If you have bone spurs on your vertebrae and degenerative disc disease.......

[irishtwins1112]

I have been very active since 2005. Exercising 4-5 times for at least an hour most weeks. My weight has gone up and down over the years but I am on the overweight side currently. I have had some lower back since my last child was born that would come and go every 4-5 months and stick around for a week or two. The same pain came around late April and I never could shake it. Since then it has been a few days of pain....then a few days of no pain. It doesn't seems to matter what exercise I participate in. I even tried pool for a few weeks and still had the on/off pain. After being adjusted by my chiro about 4-5 times over the last couple months I decided to give the orthopedic a try. He did an xray and showed me the bone spurs and told me I had degenerative disc disease. I can't take nsaid antiinflammitories like Ibuprofen so he prescribed steroids. He said no exercise....not even pool for a while. Never would give me a time frame and said it was different for everyone. Nurse said do at least two weeks. He was pretty bleak and said that basically the times between my back hurting and not hurting will get shorter and shorter until eventually I am in pain the rest of my life. Is this normal? I already have a different doctor set up for a second opinion. I just wanted opinions. Exercise is a very big part of my life. I am a stay at home mom but go to the y most days for classes and to work out. All my friends are there. I came off the two weeks yesterday. I did a little walk/run and today did yoga. Back feels about the same. My parents seems to think the dr is trying to make me feel depressed about it to try to talk me into surgery....which I am not interested in at all. Has anyone ever dealt with this? If I am going to be in pain no matter what I do I would rather be moving than standing still. It doesn't help that I am registered for Goofy 2015. When I registered my back wasn't that bad and had only hurt a couple weeks and I thought it was just acting up like it does from time to time. I really don't want to entertain the idea of not doing the race but I don't know what to do. My pace has been getting better and better but that is with some short interval running. I am afraid just walking will not result in me finishing ahead of the sweepers. Thanks for listening.

 

[lisah0711]

I'm so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Sending you oodles of that things are much better than the picture the doctor painted. A second opinion is a great idea! Hopefully your new doctor will discuss some other treatment options for you like physical therapy. You owe it to yourself to find a doctor who supports your active lifestyle and will work with you to be able to continue that without causing yourself further injury.

I've injured my back twice in the past couple of years and recovered and hope that you can do the same. Hang in there!

 

[irishtwins1112]

Thanks

 

[smadath]

She went to the doctor, who told her that the only option was surgery, and he would need to put rods in her spine. It was risky, and when she asked he told her that she would have pain for the rest of her life, even with the surgery. Obviously, this did not appeal to her.

She was already seeing a chiropractor at that point for other issues, and told him about her problem and what the orthopedic said. The chiropractor told her he would recommend spinal traction. He said that type of therapy had good results in people with degenerative disc disease. She gave it try, figuring if it didn't work, she always go back to the surgery option later. The therapy worked great for her. She was diagnosed 2 yrs ago, went with the traction therapy, and now has no pain in her back (and is not on meds for it).

I have no idea if this therapy works for everyone, but it might be something to look into!

 

[irishtwins1112]

I will be googling that. Thanks!

 

[irishtwins1112]

Anybody else?

 

[disney212]

I have the rods but they were put in by a neurologist to stop the pain from degenerative disk disease and he removed a collapsed disk. That was 1999 and I have been back pain free since. Try a spinal neurologist.

 

[Pooh2]

I have multilevel degenerative disc disease and isthmic spondylosis, arthitis throughout my spine and neuropathy (not from nerve compression).

My ortho guy sent me for pool PT and regular PT. I have a pool membership and do exercises to strengthen the core as well as a daily 2 mile walk. I walk slow but I am still walking.

I was told not to weed-whack, mow, rake or shovel type activities, that really sets the pain off big time.

Yes, the pain is definitely more consistent and harder to get under control than a few years ago.

Go for a second opinion. My first doc was all ready to do surgery for a fusion on me, the second guy said that would just make things worse.

Sounds like your doc is probably trying to get the inflammation down in the spine, then maybe he will recommend activity?

I've had spinal injections and not had much success. A friend had one spinal injection and it was a miracle cure for her. Keep pushing through and find out what works for you.

Good luck!

 

[dawnball]

I have degenerative disc disease and some small bone spurs. I've had good luck with the exercises in "8 steps to a pain-free back" - it's about positioning and stretching your spine. I borrowed it from my local library, and after working through the first lesson for an hour or so, felt immensely better.

 

[HLBLan]

I had a 3 level spinal fusion in February. I had tried everything--chiro, acupuncture, Pilates, PT--yoga, consistently done, works wonders.

Back pain sucks, I hope you're feeling better now.

 

[irishtwins1112]

Thankfully I am feeling much better. I sought a second opinion that was a spine specialist. He basically said that the first dr was a quack. He said the xrays made it look worse than it was and that my vertebrae looked normal for my age. He said do not restrict activity because that would only make my back pain worse. He said 75% of the population over 30 will experience back pain for several weeks at a time but it is just part of the aging process and that I definitely was not a candidate for surgery or anything extreme. My chiropractor also said that she believed it was also because of my weight. She said as I continue to exercise that eventually I would turn a corner where the weight wasn't putting as much stress on my lower back and it would go away. Lo and behold it went away about 6-8 weeks later. I am so glad I didn't give up! My goofy race is in 6 days and training went well. My highest mileage day went well (20 miles) and I haven't had any back pain since the summer.

 

[clshirk]

Thankfully I am feeling much better. I sought a second opinion that was a spine specialist. He basically said that the first dr was a quack. He said the xrays made it look worse than it was and that my vertebrae looked normal for my age. He said do not restrict activity because that would only make my back pain worse. He said 75% of the population over 30 will experience back pain for several weeks at a time but it is just part of the aging process and that I definitely was not a candidate for surgery or anything extreme. My chiropractor also said that she believed it was also because of my weight. She said as I continue to exercise that eventually I would turn a corner where the weight wasn't putting as much stress on my lower back and it would go away. Lo and behold it went away about 6-8 weeks later. I am so glad I didn't give up! My goofy race is in 6 days and training went well. My highest mileage day went well (20 miles) and I haven't had any back pain since the summer.

That's great! I just saw this post. I work with a spine surgeon who is very conservative. He won't perform surgery on anyone until they are very bad off or have an obvious need.
I will also concur that anyone who does not specialize in the spine shouldn't be taken heavily for advice.
We see a lot of DDD which includes the spurs in its' diagnosis and depending on the level of pain, length of pain, other medical conditions, job, age of patient, etc... will determine final options, however usually anything that makes the patient feel better is within limits of activity. I'm glad to hear you are training well!