Finally I raised the white flag and waved it about. Yes… I finally gave up and asked for a referral to a back specialist. The referred pain in my hip is steadily increasing and taking anti-inflammatories and aspirin or paracetamol or whatever simply isn’t working any more. I’ve now got pains down my right leg to my knee and they’re starting to radiate down my left side as well.
As usual, tho I got the referral on Weds I decided I knew better and thought I’d wait a few days in a final vain hope my back might improve… naturally it didn’t, and won’t
Obviously I’ve *no* idea what this guy might suggest, if anything, but it’s time I bit the bullet and got it investigated.
Of course I’ve discussed this with friends who all seem to have had similar problems… one had surgery on his neck which didn’t solve the problem. Another surgery on her lower back… which didn’t seem to solve the problem. A third said she was having regular pain blocking injections (essentially a ‘tri-monthly’ epidural) which did at least stop the pain for three months and kept her mobile even if it didn’t treat the underlying cause.
So the current word-of-mouth options aren’t too palatable. I can try to have it fixed, and two out of two said it didn’t work, or I can opt for pain relief which might result in me imagining the problem has been fixed and maybe making it worse by overdoing it or something.
Either way it’s time I did *something*. This morning I forgot to take my tablets and after we got back from the skating rink and I’d pottered about for an hour or two I had to sit down because the pain was making me very ‘unstable’ on my feet. Once the painkillers have kicked in I’ll be able to manage but it’s a pretty crappy way to live.
The Eclectic Interweb 
OK – on the positive side I did have the surgery and it was a roaring success and gave me my life back so don’t let what anyone else says colour your judgement. Only you know how bad it is. The important thing is finding the right consultant and making sure you talk to him about his experience, success rates, techniques employed, etc. What the people who’ve had bad experiences generally don’t tell you is how they managed or mismanaged their own recovery – which is arguably just as important a part of the process as the surgery itself.
What always helps is trying to get yourself in as decent shape for the operation as you can, which is hard given that the pain stops you exercising in the first place.
So just try to lose some weight ahead of any treatment you get. If you’re like me I usually comfort eat when I’m injured because I’m feeling miserable and in pain which just compounds the problem – so find a way to not eat as much – easy to say I know – it’s a case of re-educating your brain to respond to the hunger triggers in a different way and do something else instead like drink water or something else that works for you.
I used to put a photo of me looking tubby on the front of the fridge as a reminder and that always makes me stop and think again if I’m really hungry or just eating out of habit.
How did we get on to food – that’s your fault. I’m going now I’ve got loads of work to do. 2 deadline in 4 days days this week – aarrrgghhhh!!!!
Surgery is the LAST resort, my consultant tried to get me to have the surgery on the first visit, NOT A CHANCE..!!! (unless I was completely knackered and I wasnt i.e. I could still walk even with the sciatica giving me daily pain down ‘both’ legs).
Instead I increased my knowledge about the back and the way in which the muscles ‘inside’ your body actually support it. After further consulatation, I went to a specialist physio who after 5 sessions, tought me 20-30 methods of training to target those muscles to increase strength and stamina in them thus supporting the back indefinetely.
I followed the instructions for about 9 months and I have only had one relapse in 5 years (that waqs after I was so somfortable with my back I decided to move 15 very heavy bags of compopst and bark chippings – oops..!) and my recovery was 50% faster than last time.!
Think carefully, there are lots of options….
🙂