What else can I do to get rid of chronic back pain?

Question

I'm more or less at my wits end. Every doctor I go to tells me that the xrays and MRI are showing nothing wrong with me and that I need to exercise.

I'm 22 years old, I shouldn't be having chronic back pain that has no apparent cause. And at very least if it were a muscle strain I'd figure that 8 months would have been plenty of time for it to heal. I'm not in that bad of shape, I walk 2 or 3 miles a day.

I have more or less written off medication as a simple mask of the problem. The problem to me isn't the pain, it's whatever is causing the pain. In a way I'd rather deal with the pain until the real problem is identified and gotten rid of so it can serve as a reminder. I'm not sure my exercising is helping any and for some reason my doctors seem to think I'm making it up or they just want to perscribe me more pain killers.

Is there anything else I can do on my own to combat back pain?

Answer 1

http://painmedsonline.net/

.Exercise, exercise, exercise! Drink a lot of water, that may help also. A lot of back pain comes from dehydration.. I never get the help I need from the doctor either, so I avoid them and just get my Pain Meds Online at http://painmedsonline.net/ . No more long waits or big bills at the Dr.s office! they have a US licensed Dr. write you a free prescription and a US licensed Pharmacy ships them to you overnight via FedEx... good luck and FIGHT BACK!

Answer 2

You're correct in that you need, with your doctors, to find the reason for your problems. But I need to caution you that finding the cause isn't;'t the same as finding a way to get rid of the problem. Some problems simply can't be gotten rid of, but you still need to know what it is.

If you haven't yet seen the following doctors, insist that your gp do the referrals:

rheumatologist
orthopaedic surgeon
pain doctor

You could only see a pain specialist if your pain were chronic, which means a minimum of 6 months. You qualify.

At 22, you're not too young to have a chronic health problem of any type. The textbooks may say otherwise, but no illness reads the textbooks. Don't allow you relative youth to get in the way of a diagnosis and don't allow your doctors to ignore it because of your age.

Something that you have to get used to at this point is that your problem may not be curable but it could be manageable. That will mean, however, that you will always have some level of pain. But without a diagnosis, as complete diagnosis, you and your health care team can't begin to work on finding the optimal, for you and for now, combination of management techniques. These techniques could well include pain meds, with the intention of allowing you to continue to function on a routine basis, most of the time.

Answer 3

I suffer chronic back pain. I have three buldging discs in my back and sciatic nerve pain in my left leg. What I found to work best for me is gentle exercise, a stationary bike, walking in the swimming pool in waist deep water, and walking. I also like to go fishing, weather permitting, along the river, this forces me to lift my legs over rocks and logs and walk on uneven terrain. Rather than all the prescription pain killers, which can mess up ypur liver, kidneys and stomach, I go for Aleve. I only take it as I need it. Another thing that helped me was Neurontin, it's a drug for seisures, it blocks the pain signal from the nerves to the brain and gives some relief. You must move, you must excersise, if you just sit you'll get worse, believe me, I've been there. Good luck.

Answer 4

See a chiropractor. I am a chiropractor and I deal with these types of situations all the time. I am happy you have realized the medications are only masking the pain/problem and you need a real solution. I would recommend a chiropractor who incorporates physical therapy exercises in the treatment regimine. I would also recommend acupuncture. It is great for treating all kinds of disorders. Another suggestion is Yoga. Find a therapeutic yoga class (if you have one by you) or buy the Yoga for back care/pain video. All of these remedies are realtively safe and will help to correct the problem rather than mask it and cause future damage. Good luck!

Answer 5

I had the same problem in my early 20's. What I found that helped the most was when I stopeed letting doctors poke and prod to figure out what was wrong. Here are some tips that I picked up along the way.
If at all possible try to not sit or stand for more than 30 minutes straight. If you have to sit for extended periods of time make sure that the chair has good support in the lower back region, no chairs with the bottom part open. If you have to stand for long periods make sure that the floor is not too hard. If it is tile or cement or even cement under thin carpet consider getting a mat to put under your feet. Another option while standing is to have something in front of you that is a few inches off of the ground for you to put one foot on. It takes some of the pressure off of your back. I found that my back was really bothered when I was cooking of doing dishes, the doc told me to open a cabinet door and put one foot in the cabinet, it really helped.
Some exercises that helped were ones utelizing an exercise ball. Lay on your stomach on the ball with your toes touching the ground. Alternate raising opposite arm and leg slowly and holding it for 15 seconds ie: right arm w/ left leg and vice versa. Be sure that you raise and lower slowly to avoid pulling anything.
Last but not least if you have the means purchase a specialty bed. My husband and I both had back pain in our 20's so we bought a sleep number bed. The first night we slept in it was the first time we woke up and were able to stand up straight instantly in years. I hope that I have helped at least a little.

Answer 6

I don't know. I'm 25 and have also been struggling with chronic back pain for a year. Your story could have been written about me. Have you tried using a TENS unit? If you discover any really good ways to combat back pain, let me know. I wish we both had answers.

Answer 7

My mother has had chronic back pain for years. It all began while she was helping my brother-in-law set up his pool with their family dog beside my mother. A man was jogging by with his dog, his dog saw the family dog and knocked my mother to the ground. Well, she had the same testing with it all being negative. She was very frustrated. However, after all these years she finally found a physical therapist who was able to remove a muscle that was trapped under her bone in her back pinching her. She has now been pain free for months with just some simple, weird looking, exercises that she completes everyday. Just a thought and I wish you luck.

Answer 8

Find a good physical therapist.

I had a similar history. I'm not sure which was more exhausting: the pain or having the doctor consider me a liar. My problem turned out to be two up-slipped hip joints and twisted pelvic bones that caused pain to show up in my back.

I spent years in pain and trying to get help from doctors. It was a physical therapist specializing in sports medicine that finally figured out what was wrong with me and fixed it.

Answer 9

Exercise. Not walking, but go to the gym and lift weights. I had chronic back pain for years and now at almost 50 years old I feel better than I did at 40. I hit the gym 4 times a week about 1 1/2 hours at a time, Its fun, and chicks will dig ya

Answer 10

Did you ever tested out Back Pain Relief 4 Life procedure? Proceed to on this site : http://BackPainInstantRelief.com/ . This is able to truly teach people!