The pain, make it stop!

[Akasa]

I've been having severe back pain for the past several days. I'm used to some back pain, but this is getting ridiculous. I saw my chiropractor yesterday and it helped get my pain from a 6 to a 3, but today its up to a 4. I'm changing chiropractors. I had to change at the beginning of the year cause my old chiro didn't take my new insurance. I could see him once a month and be good. This chiro I'm lucky if I can go 2 weeks.
I have an appointment with my pcp to ask for mild muscle relaxers Tues.

(My back likes to go into spasm)

[42_42_42]

I'm assuming your PCP has done so, but have you had your sodium, potassium, and calcium levels checked? If any of those are off it can affec the way your muscles work.

[DeltaSierra]

Talk to your Dr - I have a bad back injury and was going to physiotherapy and my therapist called my Dr and asked him to write me a prescription for a TENS unit. Its a Godsend!

[Food Lady]

I have no advice, but I sympathize. I'm working through pain tonight. Cafe is murder on my back.

[Sapphire Silk]

Consulting with your PCP is the right thing to do. Can't give any other suggestions other than that.

Hope you feel better though

[telecom_goddess]

good luck with the back situation! I'm dealing with a muscle pull in mine, and luckily I have a TON of mild muscle relaxers already for headaches. That, aleve, and ice packs are helping somewhat.

and no I haven't seen a dr cause I know they are gonna prescribe exactly what I'm doing already

[Akasa]

I hadn't thought of asking my PCP to prescribe a tens unit. If the muscle relaxers don't do the trick I just might do that.

[RichS]

Quick Q - Tens Unit? What is that?

[Sapphire Silk]

Quick Q - Tens Unit? What is that?

TENS: Transcutaneal Electronic Nerve Stimulation. Basically, you have a patch that sits on the skin atop the painful area, connected by wires to a box that sends an electrical signal to the nerve roots, interrupting the pain signal and "closing the gate", preventing transmission of the pain signal further up the nerve to the brain.

It works. But it's not for everyone, and it's expensive. But it doesn't involve narcotics, which is a big plus.

Some people will actually have real wires implanted directly into the nerve; similar process but more invasive.

[RichS]

Thank you! That's something that I'll have to ask my doctor about the next time I see him.

Short story - lower back pain due to drunk driving accident 11years ago, the pain is now going into the hips and sometimes shoots down my legs, I've tried muscle relaxers, chiropractic, and now the Ibuprofen 800's aren't working...

[AccountingDrone]

Thank you! That's something that I'll have to ask my doctor about the next time I see him.

Short story - lower back pain due to drunk driving accident 11years ago, the pain is now going into the hips and sometimes shoots down my legs, I've tried muscle relaxers, chiropractic, and now the Ibuprofen 800's aren't working...

My TENS unit does not work with my sciatica, though it does wonders for more surface nerves like the ones in my neck with the trapezius on the right I am having issues with right now. My physio tells me that it varies with a patients body structure - the closer the nerves to the surface and the thinner the fat layer under the skin, the better it works.

[Seshat]

Inexpensive, non-harmful muscle relaxant: heat.

Get a heat pack from your local pharmacy - either a gel one or a 'wheat pack' (which might actually be any grain). Heat it in the microwave but only to a temperature which is skin-comfortable. Hot to the skin, but not going to burn or anything.

Place against the spot where you need to relax the muscles, while in a position where the muscles can relax. Perhaps in the small of your back while you're in a comfortable chair, or draped around your neck, or on your legs while you're lying on a couch watching TV.

If you know meditative techniques for relaxing muscles, do those in addition to using the heat pack. But either way, allow the heat to encourage the muscles to loosen up.

To the best of my knowledge, the only way this can cause harm is if used during the wrong stage of a recent injury (IE: when you should be icing a sprain), or if you overheat the heat pack and cause yourself burns.
(NOTE: if using on a child, or if you have nerve injury and may not detect overheating, do visual inspections of the heated area every few minutes.)

Verify this with your pharmacist before you buy the heat pack; but heat packs do wonders for me.

[DeltaSierra]

My TENS wasn't that expensive - $95 for the unit, and the pads are $30 for a pack of 4 and I can use them for 6 months before needing to replace them. Considering I was paying $60/visit to my physio, its a lot cheaper. I injured my back falling on ice-covered cement stairs and then going "thump thump thump" down 4 more stairs on my back/butt.