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• #327
That's not how the NHS or medicine works... If an investigations not required it should not be requested.
Forgive me if I misunderstood you, but an MRI is not a magic treatment for back pain. At the moment, I have bad neck pain just now, I wish that that it was.
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• #328
Hi , I am at work so I can't answer in detail . I hope to get back to you later today
BTW, I am not a clinician though I am currently working on a project that's looking at diagnostic requests; hence some of my responses
However, as a patient I have C6/7 disc bulge which hasn't gone away. I really do share your pain ! How bad was the pain and how often were you taking pain killers? Have you had physio yet?
Enter your text here...
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• #329
And here we are again
ExTra, have a chat with the refering GP/Dr about the MRI scan. If its the artery they want to see then you probably won't get too good a picture of the neck and the disks. But I am not a radiographer.
Yes, the pain seems to come and go for me as well. The text books etc say that the bulge should go after 3 -6 months and the pain with it. Or at least it should for most people.
The thing to do is not to then irritate the disc and the nerve . Unfortunately, both cycling and using a lap top can do this .Cycling, you want to be more upright, with your centre of gravity further back. Aim for stronger neck and mid back ( ie under the shoulder blade ) muscles. So it's not just the core (what ever that is ) you need to strengthen. Loosen your shoulders and keep mobile.
I always use a lap top stand and where possible a large screen and separate keyboard.
Sitting down all day is not good- my pain goes when I am on holiday and am not sitting @ screen all day .
Hope this helps - has the NHS Physio come through yet. Mine finally did and it was worth it.
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• #330
Pain management- I don't muck about and take co codamol when needed. Music always helps.
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• #331
Hey thanks for the replies. I guess you are right about not trying to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. When they were scanning for my C-spine, all they saw was a mass on my neck which initially scared the shit out of everyone, I had the royal treatment from the NHS - next day appointment with a cancer specialist. I had never been that scared in my life. I remember the 1st question they asked me before anything else was "If you become seriously ill, is there anyone who can look after you?" It was horrible...
Anyway, mine is actual damage to some of the discs and I might have mentioned on here a little while ago, the prognosis is that one day I won't be able to move my right arm, I hope they are wrong.
Have done many rounds of NHS physio to a point where they think I am taking a piss, go see private ones whenever I can afford, otherwise just keep doing the exercises I have been given in the past.
I have also had 2 round of epidural injection and just finished a 10 weeks acupuncture treatments that have helped a little.
I politely declined treatment offer from St Thomas' because theirs is a psychological treatment to help peopel accept pain is part of thier lives... I quite literally ran a mile...
Hope your back is in a betrer shape than mine.
(How's the chomebook doing? Still going strong? :-))
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• #332
Replying to you on it; and I probably shouldn't as I am not using a stand...It's better than a tablet and I can sit in a coffee shop and pretend than I am working on a Mac...
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• #333
Steroid/epidurals can help. Surgery is to be avoided and its outcomes are not much better than non- surgical- but I do hear that research shows that this may be changing.
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• #334
Surgery will on be an option if/when I can no longer move my arm, the exact wording from the docs at King's was "Come back to see us when you can't move your arm..." Charming, right?
Glad the chromebook is still going strong!
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• #335
Some branches of medicine are not known for their communication skills. I assume they were neurosurgeons ...
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• #336
How did you guess? Ha... ;-) I still don't understand why my GP at the time would refer me to the neurosurgeons to begin with, when I had no non-surgical treatment at all... and the neurosurgeon was only too happy to tell me there is nothing he could do without referring onto something else...
My all time favourite is a knee specialist at King's... he has become my best buddy... he knows his stuff and he has awesome communication skills, he even does dressings and he is a boss consultant.
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• #337
Why you don't need an MRI for low back pain with no neurological symptoms....
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/11/overkill-atul-gawande
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• #338
chronic pain isn't always just down to damaged body bits. https://www.tamethebeast.org
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• #339
More evidence, from people who know what they are talking about, of the redundancy of MRI scans for lower back pain.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/21/lower-back-pain-being-treated-badly-on-a-global-scale-study-says -
• #340
Anyone got any experience of recovery time from microdiscectomy/decompression surgery? Under the knife at the weekend and maybe somewhat optimistically hoping I might be working again next week. (I do work from home with a standing desk) Also cycling again within a month?!
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• #341
No direct experience but I found the spine-health website useful ahead of PLIF surgery a few years ago.
This is their write up of post-op care.
It's a bit old but most of it won't change that much. Worth it if only it improves the quality of the discussion with your surgeon.
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• #342
Cheers, interesting....
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• #343
I guess ymmv but for me it was almost instant recovery. I woke up and I just had to recover from a fairly minor wound on my lower back, but the sciatica, numbness and suchlike had vanished.
If I remember right I was working immediately, waited for the stitches to come out before light excercise (swimming, gym bike) and then ramped things up till back to normal 2-3 months later.
The limitations were self imposed - taking it easy to ensure all is well, and adding in Pilates, Alexander Technique and the like to ensure there’s no repeat of the issue - rather being physically unable to do to stuff
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• #344
Good stuff, cheers that was the kind of story I was hoping to hear! As I'm self employed was hoping for not too much time out. I have pilates booked in after years of avoidance...
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• #345
Good luck - hope all goes well!
For what its worth, I found Alexander Technique very helpful to become aware of my posture and movement. Think it compliments pilates
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• #346
Cheers @cookiemonster was exactly as you described. In very little pain and being discharged shortly so a beeline for a sunny beer garden 🍻
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• #347
That’s great - just take it easy though and work on ensuring there’s no repeat in a year or two!
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• #348
My lower back has been hurting the last couple of weeks, I have never had a problem with my lower back and I hope this is not the beginning of another problem.
I fucked up my left knee again over Easter and my hip on the left side has been in pain because of the limping around... I think this is the reason why my lower back is suffering too, not sure. Basically, there is no pain when I am standing or sitting or even cycling, I don't feel any pain when doing most things. Pain is only felt with I am bending foward to let say pick something up, or trying to touch my toes (I don't do it regularly, but you get what I mean). As soon as I bend down, withing seconds, the pain kicks in, it's more like that really tired feeling, the slightly burning sensation all over my lower back, as soon as I stand properly again, the feeling goes away within seconds...
I am waiting for an MRI scan of my knee, in the meantime, should I visit the GP about the back pain or not? I have never found visit to GP that useful for any kinds of pain...
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• #350
Spending a lot of time sitting around at home or sitting at my desk on a not quite right chair is leading to a fair bit of lower back pain.
Any suggestions for stretches/exercises (that can be done in a flat) to ease it/prevent it?
@Peter_Carter, you might be able to help me here... if you don't mind....
I am due for a MRI for the carotid artery on my neck in Dec, there is a problem apparently and it's turing into a yearly thing for me now. It was an accidental find when they were scanning for my chronic C-spine problem a couple of years ago. Now the scan in Dec is to check on the artery making sure it's not gonna burst anytime soon (only joking, if anything it might block than burst...), can I ask them to look at the C-spine as well? I know the doctors are two different types of specialists and at that but since I am going into a scanner for the same area, I see this as a money and time saving thing to do.
Why do I want a scan for my neck again you ask? My neck pain has been pretty constant the last 6 months or so instead of having the odd flare-up now and then, so I am worried that the discs might be getting more damaged.
I cna ask for a scan for the C-spine I guess, but like I said, since I am going into a scanner and the clinicans who do the scans surly know how to read scans for all sorts of problems?
Does it work like that? Can it work like that?