Herniated Disc...

[Mermaid02]

...My dh has had back pain since Sunday (we were camping and he was lifting a water tank) and I talked him into going to the doctor today. The Doc thinks he might have a herniated lumbar disc. I looked it up online, but was wondering if anyone here had experience and what we can expect. He wanted to "hold off" on an MRI for a while because they are so expensive.... we have insurance that would pay, so I am a little but I do trust our doctor.

 

[decker96]

Have you considered visiting a chiropractor? My DH is one and he treats many people with herniated discs. My dad has a herniated disc in his mid-back and his chiropractor has been able to give him alot of relief. He injured his back in college when he worked construction during the summers and he's had problems with it off and on, but in the last 5 years he's had alot more pain and times when his back just "goes out".
Does the doctor know for sure it is a herniated disc or that's just what he thinks it is? If it's herniated he would also have pain down his legs. An MRI would tell for sure, but the doctor may want to hold off on it because sometimes they resolve themselves.

 

[ziggystardust]

My dad has that. Has had it as long as I can remember, he does manual labor for a living so I guess thats where it stemmed from, plus the fact that hes 6 foot 4. He has trouble only once in a while, now I do have to admit that my father is not the type to complain even in the worst pain. So we never hear it from him, we'll see his actions. Every couple of years he'll have a flair up. He'll start off by trying to walk it off. So for a few days he'll just walk and walk and walk anywhere he can. If that doesn't help he's usually confined to the couch for a day or 2 more, but thats rare. I only remember him having some serious problems once and it was over 8 years ago - he didn't leave the couch all day and when he slept he had to put a board under the mattress. That was only once though, years ago. He has never had surgery and he still works and works hard. I'm sure your husband will be fine and I'm sending some pixie dust his way.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Sending him some pixie dust. Personally, I'd have it checked out. Just in case.

I hope he recovers quickly!

 

[AZKathy]

Hi there,
I have Degenerative Disc Disease with two herniated discs L4-5 and L5-S1. I am assuming that your doc has put your DH on Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatory, right? You know, Motrin, Celebrex, Bextra, Voltaren, something like that. DH should also ice his lower back with an ice pack around three times a day. You can make a slushie type ice pack with rubbing alcohol and water. Mix 1 part rubbing alcohol to three parts water and put in a doubled zip loc bag. Place it in the freezer. When it is "rock hard" put it in the microwave for around 10 seconds and the bag becomes a slushie type of ice which is more comfortable to lean against compared to chopped ice. The ice will decrease the inflammation that occurs with injury.

Your doc will probably send your DH to physical therapy. All conservative measures will be done first. If the physical therapy and anti-inflammatories don't work, your DH may be sent to an anesthesiologist specializing in pain management for an epidural steroid injection. That is where they will put the steroids right in the area to decrease the swelling. The anesthesiologist that specializes in pain management will inject in the lumbar region guided by flouroscopy.

I was told that a good precentage of disc herniations symptoms will eventually go away with conservative treatment alone. It may take time.

Does your DH have pain going down the back of his legs to his feet at all? Also, it is very important to call your doctor immediately if he experiences bowel or bladder control loss.

Feel free to PM me with any questions, I will try and answer the best I can for you.

Good luck to your DH! Hopefully some bedrest, ice, and anti-inflammatories will soon make him like new again.

Oh, one more important thing, as my pain anesthesiologist says, "NO B L T "S!!!" which means NO BENDING, NO LIFTING, AND NO TWISTING!!!!

 

[Kitty 34]

Herniated disc are NOT fun!! I suffered from one last year. Sending your DH lots of PD. Physical therapy helped me out quite a bit.

 

[LJC1861]

Mine was in my neck, so it is an entirely different experience. I did however find a website that answered a lot of my questions. Check out.....www.spineuniverse.com it may help. It is full of advice, message boards, articles, pictures...anything and everything you always wanted to know about good spine health.

Good luck and feel better.

Linda

 

[Mermaid02]

The Doc really didn't tell him much except if it got too bad he could go to a pain management specialist. He did tell him he could take ibuprofin- no more than 12 per day. He wants to see if this resolves itself.
Yes he has the pain down his legs and into his groin also.
Bed rest- HAH! He only took yesterday off and then he did laundry. Trying to get this guy to rest is darn near impossible! I will give him the no "Blt's" advice!

 

[Krisu]

I've had 2, many years apart. Once treated by a chiropractor and once with Physical Therapy both successful. If the doctor really feels it is herniated he really needs more than just pain meds. I would think going to a pain management doctor would be if there was no other treatments and he would have to live with the pain. I wouldn't let this go on too long without a definate answer.

 

[browneyes]

I agree with the ones that suggest seeing a chiropractor first. I hope your dh gets to feeling better, Lorelei.

 

[vernon]

I would strongly recommend getting a scan done to find out the full extent of any injury. Unless you know exactly what and where the problem is it's possible that any manipulation could make the injury worse not better.
When I had disc problems in December the specialist told me that for some people a chiropractor works, for some it's physio therapy, for some an Osteopath. It's a question of trial and error to see which works in different cases, his advise was if a treatment didn;t work in the first 3 or 4 weeks, it was unlikely to have any long term benefit. I went down the chiro and physio route and to be honest neither made much difference, I found the thing that helped most was a sports massage that concentrated on my lower back, hamstrings and calves ( all along the sciatic nerve). Stretching out the muscles that had gone into spasm ( causing the pain), I'm nine months since the original injury and it's still stiff and sore on a daily basis, but it does seem to be improving slowly.

It's not something that should be ignored, what tends to happen with people that try to be brave and fight through the injury is that their body compensates for the damage by protecting the injury. This is done by placing additional stress on other ( uninjured) parts of the body, risking damage to those areas. My experience is you're just storing up a whole HEAP of future problems. If you're insured, get the work done and get it fixed properly. The best way to achieve that is by giving the doctors the best access to correct information as soon as possible.

 

[Mermaid02]

Thanks Vernon- I'm going to try and talk my dh into asking for the MRI....

 

[Annie68]

My Mom just herniated a lumbar disc 2 weeks ago . She was in excruciating pain, her left leg was numb & she could barely stand. The Dr. said it was one of the worst nerve compressions he has seen (via MRI), she was in OR within 2 days of the injury. She had a Lumbar Laminectomy of L4-S1, with a removal of part of the disc (parital discectomy) at L4-5.

The Dr. was telling us that in most cases they recommend physical therapy in combination with NSAID's, and possible steroids, but my mom's herniation was just too severe.

She is doing much better, recovery is slow but each day gets a bit easier. I hope your hubby's injury isn't as severe.