Injured my back this weekend and now have a pinched nerve in my low spine. Holy fucking hell.

Can't dress myself, can't drive. Can barely, and I mean barely, get myself up an down to use the facilities.

Steroid shot, prednisone, muscle relaxers, pain killers, ice/heat, and I can just barely function.

Those of you with chronic back problems, I don't know how you survive. Three days of this shit and I'm a wreck.

Sounds rough. I've had my share, but none for a few years, now. (Knock on wood.)

Nothing like a pinched nerve to get your attention!

Maybe try this:
After laying down for a while (to relax your back) try moving your hips from side to side, front to back or around in a circle.
Most of the time, this will help to get things moving in the right direction.

Good luck!

Nerve pain is some of the craziest most intense pain ever. Quite a few of us have posted similar here. Worth reading. Even when it heals on its own it takes months. Little helps and the pain is often not where the injury is. Mine knotted my back and lit up my arm. I had to ice my neck to get even the slightest relief. Meds only helped a little and not for very long.

I feel this. Back in 2018 I did a whole fortnight in construction. During this time, apparently I moved the wrong way while carrying a piece of uni-strut or conduit (unknown which). Combined with a fall down the stairs a few years earlier and my left foot went numb.

All this time (and a lot of medication, imaging, and PT) later, and they still have zero clue what the fuck happened or what to do about it other than pain medication, but it's not numb any more (though sometimes I wish it were). All we know for sure is that they saw some issues around L5-S1 when they X-rayed me on my initial presentation. I'm 34, not diabetic, nor do I have high blood pressure or really many other markers for other conditions causing the issues. I do know that I tend toward strange culprits (for example, my cubital tunnel syndrome was rooted in a congenital issue resulting in a muscle that's not supposed to be covering and pressing on the ulnar nerve).

I had it beat back in 2019, so I was confident that I could beat it again. Now I'm not so sure. The frustration is palpable.

Vulrath

Good Morning and thank you for posting the inforamtion.

I have been battling the same issues for years but I never knew it had a name. cubital tunnel syndrome will be brought up if I can ever get an appt again.

I still battle the SI joint problem where I hurt it years ago. Same days I am golden and can lift a truck the other days taking cookies out of the oven kills me.

Next up shoulder and wrist..

My wife showed this to me, me, and it really helps:

Stand with your toes on some sort of a platform with your heels hanging over the edge. A staircase works well for this, facing upstairs and holding on to the railing.

Slowly, gently, keeping your weight on the forward part of your foot, lower your heels. That will stretch your back; it usually provides relief for me.

My wife had a slipped disk which pinched the nerves running to her left leg and foot. It went untreated for several years other than steroid shots and pain pills. Her leg and foot got numb to the point she couldn’t walk. She finally went to a doctor who did an MRI and the MRI showed her disks had fused together and totally pinched off the nerve. The doctor told us unless this was corrected she would never walk again. He also told us the nerve had likely been damaged and should have been corrected years earlier. She recently had serious back surgery (she was in surgery over 8 hours). The doctors were able to decompress the spine and relieve the nerve but it will take considerable time before we know if the nerve will heal and give her complete function of her foot again. The point of this story is, I suggest anyone with serious back or nerve injuries see the best specialist they can find as soon as possible.

quote:

Originally posted by mrapteam666:
Vulrath

Good Morning and thank you for posting the inforamtion.

I have been battling the same issues for years but I never knew it had a name. cubital tunnel syndrome will be brought up if I can ever get an appt again.

I still battle the SI joint problem where I hurt it years ago. Same days I am golden and can lift a truck the other days taking cookies out of the oven kills me.

Next up shoulder and wrist..

Cubital tunnel surgery changed my life. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

You can treat yourself and hopefully get some relief by wrapping a folded hand towel around the affected elbow at bedtime. The objective is to keep you from bending your arm in your sleep. Kind of a ghetto solution but it's way more comfortable than the brace I got from the ortho. Should at least get you through until you can see the doctor.

I did forget to mention that I did have an MRI done in 2020. According to the neurologist it looks better than most people my age. I see the folks at the pain clinic again Friday; I plan on asking if they have looked at it and if new/more imaging would help. I'm not a wimp when it comes to pain (quite the opposite - I've got a pretty high pain tolerance) but this has been something else. Some of the worst pain I've ever felt, and that's including the second degree burns I got in the summer of 2019 (making soup; still haven't lived that down with my family).

I know the manual transmission isn't helping but it's worth having to keep a cane in the trunk for particularly bad days.

Funny finding this post at this moment… I’m on the couch with sciatic pain in my right hip driving me F’ing *MAD*. Drugs aren’t helping, I’ve tried all the tricks I know with no relief. Injections are scheduled for next week but I don’t know how I’ll make it that long. I need Valium!

Pain killers don’t work on nerve pain. When I had a smushed disk pressing on a nerve, I was given gabapentin. It really helped until I was able to get a series of shots of steroid into my spine.

I still have the feeling of tingling in my left palm, thumb and two fingers….but it’s nothing like the feeling of having you arm dipped in lava.

Best of luck.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Pain killers don’t work on nerve pain. When I had a smushed disk pressing on a nerve, I was given gabapentin. It really helped until I was able to get a series of shots of steroid into my spine.

I still have the feeling of tingling in my left palm, thumb and two fingers….but it’s nothing like the feeling of having you arm dipped in lava.

Best of luck.

Yup, Im taking a drug called Horizant that’s some kind of gabapentin derivative. Also just finished a steroid pack, no luck with either.

I had pain in my right hip for years. Kind of figured I'd have to live with it for the rest of my life.

Then, around a month ago I went from carrying IWB at 4:30 to IWB at 3:00.

Pain's gone and my back is normal again.

Oh, know how you feel. Pinched nerves are one of the worst to deal with. I pinched a nerve years ago, probably at work, (factory). Leg started going numb, traveling up to my hip.
Couldn’t get comfortable, made a dr appt, but kept messing with my leg, I was rotating my ankle and it popped very loudly. Startled me, but within 20 minutes, the discomfort and numbness started leaving. Kept the appt, and I had fixed it, with that ankle.
Another time, I threw my back out, and I was in pain constantly. At this time, I had started seeing a chiropractor, and it did help, but I kept re injuring it off and on. The chiro was tapping on a spot at the hip, small of my back to put it back in.
It was December, and icy. Went to work, started to get out of my suv, and slid on the ice. I managed to kind of hold on to the door, but still fell. I landed on exactly the spot that the chiro had been tapping on. I mean exactly. After the soreness left from the fall, my back felt fantastic. Even the chiro was shocked.
I hope you get it resolved, pain like that is horrible. I do believe in chiropractic care, might look into it. Good luck.

Have you tried a TENS unit? It helped me when I messed up my back.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Pain killers don’t work on nerve pain. When I had a smushed disk pressing on a nerve, I was given gabapentin. It really helped until I was able to get a series of shots of steroid into my spine.

I still have the feeling of tingling in my left palm, thumb and two fingers….but it’s nothing like the feeling of having you arm dipped in lava.

Best of luck.

Narcotics do work, just not well enough. I've been on Lyrica (pregabalin) since 2016 for my arms/hands, and later for my leg and thumb (table saw). My neurologist, hand surgeon and I all came to the conclusion that I'm on the max dose I can be on without the side effects ruining my day.

I'm no wimp but it's safe to say that without that and pain meds together I wouldn't be functional at all right now. I'm still in agony right now but daily activities are much more tolerable.

I hope you recover soon. Nerve pain sucks. I got rear ended by the same car twice in probably 20 seconds. Pinched nerve around C5 C6 affecting the arm. Not even close to what you are experiencing. Extra prayers for you bulldog.

quote:

Originally posted by vulrath:

I've been on Lyrica (pregabalin) since 2016

I had big-time nerve pain in my foot due to Guillain Barré. Neurologist started me on Lyrica. Not good. My primary care doc switched me to gabapentin instead of the Lyrica. The gabapentin worked much better for me.

V-tail, we had opposite reactions. I gave the gabapentin a month at 300mg 2x/day and had no relief. The Lyrica started working at 50mg 2x/day in a week. I'm now at 150 2x/day and have been stable there since 2018.

I would be willing to try to wean off (or at least down) if my back/leg issues can be resolved.

A couple bulging discs years ago that pinched a nerve and would literally put me on the ground on my ass while the pain shot through my back and left leg.
One time I had to have my then wife and a friend help me get out of my car when I got home.

Direct injection of cortisone into my spine helped but I finally went to a chiropractor who a friend recommended. I was skeptical but after a few weeks of adjustments, I was much better. Coupled with a stretching program, it helped ALOT.

Hope you get better. I've always said that tooth pain and back pain will bring the strongest person to their knees.