Anyone got a dodgy one of these

[Exfso (Peter)]

Sacroiliac joint. Sounds disgusting hey, man is it painful, my right one has started acting up big time, and nothing is working. I cannot sit down at all, had to watch the footy on the weekend standing in front of my TV, too damn painful to sit. Eating Panadiene Forte, which is not a good thing. And forget about sleeping, cannot find a position that does not spasm. My Physio reckons I have possibly got a nerve pinched in the joint, the mind boggles. Aint getting old great fun.....

[Atmos (Colin)]

I've had a pinched nerve before (sometimes do a lot of lifting at work) and I would usually go and see a myotherapist/chiropractor.

[Exfso (Peter)]

Thanks Colin, yeah that thought crossed my mind but due to bad arthritis in lower back a couple of my vertebrae are fused and any manipulation could do untold damage. My Xrays do not paint a pretty picture, that is for sure.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Over the last few months, I have been having huge sciatic nerve pain.

Tingling right down my legs, I can't really bend forward properly, and I think my arms have gotten shorter - I used to be able to touch my toes. And now I have reached 45 - nobody told me about the involuntary noises! EEEERRRRRRRR! OOOOOIIIIIII! HOIVEN MAVEN! I think they were an automated firmware upgrade, because I don't recall signing up for them.

It turns out that most of the pain for me is actually being referred from a nerve bunch at the front right, inside the pelvis towards the hip joint. The chiropractor prods that, and I jump through the roof! Touchy. It affects the nerves along the spine, and the sciatic nerve unfortunately is the first one to respond.

The chiro has a hand-held mechanical massager called The Thumper. If you have ever used one, you will agree that it is sensational on the lower back. We were so impressed, we went out and bought one for home. It weighs about 3.5kg, and is about 45cm across... a big machine. The great thing is that it can do both sides of your back at the one time. Ten minutes with that, and I am 10 years younger, and my arms have grown back to their normal size.

But every morning, I wake up and the pain is back. I think I assume the crash position while I'm sleeping. 20 minutes stretching certainly helps.

And in spite of all of this, it still doesn't stop me from carrying my scope around. Thank goodness I opted for the 10-inch, and not the 12-inch.

EDIT:
Peter, is your pain from the vertebrae clashing, or is nerve/muscular in nature? When mine is more muscular, I use on of those neoprene back wraps, like a slimline girdle with velcro. The heat that it traps in makes a huge difference in a short amount of time.

[casstony]

Shane, IMHO you need an MRI of your lower spine to see whether any of the nerves are being compressed and have a neurosurgeon interpret it for you. Letting Chiropractors or Physio's near your back without knowing what state it is in could potentially make things worse.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

I know Tony.

I'm pretty sure it is partially hereditary (grape-picker's back), and partially my misspent youth (skateboards aplenty).

I should go see the doc, and get a referral sooner than later.

[Exfso (Peter)]

Shane I have had a stuffed back for years, but in recent months it has got worse, Had the lower area x-ray'd a fortnight ago, now got scoliosis, and that is when the arthritis showed with fused vertebrae. It is a real mess, so my GP is suggesting I get an MRI and take it from there. Currently the pain is 100% coming from the Sacroiliac area, so I need things narrowed down so that some form of "treatment" can be organised. If I were a horse, I would have been put down, that is for sure.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Originally Posted by Exfso

If I were a horse, I would have been put down, that is for sure.

But then who would make our equine light boxes??

In all seriousness, I hope that the medicos can come up with some form of treatment protocol, that makes things more bearable for you.

Mine comes and goes and is bad. I can't imagine what you are going through.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hmmm, didn't know anything about Sacroiliac Joints so I googled. Now I know where some of my problems seem to come from. Only minor at this point but got a better understanding of why some of me hurts sometimes.

Shane > Regarding your comment about worse in the morning when you get up. Was reading an article a week or so ago and apparently the body doesn't do much physical repair work overnight and being prone relaxes the muscles so you don' support the damaged areas IIRC. I'll see if I can find the article as it was interesting to understand the body dynamics.

[lazjen (Chris)]

I'd caution against using Chiropractors - they're not real medical professionals after all.

[casstony]

The starting point for any severe and persistent spinal pain is to find out if a nerve root is being compressed and why it is being compressed; then you can get proper advice on future treatment, which could mean no lifting and a lot of laying down to let a disc bulge retreat or it might be that surgery is appropriate (by a reputable surgeon under a private health scheme - you can't afford to let a mediocre surgeon near your spine).

Nerve root compression can present as pain in the back or pain, numbness and tingling down the legs into the feet. If you google 'spine pain map' you'll find images that show the areas of the body where pain/numbness/tingling can appear and the nerve root it's associated with.
eg. nerve root compression at the bottom of the lumbar spine L5/S1 can present as symptoms running down the legs into the feet.

I only know a little about this because we have a few bad backs in the family.

[Exfso (Peter)]

Yeah, I have had numb and tingling feet for years, it was put down to peripheral neuropathy associated with Diabetes, but now I am beginning to think it is stemming from spinal issues.. In any case I most certainly will not let any "quack" near me.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by lazjen

I'd caution against using Chiropractors - they're not real medical professionals after all.

Yeah, post bike smash I went to see one of "them". Went from half crippled to half crippled and in blazing pain for a couple of years afterwards.

Before you contemplate anything surgical, find someone who can do "Bowen Therapy" and give it a try. First session I had was after slipping a disk; normally 2 weeks on my back for that stunt. It felt like someone had blow torch on my back during the session but it was "physically" very gentle. I was chopping wood 4 hours later!

I've gone from 9/10 pain 24/7 to 1/10 most of the time. You need to have it every couple of weeks to maintain the effect but it was like a new life for me... So impressed, I married the woman who gave me the massage. (Seriously!!)

Hope you try it.

Rom

[Exfso (Peter)]

Thanks Rom dead set I would settle for using dog turds as liniment if it worked, back pain really is the worst type in my opinion. Mind you, I fired out a Kidney stone once and that took some beating.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

You have my greatest sympathy.
It's up there with an ulcerated tooth, pain wise.
Agree strongly about avoiding chiros. You don't want an unqualified person mucking about with your back and quite possibly exacerbating your condition.

[Mokusatsu (Australia)]

Originally Posted by lazjen

I'd caution against using Chiropractors - they're not real medical professionals after all.

Some chiros definitely have their heart in the right place and are doing their best to drag their profession out of the swamp of superstition and magical thinking from what it rose. They practice what is essentially physical therapy for spinal complaints.

Sadly it is still very common for chiros to practice full blown woo woo. The vast majority of "medical professionals" within the anti-vaccination movement for example are chiros, and there are no shortage of chiros making outlandish claims about back adjustments fixing everything from infant colic to infectious diseases, absolutely none of which is evidence based in the slightest!