Back pain / sciatica?

i have chronic lower back pain which recently flared up(pinced sciatica) Prior to the flare, I have always hurt while standing for extended period of time and occasionally while sitting(driving). I have a physical job and lift alot and bend alot. Now since i pulled this muscle/pinched nerve I cant drive more than 15 min. without it hurting -down my butt to my leg. And laying flat is also uncomfortable! As i type this I am in pain. I have been controlling pain prior to the flare with just 2 vicodin per day. And since the flare up the doc said it was ok to take 3 per day along with soma which he prescibed. Still i am only getting minor relief. And i cannot take the time to rest and let it heal. How long should this flare up last and why is it sometimes worse than others. Also how can I tell my doctor that I need more relief. When I called after 7 days (which is how long he said to take 3 vicodin per day) to ask if i could continue 3/day, he said yes for 3 more days.

I am barely getting relief right now from 3/day w./soma. I know I need to take it easy, but I own a business and must be there to work-physically. I know that i need to strengthen my back and abs which are weak and probably most of my problem. I tend to overdo it ALL the time. The vicodin help me get through the day with minimal pain. I just get the feeling that he thinks i am BS;ing him. He took xrays and Urinealysis, and only found a slight curve of the spine. Recommended PTherapy, but I have no time and no insurance to cover that. So I researched tons of back training exercises and planned to start after the new year....until this! MAJOR PAIN.-- compared to what I was having. Any insight on what could be wrong with my back, and how to deal with my DOC.
Thanks

I know how you feel. I have a spine injury and I have been in a pain management program for years. I take hydrocodone, oxycodone, Soma, Neurontin, and other nerve pain medications.

Here are some links to sites I use and think they are excellent. The best part is that it is information from medical professionals not just anybody that has a computer and can get on Yahoo. Good luck

http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/default.h...
http://www.best4sites.info/08/medical-ca...
http://health.discovery.com/centers/pain...

I would find a pain management clinic in your area. They have made the difference in me being stuck in my house and being able to go out a live.

Here is a method I use for communicating my pain issues to my doctors.

Start a daily journal of your pain. Nothing fancy, a notebook is what I use. Write down:
where you hurt
when you hurt
how badly you hurt (Scale of 1-10)
how the pain in effecting your daily life, what it keeps you from doing
and any questions that come up during the day

take the journal with you to the doctor. It's hard to explain and remember everything in just a few minutes that you have with the doctor. This help will him understand how bad the pain is and what he can do to help you. All my doctors think it's a great tool in addressing my condition.

Hope this helps you, I know what hell pain can cause you. Good luck

remember those vicodin (heroin group/derivates) are quite habit forming. have you tried a strong NSAID eg; diclofenac , arcoxia , prexige, piroxicam? but be careful of stomach problems with chronic use.

they will not solve ur problem. have u done tests?

it does sound like sciatica, a difficult chronic problem.

lifestyle changes including weight loss will usually help.


u should see an orthopaedic surgeon/ neurologist.

all the best to you.

I had the same problem, I was suppose to have therapy 3 times a week, instead I bought one of those inversion tables, after about 2 weeks I noticed that my back pain starting to ease up. Now 1 year after using it I have hardly any back pain at all.

I use no drugs at all anymore.

Ask your doctor, maybe it can help you.

what I did was asked my doctor to do more test because I knew something was wrong because I was in so much pain.

Eventually you should get some insurance for chiropractic or eventually surgery. With constant flare-ups and your job demands, you will need it. In the meantime, you can try these stretches which are easy to do anywhere and may help resolve the problem. Also, for sitting, try a backtivator which is another simple tool that might help. Tell your doctor to give you or call in a scrip for a medrol dose pak. It's a steroid anti-inflammatory that will help with a major flare-up. Good luck!

Hi Tito

Have you thought about using techniques to actually remove your back pain rather than trying to control the pain.

From what you describe you have some sciatic irritation that will be coming from 4 main issues - pelvic imbalance, lumbar joint dysfunction some tight muslces causing the pain and some weaker muslces helping cause the imbalances.

These sound complex but are actually easy to fix. You can also do this at home with some simple techniques. Still use the pain relief until the problem has settled completely though.

All your lifting and sitting while driving has probably over the years caused this. Good news is the x-rays show minor chanegs which means it is still a functional problem rather than soemthign pathological.

See the link below for some techniques you can do now to ease the pain, and feel free to email me for advice or help.

All the best
Dr Graeme Teague