If you have had herniated disc, can you tell me what it feels like? (painful, yoga)
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For those of you who have had a herniated disc, what did it feel like before you had a dr. confirm it was in fact a herniated disc?
My low back has been excruciating on and off for years now but it seems to be more like every day - sharp lower back pain at most times of the day for me. I'm trying to confirm whether it is a herniated disc.
Yes, I am going to have a physician check it out but I'm curious how it felt for those of you who had one.
No symptoms are going to be identical. I have 3 herniated discs in my neck. My symptoms were never painful, rather my entire left arm would go totally numb depending how I was standing or sitting. It was like the rabbit ear antennae, move my arm a tad up or down and the symptoms would stop. I went to PT for that and all my symptoms went away for 15 years or so. A few months ago my left shoulder started going numb again, I started doing the exercises again, and it got better.
I had herniated discs in my back, which resulted in agonizing, unbearable pain from which I think I have PTSD. The pain was never in my back, the nerve impingement resulted in Sciatica, and the pain was in my lower left leg. PT did not help in the slightest, nor did 4 epidurals, and I ended up getting an L4-L5 laminectomy, which went great and I have been pain free for close to 3 years now.
When you go, don't let them just do an X-Ray. All that got me was a misdiagnoses (they said I had left hip tendonitis) and I wasted lots of money and time getting treatment for the wrong thing. You need an MRI.
This thread is discouraging if so many in this (allegedly) wealthiest of all nations are living in physical pain. What the heck is wrong with our "leaders"? More worried with non-Americans than their own citizens?
Anyways...I want to talk SHOES.
Strangely, I will find a pair of shoes that will make my back feel like I'm in heaven...for a little while. Then the pain comes back.
For example, I started wearing this pair of Nikes and the pain almost entirely went away...but then it came back again when wearing those same shoes. Same thing happened with some other shoes I wore and insoles I put in them. Pain went away for a week or two ....but then it came back and those shoes no longer alleviate the pain in my lower back.
Anyone here had a similar story?
Stop!
You are playing with fire (no pun intended).
Get to your doctor, if you need a referral to see an orthopedist. If not, get to a good ortho. He will examine you, then maybe do an x-ray, and then do an MRI as warranted. If he does anything else, he is the wrong person.
A herniated disc in the lumbar area is easy to diagnose. The vertebrae in that are LARGE, as are the discs. When a disc is ruptured and a nerve is compressed, it is easy to see. If you are also suffering from stenosis or arthritis (degenerative disc disease), it will easily show up on the films.
He will then recommend a course of actions. It might include everything from medicines to rest to exercise to physical therapy to surgery. If you are in any doubt, keep a copy of the films and see another ortho.
Stop playing around with something which is so simple to diagnose, and VERY difficult in many cases to resolve.
How do I know? Broken back, ruptured discs, surgery twice, and it hurts like hell every day of my life. But I follow the Arnold Palmer approach: It hurts if I play, and it hurts if I don't play. So I play!
Good luck. Do what you need to do. Don't play around with it before you can't walk at all.
I currently have 7 discs in various degrees of bulging [4 lumbar 3 cervical] and 5 levels of mild to moderate stenosis. I was hit by a runaway car 36 years ago and started with 1 bulging disc and as the years go on the MRI keeps showing more of them going bad. I have had nasty flareups many times and have always had my pain relieved by my chiropractor. Chiropractors have been proven to be the best treatment for LOWER back pain, be careful with your neck I don't get my neck adjusted very often.
Walking is one of the best things you can do keep your strength up and your posture properly aligned. For lower back pain you should always have lumbar support [small pillow] when you sit. Learn quickly that you cannot do what you used to before the injury, no more heavy lifting !!!
A big part of the problem can be excessive weight, I noticed less pain when my weight was down and after an extended illness caused me to lose a third of my weight my back pain improved quite a bit.
Core muscle strength is your best defense against flareups, I force myself to stay as active as possible without causing too much pain. I am extremely blessed to naturally have a much higher testosterone level than most men my age so I still have good muscle tone at age 57.
Avoid surgery unless absolutely necessary, most flareups get better with time and most surgeries do not give complete relief and some people end up worse.
And to finally answer the OP's question the shooting pain feels like electric jolts down the back of my leg and the sharp pain feels like a sword in my side and the deep arm pain feels like a nail has been pounded into my elbow, all due to nerve impingements that have always improved with time.
Thankfully I am able to live most of the time without extreme pain.
I had 3 herniated lower back discs that pinched the sciatic nerve. The excruciating pain made it difficult to walk or even move in a chair. Doctor had to deaden the nerves with Rfa , Radio frequency ablatin. Beats having surgery.
I've had back problems for as long as I can remember (at least 20+ years). I've had multiple injections, physical therapy, chiropractic, dry needling, and most recently, RF Ablation. Nothing has provided anything more than temporary relief. I keep my weight in check and do mostly core exercises on my own.
I've had a dozen or more Xrays and MRIs over the years, with my back progressively getting worse. I've never been diagnosed with herniated disks, but my last MRI (June 2018) shows various disk bulges and extrusions, along with hypertrophy of the facets from T11-12 thru L5-S1. Additionally, the bulges/extrusions are contacting the nerves at L2 thru L5. And of course, desiccated discs throughout. All of my previous imaging showed some curvature of the back, but I finally had a Scoliosis Survey (Xray) in July 2018 that actually diagnosed it as scoliosis.
Only once have I had the pain radiate down my leg. When I have a flare up (like right now, which started a month ago), it feels like someone (maybe the Hulk) has wrapped their hand around the right side of L3-4 and is just squeezing as hard as they can. The left side also hurts but to a lesser extent. The pain on the right side occasionally radiates to the outside of the hip, but not down my leg.
A few days after my current flare up started, I went to the doctor for a toradol injection, which has helped take the edge off flare ups in the past. This time it didn't. Now on Tuesday I'll be seeing a neurosurgeon spine specialist to discuss what other options are available.
I suffered this past summer with herniation of L4 L5 S1. I couldn't sit, at all. I couldn't stand for more than 10 seconds. All I could do was lie down on my right side. I could walk, but no more than a few steps without incredible pain, for the first month. Half of my left foot was numb/tingling.
I remember being told that walking was the best cure. It was so demoralizing at first, to only be able to walk to the first corner of the block, and turn around to come back to the house. The recovery was very gradual. My joy at finally being able to walk around the block (half a mile) was immense.
I was told that stair-climbing wouldn't be good, but I believe it was the thing that catapulted me back into real recovery, when in August I had no choice but to help move my mother out of her house into assisted living. There were 4 flights of stairs and I got through it with frequent breaks, and lots of heat.
By October I was 95% better, and I know I have to focus on those weak back muscles that caused me to be injured. I still have to be careful what I lift or push.
While symptoms of a herniated disc can be isolated to the back, there is usually radiation of symptoms, pain, burning numbness typically into the buttocks and/or down the leg...
Symptoms often worsened by sitting, coughing, sneezing....
Only way to know for sure is to get it checked out.
Correct. I think this is an accurate statement.
A herniation at C4-5 or C5-C6 will ordinarily resulted in pain or numbness down either arm.
A herniation at L4-5 or L5-S1 will ordinarily result in pain or numbness in a hip or down the right or left leg.
I've never really heard of a herniation between thoracic vertebra, but I wonder where you would feel one of those.
I've never really heard of a herniation between thoracic vertebra, but I wonder where you would feel one of those.
Per one of the dermatome links I posted earlier, looks like it would be as follows. Picture looks almost like lateral bands across the chest and back.
T1- Inner forearm
T2 - Upper inner arm
T3 - Middle of the back (dorsal)
T4 - Level of the nipples
T5 - Halfway down from the level of the nipples to the xiphoid process
T6 - Bottom of the foot
T7 - Upper section between the xiphoid process and the belly button
T8 - Halfway down from the level of the xiphoid process to the level of the belly button
T9 - From the middle section of the xiphoid process to the belly button.
T10 - Level of the belly button (umbilicus)
T11 - Between the level of the belly button and the groin (inguinal ligament)
T12 - The midpoint of the groin
Last edited by Texas Ag 93; 02-15-2019 at 04:35 PM..
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