Mostly I'm posting this to notify people that I'm not dead, just stove up for the last week, and a few more days. It's not a squished disk this time, but it hit like me a bullet. I didn't do anything to provoke a muscle spasm. I had not worked outside in the last three days, but as I rotated my butt to aim at my easy chair...WHAM. I knew I was going down, so I aimed at the floor.
(Old Hippie proverb: You can't fall off the floor.)

OMG! Worst spasms ever (except for the squished disk 3 years ago). Couldn't even get to water for the first 3 days.

All together now: "That's what friends are for..."

This is really frustrating! What's frustrating? The idea that I could, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up" at any moment with no clue about what I did to cause it...unless you count acting like tcmtech for the last 50 years.

Whoa...dude...the drugs are kicking in...
See ya later...or as HP says, TTFN.

 

You need a third vote on your poll.

'Who should have been out of commission but powered through it anyway? '

Actually so far my back has been good for the last few months. I have stretching exercises I don a few times a week to keep the bad disk loose and the muscles around it freed up.

The biggest issue I have now is in my lower neck and upper back and shoulder area. It puts pressure on my nerves so at times my arms and hands feel odd or slightly numb.

 

That's tough, #12. Get well soon!

 

'Who should have been out of commission but powered through it anyway? '

If you will remember, I tried that 3 years ago with the squished disk. I kept repeating, "You can't stop me with pain."
My body said, "Really? Let's see if you stop while you're unconscious."
So, bottom line, if you can power through a pain, this mommy isn't going to kiss your boo-boo.

That's tough, #12. Get well soon!

Not a problem. Time has been the cure for this since 1968. (Cue nostalgic advertising music. Something like Old Tyme Lemonade or Cracker Barrel Restaurants.)
Today, I can walk and I can type. I can find food and water. I have good drugs (most of them are legal), and more will be arriving any minute now.
I'm gonna be OK in just a few more days.

 

Seek a cure.

 

Seriously. I don't know if this is snake oil or not. Have you lookinto it?

http://www.thediscinstitute.com/intradiscnutrosis-treatment/

 

Seriously. I don't know if this is snake oil or not. Have you looked into it?
http://www.thediscinstitute.com/intradiscnutrosis-treatment/

N.A. I never had a, "failed disk healing mechanism".
August 2014: "complete effacement of the left subarticular recess"
Two days ago: "small disk protrusion at L3-L4".
Pain Management doc let the cat out of the bag when she said it would heal by itself...so I fired her, went home, and grew a new one.
If I ever blow out another disk, I will check this Thread for your information, but I will allow needles and knives in my spinal column right after I can't walk and it isn't going to change. That isn't likely because Mother Nature has been giving me lessons about, "What is a stupid thing to do after you're 65 years old?". The major problem today is that I can not locate any stupid behavior that I did to cause this.

 

Seek a cure.

Some of that disk space pressure relief seems like a good thing right now.
I prefer hanging upside-down to using The Rack.

 

N.A. I never had a, "failed disk healing mechanism".
August 2014: "complete effacement of the left subarticular recess"
Two days ago: "small disk protrusion at L3-L4".
Pain Management doc let the cat out of the bag when she said it would heal by itself...so I fired her, went home, and grew a new one.
If I ever blow out another disk, I will check this Thread for your information, but I will allow needles and knives in my spinal column right after I can't walk and it isn't going to change. That isn't likely because Mother Nature has been giving me lessons about, "What is a stupid thing to do after you're 65 years old?". The only problem today is that I can not locate any stupid behavior that I did to cause this.

My Mattress was cause of pain in my lower back, replaced it with memory foam and solved that problem.


kv

Edit: I also solved some issues moving my wallet from my back pocket to the front, solved my sciatic nerve issue.

 

just keep a pee bottle handy and kick back for a few days. you're not under contract are you?

some sedimentation is good...it evens things out.

 

just keep a pee bottle handy and kick back for a few days. you're not under contract are you?

some sedimentation is good...it evens things out.

Right now, that's the prescription and the cure. Today, tomorrow, and maybe another one are cancelled.

 

My Mattress

my wallet

You're preaching to the choir.
I've been fighting this for 50 years. I know what the basics are.

 

Try a rocking chair. Just a few inches of movement are needed. Keeps the spine limbered up and the juices flowing.

 

Back around 1970, spent 17 days in traction with 2 crushed disks. Got good enough finally to work after a month or two of rest, but never was like before. Finally went to a chiropractor, he took Xrays and did lots of measurements. Gave me a rubber wedge to wear in one shoe to straighten how I walked. Took around 4 to 5 years till I could walk straight with little or no pain. Now when I do something dumb an cause it to flair up again, I use one of those Teeter type inversion tables to hang upside down. Didn't think they would work, but they do. Hope you get better soon #12.

 

Gave me a rubber wedge to wear in one shoe

Length of legs is always the first thing a one-legged person checks. An inch of difference can make you think you need an artificial hip!

 

I didn't do anything to provoke a muscle spasm. I had not worked outside in the last three days, but as I rotated my butt to aim at my easy chair...WHAM. I knew I was going down, so I aimed at the floor.

I had an episode like that a few years ago. I went out shovel snow off the deck and one small shovel full did something in my lower back that felt like I was stabbed and shot at the same time.

I barely made it the 10 feet to the living room floor. The wife had to get my winter clothes off me and I laid there for a long time. Long enough the kitties decided I was furniture and could be laid on without getting shoved off.

The wife laught until she darn near peed herself from watching the kitties claim me as their new kitty furniture.

3 -4 months to a reasonable recovery from that injury with the first several weeks spent mostly in bed on my back with the kitties for company.

 

I'm currently under treatment from an outstanding chiropractor I visit 3 times a week. He works with the U.S. Olympic team and is a competitor himself. He runs 100 miles a week and competes in triathlons. My point is that he's not just any chiropractor. There are others like him, though, and my suggestion is that you find one.

I've had a couple episodes this year with severe lower back pain for no good reason. One was triggered when I reached behind me for the toilet paper in a hotel room. Another happened while wrenching off a wheel during a brake job. I was concerned the neighbors would call the cops from hearing my screams of pain. (Apparently they didn't.)

I started a program with this new chiropractor because he had a compelling story and is genuinely driven to help people. He believes in avoiding drugs and surgery by removing obstacles to natural healing. He has plenty of satisfied patients. I highly recommend this approach but I'm not sure how you find the right doc.

 

I had been wondering what happened to you! I hope the drugs work until your spasms go away and you feel better, and I hope that happens soon.

 

I'm not sure how you find the right doc.

I had a good D.O. for 20 years. He used the same techniques as a Chiropractor and reduced my, "down" time by 90%. That's 3 or 4 days a month that I couldn't walk, to about 4 days a year that I couldn't walk. He got squeezed out of being a Primary Care Physician by constantly decreasing payment prices from insurance companies and government programs, so he became a surgeon.

Point is: I know what I'm missing.

I fired my PCP a couple of days ago because she claimed that Patient History is, "confrontational" and she doesn't allow confrontations in her office. She pretended I had no history and refused to treat any active disease processes that don't show up on a blood test, apparently her only skill. I had nothing in stock to treat pain, spasms, or inflammation, and no expectation that my spasms or screaming would show up on a blood test, so I had to go to an E.R. That's the 4th quack I fired in 3 years.

Point is: I know what I'm missing.

I hope the drugs work until your spasms go away and you feel better,

It seems to be working today.

 

@#12, another thing I use along with the inversion, is a over the counter 'TENS' device. Think it is Panasonic brand, but for me it works good. My wedge was only 8mm but it did the trick, forgot about your leg, do the ankle joints in them wear or compress over time? Maybe it's time for a "tune up"?