose water.

Then for my neck it says at the C5-6 there is a small amount of deformity of the anterior thecal sac, secondary to prominence of the disc/bony complex...

Basically this shocked my Chiro in its much lower problematic of a diagnosis than expected.

So why then, am I in so much pain? There are times he cant even touch me or I fly off the table and he can only do ultrasound therapy... I have not had a day without pain in 3 months straight now... I had to go on pain killers two weeks ago just to get through some of the worse days...

It hurts to sit, to stand for long times, to walk for long times... cant bend over , cant flex my feet, cant touch my chin to my neck... none of these without great pain.

Is my PCP going to read this and call me a wimp?

I know my problem is so far below some of those I read here but proportionally pain is pain and I cant take much more of this!

Any help?

I have been in chronic pain for about 2 months now too. If any nerve is compressed by any of your discs or if you're muscles are now in spasm from all this pain, that in itself can cause more pain.

I'm dealing with muscle spams now from a vertabrae that was out of place. I am on pain meds & muscle relaxers right now, so I walk around the house all spaced out! I've been housebound all this time, don't drive with all this pain, as it is affecting my arm also.

I am so sick of sitting in front of the t.v. all day & nite, I could scream!!!!!!

You are right, pain is pain!!! I can take so much, don't have a high tolerance for it, but I'd say I do put up with a lot of it before I take the pain pills!

This is my third incident with back problems. Five years ago had a herniated disc, the pain went down across my hip & down the outside of my thigh to my knee. Then this past spring had sciatica problems & now this!!

While your films might indicate a less obvious or less serios dics bulge/petrusion the reality is you are experiencing sinificant pain. The discs are one source, the associated muscle spasm and inflamation are another. We tend to underestimate the impact of muscle spasming. It can as you are seeing cause a great deal of pain. Has you dr suggested a muscle relaxant and or any anti inflam to assist address the current sitiation. If not I suggest you make enquires in relation to meds for these puposes

Good luck

Losy

Losy, you are so right. That is what is causing all my pain right now. I'm in PT & on the meds I listed, but still in pain!!! Those muscle spasms are bad, they do cause a lot of pain.

Please do not forget a MRI does not tell the whole story also :nono: You may have tear in a disc that the radiologist did not see, but a specialist will. And also sometimes that can not tell how bad a disc has degenerated until a discogram is performed. You only know how you feel, do not let a piece of paper tell you how you should or should not feel ;)
Hope this helps.
shelley

Hello,

I am new here but wanted to just say a little about my own spine problems.

I have been in agony for years, have had injections into the nerves surrounding the discs, manipulation, physiotherapy and I could go on an on. To get to the point I want to make, a doctor actually told me there was nothing that could be done it was my age (age strikes again)!! "Wear and tear, my dear".

How wrong was he. I have now been told that it is 'tipped over borderline (their words) osteoporosis'. Caused not by age but by life long use of steroids.

As has already been said pain is pain, and how they have the audacity to judge one persons agony with another is beyond me. Mind you I wasn't popular because I voiced my opinion on how they arrive at their diagnosis sometimes without actually "hearing" what the patient is saying. They look like they are listening, but are they hearing?

Because of the horrendous pain we then hold ourselves more rigid, the muscles then are not used properly, then they go into spasm when we try to do anything. Grrr, and the doctors still can't accept that we are in agony, "because it doesn't show on the scan, x-ray or whatever. The type of doctor I know is going to be a problem is one that takes out a medical book to read up on what is being said, and that has happened to me. I just said "excuse me" and left the office.

BIGFISH just one thing if your doctor (sorry I don't know what a PCP is, I live in the UK) even tries to hint that you are a wimp, then he/she needs a kick up the backside.

I do hope that you all are able to get the medical care you deserve soon.

goldenwings :angel:

I remember when I was in physical therapy the first time around, couple of discs way out of whack, is what my doctor thought when he sent me. Anyway I am going four days a week an hour at a time for about two weeks and basically the staff is saying your stronger then that you can heal faster...bunch of @#$.... anyway the next day when I came in all of a sudden they were very patient, polite and were going way out of there way for me...so I asked what was going on...turns out they got my MRI in and apparently not only should my healing process be stretched out over a long time but the two bad discs turned out to be a few more then that, plus DDD and my poor sciatic somehow became damage. So there complaining turned into compliments from "you are strong you can take it" to "My goodness your pain tolerance must be off the charts". Only you truly know what you are feeling and believe me the truth will always come out.

Take Care

You should make an appt.with a spine specialist. They see things on these MRI's that a regular doctor might miss. Even if the MRI is being read correctly, it doesn't mean that the MRI itself is right. Not all problems show up; you could have a tear in a disc or some other problems. Don't leave this to a chiro to solve; you need an ortho or a neurosurgeon.

Good luck.

Carol

Wow guys, thanks for the responses and support!

I guess I can only wait for my PCPs decision about the next step. The chiropractor at least knows where to stay away from now and my therapy Friday went well...

Have you guys ever had Bio Cranial therapy at a Chiropractors? I guess its pretty old but new to my guy and its not a pleasant proceedure at all! Just wondering how common it is out there.

Regarding questions of muscle relaxors etc. I do not take anything during the day as a relaxor but am on Zanaflex at night which is something given to people with severe back injuries or MS... funny thing is, I was given this years ago to help me sleep at night because of my Fibromyalgia! It is a pretty kick butt muscle relaxor for the most part but I am either becoming so used to it, its not as effective or its not right for this new pain.

For now, all I have is the night stuff and if its a tormenting day, I take a Vicaden but that is it. I still try to work but thankfully I own my own business and I am able to be a bit flexible although it is tax time which is enough to put anyones back into spasms that works with bookkeeping and payroll services!

I will be interested to find out what a specialist sees or thinks... until then, I guess I wont beat myself up for being a wimp..... pain is pain!

hate to say it, but I would drop the chiro. What they do can make things worse. I went to one too who used an activator and my last visit, I ran out crying my pain was so bad.I had surgery a year prior on a lumbar disc. I never went back to her. Most of us here don't suggest chiropractics. See a specialist. Good luck to you.

Again, I agree with Mel. Drop the chiro. They have been infamous for causing mild back problems to become major or for aggravating an already existing condition. They have their place, but NOT when discs are involved. At least, that is my personal opinion and one which is not popular with some people.

Carol

Ugh.... dropping my chiro is a tough one to hear. He has been the only one listening and giving me any relief for years now from my back issues. While I do agree, sometimes I walk out of there in more agony then I went in... most of the time, it really does help some. Lately he has used more of the electronic therapies which I prefer... The ultrasound therapy has been the best yet... seems to calm everything down for a couple days... I dont know what the other is called but its when you have the four electronic pads on your back with the wires and a wet pad and you get electronic stimulation around the bad area.... that was pretty good too... I have however changed my appointments from every week to every two weeks as the relief is just not lasting long enough for me to keep forking out the cash for. I only get so many visits a year with a copay and then am on my own as it is.

I will again have to see what my PCP (primary care physician) has to say which I am surprised he hasnt called yet... He has been pretty good to me too and perhaps will set me on the path to a specialist. I keep reading the other posts on this website and cant even imagine what others here are going through. My family has had to put up with this for years and these past 3 months have been the climax of it all. I am so tired of saying I cant do this or asking my girls to do this and that for me. They never complain but you can see it in their eyes that they know that their mom is just not right and it bothers them to see me suffer. I cant partake in school stuff like I used to and surely cant sit on the floor playing games anymore.

I sing on a worship team and many weeks cant sing anymore because it hurts my back to put power into my voice... that is one of the most depressing things lately... to not sing. I have been singing since I was 8 years old in choirs and worship teams etc.... to have to not only sing out like I used to but have to sit it out too is just so hard.

On top of all of this is the Fibromyalgia which just adds more pain to pain. Stress makes it worse so of course, the more my back upsets me, the more the Fibro acts up. I never thought I would see the day I just spend hours just crying hoping to fall asleep soon... or hoping the pain meds kick in or whatever.

My husband can tell the look on my face now when I have hit a nerve or something. I could be bending slightly to close a cabinet door now or even sneezing does it sometimes. I freeze and the tears just run.... and then he runs, for the ice, the meds, the routine.

I am only 35 years old and I am tired of this !

I had just wished the test would have said this is it right here and this is what you do to fix it but then wouldnt we all want that right?

What fixes degenerative disc disease anyways? Sounds to me like its something that just progresses worse and worse....

I also have been told by a friend that Lipitor (for cholesterol) has been connected to muscle pain... anyone hear of this? I have been on it for a couple years now (cholesterol was almost 400 then) and worry about it enough with the damage it can do to my liver being on it , but you weigh it against blocked arteries and I guess taking it wins.

I am also on Serzone and Wellbutrin for Seasonal Afflictive Disorder... (winter depression) and just worry sometimes that these drugs joined together can cause some of these other physical problems...

I dont know... can you tell I am just grabbing at answers here?

Ok, here I am again... I had my meeting with my Chiro today who had my MRI report and I brought along the films. He was positive I had a herniated disc or two but the report says its just the begining of it on some. , you can see a couple with the bulge but its not pertruding far enough in to be called a herniation yet.

Signal loss consistent with disc desiccation at L3-4...

L3-4 small disc bulge and some central disc protrusion.
L5-S1 has another small disc bulge

It says there is a some disc and bony degenerative desease at multiple levels. You can see the discs with it that are loosing their white color as they loose water.

Then for my neck it says at the C5-6 there is a small amount of deformity of the anterior thecal sac, secondary to prominence of the disc/bony complex...

Basically this shocked my Chiro in its much lower problematic of a diagnosis than expected.

So why then, am I in so much pain? There are times he cant even touch me or I fly off the table and he can only do ultrasound therapy... I have not had a day without pain in 3 months straight now... I had to go on pain killers two weeks ago just to get through some of the worse days...

It hurts to sit, to stand for long times, to walk for long times... cant bend over , cant flex my feet, cant touch my chin to my neck... none of these without great pain.

Is my PCP going to read this and call me a wimp?

I know my problem is so far below some of those I read here but proportionally pain is pain and I cant take much more of this!

Any help?

I am back in pt now for 4 sessions so far & I'm not on the couch in front of th t.v. anymore, not on pain pills either. This is not my first time with pt. 5 years ago pt fixed a herniated disc in my back. So far, the pt is the only thing helping me this time too. Try everything before surgery, I talked to my pt today & she said a huge majority of back problems can be fixed with pt even herniated discs, which I already knew. good luck.

Hang in there, Im only 41 and had neck surgery when i was 29 years young, immediatly after surgery, i had no pain what so ever, no more pain pills needed, however i wore 3 different neck braces for 3 months. Dr. did not prescribe pt. for me......every now and then my shoulder pops when i lift it up, but i only had the nerve pain twice within 12 years. (knocking on wood) Im very careful in what i do, if my neck is sore, then i wont do nothing at all but lay down and rest it. I am wondering what kind of exercises i am able to do to strengthen my neck, im wondering if lifting like 1 lb. weights will strengthen the neck muscles. Before and after surgery, everyone needs a support group. Those who have never experienced pain like that, has no idea what it feels like..........i would rather have labor pains than experience that again...............i hope everything works out for you!

Hiya All,

I posted a couple of days ago regarding all the messing about we have trying to get somebody to accept that our pain is so real. Pain is pain it was said. So true. I have just come back from my GP. I have been in agony for a long time with extreme pain in my ribs on the right hand front side. I had previously been told I had (just part of many things wrong with me) "tipped over border" osteo of the spine, i.e. just edging onto osteo I presume. :confused: My GP has just told me that it is in fact not tipped over but actual osteo of the spine. Great !! :rolleyes:

I have now been told that the awful pain I am having in the right rib cage and through to my back could be something to do with my gall bladder, or, wait for it a stressed fracture of the spine !! :bouncing: How great is that? What is going on with the medical profession these days? My GP can only go by what he is told by the hospital, and they have given him the wrong info - again !!. :nono:

So I am going in a couple of days for an x-ray of my spine and ribs. If nothing shows there I am to have a scan of my internal organs.

As we have all said, we know how much pain we are in, why don't they listen to us? We should call ourselves the PIP Brigade, Pain Is Pain Brigade. Only we know what we are going through, don't we? Ah well, I'll wait and see what happens with my tests.

Hope you are all doing better today. ;)

goldenwings :angel:

Bigfish, I have to tell you that I felt worse everytime I left the chiro. My pt tells me that I should feel better each time I leave there & not be in any pain from anything they do. I do hope you research PT before you do anything else.