Facet joint problem

Hello Tmoore,

Welcome to this forum and the great people who post and try to help others.

Hang on, this may be a bit of a rough ride Tmoore.

Regarding your "quad" - Sorry to say, but that is a NO NO big time. That type of vehicle and mud bikes are among the MAJOR causes of back injuries and pain with those of your age. May be "fun", but it ain't!!!!! SOOOOooo no more on the quad if you are serious about being kind to your back and body.

Thank goodness you understand the "penalty" of taking narco pain meds. I commend you for trying not to take them.

May I ask what kind of doctors you have seen? That information will greatly help in the thoughts I and others would/will provide.

No. one rule - If you do something that causes pain to your back - DON'T do it!!!!!

I wish you the best. I look forward to your response.

RichT

i have seen a rumitiodoligist, who told me that all i needed to do is stretch... a neruoligist who tried different meds , lyrica and cymbalta both lead to no relief, and the last doc i saw was *edited to remove link not to sure how to describe what he does but he gave me the injections.

and with the quad. before i even start it, i think if there is anything important that has to be done in the next few days. i know that it hurts but for me, personally; it is worth it to ride it, right now anyways. if the duration of recovery time goes way up, then i will adjust.

i am just having a very hard time with realizing that i am 21 and have a back like my grandpa does. everywhere i look around me, people having pain free fun... its very hard.

if anyone has had to give up something for the rest of there life, quite possibly like i will have to do, please let me know how you dealt with it.

thanks to all

Unfortunately some patients are victims of medical scams such as series of 3 facet joint injections. If you received no relief with the first, there is no medical reason to go forward with the second or third injection. If you received temporary relief from the first and it was conducted properly by a interventional pain physician using ISIS guidelines, then you may be a candidate for radiofrequency neurotomy.
As for not being able to 4 wheel again, count your blessings that you are still alive my friend. These extremely dangerous machines are the cause of thousands of injuries every year, some fatal, and some resulting in permanent paralysis. If you never ride a 4 wheeler again, then you have achieved a level of reasoning that many naive people do not.

Really? I dint know about these so called "scams" but i dont doubt it. with the first injection there was relieve for maybe a few days. two weeks later with the second was horrible, by far the worst pain i have expierenced with my back problem. so it then took me a long time to decide if i was going to do the third or not. i decided to just so that when it doesnt work i can tell my doctor that i did exactly what i was told.

with my quad, again... my whole family is into it, we go to the coast alot. it is something that i have been doing all my life. burring high school i had to give up baseball because i couldn't compete at that level, shoulder surgery, which was also a very rough time in my life. and now, i am iin the prime of my life and i am very limited on what i can do for fun and excitement. if the pain continous to get worse, i will probably sell my bike and get a 4x4 of some sort, not nearly as rough but still the same fun.

and what is radiofrequency neurotomy?

also, what meds, if any, work the same or better then norco without the zombie like side effects?

I would strongly suggest using a little common sense and not engage in activities that have a great potential to cause even more harm. Graded exercise would be reasonable but not motorized sports that can cripple or kill. Today I saw a 40 year old man that was injured 10 years ago, has had 8 surgeries on his ankle from a 4 wheeler accident. Next week the ankle is being permanently fused. He will most likely have pain forever.

Radiofrequency neurotomy is placement of an insulated needle with an active tip onto the nerves of the facet joints and destroying them for up to 18 months. Narcotics each have their own profile of side effects, and there are none that have no effect on anyone...just have to try them under your doctors assent.

Hi everyone

I wanted to let you guys know that i just went back to physical therapy today and the same lady i have been seeing for over a year rechecked my movement and things like that.

The Good News:
When she looked at my spine as i bent over forward to try and reach my toes, she noticed that the left side of my back was higher then the right side. She said that this could be a late onset of scoleosus. My mom had this when she was young, my sister who is 12 has it, and I have a male cousin who has this aswell, so it is definitely in the family. But she also said that all of the muscles on the right side of my back were relaxed compared to the left side, where none of the muscles loosen up.

The Bad News:
She did not sound very optimistic about what she was saying and said that if it is that, there is not much that can be done except stretching out the tight muscles, and maybe trying to loosen up a few of my vertebra that when dont move when my body moves.

I dont know much about treatment for scoleosus, does anyone know about treatment options at this stage of my life. Does being 21 years old put me at any sort of disadvantage?

One possibility that I have thought of today is that when i had my quad accident, I broke my arm. No back pain at all. 2 months later is when my back pain began, would it seem out of the question that when I was seeing my doctors, and they all knew about the accident, that they could have over looked any possible signs of scoleosus, and tried diagnosing a back for injuries that it may not have sustained.

Does this seem like a possible scenario, or is it too much of a coincidence that the back pain came shortly after severe trauma? PLEASE POST BACK FOR THIS QUESTION

Thank you to all