I am 21/F and I recently had back surgery in Feb. 2008. I started having back problems about 3 years ago. I saw SEVERAL doctors and had literally any diagnostic tests you can possibly imagine run on my back. Any type of scan or blood work or anything was done. I drove from state to state seeing different doctors and because of my age no one believed me and thought I was looking for pain medication instead of treatment for my back. I went through rigorous physical therapy and also had about 50-55 total injections in my lower back. I finally found a spine specialist that read all of my films and immediately knew what was wrong.
My L4-L5 and L5-S1 discs were herniated. I also have Spina bifida occulta which affects my S1 vertebrae and a pars defect which affects my L5 vertebrae. The bone defects which caused an abnormal movement of my discs that I have had since birth is what caused the 2 discs to herniate. To make sure the discs were the sources of my pain, my pain management doctor performed a disco-gram in which I was fully awake and he placed needles into the herniated discs and put x-ray dye in and then placed pressure on each disc. If the x-ray dye bled out instead of staying in the center of the disc then the discs were herniated. If the pressure he applied to the discs replicated the pain I had in my lower back and down both of my legs then the discs were the pain generators.
Basically, the disco-gram showed that the discs were herniated and that they were also my pain generators which meant I needed surgery. The doctor went in through my stomach to my spine and removed the 2 herniated discs and got a very good clean out. The discs were replaced with cadaver bone. After I was closed up on the front I was flipped over and 6 titanium screws and rods were placed in the bone to stabilize it.
It has been almost 9 months since my surgery and I am still in pain management. I’ve had several x-rays, mri’s and ct’s done to see if there is anything specifically causing my pain but no one sees any physical abnormalities from the surgery. I continue to have pain down both of my legs/hips/thighs/butt. The pain is very unbearable at times. The disc directly above the fusion is already bulging but it is not herniated.
Does anyone else have a similar problem or know someone who does? I would love to get some input from other people and their experiences and what their doctors say about everything. Sorry this was so long. Thanks for your time!
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I had my son on Dec. 27th 2008. I went to see an ortho doctor while I was pregnant because my hip kept “popping” out of place. The doctor told me that it was doing this because of a hormone that is released during pregnancy called relaxin and that it would clear up on its own. So, I did the physical therapy to help with the short term pain and continued on with my pregnancy. Well here I am 6 months after my child was born and I am still having this problem. What does everyone think it is? Can you still have relaxin in your body 6 months after birth?
I was hit by a car last summer and my should was the last thing to be fixed. It wasnt a emergency per Drs. But now im still haveing problems. Im still in Physical therapy. Im back to work now and i need my shoulder working fully. Im a nurce and i work in ICU mostly with Brain injurys and Spinal cord injurys. so im always liftin pulling hoding up patients. I cant go to a new area as a nurce and i dont want to. I just want to get back what i had befor the accident. And i know Im very lucky to be bitching about this it could have been a lot worse. But that dosent help with my shoulder.
Hello. I slipped on some ice at work three weeks ago, and in the ER they said there wasn’t anything “obviously” broken. I got referred to a Podiatrist in the area. He said to RICE it and signed me up for physical therapy. I have my second appt on Wed, because the paperwork for Workmans comp took awhile.
Anyway, I am still experiencing pretty bad pain and swelling, and it is still bruised. I am in a “moon boot” and I am supposed to be putting more weight on it now, but it hurts worse, especially when I am doing my Range of Motion exercises. Granted I am a teacher so I probably haven’t been off of it as much as I should be.
I was wondering if I should call my podiatrist back, the therapist said to me on Friday that it was unusual that I haven’t had repeat x-rays or an MRI yet. SHould I also look into getting a second opinion? I have had ankle sprains before, on my other ankle and none have been as bad or as painful as this one. Help me out if you can!
Is there a chance that I can still be a physical therapist with this? (what college can I go to in florida)
2.8 GPA
24 on the ACT
Senior in high school and its almost the 2nd Semester
After a Car Accident that was Fatal 2 of my Friends past away!I was diagnosed with a severe herniated disc that was caused by a violent whip lash!After 2 years of physical therapy and minimal relief from painkillers I underwent cervical spinal fusion with a Bonegraft at c-6c-7!Then another Mri revealed i had another herniated disc on t-1 level!Im still in pain all of the time And dont know what to do after being so many years of and on on pain medication,my doctor thought it was best to stop the pain relievers!Now im left in severe pain everyday still goin to physical therapy wich does not help in my case it makes it worse!I would like to go to Pain management and see if they could help me i had the steroid shots and they are to expensive and only last for a couple month if that this was for lower back pain but what about my neck !I was told after the spinalfusion i would feel better but I dont!Please Help Im located in Maryland and looking for the best painmanagement out here any suggestions?
The other car was going about 30 mph and hit us square. I initially saw a doctor and was told it is classic whiplash. I had a few weeks of physical therapy, but I am still in pain and worried it will never go away. Some days are ok, but no day is pain-free. I even get a tingling sometimes.
I try to exercise my neck and keep active, plus use a heat pad sometimes. But, is there something more I can do? I went back to the Dr. one month ago and got x-rays. I have a loss of lordosis—not exactly sure what that is, but apparently it could’ve been there before. Should I keep seeing more doctors?
I hurt my shoulder over three years ago while lifting. I was doing incline bench and on the way down I felt a sharp pain. It pretty much ended my lifting at the time and could no longer bare the pain while working out. Three years later I still feel the pain and now am wondering if I tore it and would my next step be a MRI or could physical therapy fix this?
I had failed osteochandral drilling followed by OATS Knee to Ankle for a 1cm defect on my left talus. 4 months post-op I had 3 months of physical therapy that generated nothing but pain. Now 10 months post op I am having more PT with even more mind blowing pain. I lost a lot of range of motion too. The lesion is healed. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I Was Really Bad At Math In High School? Can I Still Go To School To Become A Physical Therapist?
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I am really determined to become a physical therapist, but do you think I will have major difficulties? I was also wondering if it would be okay to start at a community college for their physical therapy assistant program and then transfer for the other schooling that I will need.