It sucks. My back is fucked up, has been for the past 5+ years (likely due to, among other things, a rather impressive slide down the back stairs at my parents' house). Several doctors have tried to figure out what's causing it, so far we've come up empty handed. Best we've been able to do is symptom control, and up until October I was doing alright, until I was waking up from the pain. I've been getting treatment, and the search for the source has been rekindled. I'm currently waiting for the pain clinic to get back with me after x rays a few weeks ago to find out how far up my spine the MRI we discussed at my last visit will cover.

I've been up since 1000 yesterday. Medications calm it a little bit, but not nearly enough (obviously not enough to sleep).

I'm 34. I'm not supposed to be having these kinds of issues, not yet. I'm tired of it.

And if I hear my dad ask one more goddamned time "what are you gonna do when you get older" I'm gonna lose my shit.

I can't offer any advice, only my empathy. I hurt my back really badly once, and I was better in a couple of weeks. Those two weeks were among the most miserable weeks I've ever spent. They made an impression on me I'll remember for the rest of my life.

I sincerely hope they get it figured out soon so you can have some relief.

Does your Doc's list of "can/cannot do" deal with inversion? Might provide some relief, if even temporary.

Honestly, Monkey, the thought had never crossed my mind to even ask. I'll look into that. Right now just about the only position that doesn't hurt is curling up in a ball. I'll look into inversion - maybe I know someone with a table I can borrow.

As of right now I'm not on official restrictions past "activity as tolerated."

I'm sure workshop shenanigans have something to do with this most recent flare. We just rearranged everything to accommodate my latest dumb tool purchase (TIG welder), but that happened on Tuesday/Wednesday. Unless moving the block of 12x12x1" plate I've been using as a clamping/ground/work plate 6 inches to the right/left on top of the workbench did it I'm out of ideas because I didn't really move much else on the weekend that could have set it off.

I will offer only what I can, my sympathy and my admiration for your ability to live each day without killing someone.

For whatever reason, at 50+ years of age I am still relatively pain free. A couple times a year I get unexplained back pain…and brother let me tell you, I am the surliest pain-in-the-ass you can even imagine when that happens.

Kudos to you for learning to manage through it every day.

Had back issues since my 20s. First surgery at 32.

I’m 73 now and get around fairly well.

Lumbar nerve ablation helped me. Pain doc uses an electronic needle to ablate the sheaths around the nerves that carry the pain signals.

Worked for me. Usually lasts 2-3 years.

Right now it's evident that there's more going on based on my yo-yo PT performance. I was doing fantastic, until I increased my activity level to what I knew I should be able to tolerate. Something is going on, and it's evident that the sciatic nerve is involved (I've got 2cm of muscle atrophy going on in my left calf- I'm told that's on the border of "clinically significant", and my hip has been giving me hell lately).

It sounds horrible, but I'm actually kinda hoping the MRI shows a herniated disc or similar because that's easily fixed. Or, at least surgery would relieve at least some of the pain.

Honestly, I'll take what I can get as far as procedures/relief. Unfortunately as far as the pain clinic goes we're pretty much stalled out until I get that MRI. Best we can do is more PT to maintain what little ground we managed to retake so far.

Vulrath, if you haven't had one already, see if your doc can get you an MRI.

The Navy was kind enough to let me retire with three bulging discs with one touching the nerve root. The MRI was able to pick this up.

Just read the MRI in your first post.

Get your hip checked out. There's a blood vessel which feeds the joint and if it is cut off, you will be seeing a hip replacement in your future.

All pain clinics do is dole out narcotics, and similar drugs. They do some injections as well. It is sadly somewhat of a dead end. I would hope you have seen a couple of neurosurgeons for consults.

Note: there will be fifty eleven posts on why Chiropractors are witch doctors after this...


Have you seen a Chiro? a good one, with a top rep, I've seen lots of people in pain helped with manipulation, it's helped me, my daughter after a car wreck. All the surgeons wanted to do is cut, but, that's what they do....

Maybe they can help with some relief while you work it out...

Chiropractors are witch doctors.

I have seen a few neuros regarding this issue. So far the folks who are pushing the hardest to figure out what's happening are employed by the pain clinic. I do plan on following up with my established neurologist once they get the MRI results back. I plan on hand delivering the results to him.

I do know my cousin has EDS, it might be worth asking about genetic testing even though I don't really have most of the symptoms I see listed online.

Personally, I severely dislike pain meds (especially long term), but for the moment they are necessary most days.

I have seen a chiro in the past, one that my sister (nurse practitioner) recommends. I might try to give them a call for at least a consult. I'd seen them before for an unrelated issue and left feeling a little bit underwhelmed.

I finally slept last night. It was amazing. It took 2 pillows under my knees, an arrangement under my neck and a heating pad running the length of my spine.

No surgery until we're certain what's going on and we know that's an approved course of action. That said, given that I'm having weakness in my left leg I don't know how long I can get around it.

My mom was a RN and I grew up in a house were chiropractors were witch doctors. I had something happen to my shoulder and it was the only thing I never got to release through deep tissue massage therapy (from a really good therapist). Anyway I looked into Chiros and got this advice from a co-worker (who had a family member he said wrote a text book for chiropractors).

> Chiropractors can't cure everything. If one says they can, don't go back to the person.

> If the suggested approach doesn't work, either chiropractic will not help or you have the wrong chiropractor. You'll have to choose if you'll try a second.

I got huge relief from the Chiropractor. He explained that he'd make an adjustment but the body would go back to where it was. Over time, he'd get it all worked out. The process moved pretty much exactly as he outlined.

Maybe what you have is a quick fix - mine was a longer process.

If it helps, I prefer chiropractors that are hands on.... I've seen a couple 'relief' folks when my doctor was on vacation that were more into instruments. That approach didn't help me. Ask around, you'll find a good one.

Best of luck.

Oh, yeah. I should mention that unless my memory went to shit, said chiropractor is married to an orthopedic surgeon, so I trust that she and her staff know when to look at an x-ray and decide it's a bad idea to get involved.

I used to work in finance section at a big internationally known hospital in Houston. Used to jog at lunch. Got to know fellow joggers, some of whom were MDs. I developed back pain. Couple of the MDs suggested I see a chiro.

My opinion is that they have specialized training that has physical therapy benefits. As long as they don’t try to tell you they can cure the common cold or cancer, they’re worth a try for muscle skeletal issues.

A positive update. A friend of mine is a hand surgeon and he called in a favor to one of his friends (a spine surgeon) at the clinic he works for in town to see me. I dropped everything and got mein ass to the clinic. They did a bunch of x rays, did a basic history, and I left with a prescription for steroids and an MRI scheduled for next Thursday. I hate, hate, hate asking favors like that but I have been getting steadily worse as the week has gone on (didn't go to work Wednesday, Thursday I drove to find out the building was empty and the drive plus the drive back near killed my back - I spent the rest of the day either hunched over in my desk chair or on my side in bed afterward). Steroids have knocked me back to tolerable but not normal. Given where I was I'll take it and like it.

I owe my friend a bottle of good booze.

I am sorry for the pain you are in. Back pain sucks ass and treatment is so different for everyone. I started having horrible back pain in 2020. After physical therapy and an MRI, it was determined I have a pinched nerve in my lower spine and was referred to a pain clinic.

I got my first lumbar injection in February of 2021 and it worked for like 3 days. I then got a second injection and it has seriously helped me until recently. I still experience pain daily and take medic or it, but lately the pain has become pretty bad again and I think I will have to go in for another injection or two. My main thing is I don’t want surgery.

I wish you the best.

I know back pain my friend. Be persistent with your providers. Get second opinions. After two multiple level fusions, three spinal cord stimulators and more injections than I can remember… I have come to the opinion that neurologists are more adapt at “fixing” spinal issues than orthopedic docs. Massage helps me a lot, temporarily but it helps. Best of luck to you. It’s a hard road to go down.

I feel for you, I have no cushion between C2,3 & 4 with 2 slipped over 3. Add to the mix spinal stenosis. I like you am in pain every day, but have built up a fairly high pain threshold over the years.
Try stretching and strength training on your back.

Thanks for the support. My hope is that at the very least we see what the cause is. I've been dealing with this for a long time.

I have been in PT since November. We (physical therapist and I) put things on hold because I plateaued in a big way. I have that retard strength when I'm not in pain - if I take pain meds before I go I breeze through session no problem. The issue is that when I don't take it every little thing they do hurts like unholy hell. I do know that keeping busy and moving around doesn't get rid of the pain but helps significantly in reducing it. Good thing too, because I already can't sit still. I

I know I can take an absurd amount of pain for a relatively short amount of time and be completely fine. A low level pain for a long time? I don't like it but I can usually deal.

I've got the NP at the pain clinic, a neurologist and now an ortho looking at things. I don't expect much out of the NP except symptom control, but hopefully between the neuro and ortho they can figure out WTF is causing this and what if anything we can do to mitigate symptoms.