Long Time No See!

#2
Welcome back, Cat! We don't mention "that other place" around here. Hee.

I read about your herniated disc in the Ask the Docs forum. I am so sorry you are having to deal with that. I know that sucks. One of the docs should be by shortly to respond. What do you think caused it in the first place? Where exactly is the injury, lower back?
 
#3
It's my L5-S1. We really have no idea what caused it. I headed out for a long run and midway through felt excruciating pain in my left glute. Hobbled a few miles back to my start area, by which time my entire leg felt like death (obvious that something was touching my sciatic). I stretched, and rolled, and took a cold cold shower (no ice bath at the gym). RICED it then when it stopped getting better I went to a PT; she found it. My pelvis was tilted really weird and my SI joints were 'off;' nearest we can determine is that my musculature developed around these skeletal imbalances and finally my spine couldn't hack it.
 
#4
Other than the steroid shots, what can they do? Will a chiropractor help to realign your spine?
 
#5
I did have one chiro visit that realigned my SI joints. The tilt corrected itself shortly after with the use of a TENS machine. The tilt made my left leg longer than my right; it was the weirdest feeling. The PT was initially concerned about the tilt but the TENS somehow helped my muscles correct it. We connected me to TENS for something unrelated and when I asked her to check my leg length it was fine. She also could tell by looking at some anatomical feature near the small of my back; I was all lined up. Very weird.

Steroid shots are actually the 2nd option in treatment, oral medications (anti-inflammatories and/or steroids) are usually effective and used first. Some people respond well to opoid pain relievers too. I would suggest PT to anyone also; I can't say enough about the benefits of the manual therapy I received. If the 2nd shot doesn't reduce the swelling, thus stopping the pain and reducing the tension on my spine then we start looking at acupuncture and surgery. The first injection worked wonders though; the pain and aggravation is nearly tolerable. I wanna say that we have a few more weeks til I need to even contemplate surgery options.
 
#6
Ouch, I'm sorry to hear about the back. The L5-S1 is what I had fused two years ago. Unfortunately I may have to have that done to the L4 as well in the future unless I keep doing as well as I am now. You're lucky the shots worked for you. They lasted about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks for me. I feel your pain and wish you a speedy recovery.
 
#8
How long does a steroid shot last though? Is that something you will have to continue to do, if you don't try surgery?

I bought a TENS unit for PF. I haven't used it as often I as should, so I can't say if it works or not. Matt swears by it though. He says without it, his PF would be so bad, he couldn't walk.

I just got my ultrasound unit yesterday and used it last night. Just like the TENS unit, that was a weird experience. I could actually feel the pulsing waves going into the bottoms of my feet, and when I placed it certain places, it was kinda painful to quite painful in other areas of my foot, like the top of my foot. Have you thought about getting an ultrasound unit. You may have to have someone else use it on you, but I understand they are great for healing the body. Check them out anyway.

I hope you do well through this, and let me know how you progress.
 
#9
The pain came back to the exact same intensity to wear I could only walk with a cane. They were fused two years ago February. They told me I probably have 5+ years and then I'll have to get the L4 fused as well. The fusion of the L5-S1 was my second surgery. The first one they went in to open up the holes that the spinal cord goes through in the vertebrate because the holes were too small and were pinching the spinal cord because of swelling. This didn't work for more than 6 months or so for me. The fusion didn't really seem to work either for a long time. Not until I switched to a barefoot/minimalist lifestyle did I finally lose the pain.
 
#10
The steroid should just jumpstart my own healing. The goal is to have the disc reabsorb. I hadn't thought of ultrasound! That's a really good idea. I was told not to expect to run for at least 8 months to a year.

I've heard horror stories about PF...I just read a medical journal article about it though. If I can find it again I'll forward it to you.
 
#11
TJ, my Dr had told me the shot typically will work several months. Anything less than a month they deem as a failure and not worth doing again. But again that's been three years ago since I had it done.
 
#12
NickW said:
The pain came back to the exact same intensity to wear I could only walk with a cane. They were fused two years ago February. They told me I probably have 5+ years and then I'll have to get the L4 fused as well. The fusion of the L5-S1 was my second surgery. The first one they went in to open up the holes that the spinal cord goes through in the vertebrate because the holes were too small and were pinching the spinal cord because of swelling. This didn't work for more than 6 months or so for me. The fusion didn't really seem to work either for a long time. Not until I switched to a barefoot/minimalist lifestyle did I finally lose the pain.
Click to expand...

There is a condition where the holes are too small and that itself pinches the nerves; that's what you had? In which care the ESI definitely wouldn't permanently help. My holes are fine but my disc isn't.

The irony of my story is that I've been running barefoot or in VFF Classics since I started running. I rarely wear shoes, I'd wear sandals when I go out. Since the injury though I've noticed that cushiony shoes is definitely a no go. I now exclusively wear my VFF.
 
#13
Yes I do have that condition, mildly. I have a lot of damage to the vertebrate also from years and years of misuse (heavy weight lifting, never learning proper form when running, years of packing a bunch of weight in a ruck while in the Army, etc...) which kept everything aggravated and swelled making a mess of my back. They had hoped the shot would help everything settle down enough that I could be pain free again and the swelling would go down. Unfortunately, I was the worst case scenario.
 
#15
sounds pretty horrible what you're going through. check out my post on trigger points in the pub. i've been relieving my pf with it, finally. it tells of many other trigger points and the referred pain they bring. check out the book if you can or find a good massage therapist who can work them and teach them to you.
 
#16
Just some thoughts on all of this based on what I've been going through these past few months with my cervical spine issues:

- TENS relieved my pain in seconds, but as soon as I turned it off it came right back. Though still considered controversial as to it's mechanism and effectiveness, the physical medicine and neurology specialists I've consulted with are pretty much in agreement that it just stops the transmission of pain to the brain, and nothing more.

- I've had surgeons recommend immediate treatment as well as waiting for the onset of greater symptoms before intervention. I've had general practice M.D.s recommend conservative PT as well as surgery. I've been told by one neurosurgeon not to do any strenuous activity until I undergo fusion + more, and by an orthopedic surgeon to slowly return to running, cycling, and boarding and see how it goes.

- I've been told that I am risking paralysis from the neck down if I don't proceed, and I've been informed that the risk of the surgery itself holds greater potential for damage.

- One doc told me to listen to my body, another to listen to him.

- I guess one thing I've learned is that I won't even attempt to give any advice here, it's all too tough to call even for the pros!
 
#17
My SI joints are significantly imbalanced and I have the shorter leg thing, and my whole pelvis/hips are all twisted horizontally and vertically. You should ask your doctors to see a therapist who specialized in Sacro Occipital Technique, and who use Pelvic Blocking. I learned how to use these myself, but I would not advise it where a herniated disc is involved. As long as I use Pelvic Blocks about 10 minutes a day, by SI-L5 area stays reasonably balanced and therefore stable and straight.
 
#18
Oh, and unless your doctor is insane, you can only get 3 steroid shots a year before they start to eat away at your brain, seriously.

Also, the TENS unit is great (I have one and use it occasionally)! But it is only treating the symptoms, the symptoms being the angry muscles that are unsuccessfully trying to pull your SI-L5 area back into proper alignment. The misalignment is what is causing uneven pressure, on the discs, thereby causing the herniation. A TENS units basically stuns the muscles so that they will stop working, and therefore stop trying to pull your spine/SI joints, etc. back into proper alignment, thereby relieving the pain caused by continuous muscle strain. This is also why the symptoms reappear rather rapidly once you stop using it. Proper realignment of the SI area will fix all of these problems at it's core.
 
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