I would like any opinions or feedback from anyone who has experienced anything like me. My back pain started almost 2 years ago. It started with pain in my left buttocks when I would get up or sometimes when I walked. It varied from mild to extremely severe where my leg would give out due to pain.

An MRI showed I had degenerative changes to my lower back along with an impinged nerve. I was referred first to physical therapy which did nothing and then to pain management.

I received two separate spinal steroid injections about a year ago and they really helped. Then recently my pain has really returned to being a pain right on my spine and this time to the right side of my buttocks.

I got a spinal injection on 2/28 and it did nothing. I got a second spinal injection on this last Tuesday 3/22. Last night I began feeling a slight constant pain in my right buttocks. Then this morning I was feeling an absolute nonstop pain in my right buttocks of about a 4-5 on pain scale. I have never had my pain be beyond my buttocks; it has never gone down my leg.

Then around noon the pain became absolutely insane. The pain in my buttocks was a 9-10 on pain scale and absolutely NEVER stopped. I also then had a burning pain down the back of my right leg all the way down to my foot along with also feeling numbness. I laid down and the pain never reduced. Many times I thought of going to the hospital but I hate hospitals and figured all they can do is maybe give me strong pain medication so I decided to try to ride it out. I alternated ice and heat all day and the best I achieved was a pain level of 6 while not moving and if I walked then it was horrible pain and took a while to return to a level 6.

I am now lying in bed on a heating pad with probably a level 4-5 pain hoping I can sleep tonight. Part of me is wondering if the doctor messed something up when they gave me the last injection this week as I have NEVER had the pain down my leg before or be as bad as it has been today. This is probably the second or third worst pain I have ever felt in my life. The worst part was not only the intensity of the pain, but the fact it was absolutely nonstop. I will be calling my doctor first thing Monday morning to discuss this. I am just curious if anyone has had anything like this.

Sounds like a pinched nerve. I had one just below where the neck joins the torso. Mine was like lava, from my shoulder to my fingers. Nothing worked for pain. I tried some leftover OxyContin..nothing, alcohol worked, and that’s when I went to the doc.

Doc put me on gabapentin for the pain, and it worked. I was honest and told the doc I was only able to sleep due to drinking five or six drinks back to back. He said yeah, alcohol is a central nervous depressant. He got me set up for the shots in my back. After three steroid shots in my spinal column things got better.

I have at least five bad disks but only one pushes on a nerve. Mine was due to position. So I most assuredly don’t slouch anymore.

I wish you luck.

I have dealt with back pain since ‘98. Had a pain where I could barely get out of bed the morning after working a command post for an Armed robbery. Caused by a broken down Crown Vic seat that I had put in to have it fixed two months prior, but was denied because it was being rotated out of service within three months.
I lost feeling in my left leg in tremendous pain in my back. Never made it to the MRI my disc blew. The pain all I can describe was white light intensity. Wife drove me in and I was shipped to United Methodist St Louis Park emergency surgery for 4 hrs the surgeon picked disc shards out of my nerve sack L5S1. Career ending event. So nothing to mess around with. I have since had a second and almost a third surgery.

My second surgery was performed by a surgeon at the Springfield Spine clinic. Pain radiating across my left buttock down my leg could only walk a block and had to sit down to relieve the pain. That was stenosis laminectomy on three levels.
The third was going to happen if the third steroid shot in the spine was not effective. The surgeon when talking to me said that he had always said to prolong surgery as long as you can until he had a patient that because of her prolonging it became paralyzed. The third shot took and my pain level was a 1 or 2 thank God.

Again with all that said do not mess around if it’s getting worse it can go down hill in a hurry. Numbness in my left leg and foot, and inability to push off with my left foot is what I live with and is what shortened my LE career. If you want to talk about it feel free to email me.

I had those exact same symptoms you describe at the end of your post. As if someone had hit me with a hatchet in the small of my back with pain radiating down my right leg to my knee and foot.

I had an MRI which revealed a herniated and dessicated disc at L5, which was compressing the nerves and causing the pain.

Treatment: PT for 12 weeks. Flexeril for relaxing the muscles and Toradol for the pain/inflammation.

Alternative treatment: Surgery.

I took the PT and it worked - eventually.

The one thing the doctor and surgeon were concerned about was any difficulty in the 'ahem' bathroom department, since the spinal nerves in the region control those things. I was instructed that any problems were an acute emergency. Fortunately it never materialized.

Back pain sucks.

Pyker sounds like me.
I pinched off part of my L4/L5 but my knife in the back pain was during the night as it swelled while I was horizontal.
The main concern was permanent dmg. if not corrected soon. I also did PT but have a small % of permanent dmg from the pressure on my spine/nerves.
I was on Vicodin for a bit but I took it sparingly as to what Pyker eluded to. Pooping is important and the L4/L5 area is intricate to that, somehow.
Also, 12 or more weeks PT.

After getting rear-ended years ago I started getting constant lower back pain, probably just a 3-4 level. Our doctor took x-rays and said there was inflammation and possibly pinched nerve issues. He said sitting most of the day at work would likely keep it from getting better and recommended switching to a standing desk. I switched so I stand about 80% of the time and walk around more. In about 2 years the lower back pain went away completely and didn't come back.

I have a L5S1 disk herniation. It puts pressure on the nerve, and causes sciatic pain like you are describing, sometimes in the buttocks, but often all the way down my leg. It started in my early to mid 20s. At that point in my life I was working a desk job in IT, pretty overweight (6'5" 250-270lbs), and had a very sedentary lifestyle.

I tried a chiropractor for almost a year, with no measurable relief. I finally had an episode one day where I sneezed, my back spasmed, and I ended up on the floor and had to lie there for hours before I could drag myself to bed, where I stayed for three days. I went to the doctor after that, who referred me to an ortho doc, who did an MRI, which is when they discovered the disk herniation. He put me on Flexeril, which helped some, physical therapy which helped a little more, and eventually I got functional again.

I went through a few years of ups and downs, where I had other flare ups, almost got cortisone shots at one point but it took so long for them to get me in (over a month) that it had subsided by the time my appointment came around, so we didn't end up doing them. I also tried an inversion table, but aside from taking up a ton of room in my house, it didn't do much for me.

When things were bad, I found that the best thing I could do was to try to keep the inflamation down, because that was causing the disk herniation to swell and putting the extra pressure on the nerve. Ice packs (not heat!), lots of vitamin D, and Naproxen were the most effective.

Ultimately what "cured" me was changing jobs and getting serious about getting in shape, strengthening my core, and losing weight. I got out from behind the desk, lost 85lbs, and began to be more active. The disk herniation is still there, but painful flare ups are far less frequent and tend to be less severe. When they do happen, it's ice packs, some stretches, and over the counter NSAIDS like naproxen (can't take those for too long, though, or in too high a dose). I actually tweaked it this afternoon for the first time in months, and I'm already feeling better...if this was 10-15 years ago, I'd have been down for a week.

As I age it'll probably get worse, but for now I have it pretty well managed. I also got diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic about 6 months ago, so exercise and diet are now pretty much a mandated part of my daily routine. The added motivation to stay healthy and keep my blood sugar in check has carryover benefits for my spinal issues as well, so I guess there's one benefit to having a defective pancreas (although I wouldn't recommend it as a treatment plan! ).

I've suffered with lower back pain for 50 years. Around the time I was 14 it started up. Horrible pains, sciatica, etc. Apparently I was born with a herniated disk with associated scar tissue and stenosis. I took Opiates daily, for 14 years and walked away from them with no trouble. I spent 11 months off work in 2011 because I shoveled my walks. But I did find some relief.....

Doc referred me for therapy at a local health club that has a 4 foot, deep 95 degree, therapy pool. By marching around in the water and doing other exercises, I built up my none existing core muscles. I think this did the most for me.

I dropped 15 pounds. That helped.

Practice the therapists recommendations about posture awareness and alignment.

Hope you get some relief.... I do really feel your pain.

For me, my lower back pain was resolved with stretching which focused on my lower posterior chain--specifically my hamstrings and piriformis.

Spine needs proper s-shaped curve to maintain space between vertebrae.

Pelvic tilt directly affects the curve of your lumbar region. Naturally, your pelvis should have a forward tilt, like a bowl tipping water over your shoes.

A short or tight posterior chain pulls on the back of your pelvis. Less pelvic tilt, less curve in the lumbar, which results in uneven distribution of disc pressure and lower back pain. Even a few millimeter of pelvic tilt can have a noticeable impact on spinal curve (lay in bed and tilt your pelvis forward and feel the arch in your low back lift away from the bed)

Lots of stretching, enough to naturally change my posture was what ultimately helped me.

I've been dealing with something pretty similar for a few years. I have bilateral pars fractures and thus L4 is slipping forward over L5. Not a good situation for the nerves that run through them.

Not all PTs are created equal. I found improvement with my 2nd PT, who is a specialist focused on spine. I also am a runner and the sports PT person found some muscles that cause some misalignment and lack of movement. Those combined with a chiropractor have helped me. It's not gone, but it's helped.

If you have an enlarged prostate and you sit a lot, look into pelvic floor combined with glute exercises. I think those muscles atrophy because the prostate does a fine job at maintaining bladder control all on its own. What you're left with is improper support of some of the muscle chain and thus low-back posture issues. Figuring that out helped me pull together a lot of the other problems above and was a recent breakthrough in moving the needle in the right direction. For me it will never be fixed, but I'm trying constantly to contain it.

GOOD LUCK!

A lot of good advice…

I have had all of the above…

One thing I can add that has helped is taking collagen. It helps with the spinal degeneration.

The times between tweaks or pinches has increased. I still have a bad day from time to time when I overdo it but it has helped immensely with taking away the constant pain.

I had 3 bulging discs a few years ago that would put me on the floor if I did certain things and it did run down my left leg.
I got one spinal shot which helped immensely but went the chiropractor route. I was always skeptical of these doctors but after a referral from a great friend, I gave in and went.
It took multiple visits in a months time but the chiropractor did help.
I hope you find relief, back pain will put the strongest men down on their knees.

Mine is not that bad. I have had it for years and live with it.

I had a friend that was an avid skier.

We are talking every weekend and some days during the week.

Their back pain was getting really bad.

They had Radio Frequency Ablation, that heated up the nerve and burned it.

It helped a lot.

Not saying it would help you but worth a conversation with your doctor.

I can relate to everyone on this thread. I’ve had or done surgery(disc degeneration L3-L5), shots, ablation, PT therapy, massage therapy. There has been some relief and I can usually get thru a day and still not be in mortal agony.
Try to limit my pain meds to Tylenol or aspirin, but there are times when Hydrocodone 7.5-325, is all that will cut it. Back pain is horrible to those of us who have it. Wish good luck to all in trying to find relief.
Blackhorse4

Injections worked and I take Gabapentin.

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like I might need to revisit PT, but I can’t even imagine any form of a stretch. If I lean forward or backwards that caused pain even before this ungodly experience I am having right now. Just blows my mind it got so worse so suddenly right after a steroid injection. I was able to sleep okay last night but I am again having to lay here in bed to have the most relief possible. My right leg is still numb and a walk to the bathroom hurts like hell.

All I do is sit all day for work either at a desk or in a vehicle so I am sure a loss of core strength has a lot to do with it. At least you guys have given me things to discuss with my doctor.

I hate to say "you should try inversion" because you can't really just try it, you have to buy an inversion table. (they're not cheap and they're big and you need a place to keep it)

Many years ago I was in misery for ages with a lower back problem. Someone recommended it to me repeatedly and I would just mentally roll my eye thinking silly snake oil nonsense. Then one day I happened to hang from a pipe (like a pull up bar) and the pain lessened. The light but went off in my head. I ordered an inversion table that night, I used it three times and my issue was gone. That's 15-20 year ago and I still use it for occasionally flair ups. When I was still playing ball I would use it before games to stretch my back muscles in the morning.

Anyway... my father, at some point his back had him fully out of commission and in constant near tears agony. Meds weren't cutting it. I loaned him my table to try and his pain problem went away over the course of a week or two. (for the time being). He bought his own. He's 89 years old now and uses it daily. I think twice a day for a few minutes each. It's the only thing that keeps him functioning. He has multiple bad discs in multiple locations top to bottom that are way out of place and in sad shape. Surgery would involve multiple fusions and at his age they and he would rather not. Generally inversion (basically crude at home traction) is something doctors wont recommend (I guess for a number of reasons, but I'm sure one being "what's in it for me?") but his doctor tells him if it's helping you and it's keeping you mobile, keeping down the pain, keep doing what you're doing.

Perfect timing for this thread. I have been going through very similar problems except my left leg and left cheek are the problem. Degenerative L5

First did the Prednisone on a week off a week for a month. Much relief but came back after I stopped taking the steroids.

I am now at the point where Tylenol all day gets me through but some days I can't function without a pain med and I hate pain meds.

I have been getting therapy by my Chiropractor 3 days a week and it is helping a little but improvement is very slow. My choice now is keep taking pain meds as needed and give the therapy a chance. Other option is the spine shot which I am a little reluctant to have. Telling me it might take 6 months of treatment for any real improvement. Last resort would be surgery which I am trying to avoid like the plague.

Good luck with your treatment!
Constant pain definitely sucks. I have new found sympathy for those suffering with chronic pain.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
Thanks for the responses. Sounds like I might need to revisit PT, but I can’t even imagine any form of a stretch. If I lean forward or backwards that caused pain even before this ungodly experience I am having right now. Just blows my mind it got so worse so suddenly right after a steroid injection. I was able to sleep okay last night but I am again having to lay here in bed to have the most relief possible. My right leg is still numb and a walk to the bathroom hurts like hell.

All I do is sit all day for work either at a desk or in a vehicle so I am sure a loss of core strength has a lot to do with it. At least you guys have given me things to discuss with my doctor.

Just a note...in my case, I was stretching my *legs*, not my back. Just wanted to point that out. It's easy to lose in the tremendous amount of good advice.

If you can do this safely, you can see how tight your hamstrings are: stand tall, then "stack" your core like you are doing a deadlift (exaggerate the arch in the small of your back like a gorilla, then squeeze your abs tight), with your core stacked bend at the waist by pushing you butt back. Notice how tight the back of your thighs are (hamstrings). This is the muscle you are trying to lengthen. Measure your progress by seeing how far your fingertips are from the floor.

My back pain resolved around the same time that I could naturally touch the floor with this stretch without rounding my back or slumping my shoulders forward.

When I was having problems with my back in the mid 2000's, I went to who was considered the best back guy in town. After a number of tests it was determined I needed my hips relaced even though they never bothered me.

Got them replaced and the back has been pretty good since.