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@dancing james
Have been suffering increasing back pain for the past few months. One Physio thought it was a sacro iliac problem, another Physio and my GP were convinced it was a slipped disc. An osteopath I know said the only way to really find out would be an MRI scan, as the pain could be SI joint disfunctional, slipped disc, infection or a tumour and without a proper scan any diagnosis would be guesswork.
At the weekend things got really bad and I ended up in A&E. Yesterday I revisited GP and got a referral letter for an MRI and stumped up the cash and went private and had the scan done within £90 minutes.
Results came through today, spinal cord is slightly impinged (but not on the side I have been feeling pain) and I have degenerative disc disease in two discs. The course of action is to find adequate pain relief and Physio rehab exercises. It is actually a huge relief because at least I now know that basic activities such as riding won't actually be making things much worse - at the weekend I exhibited potential signs of corda equina which can lead to paralysis, thankfully this is not what I have got.
So for now I need to find medication to relieve the pain and let the aggravated nerves calm down, and find very specific exercises to strengthen around the weakened discs. I would agree with the osteopath who said to me "diagnosis, diagnosis, diagnosis, get an MRI asap". Otherwise I was going to continue doing things that were going to be of limited benefit.