Any doctors or chiropracters here?

concealer404

I know i know... medical advice on a forum blah blah blah. I'm going to a doctor anyways, i just want to have an idea of what i'm up against.

I screwed up my back again this weekend working on the car. Figured i just pulled a lower back muscle again, and that it would be fine in a couple days like usual.

Wrong.

It's getting worse. Pain in the back is worse, and now it's spreading. All the way up my back, to my neck. Neck is sore, almost locked, with a burning sensation, and it's traveling to my shoulders and down the backs of my arms, too. I can't even touch my shoulders because i can't raise my arms to that angle because my triceps feel like they're going to rip off the tendons.

Herniated disc? Nerve damage? Any ideas?

kevhed72

Hope its not serious...I have had muscular back problems since high-school as a result of football / lifting weights. The best doctor I ever had referred me to a manipulative therapist vs. a chiropracter for back issues.
Based on what you said, I would go to the doctor today...

Face

Coming from someone with herniated disks and nerve damage, go see a doctor ASAP.

concealer404

Appointment set for tomorrow at 3pm with a family doctor. Remembered that i haven't had a checkup in about 8 years, figured it was about that time. If it's severe enough, i'll get referred to a specialist.

Thanks!

thsmith

I am no doctor or play one on TV but you Really need x-rays, if it is pinched nerves which is what what the pain down your neck and arm sounds like you are most likely in to 3 times a week for about 4 weeks at a chiropracters

concealer404

thsmith wrote: »

I am no doctor or play one on TV but you Really need x-rays, if it is pinched nerves which is what what the pain down your neck and arm sounds like you are most likely in to 3 times a week for about 4 weeks at a chiropracters

That's what i'm afraid of. I'm not worried about the money, i have full coverage, so it won't cost any out of pocket, but i really don't want to go through that with my work schedule.

But gotta do what you gotta do i guess.

Thanks everyone.

Face

Chiropractors have never done anything for me except put me in worse pain. I had pretty good success with physical therapy though. YMMV.

Don't count on X-rays telling you much either. I needed a few MRI's to find out what was really wrong.

concealer404

Face wrote: »

Chiropractors have never done anything for me except put me in worse pain. I had pretty good success with physical therapy though. YMMV.

Don't count on X-rays telling you much either. I needed a few MRI's to find out what was really wrong.

Yeah... i'll do whatever diagnostics are needed, like i said, i'm not paying for it, so no biggie.


I've heard mixed feelings about chiropracters, and i can understand why, being that i actually work for my insurance company. I see what they try to push through on claims, how they try to word their questions to get the answers they want when calling for benefits, etc etc etc. I'm sure there's good ones out there, but some of them pull some really shady stuff.

I think i'm going to call again and see if i can bump up to today. I'm deteriorating pretty badly... just went out on my smoke break and can't even get the smoke up to my mouth without having to try to bend my head down. Pretty pathetic.

SolidSqual

My girlfriend has had chronic back we've been fighting for 5 years after several bad car accidents. This summer, I took her to a acupuncture specialist. He gave her many many sessions of "needle therapy" in combination with homeopathic medicine. After a few months of this for the first time in years, she's off pain killers and feeling "normal" again. It's amazing. We saw neurosurgeons, specialists galore, massage therapists, chiropractors, etc.

concealer404

SolidSqual wrote: »

My girlfriend has had chronic back we've been fighting for 5 years after several bad car accidents. This summer, I took her to a acupuncture specialist. He gave her many many sessions of "needle therapy" in combination with homeopathic medicine. After a few months of this for the first time in years, she's off pain killers and feeling "normal" again. It's amazing. We saw neurosurgeons, specialists galore, massage therapists, chiropractors, etc.

Well, just checked. My plan covers acupuncture as a pain relief, but no homeopathic medicine. Kindof expected that.

I'm hoping i can avoid medication, i've been on more than enough of that crap throughout my life.

bobman1235

My dad also claims that acupuncture helped some pain he was having, but I can't help but be skeptical, considering there have been dozens of scientific studies on acupuncture done that have shown it to be useless as anything but placebo.

SolidSqual

bobman1235 wrote: »

My dad also claims that acupuncture helped some pain he was having, but I can't help but be skeptical, considering there have been dozens of scientific studies on acupuncture done that have shown it to be useless as anything but placebo.

I am with you. I took my girl to everyone. We were desperate so we gave this guy a shot as a last resort. I will say these kind of healers are part of an industry with a bunch of frauds, but there are those who really do know the art behind it. Stay away from hippies that claim you need to detox your body.

Before acupuncture, my girlfriend's back would radiate heat. It so inflamed that I could sleep in the same bed with her with just a sheet on in the winter. Now, her back is much less tense and cool to the touch. Those are all the results I need.

SolidSqual

Cleveland Clinic approves of Acupuncture. In fact, they have a guy working there that has cured paraplegics and others with severe muscular and nervous system injuries.

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/acupuncture/hic_acupuncture.aspx

John30_30

concealer404 wrote: »

I know i know... medical advice on a forum blah blah blah. I'm going to a doctor anyways, i just want to have an idea of what i'm up against.

I screwed up my back again this weekend working on the car. Figured i just pulled a lower back muscle again, and that it would be fine in a couple days like usual.

Wrong.

It's getting worse. Pain in the back is worse, and now it's spreading. All the way up my back, to my neck. Neck is sore, almost locked, with a burning sensation, and it's traveling to my shoulders and down the backs of my arms, too. I can't even touch my shoulders because i can't raise my arms to that angle because my triceps feel like they're going to rip off the tendons.

Herniated disc? Nerve damage? Any ideas?

Something's pinching a nerve. If you blew a disc, surgery may be your only recourse. In the meantime, ice the hell out of it, and don't smoke.

SolidSqual

AVOID SURGERY AT ALL COSTS!!!! Every neurosurgeon told me this. Surgery on the back should be a last resort. It's like brain surgery . . . you may end up worse.

sTiLlLeArNiNg

Sorry to hear about your misfortune Sound's like a disc/nerve issue, the disc is probably inflamed and it's irritating the nearby nerve's causing you all your grief. Hopefully the swelling goes down quickly and you can get back to normal activities

concealer404

John30_30 wrote: »

Something's pinching a nerve. If you blew a disc, surgery may be your only recourse. In the meantime, ice the hell out of it, and don't smoke.

Hahaha touche. But what do i ice? Everything? I can't even tell where the initial "hurt" was anymore. It's just everything waist up on the back half of my body at this point.

sTiLlLeArNiNg

Try ice and heat, sometime's one work's beter than the other. Myself i need heat as ice make's thing's worse....

Start on your low back and get yourself to a rub n' tug for a happy ending

SolidSqual

Take an Epsom Salt bath too.

Face

You can pick this up in the meantime, I use it on a regular basis:


http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-7306-Capsaicin+HP+Top.aspx?drugid=7306&drugname=Capsaicin+HP+Top

Be warned, if you have sensitive skin it may not be for you. I would wear gloves while applying it, you don't want it in your eyes...or elsewhere.

WilliamM2

I agree with Face, don't let them waste your time with x-rays, get an MRI or cat scan. After months of wasting my time, a cat scan showed them what was wrong with my upper back/neck immediately.

Sadly they have tried many things to correct it, nothing has worked yet, and they say I'm not a candidate for surgery, not sure I'd want it anyways from the results I've seen on other people. Don't knock the meds, I love my Norco's, I only use it on the really bad days, but it works very well.

concealer404

WilliamM2 wrote: »

I agree with Face, don't let them waste your time with x-rays, get an MRI or cat scan. After months of wasting my time, a cat scan showed them what was wrong with my upper back/neck immediately.

Sadly they have tried many things to correct it, nothing has worked yet, and they say I'm not a candidate for surgery, not sure I'd want it anyways from the results I've seen on other people. Don't knock the meds, I love my Norco's, I only use it on the really bad days, but it works very well.

I still have an ongoing script for hydros from other various old injuries. I do the same thing... try not to take them, but only on the really bad days. I had to take one this morning, but i'm not positive it's doing anything.

John30_30

Face wrote: »

You can pick this up in the meantime, I use it on a regular basis:


http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-7306-Capsaicin+HP+Top.aspx?drugid=7306&drugname=Capsaicin+HP+Top

Be warned, if you have sensitive skin it may not be for you. I would wear gloves while applying it, you don't want it in your eyes...or elsewhere.

More to the point, don't get it on your nuts....this is great stuff for deep penetrating heat to muscle tissue, especially if you've pulled some ligaments.
It sounds almost trivial, but you'd be surprised how painful that is. I did that once and could have sworn I'd blown a spinal gasket.
Your back is like a tuned piano. I sit on Blue Ice every day because of a cracked vertebrate from a jobsite fall years ago. I can walk fine, work fine, it's just sitting that pinches the nerve.

Also there's DMSO, which is the most effective penetrant there is, but not sold in stores. Maybe Farm Supply stores for horses. I got some online.

Danny Tse

bobman1235 wrote: »

My dad also claims that acupuncture helped some pain he was having, but I can't help but be skeptical, considering there have been dozens of scientific studies on acupuncture done that have shown it to be useless as anything but placebo.

I was skeptical about acupuncture myself until I hurt my back in 1995. I hurt my back while sneezing one morning and by the end of the day, I couldn't straighten my back. At that point in time, I have no health insurance because I was about to graduate from college. However, I was still able to get help from my university's student health services. Long story short....months of back stretching exercises and popping painkillers (ibuprofen) have no effect on my back pain. I was doing better but the pain persisted. On a personal trip back to mainland China that year, my cousin there suggested I try acupuncture. I was more than wary of people poking needles into my body but since I was in pain....3 sessions within one week plus some back massages later, I have been pain free ever since. It was amazing....no drugs at all!! I don't know or understand what they did, but the result certainly made me a believer.

bobman1235

There seem to be so many stories like that that it's hard to doubt the efficacy of it. But I've read several studies where people were told they were getting acupuncture, and one half of the people would get "real" acupuncture and the other half would get "some jackass sticking needles in random places on their body but telling them it was acupuncture", and the results were identical.

Never underestimate the power of the human mind when it comes to pain management, I guess.

Willow

Face wrote: »

Coming from someone with herniated disks and nerve damage, go see a doctor ASAP.

I second that, Face and I have pretty much gone through the same crap!

TECHNOKID

concealer404 wrote: »

That's what i'm afraid of. I'm not worried about the money, i have full coverage, so it won't cost any out of pocket, but i really don't want to go through that with my work schedule.

But gotta do what you gotta do i guess.

Thanks everyone.

What ever your insurance covers, go for it and be willing to invest from your own pocket if need be.

Face wrote: »

Chiropractors have never done anything for me except put me in worse pain. I had pretty good success with physical therapy though. YMMV.

Don't count on X-rays telling you much either. I needed a few MRI's to find out what was really wrong.

On the opposite, physio therapy was always useless for me. Unfortunately the military wouldn't allow me to go with a chiropractor and I am considering it as this is the last option for me to use. You are right, X-rays are uselss. The only time they could notice the damage on my 2 discs were through scan (same as MRI's I believe??).

John30_30 wrote: »

Something's pinching a nerve. If you blew a disc, surgery may be your only recourse. In the meantime, ice the hell out of it, and don't smoke.

NO stay AWAY from surgery at ALL COSTS :eek:

SolidSqual wrote: »

AVOID SURGERY AT ALL COSTS!!!! Every neurosurgeon told me this. Surgery on the back should be a last resort. It's like brain surgery . . . you may end up worse.

Effectively, my 2 discs were chopped off (the bulging portions removed) and the vertebra were scaped from arthitis that was building up (since nothing was effectively done for years except for physio). It felt a little better for a few years (while young) but the butchery showed back worse than ever as I was aging. I even had to stop my car on the bridge as the pain and spasums going through my body made me a safety hazard on the road. Had to be taken in ambulance to the hospital... AGAIN STAY AWAY FROM SURGERY AT ALL COSTS :eek:

Your best bet is to find a reputable chiropractor or physio therapist as you want someone qualified to try put discs in their place instead of going for amputation of some of those vital parts :eek:

If you can invest in SPA sessions, going through heat and cold sessions will help ease the pain and potentially help nature to follow its healing course.

I screwed up my back again this weekend working on the car.

A good advice, stop playing the BIG tough guy (I wish I realised that back then, my back would probably be fine today ). Hard for the men ego but good for the health.

Cheers!
TK

tryrrthg

I'm in the opposite camp. I had a herniated disc about 6 or 7 years ago. I wish I had gotten surgery SOONER. I have nerve damage in both of my legs because I waited too long trying out physical therapy and what not. The nerve had been compressed too long by the time I had surgery and it was too late. I think they removed over 50% of my disc during surgery. When there is that much disc compressing the nerve nothing but surgery is going to help. If it's just a mild herniation then PT, will likely help the most.

I think I'm finding out that the key AFTER surgery is to see the physical therapist and get some exercises and KEEP doing them. I'm having more back issues now becasue I've been a lazy **** and I hate doing my core strengthening exercises. The key to a healthy back is a strong core and flexibility.

concealer404

TECHNOKID wrote: »

A good advice, stop playing the BIG tough guy (I wish I realised that back then, my back would probably be fine today ). Hard for the men ego but good for the health.

Cheers!
TK

I know this would be the smart thing to do, and i'm ANYTHING but big these days.

But due to the nature of the car, i can't really have any place work on it besides a speed shop, and so far i've got well over 50 hours of work into it. I can't sink $5,000 worth of labor into a $900 car.

What i SHOULD have done was do the engine work FIRST, THEN dropped it the 4-5 inches that i did. 4-5 inches didn't sound like a lot, but everything is at a bad angle right now, and i don't have access to my lift anymore, so everything is just a matter of bending over the engine bay.

But yes... after this episode is over, i'm taking a few months off from wrenching. I know i'm destroying myself, but it's gotta get done.

Appointment after work today. I went home last night and just laid on the couch all night, and the pain subsided a little bit. I'm much stiffer today, but not in as much pain, we'll see how sitting at the desk for 8 hours or so does. I didn't start to really deteriorate until around noon yesterday. I didn't take or bring any pain meds with me today, so hopefully it doesn't get too bad.

I appreciate everyone's input and/or support.

Willow

tryrrthg wrote: »

I think I'm finding out that the key AFTER surgery is to see the physical therapist and get some exercises and KEEP doing them. I'm having more back issues now becasue I've been a lazy **** and I hate doing my core strengthening exercises. The key to a healthy back is a strong core and flexibility.

After my first surgery, i went for PT for a little bit. it helped. After my second surgery i went for lots of PT before and after surgery and it really helped. A year later (now) I don't do the exercise he told me to do.

doggie750

Yep, with respect to the Chiropractor...stay away from them. It'll be good for a short but worse for the long term. Physical therapy is the way to go.