webby v7 slipperwagon

iTrader: (2)

To cut a short story, my wife has damaged her back, lifting up the baby. She did it on thursday and has been in absoloute agony since. We managed to get her to a doctor, who messed about a bit, but this made it worse. Yesterday we got her, lying down in the back of the car, to see a chriopractor. He said she has slipped a disc and needs 10 days (minimum) bed rest and to use a cold compose to bring down the swelling and hopefully the disc will go back in. She cant have pain killers as she is pregnant and yesterday evening she was crying in absoloute agony. A doctor came out to see her and we told him the story. Oh a chiropractor he said, quite sarcastically. Now the doctor said she must lie on the floor and not in bed as her back needs support and to use heat on her back not cold. WTF I am now totally confused as to what she is supposed to do. I phoned the NHS helpline who, said do what you think is right for your wife, how would i know whats right. Please any medical experts, can you shed some light as i'm stuck as what advice is right.

The Zohan

Hi There,

I recently slipped a disk, took 3 weeks of lying around monged on painkillers to sort it out.

I had to literally lie on my back/front the whole time, do nothing, i read, watched TV and listened to the radio and used the Internet sounds like fun but the reality is boredom, boredom, boredom. The biggest mistake i made was thinking it was fixed, starting to do stuff around the house and it setting me back.

I was told not to use heat/hotty botty on it by my doc.

She must rest and literally do nothing until it is fixed otherwise it could take longer to mend - i speak from bitter experience.

Of course ine BIG problem is that you have kid(s) and they need looking after. i was luck in as much as our eldest was at school and youngest at nursery and Jenny bless her did everything with little or no help from me or from family(no change there then). You need to sort out some sort of help as your wife really does need to rest her back and do nothing fore this to heal.

webby v7 slipperwagon

iTrader: (2)

Sod that i want her back at work, lol. Cheers Paul, its hectic with me against the kids, lol. They,ve got me holled up under the stairs at the mo, but i have a plan. Seriously though, rest is a deffinite for her, but with the different opinions of the medics its a bit confusing.

The Zohan

I found it tough resting for a prolonged period even though i am a lazy b@stard. I thought it would be a doddle but apart from slow ans painful trips to the toilet and getting soup for lunch i could not do anything, no car, no going out for a walk, no nothing and it is tough to do - so boring and mind numbing, especially with kids/family.

I was told not to apply heat to it though...after i had tried iit mind! The thing to remember is the more active she is the longer it is likely to take to heal and that sucks!

webby v7 slipperwagon

iTrader: (2)

She has got an ice pack on it at the moment as told by the chiropractor, he said it will help bring down the swelling and help with a bit of relief

DCI Gene Hunt

Never apply heat to a damaged back, ever, never ever....

Its a prolapsed disc, a bulge and it will either return to normal (and that means the pain will start to ease) or stay as is for a long time and possibly get worse.

As others have said even if it appears better it's not, it just means it's not pushing on your wifes spinal cord, if she thinks she's normal she'll actually end up doing even more damage by attempting to bend or lift again. As a rule of thumb it will take around 6 months for it to stabilise, but will forever be weak....

Good luck either way..... strange that they said to lay down? as current practice involves being upright and mobile??

Leslie

Sounds like you need a second opinion from a competent doctor. Wonder if it is worth going to A and E over it.

Les

The Zohan

Upright and mobile meant agony and excruciating pain for me, natures way for telling you to lie down and rest?!?

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

As some of you on here will remember, I damaged a disc on 30th Dec. I had four weeks of agony, even on painkillers, literally screaming and crying with pain. I was advised NOT to use chiropractors/osteopaths, by more than one doctor.

All I could do was lie down........sometimes it took a while to find a position where the pain wasn't so intense, sometimes there WAS no such position.

I tried the floor, but mine was in my neck and it just hurt more.

After 6 weeks I was able to get up, and actually able to drive.

To this date I STILL have little feeling in the outer two fingers of my left hand, numbness down the top of my left arm, tingling and alternate hot and cold in those fingers and PAIN, all the time;(

I'm awaiting seeing a specialist in Hull on 30th March.

Tell your wife to find a comfy position and lie still. In my case, even slight changes in position of the legs made it better/worse. Some days I slept with my left hand behind my right shoulder, across my body, just to stretch my back a bit.

As regards heat/cold, mine was odd: sometimes heat gave relief, other times cold did, but NOTHING was consistent

All the best for your wife, I REALLY feel for her

plant1star

Hey,
Backs and Slipped discs, I think I've become a bit of an expert!
After years of mild back pain, I could no-longer go on, and managed to get to the drs for an appointment, which lead to a referal to a physio and a handful of pills.
Physio appointment came, and 5 weeks after 1st going to Drs I was seen.
In the mean time, I visited a chiropractor, as I was unable to move, and in serious pain.
The NHS don't like you mixing up treatments, or visiting alternative theropies, as they may have conflicting views. e.g chiro said apply cold, physio said apply heat.
The only thing the physio did for me was organise an MRI scan, and the chiro has worked wonders, and what he says makes a lot of sense.
I have two slipped discs, the main one being in the S1/L5 location, which is trapping my sciatic nerve, and I'm currently waiting for an injection, which I'm not looking forward to.

I am unable to walk more than about half a mile, which is not very far at all. I just about make it to the shops, but I'm in the fortunate position that 18 months ago for totally different reason I moved back to Mum and Dad's, and they have been great as they have been waiting on me hand and foot!

I get so bored and frustrated, but I am seeing very small improvements on a daily basis, which is something good, but when I tell you I've been suffering this episode since October 2008, and I'm only 30, and the NHS does not provide an efficient service to those with a back injury, it just drives me mad!

In response to your wife's complaint, I know that it sounds odd, but the rest does have to be interspersed with exercise, as it is the only way to get back onto the road of recovery. I didn't move for about 4 weeks, as I just couldn't, and I lost all the muscle in my left leg. I now have it back through a lot of hard work and determination. (at one point I couldn't even sit up long enough to eat.) Perhaps the NHS helpline was the most helpful, do what you and your wife think is right, as there is no right or wrong answer for this, its what helps the most.

I hope that you get on ok.

markr1963

To the OP:
Just swapped a text or 2 with my Chiro...
"Bed rest and ice for the first day or so. Then keep moving as much as possible followed by ice."

And as been said elsewhere on this thread...
"Stay away from heat"

Confirms what your Chiro said, more or less.

HTH

john banks

CKS Access Control

Slipped discs are over diagnosed, often there is no evidence of this on MRI scan. Acute back pain can be severe, but it usually isn't due to a prolapsed intervertebral disc even if there are radiating symptoms to the leg. Whilst distressing, in the majority of acute back pain, x-rays, scans and surgical intervention is not useful. Bed rest is known to be harmful if the patient can mobilise, sometimes though they simply can't initially, but it should be encouraged as soon as they can.

The emergency in back pain, which is rare is cauda equina compression. I think this is likely to be discussed in the link I gave above.

Heat or cold doesn't matter, whatever she prefers, they are simply to relieve spasm and reduce pain.

You can have analgesia in pregnancy - paracetamol or co-codamol are commonly used. NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, diclofenac are to be avoided.

There is a lot of voodoo and quackery surrounding back pain, which isn't surprising as it is common and a lot of treatment is unsatisfactory.

DCI Gene Hunt

Absolute tosh....... maybe you need to lift your head out from your books occasionally and see what's happening in the real world... There are lots of "new world" cures on the market today that work wonders!!

I've just had a word with a VERY GOOD alternative medicine healer I use and she said that once she's finished with her current patient she'll get straight on the case.... all inclusive fee as well

Here she is curing my ingrowing toenail last year

oldsplice

Did you do your back in getting your wallet out of your pocket DCI?

webby v7 slipperwagon

iTrader: (2)

Is that Eartha Kitt

webby v7 slipperwagon

iTrader: (2)

Thanks John, most appreciated.