Back Problems....

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Mikeul50

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Hello gentlemen...
Have the L4, L5 & S1 in he lower back and a few vertebrae in between the shoulder blades all screwed up and a neck issue to boot....
Was wondering if any of you fine gentlemen (and I use that term loosely) on general principle of course) have had a series of the shots up and down the spine and if it has helped any long term.... I am heading in Friday for an exam by a second doctor and get an assessment of possibilities for aid....this sucks...weighing very heavily on any aspect of a hunting season let alone work for my handyman business...
Thanks...
:wall:
 
Shots only cover up whatever pain you have. I have c5 c6 & c7 fused and a titanium plate & 6 screws holding everything in place in my NECK. I WORK 55-60 hrs. a week driving for UPS, I Trap Shoot, Hunt, Tire Changer & Fuel our Super Late Model Race Car. :yeah: Now What was your question. :lol: I'm not one to set back and take handout for the GOVERMENT.
 
Squezer...
It's good that you are able to do all that you say you do at the ripe age of 63....
My problems have been lurking for many years but finally coming to the front as not
only to hinder my 50 year old body...but it will definitely take away from my traipsing through the Rocky mountains with my one and only 12 year old son...never having had the chance to hunt with my own dad and now not being able to teach my kid some of the things I have had to learn on my own doesn't set well with me....my problems are results of working hard...not playing hard....busting my butt in construction jobs to make someone else's pocketbook more full then mine is leaving me short of being able to enjoy the little things....
I know that the needle is a short time cure...but the doctor's won't fuse or plate me because of "my desire to not sit around"....I still work through all the pain...just can't get rid of the pain when I am finished working for the day or week...the pain just lingers until i need to move again...
I watch every step I take...
 
I have had the shots, did not help. Been battling problem for long time, loosing weight and stretching has been the only long term help for me. Core strength training meaning abdomen and back, thinking of your body like a cylinder when working out. Also using a mid back pillow driving and a pillow between legs if sleeping on your side. Hope this helps
 
Ps I am 49 with a two and half year old daughter . It is tuff to work out but more important as we get older .
 
The shots never helped me. Surgery cured the issue.
 
I just had a epidural in my lower back a couple months ago. I was at the point of walking with a cane or holding onto a shopping cart to stay upright. Just hit me out of the blue, I picked up a small bench on my porch and went to my knee's and fell to my side it hurt that bad. That shot worked great for me. I didn't get relief first day but I could tell I was getting better day by day and as of now no more pain in the lower back. My pain ran from my lower back down into the crotch then leg. Doc said it may take up to 3 treatments to help if at all but one did the trick. The shoulder pain got that also. Runs from my spine out to each side in the blade area. I go back in Jan for the start of shots there. If it works as well as the lower back one did that would be great. Lucky I got a great pain doctor who don't just give you a script for a bunch of pill's and send you home like some want to do. Don't get me wrong I do have on hand some strong pain med's but only take one when it gets to the point I can't sleep for the pain. They make my head fuzzy as if I am not fuzzy headed enough already.
 
I have suffered with back pain, mostly sciatica for many years. Some days I can hardly walk. Although I find the more I get moving, the less pain there is. I do walk with a cane now, and like the other said, a shopping cart is a blessing. I hate to guess how much this will increase as I get older and older. My doctor gave me the same speech, loose weigh, exercise more, and stretch.
 
I had neck surgery to "trim" a couple herniated discs in my neck. (C5-C7 I believe) back in 1989. And now have bad arthritis there. My lower back is a mess but as long as I am careful and move slowly I'm OK. It has a habit of just starting to spasm for no reason at all. Sometimes knocking me right down to my knees. Regular stretching exercise helps keep the muscles loose but I also have medications for spasms and pain on hand at all times.
 
My father has had 13 back surgery's he had the shots to no effect, if the shots don't work for you please research and find a GOOD doctor. 3 of my father's surgery's were to fix his back 10 were to fix the surgeons mistakes. He spent 2 years in a wheel chair 2 years with a walker and I'm not sure how many years with a cane to be able to walk. It's been 15 years now and still to this day he will be walking along and his legs will randomly quit working. But like sqezer my dad does work 50-60 hours a week and drives an IMCA hobby stock on Saturday nights.
 
I knew there had to be "some" out there that have dealt with this...I am not alone...just not glad to join the club...not a good one to be a part of....literally...not good...
Well I did go to a second doctor..(actually a physician's aid)...he showed me the resulting pictures of the mri...he just kept saying " doesn't look so bad to me"....
Talked me into the series of ten shot in the muscles from top to bottom...did absolutely no good....
Just after the exam with pa I had a time set with my chiropractor...he had a link to the whole mri...not just a picture of two....he went through it a couple times before he said anything..just kept shaking his head..he has been a chiro for over 20 years and goes for refreshment courses continuously....he turned around and said basically "how are you feeling....because you shouldn't be walking"....he then showed me the mri and went though it thoroughly....the disc of the S1/L5, L5/L4 & L4/L3 are severely bulged...the L3/L2 isnt there..that is bone on bone.....the swelling of the lower disc has caused major compression in the nerves....and the loss of disc in the L3/L2 is completely collapsed..total compression on those nerves.....all he would say after that is that I need to have extensive work done so the lower disc don't rupture and the upper gets replaced..the nerves holes need cleaned and resized to allow for
movement....he will not do any stretching or correction on me until something is done...
He called my primary care doctor and basically was told he didn't know what he was talking about...he also made contact for me to a specialist that he researched for his 80 year old mother....she lives just around the corner from me...is upright and walking like nothing has bothered her other than childbirth....ha...
Well..my wife, son and I all had deer and elk tags for this fall...they both harvested their
mule deer and our son got his first idaho elk...the deer died close enough that there was not much burden for retrieval...but the kids elk was up on top of a big ridge...no way I was going to make two hikes up the mountain....so i gutted it, sewed it back together, double hitched the head with a lenght of rope and I drug that elk down that ridge for a mile....there wasn't enough slope for it to slide or roll anywhere....but I wish I could have....one elk was enough....no way I could do a second....I just returned from a whitetail hunt to the north of Sabotloader....beautiful country up there....didn't expect all those trees....made me think of hunting blacktail in the home state of Oregon....
I hunted as hard as I could for 5 days....I hunted through some awesome looking country (by foot)...through brush, under and over trees...it was fun....but every evening I hurt so bad I didn't think I would be able to move the next day...and I drug the knight ul tralite with me each day....had deer as close as 15 yards...just couldn't put antlers on a couple..so I didn't get to pop one with the mzldr....the last afternoon while driving back to another hunting spot we spotted a buck about 1 1/2 miles away up in a unit...but being there was but two or three hours left of the season I grab the 280 ackley improved....after fighting through sometimes 3' of brush and snow I finally got what I was there after....a whitetail....last couple minutes of light....100 yards away...that deer fell to a single offhand shot....and the buck ran out of the brushpile to live for another season...I got a doe....game over....
I hunted as hard as I physically could...each day...and I paid a price...I could feel swelling in the lower spine...but I had to get the quest over...and I am happy as hell I got a deer...first deer in about four years.....
Now I have to get some work done...get back in touch with this specialist...and see what can be done for my back....
 
I feel your pain. At 39 I had herniated L2/L3, and L5/S1. Pain like nothing else. Surgery wasn't recommended, so I had physical therapy. I was active duty AF, and moved a few times, so I saw several physical therapists. And chiropractors, and massage therapists. Some PT's were good, and helpful, and others, not so much. The best PT showed me Pilates exercises. Anna Caban's Beginning Mat Workout was a God-send. Then I discovered that yoga was the perfect compliment to pilates. Never would have thought I'd be doing either of those, but there it is. I'd thought those kind of things were for women and vegetarians. Finally, I met a guy that does Thai massage. That gave me my life back more than anything. I'm 55 now, and in better condition than I was 18 years ago. I do pilates and yoga on a regular basis, and haven't had to have PT or pain killers in years. And I hunt the mountains of Idaho for deer and elk, and usually by myself. Okay, I don't go more than about two miles in, by myself, with an elk tag in my pocket, but that's better than I'd do at 40. I can't imagine what my life would be like now, without pilates, yoga, and Thai massage.
 
FredB...
Good to hear that you keep going......
I have a lady that I do alot of work for....she nicknamed me her "slave"....
She has tried to get me into yoga with her....but after just a couple hours work I don't move so good any longer....takes awhile to recover....
I walk some on cooler days..but this hasn't been the best season for that...average of 90 since June...
Have had a series of shots and electricity in the spine to try and relieve issues...but so far i just have to endure it....
I too live in Idaho...South East....Inkom...lots of mountains to hike..but the only time i have for that will be during the hunting seasons....winter is coming and I need to keep busy til the last minute...just don't know how much work there will be thru winter...
Thanks for the ideas.....who knows...I may and up in yoga and doing Pilates as well...
 
Have had two surgeries on my back,have a bunch of metal in there now.go to a pain management clinic for dope for pain.had lots of shots only a short time pain soloution.maybe you will be diffrent.good luck tho keep us posted on how your doing.
 
Bearman...indeed two surgeries are not what I want to have...but evetually I foresee it in the future.....just whether I get it early enough in life to get things working again before a surgery won't do any good for me....
Dr. keeps asking how things are going..all I can say is that my work days are getting shorter because I can't spend all day humped over working on whatever project i may be trying to accomplish.....was on a roof the other day for 5 hours....not good...
Find that because of my bone problems my muscles are often really sore at the end of a day....an extremely hot shower and a full blown heating pad are my only recovery items....I don't like meds much.....would rather know when it is time to stop for the day then be half awake running tools, climbing ladders, on a roof or driving myself to my destinations....
Some day things will get better.....hopefully I will get my two inches of height replaced in my spine....and I can stand upright again.....
Been trying to get my 13 year old son on steroids...pack the deer or elk and ME out of the woods......but the wife doesn't like that idea.......
Keep healthy....
 
Haksaw76 said:
I have had the shots, did not help. Been battling problem for long time, loosing weight and stretching has been the only long term help for me. Core strength training meaning abdomen and back, thinking of your body like a cylinder when working out. Also using a mid back pillow driving and a pillow between legs if sleeping on your side. Hope this helps

Trust me, it will help. I've been using https://hovement.com/best-down-alternative-pillows/ pillows for the same purposes after a recommendation from my doc and so far so good. This was after I had suffered with back pain, mostly sciatica for many years. Some days I could hardly walk. Apart from those pillows reccomendation, my doctor advised me to device ways to loose weight, exercise more, and stretch.All the same, I thank him most for the pillow advice.
 
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