Physical Therapy for lower back...

[traceann]

Ok, after reading another's post on her nighttime woundings, (I won't mention your name ok Sarojini?? LMAO!!) and talk of PT for backs, I decided to ask myself!

Tuesday I went to my doc for a follow-up appt and decided to talk to her about this horrible lower back pain I have been dealing with. Started maybe 2 years ago. I remember the first time I dealt with it, it was after a fishing trip. We were on the run in and the person driving (we were on another Capt's boat - good friend) was hellbent for leather and hit a wave wrong. It felt like the boat was dropped on concrete - that sudden stop thing. Well, hubby and I weren't sitting on a seat with a back, and it jarred me pretty good. So, I know this pain came on after that, as the next few trips out I was more content to stay home as my lower right side of my back was hurting. Kind of in the hip area. But have never been able to say - "a-ha! That's the culprit!"

Then along came the actual IC diagnosis - I thought "hooray! I now have a reason for this backache!!!" It went away for a bit once bladder started to calm, but then it became the harbinger of my colitis problems. When it would start, I knew it was going to be a long day/night ahead of me. Once I got that under control, it went away again - so I thought it was due to the intestinal problems. I had a few months of no pain, until recently it's back with a vengance. I have slept with a pillow between my knees for ages now, and it's to the point it wakes me up whenever I roll over. It starts to hurt so bad I have to get out of bed, can't stand it any longer. It will either affect one hip or both even, and last week felt the need to shoot down my right leg, ugh. It will feel a bit better, once up, but I know my mattress is shot, so that's NOT helping.

So, anyway, to the point of my post, lol. The doc had me do a few bending tricks, and poked around my abdominal area (as I told her I was freaking out thinking something bad was happening inside, lol) and she deemed yes, it's definitely your back. Ok, now what? She had me go and get a back x-ray and she scheduled me for Physical Therapy and gave me a Rx for Darvocet to just take at bedtime (fine with me, all I want to do is sleep instead of being woke up every hour or so...ugh). Does physical therapy help? And what do they do to you? I am afraid of it causing me more pain, and I have plenty of that, thank you, lol. (I found out just how used to the pain I am when I took a Darvocet the other night - I would kind of wake up and EXPECT to hurt, it was weird not hurting!)

Any help would be greatly appreciated, ;) !!!

:)

[armslee]

Tracey honey, I wished I had an answer for you! My PT is supposed to treat my low back pain too which she hasn't started doing yet (you just jogged my memory though about that!!)

If I were guessing it would be strengthening exercises. My doctor had a hard time believing that all my back pain was from my IC, but after my Laproscopy was (-) for endo he had nothing else to blame it on!

For temporary pain relief, have you tried TENS, heat and NSAIDS?

[traceann]

Oh darn, you are supposed to have all the answers Wendi!! :smile tee LOL Just teasing! That's what I was thinking too, the strengthening exercises etc. I was given them many moons ago, probably 15-16 yrs ago and I never did quite get to where they helped - but I was on my own completely, no one but me to answer to, lol!!!

My heating pad works to an extent, I don't have a TENS unit (:bonk: drag, lol) and I would LOVE to take my NSAIDS again, but my poor stomach will have none of them. :tsk: I would kill to be able to take Motrin for period cramps!! LMAO!! And my bladder doesn't mind them either, go figure. So, it's me and the occasional Darvocet to deal with, lol. I mean, it worked great, no pain until this morning sometime and I had taken it Tuesday night! So that's pretty good, I think! I just want to fix the problem, ugh. Like I told my doc, I have a feeling now, that all my various assorted afflictions, lol, aggrivate my back, since it was here first, lmao!! Which kind of helps me feel better instead of thinking something really horrible was going on inside..eeek!!!

HUGS!!! :smile tee

[armslee]

Well if you do make it back to PT that is how I got my TENS. I wear mine like a fashion accessory now :lmao: I took off the unit during lunch but the lead wires are hanging about 12" out of the waist of my pants. It really does make for an intersting fashion statement, don't ya know!! :smile tee
Besides, I get some interesting comments when I am out and about. I should make up something really good to tell people :evilsmile

[poetgirl]

Did the doctor say what part of your back was affected? Were x-rays or CAT scans done? There are any number of things that can be contributing to your pain.

Exercises will help strengthen your core to help support your back, but you also need to treat any inflammation and compression (nerve and/or disk) that is making this flare up. (As far as exercise goes, you may want to try yoga because it is not too strenous, which will be a relief to your bladder and GI tract too.) I have chronic back problems, usually in my neck, but more recently in my low back/sacrum. I got tired of the spine doc run-around and taking pills that made me feel woozy or didn't do much of anything at all, so I finally went to a chiropractor who also has an on-site massage therapist. The adjustments make a huge difference, as does the massage/trigger point release work.

I had a really bad episode with my neck in early Oct that sent me to the ER. I went to the spine doc after that and all he could recommend was PT and some muscle relaxers. I had done PT before for my neck with limited success, and the muscle relaxers turned me into a zombie or made it impossible to get up in the morning. That's when I went to the chiropractor and I'm doing a lot better than I have in years.

I also put ice packs on any painful areas, because it helps even better than heat at reducing pain and inflammation, at least on my low back. (If my neck gets out of whack, I usually do have to alternate heat and ice.) You can also try Icy/Hot, Tiger Balm or Arnica gel which are muscle rubs that help with discomfort and inflammation. I use Arnica gel most of the time because it doesn't have that mentholated smell, but you also don't get the warm/cool sensation on your skin which some people like.

Hope this helps and that you feel better soon! :grouphug:

[traceann]

Thanks girls!! Wendi, I got giggling thinking of you decorating your TENS depending on what your wearing that day, lmao!!!!!

Yup Poetgirl, she did a "complete lower back x-ray" series on me Tuesday, when I was there. So, not sure what she's thinking at present. She didn't really go into too much detail on her thoughts as I think she wanted to wait for the films. I was even thinking nerve problems, like sciatica as it was radiating down my leg a couple times. It stinks as where I live, anything non-traditional (even counting chiro's in that for the sake of making it easy) is hard to come by. There isn't one Chiro I can think of in a 50+ mile radius I'd let work on me. :( It drives me crazy - my insurance will even pay for that and accupuncture, but the closest I'll get to accumpuncture is my hubby with my tomato pin cushion (or fish hooks??) LMAO!!!:bonk: It stinks sometimes living in the land of nothing. I had checked into PFD therapists - nope we have none of them either. We don't even have a GI doc, I would have to drive an hour to 2 hours to get to one!!! Oops, turning into a medical vent here, lol.

I was hoping that Curves would help strengthen the body as well, and help it out. It has helped to some degree, but not what I was striving for. I will look and see if I can find an Arnica preparation though! ICY/HOT and those things like it give me hives, lol. (Geez, is there any help for me?? LMAO!!! :shake: ) I loved a lip balm that had arnica as the main ingredient and it healed my dried cracked and even bleeding lips in like 3-4 days of use!! Thanks for the tip! I can even ask my mom-in-law to check where she lives, (Detroit area) as I am sure she could find it there somewhere!!!!

Thanks again girls! :angel: Every little bit of info is a HUGE help to me!!!!

[grandmax2]

Hi everyone ! I was wondering.... Does anyone here know of any good low back strengthening exercises I can do. To strengthen my back and the rest of my body... Any responses would be appreciated....

[Betsie]

Tracey!!!!

OMG!!! I feel like you are telling my story with a few variations! I went out on a boat in a hurricane day (actually very beauthiful, but the sea was choppier than we thought at first and the storm had moved out to sea...) anyway, it was Labor Day of 2004 and we hit a major wake coming into the harbor and I can still feel how hard I hit the seat, even cushioned, I hit so hard, I felt my spine was going to pop out the top of my head.

Low back problems since, but not so new for me, a long history with me...but I do think of this day from time to time....

Fast forward: last year onset of UC (ugh) which I do think I had been putting up with for sometime, not Dxd until October. :confused:

This year, late winter, fell and landed hard on knees...yup, it was nasty and I did the initial Tx for an acute injury: ice, elevation etc. wounds and bruising healed and I almost forgot about it. as time wore on my symptoms changed from low backache to legs, knees and stiffness. pain like I can't remember. I was tested for everything known, all the rheumetoid diseases etc. Symptoms kept changing, which made it even more frustrating and walking became a major issue. Scared the heck out of me. More tests and an MRI...some stuff like discs, etc, but nothing alarming.

I remembered the fall, which during this time I wasn't thinking of. It wasn't so bad after a few days.

The result is I ended up seeing a physiatrist as my PCP was scratching his head on where to turn. I have a dislocated pelvis and twisted sacrum!

Yes, I am in PT and it is brutal, but I have to continue, at least for one more round. I am worse right now, so seeing a specialty PTist next week and if that isn't of benefit it will be time to head up to the city to see the big boys.

I am away for the summer which makes this harder as I am out of plan, but the car rides home are horrid. I have never minded a long drive. Until recently...

So from hip through groin to knees I am one twisted mess and in agony. So, the moral of this story is do get checked and rechecked, I was trying to suck it up for 3 months and finally Dxd partially the 4th...I can't tell you how the lack of Tx early has made this worse and I sooooooooooo sympathize with your pain.

I am supposed to go boating tmro, and though it is a much larger one with very cushy lounging areas, I am reluctant. My Dr said it can be brutal for existing spine conditions. I might crawl to the beach instead. The sitting kills me, but the sun/heat feels so good.:)

I am sorry this is a novel, but our tales seem too similar and I just want you to get TX/Dx sooner than I did. I just thought a sore back was a sore back...little did I know, I am paying now for all the time I ignored this.:loco:

Good luck!!!! I will be sent into the city, but am not sure if anyone knows if it is neuro, ortho or otherwise, so until they can tell me more, I am sticking with the therapy.:rolleyes:

Feel better, my heating pad is my "lover" these days and I am just hoping this twingy flare I am feeling is hormonal and not related to the injury! Ack!!!

Not a stellar post, but hope it makes some sense! Feel better!