Buldging lower lumbar disc

[Fev]

I have severe pain constantly from a bulging disc in my lower spine which is giving me sciatica down both of my legs, all the way to my calves and ive seen a specialist hat MRI scans or whatever they were which he looked at.. and all he told me was there isnt really anything you can do about it, it should go away after a while..

Well Another 6 months on and its NOT getting better.. its getting alot worse..
im at the point where i cant stand up or sit down in the one spot for more then 5 mins without having to move from the pain, which is damn hard since i work at a computer all day and usually have to stand on the train going home..

has anyone had the same but has had somthing done about it? ive seen some things on the net but i dont know where to start in sydney..

[pb02]

Have you tried any of the following?
Massage
Acupuncture
Chiropractor
Physio Therapy

I had some back problems years ago and was told by the doctor to "take it easy". If I sat down for more than 15 minutes I literally had to get someone to help me up (about 22 years old at the time). I saw a physio and started doing some stretching and excercies and I was great after about a month.
Also had some other back problems related to various sports along with constant headaches, and my arms would get pins and needles when I slept. I found a great massage therapist and after about 4 weekly sessions I was good again.

[killerjoolz]

My hubby had the exact same thing from working in the coal mine operating machinery,and he had his operated on and after 3 months off work he is as good as gold and that was about 7 years ago now....

[mattp]

Go back to your specialist. Often surgery is put off since often the pain resolves by itself, and surgery is always better avoided if it's not entirely necessary. I'd avoid 'alternative' therapies, with nerve involvement you don't really want to put yourself in the hands of a chiropractor. Good luck.

[BFYOOT]

sounds pretty way out, but correct stretching can really help sciatic pain. if its coming from your back, surgery may be the best answer in the long run, but in the short term, stretching your lower back, butt muscles, hip, groin, hamstrings and calves can get you through the day pretty well. out of these ones, the butt and hamstring stretches are probably the most important but you have to be really diligent with them and do them regularly to help. good luck mate, i know how uncomfortable sciatic pain can get

[Fev]

yeah the stretching feels like somthing shoving one of those huge novelty pens right into my pressure point..

just standing normally it just feels like there is a pen just squeezed into the pressure point, not shoved lol.. im really getting to the point where i dont want to go out anymore cuz it hurts so bad.. main reason why i quit working at maccas, although i think working there made it worse

[FRDGAL]

I had Sciatica in the left side caused by a prolapsed lower disc. Went to get out of bed one morning and click! I didn't realise what it was at first. For a few days I had a strange partial numbness from my back all the way to my toes. Went to the doctor and got told that not much could be done about it and that it would heal on it's own but I was told that weight loss would help relieve it. For me, it went away after a few months but I still have after effects from it. Two toes on the left foot are permanently partially numb now because it took so long for the sciatic nerve to heal. Physio and accupuncture is what helped me.

Krissy.

[Laminge]

Welcome to my world some 2 years ago, I had 2 completely prolapsed discs, they dont repair themselves, an operation that placed a small plate in the spinal column was required, thank god that biting sciatica pain was some what relieved

Trust me, with a bulging disc you dont want to be manipulated by a chiro or physio.

I tried both and ended up with permanent nerve damage to the right leg.

A neurosurgeon is your best bet, if your not happy with one, find another.

If you want any details send me a pm, but I am in Melb

Edit
Sorry there is a difference between bulging and prolapsed.

[Fev]

prolapsed is where the disc has actually burst isnt it? sounds somewhat worse but DAMN it doesnt matter, even the bulge is unbearable

[ebxr8240]

Whatever you do DON'T keep taking pain killers or antinflamitories.. They wreck your liver, stomach lining and kidneys..
Light excersise and stretching should help...

[Fev]

i dont take anything for it.. yeah im a real man






who cant handle the pain anymore. im seeing a gp to get some references for neurosurgeons soon.. i saw a specialist in the san hospital in sydney last year and he just told me theres nothin you can do, see physio or somthing.

[fmc351]

Back stuffs shocking. Mate of mine had a plate placed in his in the 90's, he had a minorish car accident about 3-4 years ago and a screw separated from his spine (stripped the thread so to speak in his bone). He officially has a screw loose, no Im not kidding.

The x-rays are freaky. One screw has bone all round it, the other has space.

[henry 351]

Fev,

I comment as follows, I'm not a doctor, so do your homework.

I had a bulging disc rupture 3 years ago, it crushed my spinal cord causing unbelievable pain. I spent 3 months in hospital and 18 months learning to walk again. I still have numbness and some pain, but I'm back to around 80%.

I would only suggest mild physio (i.e. needling/massage) to help reduce any muscle spasming that may be putting additional pressure on the disc.

Hydrotherapy can also help as you can do mild stretching and core muscle exercise to help stabilise your back.

I would steer away from chiropractors as twisting and "crunching" is the last thing you want.

I've had the bulge problem reappear, so I'm off to the specialist next week after waiting 6 weeks to get in....and that's with an "urgent" referral. Fingers crossed...

[Fev]

my homework is currently happening, im asking here because the specialist said 1 in 5 people have the same thing whethere severely or mild... some dont even know as its so minor it isnt painful. i just want t know more about it.

[BAFalconXT]

My back is stuffed, one disk is completely worn out, a couple are bulging. I was on workcover for a while, and I don't know anyone who has had an operation on their bulging disks who has got better. ONLY as a last resort should you have one, otherwise live with the pain. Doctors in Australia wont give out pain releif, only lollies like Panadene Forte.

Physio and massage can make a bulging disk worse, if you have pain down your legs then it is putting pressure on nerves. I had injections in my spine, which can work, but probably wont last long.

[Fev]

i just want it gone.. its taken all my flexibility.. good luck workin on cars with it! which it look me like 40mins each wheel to change the damn brakes cuz i had to stop every 5 mins and stretch or lay down

wish there was somthing i could blame for it, would make me feel a bit better.. but i cant

[Laminge]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Whatever you do DON'T keep taking pain killers or antinflamitories.. They wreck your liver, stomach lining and kidneys..
Light excersise and stretching should help...

7 Years on Anti Inflams, 12 years on pain killers, the only healthy organ is my Liver!

[BAFalconXT]

You just have to learn to act like an old man, and get your mates to do more work for you. It will cost you more in beer, but it will not hurt your back for the next week.

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by Laminge

.... the only healthy organ is my Liver!

You sure you dont want to rephrase that?

[BAFalconXT]

Originally Posted by fmc351

You sure you dont want to rephrase that?

If your back is stuffed, your other organs are not that well off either.

[Fev]

lol nah if i had my mates do it (who all drive commo's) it woulda been out when that huge hailstorm hit instead of in my garage

[FRDGAL]

Originally Posted by Fev

prolapsed is where the disc has actually burst isnt it? sounds somewhat worse but DAMN it doesnt matter, even the bulge is unbearable

As my doctor explained it to me, a prolapsed disc is when the outer part of the disc ruptures (I think) and then allows the soft part of it to press on nerves or ligaments. I'm sure that's how it was explained to me, it was that long ago.

Also, I should have explained in my other post that my pain was not cured by physio or accupuncture, it was the sciatica that was relieved by those 2 methods. I still live with back pain every single day and sometimes it's so bad that I limp with pain so just to explain, I still have the problem but not with the nerve.

Have you tried physio or spoken to a therapist about whether that is an option suited for your injury?

Krissy.

[Fev]

ive been to physio and it helped alot for a while but it didnt make it dissapear.. i could walk around for more then 2 hours without lookin like i was hiding a giant hard on though

im still limping around though

[Fev]

Im looking for more of a permanent thing then physio, it would work for a week and then start killin again so i want a cure!! lol...

im not sure how i even got it.. probably riding around or somthing when i used to go mountain biking but what i think set it off even worse was falling off a 10 ft wall onto concrete while i was drunk at schoolies lookin for my hat around the hotel... i landed on my feet!.. but then fell straight on my *** lol

[mcnews]

I tried everything and Accupuncture immediately followed by deep tissue massage is by far the best for me. Nothing else does anything really but the naturopath I see always gets me settled now.

My L5/S1 was lopped and both the surgeon and anaeshetist told me it was the biggest disc bulge they had ever seen. L4/L5 is also shot but maintaining.

I did all the exercises, lose weight etc. before I had to end up having the operation on the L5/S1, I had pretty much all symptoms gone then woke up one morning and couldn't get up, rang a mate to drag me out of bed to doctors, from there it was CT then MRI then into hospital the same day. I was walking around the ward an hour after surgery, swimming up to 4km a day 10 weeks after surgery.

Because of the damage done there is some residual nerve affects that cramp the muscle under my calf etc. but mainly it is the back muscles and glutes getting pulled all out of shape as they try to cope with the differences etc. Accupuncture is the ONLY thing that does anything for me at all. Everything else I tried was a total waste of time.

I am no airy-fairy alternative type I assure you. But for me Accupuncture has been an answer to my prayers.

[mcnews]

Trust me mate, give accupuncture a go. Apart from the fella around my way I normally go to for the accupuncture follwed by dep tissue massage I sometimes get this old Chinese woman that does it. She is seriously hard core and is incredible. Just from feel and a very limited command of English she has found things on my body that are undetectable to the eye and I had nearly forgotten about and then relates them to other things. They see it all as bloodflow, damage buggers the bloodflow up, they get the blood moving again etc. It is sometime damn freaky the stuff she knows just from working my body. She looked at my scar once on my back, and she said, you come see me before operation and you no need no operation... And you know what, I reckon the old hag could have been right too. Wish I had found this stuff years ago.

[Fev]

So you got the surgery which helped quite a bit and then got accupuncture+massages for like a sort of Rehab thing to fix all the muscles?

what type of surgery was it?

[Fev]

Originally Posted by mcnews

Trust me mate, give accupuncture a go. Apart from the fella around my way I normally go to for the accupuncture follwed by dep tissue massage I sometimes get this old Chinese woman that does it. She is seriously hard core and is incredible. Just from feel and a very limited command of English she has found things on my body that are undetectable to the eye and I had nearly forgotten about and then relates them to other things. They see it all as bloodflow, damage buggers the bloodflow up, they get the blood moving again etc. It is sometime damn freaky the stuff she knows just from working my body. She looked at my scar once on my back, and she said, you come see me before operation and you no need no operation... And you know what, I reckon the old hag could have been right too. Wish I had found this stuff years ago.

if thats right then ill definately be checkin that sorta thing out.. wonder if acupuncture can make you lose weight too? lol id like to drop about 15kg's.. i cant be bothered buying new clothes either, all my good shirts i cant fit into anymore and they were expensive!!

[mcnews]

I had the accupuncture etc. before the operation, it settled everything down real well but in the end it was so cactus it came right out anyway. I guarantee you if you find a good accupuncturist that combines it with some deep tissue work you will get good relief.

[Fev]

im looking for a permanent kinda thing with a trip to a therapist every now and then. how many times a week do you go to the therapist?