how long did it take for you to get over herniated discs/ruptured disc injury in your back?

Question

my MRI results, help yahoo!

t3-t4: radial bulge w/ scant affect on spinal canal
t6-t7:mild desiccation/mild radial bulge w/ scant affect on spinal canal
t7-t8: slight encroachment in the anterior surface of the thecal sac by bulging disc

L3-L4: moderately broad based disc protrusion causing mild to moderate encroachment on the anterior surface of the thecal sac

im 23, and i had an slip/fall injury on 9/13/06
im in horrible pain 16 hours a day...none of the 5 dr's ive seen will give me meds to control the pain. it also doesnt help that im a full time student and work 30 hrs a week, i feel like im going to break soon...i cant sleep, i have trouble sitting/standing for anything over 30 min. my whole personality has changed, i get stressed out too easily now
ive been doing physical therapy with stretches/core strenghtening exersices and the neurosurgeon im seeing did an epidural steroid injection in my lumbar spine 2 weeks ago, which has done nothing for me thus far

Answer 1

You do have a significant problem according to your MRI which could be potentially irreversible without surgery, but I would not make that judgement without seeing you in the clinic. First, while core strengthening is a good thing, there is no benefit it gives to helping to reduce a bulging or herniated disc.

I am not sure what types of stretches you are doing, but I do know that there is a potential to increase the disc bulging with streches such as pelvic tilts and knees to chest, etc. If what you are doing is helping you...fine, stay with it. Yet, it sounds like you are not getting any relief. With this type of problem, I expect my patients to have at least some releif within the first seven visits.

If you are not having relief with your current course of PT, I highly recommend you see someone who has gone through continuing education and complete study in MDT (aka "the McKenzie method"). I am not trying to disagree with your therapist, but it sounds like you've had no benefit so far. The benefit with this appraoch is that if it ISN"T going to help you, we'll know within 7 visits. Therefore, very little time is lost...I may take longer than 7 visits, but at least we'd know by then if we are on the right track.

Spinal decompression is also an option (as mentioned above), but what I don't like about it is that you can't "take it with you" whereas, the MDT approach tries to show you what to do on your own to help yourself. Also, the stats on spinal decompression are misleading if you don't read the full studies. Yes, it's true that it has a success rate of close to 90%, however, that is only in people who have a problem at 1 level (and not 4 like you)...it starts to rapidly decline with multiple level problems and in the presense of disc degeneration and approaches that of other traditional therapies.

You may need to seek out a therapist that has more specialized training.

Answer 2

I did not get 'over' it. I had surgery in 1997 and still have trouble with the other discs in my back. Have one that is herniated right now, do not know why it happened, did nothing to cause it to do so. Am seeing a neurosurgeon the 7th of next month. I do think you need to see another doctor. I have never had any problems with any doctor I have seen be it m.d., er doctor,or neurosurgeon that did not prescribe something for the pain even if it was just 600mg of Motrin and some muscle relaxers. Am really quite surprised to hear that you have seen 5 doctors and none have given you something, anything at all for the pain! I hope you can find one that will. I truly sympathize with you because I know how horrible it is to hurt like that and how it changes your whole life. Good luck!

Answer 3

Patience is the first thing you'll need to have. There are no quick fixes and meds to mask the pain are only a temporary patch. Your schedule as a full-time studnet and 30-hours working (basically two full-time jobs) can be a great deal of stress. Stress is only going to make the pain worse! Relaxation needs to be a priority along with trying to reduce the pain, not eliminate it.
I've had back surgery along with the epidural injections along with many, many other treatments. Every case is different and there is no one right way to obtain relief.
I simply got fed up with feeling cloudy all of the time due to drugs (and not solving the pain problem) and walked away from them (the drugs) - it was rough for a few months. But continued to modify those things that would make the pain worse and continued focusing what reduced the pain, even if only a little bit.
Back to my first statement, patience. It has been over 13-years since my injury, still have bad days (less than 10 a year), but the low pain days far out number the "can't deal with it" days. I truly don't have back pain free days unfortunately. Patience with yourself and those trying to help you was what I've seen in hind-sight as the biggest improvement.

Answer 4

Yikes that sucks.

I would find another Dr. that specializes in pain management.

and keep trying different Drs until you can find one that will help you.

Research treatments online

Answer 5

I have a bulging disc and have had it for almost 4yrs. Nothing has helped me, except for ice packs that you can buy on the internet and this ultrasound gel that you can find at the Sonic Relief website. It has menthol, eucalyptus, peppermint, and lavender in it. On my worst days, I rub that on take Ibuprofen and 3 Hydrocodone. I am so sorry to hear that you are not getting any pain medication. You need to see someone else. If you have to see your school counselor and get them to write you a note. Have them write that you are unable to concentrate or finish school work because of the amount of pain you are in and that you might have to take a break from school if you cannot get the relief you need. There is one thing that I have just recently found out about that I am going to try when I get transportation. It's called the DRX 9000 and it's spinal decompression. There have been studies done on it already and doctors and chiropractors are starting to use them to treat their patients for back pain. It's used mostly for bulging and herniated discs. I think this would really help you. A lot of people fully or almost fully recover. I guess I would look it up on the internet and see if they have it in your area. I hope this helps and I hope that you get better. You are so young and chronic pain really does change your life. I want you to not experience the pains that I have. Good luck to you. Feel free to write me if you need someone to talk to.

Answer 6

I have similar problems from auto accident 4yrs ago. I am searching for ways to cope with pain. I can tell you what I did wrong, because believe it or not you can make it worse, I did.
t3-t4 radial bulge
t5-t7 herniated right side
L1-L3 bulging
c1 bulging

L1-L3 cause the pain in my legs, numbness etc.
I wore a heavy lumbar belt, when lifting at a job. I over did the stress on the t3-t4 area because the belt was too wide over the waist and the stress went between the shoulders.
Hold items close to the body. I find I can hold a bag (ex. books) straight up from the floor about 10 lbs., but two books in my arms in front of me, stresses between my shoulder blades and shoots down the arm, after a short period of time. It got so bad I could not blowdry my hair, the movement was too much.
The eighteen months of pain meds, muscle relaxers and anti-inflamitorys just masked the problem and made it confusing for me to respond to drs in that 10minute frame they give you. It also made me careless and I pushed too hard and made it all worse. Pain is the bodys natural warning system, without it we screw up.
Also, the 18mo of foggy mind, sleepiness, did not help my attitude. Those who love you will see you deteriorate in energy and don't have the capasity to understand long term, you start to believe you are lazy and have no control.
Breathing exercises were the best for dealing with pain. I also get accupuncture. I was skeptical at first. It toke 6wks to see results.
Chiroprator did not work for me, although my brother had good results with his.
Light stretches before you start your day will warm it up and help you keep from injuring yourself.
For sleep try a benadryl - anti inflamitory at bed time. I went the heavy drug route and blew my mornings trying to get over it everyday. Excedrin migraine was my staple during the day, with my muscle relaxers, when I ended up in the hospital with "rebound" effects, I found out the excedrin works temp.,but eventually makes it worse, so be very limited on how you take it. Don't take in the evenings, heavy caffine, equals 1 cup of coffee per pill.
Keep moving and resting. If you figure out how to do that...I want to know. I re-did my bedroom. I toke out the TV, and got a sound machine. I get away, for even a few minutes to totally relax. To relax is a learning process for me. I toke up light yoga and learned the relaxed breathing. Make a spot, just for you to escape for that five min you need. At first you wont do it in five minutes, so be patient. I set a timer so I could totally relax until it went off. Couldn't let go of that rushing thing.
Find a pain management dr, like the one that gave you the injections. I had 4 injections, if you don't get therapy round the clock while the steroid is relaxing the muscle, it goes right back to where it was. I found the expense and time have now devistated my finances and was not a permentant cure.
I use a tens unit and lidoderm patches perscribed by my pain management dr. CINN Chicago.
The steroid injections made me gain agreat deal of weight, which caused more stress on the back. It gets to be an endless circle of catch 22's.
I saw many drs too. You wait months to see them, then they want to make a diagnosis in 10 minutes. If you spend the 10min explaining, you are looked at like it's all in your mind, and you appear errational.
If they can't deal with it in 10 min, you are refered to yet another dr. and get the blow off, and it goes yet another round.
There are regulations being put in place now to support the idea that too much pain med causes you to heal too slowly, which costs your insurance company too much money. I know an RN who told me this is making her job of explaining why she can not give the pain meds patients used to get, very difficult.

You have a head start because you understand your problem. I had issues with my sight, and migraines caused by the c1, so I was not able to read and get the infor I needed.

I made the mistake of saying I would concentrate on this, and when I got my life back, I would........
My life is now, and whatever it is, there can be no waiting until I am all better.
I have accepted the changes, and concentrate on management of the problems.
Little everyday prob. Get a lighter vacumn, carry things in bags not in your arms. Be patient with yourself. To save a few minutes, you can set yourself back weeks.
Put a laundry basket in your trunk, when you can get someone to bring in the accumulation of stuff we carry everyday. Get a rolling backpack.
buy a thermal bag, keep in your car, you can put your ice packs in it for your pain, and not rush when you get dairy prod at the store.
Don't rush, find ways to be productive without rushing. that's when you get hurt.
You have to do something small everyday for your self-esteem. Limitations, or changes in lifestyle cause a prob with personality.
Find what works for you.

I am in pain everyday, but I will not be a victim. I am smart, and productive. I can not find all my answers at the Dr's office, because it is a new lifestyle not a one time event.

I am looking for a support group on-line (new for me), to get positive input, if you find one e-mail me. I've also done this de-clutter and reorg of my home. I can't handle the extra work, my everyday life put on my back.

First step, learn the breathing thing to relax, it is the only way I got to step two.


You are going to be fine, it wont just blow over, but it will improve gradually. Your a fighter and you will find your coping techniques. When you do, share it with me.