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30 Year Old Female With Bad Back....

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Hello everyone,
i've been reading some of the posts and I wish everyone a lot of luck on their way to feeling better.

My wife is a 30 year old and she has a messed-up back to say the least. She had according to the last mri that she had "mild disk space narrowing at t12-l1, l1-l2, l3-l4, l4-l5 and l5-s1." she's been on pain killers but the pain doesn't go away. She's also been doing physical therapy, with no significant improvements. Just today I read about something called vertebral axial decompression and they claim that it helps relief the pain!! Has anyone tried this?? Or has anyone tried anything that has worked for them? Please help...

Thank you in advance...
Fadi.
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replied April 8th, 2006
Active User, very eHealthy
Vax-d might provide some help for the short term but I would hesitate to do anything that her ortopedic surgeon/pain management doctor had not suggested. They may say that it is worth a try but I would be banking on them saying that without surgical intervention she will be in pain for the rest of her life. However, even with surgical intervention she may be in pain anyway.

If she is not seeing a pain doctor, it might be a good idea for her to ask for a referal to one. There are numerous types of pain medicine and treatments that could truly help her get out of pain and live a normal life. There is a pump that can be installed in her abdomen that is called the intrathelical pain pump and it applies medicine to the spinal cord to stop the transmission of pain to the brain. She would be able to quit taking pills for pain and be able to do just about anything she would want to do as long as there aren't any of the discs pressing on the spinal cord or the nerve roots.

Good luck,
brian
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replied April 10th, 2006
Brian,
thanks for the feedback. I read about the pump, I think my wife is having psychological pain along with her back pain. She just cannot bear the thought that she's only 30 and she already has so many activity restrictions. So I guess what she's trying to find is a way out of back pain in "normal life-style way", meaning, like when she does physical therapy she thinks of that as "exercising at the gym" I know she might be going into some kind of depression mode and i'm trying to help her out of that. So when I read about vax-d it sounded like something she can do without driving her into that depression mode. Aside from her back pain, she's a great person with great sense of humor and alot of fun to be around and i'm trying to help her stay that way.

We have not talked to her orthopedic about vax-d but i'm planning to do it this week, I agree with and we will never do anything with out the Dr.'s approval.

Thanks,
fadi.
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replied April 10th, 2006
Active User, very eHealthy
I am 33 and I have been suffering since I was 30. I have had disk replacement and it was not the success that we had hoped for. I would recommend that she ask to be refered to a pain management specialist and allow them to do epidural injections as well as developing a pain medication schedule that will allow her to take medicine and also function.

I am prescribed the duragesic 50 mcg/hr patch and since it is something that goes into the system slowly and consistantly, there is not a feeling of being "high" like with other medicines. I have ben thrilled with life since being prescribed this recent regimine.
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replied April 11th, 2006
Tamadrummer,
thanks for the reply. My wife actually tried those patches about a couple of month ago and it was a scary experience. She wore the patch starting around 4 pm and by like 2am she was so sick. She felt very dizzy very weak, short of breath. So I called her ortho and he said to stop the patch and remain on the pills. We are not sure what happened but I think that her body might've sucked too much medicine at one time.

Her Dr. Has not discussed surgery with us saying that she was too young to go to surgery, and I don't think my wife will want to go through surgery especially with 3 young kids running around the house. So we are trying to find a way (like everyone else here) out of pain by doing small things daily, like physical therapy, proper spine alighnment with daily activity (like sitting, walking, liftting...) and i'm also trying to gather infromation on what worked for people and hope if we do it it will work for us....

I wish everyone well.

Fadi.
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replied April 17th, 2006
Upper Back Pain In 30 Year Old
Have you seen a chiropractor yet? A good chiropractor may be able to see this from a different point of view. If there are degenerated discs, why? Often times, upper back pain is related to lower back function. You may always be stiff there and think its normal. Its not.
Unfortunately, pain management used medications and other interventions that can be harmful and unless you feel a doctor really understands your problem, rather than just throwing therapies at it seeing what may work. This indicates they really dont understand the mechanics of the pain you are feeling. I have had many patients with upper back pain that was caused by the lower back.
In all types of care, always ask yourself do the benefits outweigh the risks?

Check us out at backfixer1.Com
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replied May 29th, 2006
Hi
i would so love to talk to your wife, as I am going through similar things as her, I am 25 and have had severe back pain for 5 years my quality of life is poor to say the least but it is what you can make of it. I am very concerned for her mental health as I have been their and thanks to the support of my wonderful husband I am feeling better than ever (emotionally atleast) I also have to young babies despite every thing that I go through on a daily basis I see the positives out of life and have stopped asking why me? Why so young? Anyway I would really love to email your wifeand just let her know that their is some one else who is going through what she is. Well let me know what you think. And good on you for reaching out to help her through this :)
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replied May 30th, 2006
Back Pain And Vax D
There are many decompression tables that are available. I have not heard that they are more effective than plain old flexion distraction tables that many chiropractors have. These spinal decompression tables are expensive, and since most insurance does not cover it, you pay dearly for the priveledge. Also, since most chronic lower back pain is due to gait issues, it works on the end result, a disc problem instead of the issues, body assymmetry, foot overpronation, etc.

Find a chiropractor that does muscle work and will look at your feet and how they work, and then looks at how your body functions. Look beyond the back for the best outcome.

Check us out at backfixer1.Com
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