Anyone know anything about Prolotherapy or other injections for back pain?

[flamesrule_kipper34]

So I found out today after 5 months of back pain which basically prevent me from sitting (without significant pain) and extreme running offering a sore lower back as well, that I have a bulging disc (from an MRI report).

Anyway, I've been told by my fam doctor, to take Naproxen in the morning and Tramadol Hydrochloride in the evening daily, and to continue with my physio exercising/stretching/core strengthening regimen that I've been doing since July.

He also recommended swimming and to see my back specialist to see what he would say.

Thought I would ask CP for advice on the subject as I've been dealing with this pain for 5 months now that makes sitting quite troublesome.

Any treatment options/tips/pain relief therapy?

Doc just said it'll take time for the swollen disc to fully heal, and I just need to continue on and I will continue to get better (I'm only 21, male and otherwise an in shape healthy person).

Also I play non-contact rec floor hockey (once a week), my doc said to stop completely until I'm symptom free. I talked to another medical practitioner who said it really isn't a big deal...I'm waiting to see what my back specialist says as well, anyone with any experience/knowledge have any advice on that as well?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:

My stats: I'm 6'0, 150lbs.

[Slava]

I've got a bulging disc in my lower back. It isn't great! I hope you have better luck than I did with the physio and their non-invasive fixes. I am far from a swimmer, so that option wasn't much of an option.

I have found the best thing to do is stay in shape and try not put on weight. Its definitely the way my back stays tolerable and while that is far from a fix, it's the option I'm down to aside from surgery.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Physio is the answer to what ails you!

[kevman]

First of all, considering your age, you'll be fine! Don't let anyone (doctor or not) tell you otherwise. I have full confidence you can get back to 110%. As someone who doesn't take no for an answer I refuse to accept the "be patient and stop the sports you love" plan. I much prefer the "with hard work and determination you can continue to live the life you want to live while continuing to strengthen your back until you one day you forget you even had back pain" plan...

Short answer: Yoga
Longer answer: http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=89076

For whatever it's worth, I recently tore my ACL and if I could chose I'd throw my back out again any day over blowing out my knee... I have more to add to my posts from the other thread but I'm slightly pressed for time at the moment.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Thanks so far for the help so far.

I an confident I'll be able to become pain-free as I am young and my doctor seemed pretty assured that this would "only take a matter of time".

At 5 months and not being able to sit without pain currently frustrates me as, sitting is required for almost anything.

Just trying to find something to help that pain go away further (as time so far has helped it but just not taken it away completely...yet).

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Originally Posted by Slava

I've got a bulging disc in my lower back. It isn't great! I hope you have better luck than I did with the physio and their non-invasive fixes. I am far from a swimmer, so that option wasn't much of an option.

I have found the best thing to do is stay in shape and try not put on weight. Its definitely the way my back stays tolerable and while that is far from a fix, it's the option I'm down to aside from surgery.

How long have you had this bulging disc for?

It's been about 5 months for me I assume now. I am in shape, and try to be pretty active but as I said sitting is not so tolerable which seems to be the most obvious if not ONLY symptom that I feel from this issue.

[Slava]

I would say about 7-8 years now? Time flies. I'm 34 now and am in decent shape. No symptoms sounds promising! For me I get the back pain (relatively painful at times) and numbness and tingling down my leg. Pretty clearly that can be rather difficult to deal with at times. Playing hurt or dinged up is one thing, but the numbness is a whole other!

I just find that staying in shape is key. I know the other poster mentioned yoga and I really should take that on as well. I find that core exercises make a big difference and between those and some active-release therapy I had my best pain and symptom management.

That is awesome if you can recover to 100% though! Honestly though, even with symptoms you can still do things. Just buckle down and work through (IMO). Expect to be stiff and walk like an old man after hard sports, and it is what it is!

[zuluking]

Chiropractics!

[Northendzone]

^^^^ tru dat - I'd suggest seeing Dr. Rob Weaver in Mac Towne......

[CaptainCrunch]

Tell me where it is, and I'll punch it back into place.

I'll either cure you, or send your poor soul to heaven.

[iggyntangs]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

^^^^ tru dat - I'd suggest seeing Dr. Rob Weaver in Mac Towne......

Who is that?

[Sainters7]

Tore a disc about 5 years ago, I still get pain in my lower left back and tingling in my legs sometimes. Some pieces of advice I can give you:

1. Get a good, solid mattress. It's amazing how much better my back feels when it's properly aligned at night. Might not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it is. Didn't believe it myself until I finally got a new mattress, what a difference.

2. Speaking of sleeping, keep a pillow between your legs when you sleep. Just keeps the back straighter. May seem weird at first, but I'm so used to it now that it throws me off when I'm crashing at someone's house and can't do it.

3. Stay in shape. I notice usually when my back starts flaring up is when I'm really busy and haven't had time to work out for awhile. When people's backs start hurting I think they make the mistake of trying to rest it all the time. What you need to be doing is strengthening it. Whenever I get bad flare-ups, I'll wait a couple days for it to subside a bit, then I'll hit the gym for an easy workout. It really helps.

4. Finally, keep up with your rehab exercises!! They'll prob give you some type of light rehab, like the nightly stretching exercises they gave me. Don't do what stupid Sainters did and stop with the stretches as soon as your back feels better. Keep up with them! If you do them properly while you're healing you can actually make it stronger than it ever was. But I got lazy as soon as the pain went away, so now its still a weak spot on my back.

I'm sure a bulging disc is different from a torn one, but these 4 strategies have really helped me keep the pain minimized over the years.

[mykalberta]

Tell him you want a cortizone shot with morphene.

My dad had similar issues where he would get back spasms and the doctors would give him the run around "nothing to do", "see a chiropracter", "live through it till it goes away" - not one offered up anything other than bs answers.

Then before he was about to come back from Hawaii it happened again and there was no way he could endure it for a 7 hour flight so he took a chance with the "big bad american health system" and the doctor told him cortizone and morphine. Being from the "born in the 50s" generation he was hesitant to take either but especially hippy morphine.

In the past he had asked about cortizone shots but the doctors told him they would need to hit the precise muscle, the doctor in the us said bs and said cortizone goes to where the issue is.

After needless fretting he decided to give it a shot - a needle in the as$$ later and he had never felt better.

Tell your doc you want a cortizone and morphine shot for the pain. Dont settle for the default over the counter pharma answers.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Tell him you want a cortizone shot with morphene.

My dad had similar issues where he would get back spasms and the doctors would give him the run around "nothing to do", "see a chiropracter", "live through it till it goes away" - not one offered up anything other than bs answers.

Then before he was about to come back from Hawaii it happened again and there was no way he could endure it for a 7 hour flight so he took a chance with the "big bad american health system" and the doctor told him cortizone and morphine. Being from the "born in the 50s" generation he was hesitant to take either but especially hippy morphine.

In the past he had asked about cortizone shots but the doctors told him they would need to hit the precise muscle, the doctor in the us said bs and said cortizone goes to where the issue is.

After needless fretting he decided to give it a shot - a needle in the as$$ later and he had never felt better.

Tell your doc you want a cortizone and morphine shot for the pain. Dont settle for the default over the counter pharma answers.

I've been told about this and had a similar shot done when I was in Italy and it solved my problems for that time period, but I'm not sure how/where to get that done here.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by iggyntangs

Who is that?

a chiropractor, a very good chiro.

his office is in mackenzie towne in the deep se

[iggyntangs]

Anybody know anything about prolotherapy? http://www.calgaryprolo.com/

It seems quite promising.

[nickerjones]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

In the past he had asked about cortizone shots but the doctors told him they would need to hit the precise muscle, the doctor in the us said bs and said cortizone goes to where the issue is.

Are you sure your talking about Cortisone and not Toradol? I have been battling sciatica and I took toradol shots in the bum to ease the inflammation. DOc said it will find the inflammation and try to fix it. When I take cortisone they had to find the exact spot in my back to give me the shot in via an MRI ...

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Hmm these injection therapies are really intriguing me, because as I said I took SOMETHING (not sure what because it was a concotion of medication written in Italian) but it worked WONDERS, my pain was COMPLETELY gone within 5 days of medication.

If anyone else has any experience with any of these injections even prolotherapy (which I haven't heard about before but find it quite interesting) please reply or even PM me.

In the mean time I think I'll ask my fam. physician, back specialist and physio about these injection remedies.

Thanks so far.

[nickerjones]

I am in Oklahoma not in Canada.... Well as I said I had mulitple Toradol injections for Sciatic nerve pain. From February - June I took them m prob 15 in total. They would work for a day or two then the pain was back. Finally I was referred to a pain mgmt doctor here. He said I had some disc damage but nothing too severe. He thought that Cortisone Epidural injections would help. He also put me on Mobic ( which is a anti inflammatory) and Neurotin for the nerve pain.

The meds worked well until the injection. The only problem I have is it is now November and I still take the nerve pill. One of the side effects is weight gain. I have gained 17 pds since the end of July even while playing hockey 3 times a week.

As for the injection , it was supposed to be in sets of 3. One shot every two weeks until i got my 3rd. The first one worked so well that they told me to not worry about about the next one. Well 15 days after the first one the pain came back with a vengenance . I then had the other two and have been mostly pain free since then. I have my days where it hurts. However, I do have to do a lot of stretching and I was doing physio 3 times a week for 5 weeks.

Good Luck.. Back pain is the worst !

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Bump.

Anyone had any experience or heard of success/failure w/ prolotherapy or other injections for back pain?

Thanks in advance.