my lower back pain is bad when sitting ,standing, bending over and in the morning.had 2 x rays and the family dr said im full of arthritis and the chiropracter said the lowest disk needs straightened.the tightness in the morning runs down my hamstrings to the calves.i walk down the stairs like im 90.im only 45 and have gone to the gym all my life and work hard.ive tried stretching and the pool and gave up on chiro stretching my back 4 times and not getting any better.the back is so tight at work when bending over.any advice out there?thank you
My recommendation would be to see a spine specialist for a consultation. This could be a fellowship-trained orthopedic SPINE surgeon or a neurosurgeon who limit their practice to the neck and back. These two specialties have the most training, education and experience in the spine...and will provide the most accurate diagnosis and plan of treatment.
Get a copy of the x-rays so you can take them to the appointment. Depending on what the doctor finds, he/she may order a MRI to better see if there is a disc problem, a nerve compression or something else other than arthritis going on.
Don't be worried about "surgeon" in their titles. They will always recommend conservative modalities first, only recommending surgery as a last resort. The typical first treatment is a course of physical therapy and perhaps an epidural steroid injection to make the person more comfortable in order to do what is recommended in PT. Often building the back and core muscles a bit, and a bit of treatment to help with any inflammation is enough to get over the hump and get the person back to a functioning level.
Is the pain in one leg or both? Does the back stiffness go away as the day progresses?
The Following User Says Thank You to teteri66 For This Useful Post: mcleod9 (04-01-2012)
My recommendation would be to see a spine specialist for a consultation. This could be a fellowship-trained orthopedic SPINE surgeon or a neurosurgeon who limit their practice to the neck and back. These two specialties have the most training, education and experience in the spine...and will provide the most accurate diagnosis and plan of treatment.
Get a copy of the x-rays so you can take them to the appointment. Depending on what the doctor finds, he/she may order a MRI to better see if there is a disc problem, a nerve compression or something else other than arthritis going on.
Don't be worried about "surgeon" in their titles. They will always recommend conservative modalities first, only recommending surgery as a last resort. The typical first treatment is a course of physical therapy and perhaps an epidural steroid injection to make the person more comfortable in order to do what is recommended in PT. Often building the back and core muscles a bit, and a bit of treatment to help with any inflammation is enough to get over the hump and get the person back to a functioning level.
Is the pain in one leg or both? Does the back stiffness go away as the day progresses?
the stiffness goes down both legs.sometimes it does feel better in the day but the lower back always flares up when digging [and more stiffness in hamstrings].the morning is the worse because of the stiffness in the legs[hamstrings and calves]the lower back is ok til the work begins.then bending over is tight and painful
What feels like stiffness in the hamstring could be coming from a lower lumbar disc issue...which might be related to what the chiro was saying about your disc. All the arthritis in your back could be a sign that there is some instability in your lumbar spine.
I would suggest that if you are not feeling better soon, that you make an appointment with a spine specialist to see if you have herniated a disc or possibly have a spondylolisthesis, which is a situation where one vertebra slips over the top of the adjacent vertebra.
It can be a good idea to get an accurate diagnosis so you know what is causing the pain, rather than risking doing some activity that might make the situation worse.
Any activity like digging where the spine is twisted and lifting at the same time can be damaging to the discs.
Re: help ,i need advice 
