Slipped disc advice

[Eddy77]

Hi all,

I have been suffering from a slipped disc since April. It comes and goes. In the last few weeks it has returned with a burning dagger in its hand. I’m due to see a consultant back surgeon next week through BUPA. Seen him before and his next suggestion is steroid injection into the spine. If that fails it’s a discectomy which sounds rather gruesome. I’d rather avoid that if I can. Anyway, I’m currently on a tonne of painkillers from the doc but and laid here wondering what the steroid procedure is and how quickly it is expected to work. I’m looking for a ray of light!! Any fellow sufferers out there who have been through this and got better!!? Thanks all!

 

[Smart320]

My wife had that done about 6 years ago , she had been suffering for months and could not sit down for longer than about 15 minutes and had constant pain due to damage to the disc and nerves in her leg.
She was recommended the same injection in her spine . Had it done privately in Jersey where we lived , downside was she found it a very painful experience despite the extra shots of anaesthetic given, specialist said he had done 105 of those procedures that year and only 2 people had had that level of pain. He commented that it meant he was injecting into the right place! We were scheduled to fly to the Caribbean 3 days later so was expecting to cancel however he said if she was going Business Class so she could lie down it would be OK if she could stand the short connecting flight Jersey to Gatwick!
I upgraded her ( I was in PE ) and she enjoyed the flight.
The good news the improvement was rapid and a month later she was without any serious pain and after 6 months checks on her nerves in her leg showed almost normal function and continued healing, 6 years on no further problems .
Hope this helps

 

[Eddy77]

Thanks for that. Encouraging! I’m not one to moan or complain really but this is just horrible. Hopefully I can get booked in for the steroid treatment and can look forward to feeling better. Hell, I might even get out in my Mercedes then. Not driven it since the summer!!

 

[Marquisofraspberry]

What disc is it that has failed? I've had two fusions at l4-l5 & l5-S1, and more recently c6-c7. I had many injections before the surgery which helps for the short term.

 

[vijilants]

From what I am aware, the steroid injection is only a temporary fix.

I had the op on L4/L5 11 years ago. The pain immediately disappears after the op and you can walk again with no pain. Prior to having the operation, things had become soo bad that I could hardly walk or even sit without a lot of pain. Totally miserable experience.

However the operation is not without its risks, but my neurosugeon was excellent.

11 years on my back still aches a little but not a lot, and obviously I have had to be careful with how I lift stuff etc and I can no longer lean over and work in an engine bay the way I used to, but the operation changed the quality of my life dramatically for the better .

Hope this helps.

 

[Eddy77]

I forget which discs it is....it’s the bottom two from memory. I’ve got a prolapse which is trapping the sciatic nerve. Had an mri which showed it really clearly. Was quite interesting!! I appreciate the injection is temporary. Am hoping it will give me a reprieve and allow my back to do some healing. If that fails I will have to confront the surgery, but for now I’m really hoping it sorts itself out again as it had done in the past! Thanks for all your posts. Was feeling down today with it but hearing some success stories is encouraging!

 

[Marquisofraspberry]

As you are in Fleet, might be worth giving these guys a shout, they used to fix me until I moved away. Acute & Chronic Pain Treatment | The Pain Team UK

 

[oldguy57]

I forget which discs it is....it’s the bottom two from memory. I’ve got a prolapse which is trapping the sciatic nerve. Had an mri which showed it really clearly. Was quite interesting!! I appreciate the injection is temporary. Am hoping it will give me a reprieve and allow my back to do some healing. If that fails I will have to confront the surgery, but for now I’m really hoping it sorts itself out again as it had done in the past! Thanks for all your posts. Was feeling down today with it but hearing some success stories is encouraging!

The effect of this injection lasted about 2 days for Ms oldguy57 and cost a fortune. Like most treatments results will obviously vary. Hope it brings some relief for you! I know these problems are incredibly painful.

 

[glojo]

Hi all,

I have been suffering from a slipped disc since April. It comes and goes. In the last few weeks it has returned with a burning dagger in its hand. I’m due to see a consultant back surgeon next week through BUPA. Seen him before and his next suggestion is steroid injection into the spine. If that fails it’s a discectomy which sounds rather gruesome. I’d rather avoid that if I can. Anyway, I’m currently on a tonne of painkillers from the doc but and laid here wondering what the steroid procedure is and how quickly it is expected to work. I’m looking for a ray of light!! Any fellow sufferers out there who have been through this and got better!!? Thanks all!

I am NOT a doctor and will not make any medical diagnosis or suggestion, but........

In your post you have mentioned BUPA and there is nothing wrong with that organisation and the doctors they use, however.....

If surgery is needed and PLEASE accept I am not saying it is but if you have surgery then you might find and note, I am saying you might find you can only have so much physiotherapy and this will be charged by the hour or maybe parts thereof. The physio might come to your bedside and say "G'day and how are you feeling today?" They might have a bit of a chat but you will be billed for that time. Trust me when I say you might very quickly use up all that BUPA are willing to give regarding physiotherapy.

Best bet in my very personal opinion is to see the BUPA consultant who may well also be an NHS consultant. See that person and my advice would be to get back into the NHS.

Why?

If you are in a private hospital you will be spoilt and pampered but the nurses may well be bank nurses earning extra money. There will be more than a good chance that they are not a specialist in looking after spinal injuries, they might have years of experiencing in a maternity ward, but very little in a spinal injuries ward. The NHS spinal injury ward will be filled with highly qualified, highly trained nurses that are expert in looking after their patients.

Just my thoughts and just me experiences, other folk might disagree, I wish you well and sincerely hope your condition will not require surgery

Ooops, forgot to mention the oodles of physio you can have with the NHS, including, if necessary, hydrotherapy

Best wishes
John

 

[Flyinspanner]

I had prolapsed L4, L5 and had been off work for about 9months when I was put forward for the trials for that procedure.
I was in agony day and night, little sleep, and becoming very depressed and getting through lots of very strong painkillers.


(Frankly are that stage if they’d said we are going to swap your spine for a broom handle, i would have considered it.)

Wife is a nurse and said to avoid “surgery“ (discetomy/laminectomy) until all avenues exhausted...

so glad I did, yes the procedure is uncomfortable, I found the local anaesthetic inj more painful than the epidural inj, but having to keep real still is a pain.
I watched it in real time on the X-ray monitor as they guided it into the spine/disc.

the real relief kicked in a couple of days later - the absence of pain after a full nights sleep was bliss.
I had 4 inj over 4 months, and have been good now for 18 ish years.

I did lots of Pilates/physio after to help rebuild the wasted muscle, and strengthening your core really helps recovery.

Infuture really think about proper manual Lifting & handling techniques- they work!

Good luck with it, and speedy recovery

 

[Flyinspanner]

The injection is as a day case, you go in, injected, monitored for couple of hours after, then home

 

[vijilants]

I forget which discs it is....it’s the bottom two from memory. I’ve got a prolapse which is trapping the sciatic nerve. Had an mri which showed it really clearly. Was quite interesting!! I appreciate the injection is temporary. Am hoping it will give me a reprieve and allow my back to do some healing. If that fails I will have to confront the surgery, but for now I’m really hoping it sorts itself out again as it had done in the past! Thanks for all your posts. Was feeling down today with it but hearing some success stories is encouraging!

Mine was the same, but my dics had not only pushed up against the spinal chord, it had broken in areas. I also had mine done privately in the Harley St Hospital under private medical insurance.

What I can say is that to get on to an MRI and probably see the same consultant via the NHS takes forever. My consultant told me that by the time he gets to see his NHS patients, the damage is done and irreversable due to the delay.

Regarding the OP if you ever consider it, all going well, you are out within two days of having it. They want you on your feet asap.

 

[bob6600]

I've had the injection in the spine. I thought I wouldn't feel anything (local anaesthetic) until the nurse gripped my hand and told me to brace myself lol. It wasn't too bad. Mine didn't do much for a few months and the doctor told me that the injection was 100% on the mark and so if this hadn't worked then surgery was the next option. Having had so much previous surgery in other areas, they concluded the risk of infections etc for me was too high and so said they preferred not to do it. I too didn't want to risk it so I declined. Around 6 months after the injection it seemed to have worked. Whether it was down to the injection I don't know but it improved drastically. I still have to take lots of pain killers but at least I can bloody walk!

During this period, I also (sceptically) went to a private chiropractor as I couldn't sleep or hardly move. They said they they recommended a laser type of treatment. At £40 a session it was expensive but I had no choice. After the first session I actually managed to sleep that night. I had another 8 or 9 and was able to be more mobile. At this point it was becoming too expensive and I was happy to get moving again so I stopped treatment. It definitely helped and so if you get offered anything like this, I would try it, you never know.

 

[Ted]

I had a laminectomy about ten years ago.
Unlike most, sitting down and lying down were a blessed relief, but standing and walking were killers. I could do about ten yards with a stick before the pain got unbearable. My doctor was absolutely useless, prescribing stronger and stronger painkillers.
Finally went for a private MRI scan I could ill afford. While waiting a long for the result the technician came out with my doctor on the other end of the phone, saying to get myself down immediately to the local hospital, and speak to a certain doctor as they needed to operate on me that evening.
After a few tests I was wheeled down to have a laminectomy done.
Now I’m a real wuss for this sort of thing, but I can say that I have had more ‘pain’ from a paper cut. Even removing the drain was totally painless.
Once I was back on my feet the pain was totally gone and has not come back.
So just saying that if you DO have to go for the op, from my experience it is no problem at all, and the relief from pain is almost miraculous.
I do hope that you get sorted as well as I did.

 

[zipdip]

Sorry to hear you have this problem with your back,thankfully I have never had any problems with my back ,but know a number of people who do,sometimes they have managed to semi cure the problem by looking at their weight,but also how they walk,I was surprised that one guy found that if he cut down the stride he took walking he avoided any pain,of course none of that may help you,others have had that injection and it seems to work for different lengths of time from one person to another,I have always suspected that the private health companies insist on this first before you get a op,of the two people I know who have had the op,both are pain free and both do certain exercises,to help as well.,I hope you are soon well.

 

[Dickster]

A friend has suffered lower back problems and the injections worked for him for a few years.

In my case I had to have a fusion about ten years ago. I have suffered a lot of post op pain which is not uncommon. I have been on daily pain killers for ten years.

Coincidently my step mother had exact same procedure as me and same surgeon! She has also suffered post op pain, but her pain threshold is higher than mine!

Good luck.

 

[Eddy77]

Thanks everyone! Some good advice here

 

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[Deleted member 65149]

Reading through the posts here makes me appreciate how relatively minor my back complaints are. I’ve had a couple of complete back seizures where I’ve been doubled over and unable to move so much as a little finger. One was in Mongolia where a shaman was called to my aid when I was bent double. The frail old woman told my wife where exactly to get hold of my body, then (thankfully I couldn’t understand a word she said) I was suddenly and very sharply pulled into a standing position. Seconds later I was in no pain whatsoever!

More recently, after suffering following a day of gardening, I visited my GP who sent me to an NHS specialist. The guy just looked at me while I stood in front of him, then again just looked as I lay face down. After running his fingers up each side of my spine he told me that my pain was caused by weak muscles not supporting my spine sufficiently. He gave me a few exercises to do to strengthen the appropriate muscles, after which I only went back a couple more times to get some more exercises and to check that they were working. My back has been significantly better since I started the exercises, only causing issues when I’ve been lax with the exercises.

I don’t think anyone can recommend what’s the best treatment because we’re all different and the causes of the pains are all different.

 

[fabes]

Another here whose L5 split open, but at 30!
So, so effing painfull

Had the op (risks noted) and it has 'g'one perhaps five times since, but nothing in the last 5 years.
When it did go, ice pack, IB dosage and lie on side for a few hours as the back resets itself......

Get it done is my advice and then undergo the rehab, core exercises and live a normal life (22 years on now and only the usual old age aches now)

I feel your syatic? pain though