First of all, sitting for 10 hours a day is not good for anyone to do and if you are having back pain of any kind, sitting like that will increase the pain.

What did your doctor tell you about the MRI?

Fran

Well unfortunately I have a desk job, so I have to sit most of the day.
Thats life and I try and make the best of it.

I do jog, box, weight train 5 days a week, so it's not like I'm a lazy bum, I just have a large chunk of my day stuck in a chair.
I get up every 20mins or so, walk around and so on, but most of the time at work I am in a chair.

If you are having back pain, you should not be jogging, boxing, and doing weight training 5 days a week.

If you have injured muscles or strained them, all that listed above just continues to prevent the injury from healing.

What has your doctor said about your MRI? You didn't post that information in any of your posts.

It would also be a good idea to have another opinion about your MRI results. The reading on the MRI is just one person's opinion as well as your doctor's opinion.

Was your doctor a spine specialist?

Fran

Hi Morley,

I understand your condition, I suffer from back pain too. I hurt myself by falling on the coccyx. My pelvis is in anterior rotation and my sacrum is out of place. I also have my right foot in supination and guess what...???? I work out 5 days a week. THE WORST I can do is stop working out. Most people with back pain should still be active. THE REST prescription from doctors is often the worst thing to do to their patients (of course depending on your injury). I don't know what you have, but do your research and always listen to your instincts.

It took me 5 years to know what I know now. The professional I needed to see was a physiotherapist with ADVANCED manual therapy expertise. I saw a bunch of them before that missed all of my problems. I jsut didn't know what I needed. After 2 hours with my guy now, he knows exactly what's going on in my body and knows exactly how to fix it. PLUS, the fact that I am used to working out speeds up everything.

So my advice is, call your association of physical therapists and ask for referrals of physios with advanced physical therapy. Book an appointment with one and bring your test results to him. They know the body and muscles the most. Don't waist time with chiros and such. But remember, advanced manual therapy nothing less, you won't find results otherwise.

Don't let your mind trick you into thinking that you are screwed for the rest of your life, let your instincts tell you what to do. You will find an answer that will bring you back to your best. I stress it again, LISTEN to YOUR INSTINCT.

Have I had listened to my doctors, I would of be disabled for the rest of my life, but I fought it to the end. I kept my weight training program and my dead lifts and I am proud I listened to myself.

Good luck and let me know what you do.

Bikegirl

In the US, you need a doctor's diagnosis and referral for a physical therapist to see you.

Please tell us what your doctor has told you about your MRI report

Fran

Appologies for the delay in responding. I'm overwhelmed with everything right now.

My doctor read the report from the MRI and told me that I have a disc buldge on T8-T9 and also at T9-T10, however that T9-T10 has loss of disc, probably compressed from that one incident doing DeadLifts. His words were, "basically your back is used up, wear and tear" and now it has caught up to me.

Then I was referred to a sports injury doctor who also explained this to me, and that postural physio therapy is very much required, I guess I have bad posture

So that will commence next week. The physio therapist told me that she would try "Traction" where they extend the vertebrae by pulling the legs or sometimes the neck. Sounds scary, but It's used for this reason.

I have been chatting offline with BikeGirl {posted above} she's a really really nice person and she has told me that there is a thing called "Disc Hydration".
From what I have read thus far, which isnt much, it sounds like the same procedure that my physio therapist wants to do. When your vertebrae is extended, or "decompresed" it allows fluids to enter the disc area and "rehydrate" it.

Unless I have misinterpreted it altogether.

Anyone have any experience / success with disc hydration?

Morley,

I don't know a lot about the traction but from what I have read in the past about it, it has provided some relief for select patients, but it has only been a temporary relief that didn't last that long.

If you have discs that are bulging, then several things can be going on to cause them, but usually it is a spinal stenosis that has caused the disc to bulge. Either the open areas where the spinal nerves go through the vertebrae have narrowed and are compressing the disc and it is flattening from that or the disc has herniated and is pushing out from it's proper location.

I have read many posts on other forums where members have received various types of traction to decompress the discs, which is what the traction will try to do, and it only made them worse, requiring emergency surgery. Others had temporary relief that was short lived and then ended up with various types of disc decompression, depending on the cause of the problem.

Do you have any idea what type of traction machine your physical therapist will be using? What the name of the machine is that will be used?

Posture can be a serious problem with spinal problems. Poor posture can make things worse.

If it where me, I would seek a second opinion from another well qualified spinal surgeon before you try the traction. I would hate to see you give it a try and end up worse because of it.

PM me if you would like any further information

Fran

My doc only recomended postural physiotherapy. Not traction specifically.

I went for a session 2 days ago and it was actually comfortable and painless.
I felt good for about an hour after the treatment.


I do have a new symptom that started yesterday, and that is that my middle finger tip on right hand starts to tingle and goes numb.
It lasted about 1hour..
Then I left for an apointment and got in my truck and my right foot was also starting to get that numbness feeling.

It was scary to say the least. I presume that some spinal nerves are being manipulated somehow which is causing these bizare symptoms.

It went away and today, so far, I feel good. No back pain and chipper as can be


I was on anti-inflamatory pills and muscle relaxants earlier this week, which really helped my back pain imensely. In fact it was virtually non existent. What I think was happening, was that my muscles were tense and contracted trying to compensate for some disc damage and that muscle soreness is what I had for pain.

Even using a hot pack gets rid of the pain, usually.. So it leads be to beleive that the muscles in my back are what produce the pain, however, there is an underlying problem with the DDD and disc buldge.


Anyone else ever get numbness feelings in their body? How long does it last and will it ever go away for good?

Numbness and tingling are a sign of nerve compression in various parts of the spine.

Usually cervical will affect the arms, hands and fingers and lumbar will affect the legs and feet, but there can be various combinations that occur.

The fact that these new symptoms happened following physical therapy and the use of some form of traction, IMHO, indicates that the traction may have created disc bulges or nerve compression in other parts of your spine or possibly that a disc or disc has started to leak fluid out and is irritating the nerves.

If it where me, I would not have the traction done again, but would seek out another spinal surgeon for another opinion ASAP.
Your new symptoms are a sign of further involvement of problems with your spine that need to be addressed right away.

Nerve compression as you describe will not go away until it is properly diagnosed and treated. If it is left without treatment and the pressure is not taken off the nerves, then permanent nerve damage can result.
No one can tell you how long it will take for the nerve damage to develop as each person is an individual.

In my own experience it took only 4 months for the nerve compression to create such total havoc in my body that I lost total bladder control just prior to surgery. That in itself is an emergency and requires emergency surgery right away or the nerves are damaged for good and control of bladder function is lost forever.
My surgery was preformed within 8 hours of this happening and my bladder control was fully functioning within 2 hours of the surgery being completed.

Get another spine surgeon opinion as fast as you can.

Good luck

Fran