Confused??

mikequinn

Hello All
For about 3 years now I have been suffering back and hip pain,and on every occasion my doctor or the hospital staff told me to take pain killers.For the last year I have not been sleeping properly because of my painful and sometimes just uncomfortable back.In january I was so desperate in pain from just walking 500 yards and had to rest,that I pleaded with my doctor to investigate more.I was sent for a mri scan,which I couldnt fit into.I am 6 foot 3" and very broad in the shoulders :roll: ,so they sent me for a ct scan.At last I thought I was on the way to knowing what was up.4 weeks ago a physio at the hospital phoned me in a 2 minute call.
He sait yes you have osteoarthrithis in your lower spine and also in your hip,you have 2 bulging discs and the hip is just wear and tear.I thought oh???? whats he on about.Then he tells me there is a spinal rehab programme I can go on which will help.I thought great I will do anything to help make things a bit easier,and to just walk normal again,I do have a little extra weight i could do without too so any help is good.
That was my phone call..............I was to ring back 3 weeks ago to register to go on this course,which I have done every day for nearly 3 weeks and the guy who sorts it out is never around,the nurse takes my message every day and apologises but still I dont get a reply.
Where do I go from here,I really would like to know more about the "bulging discs" and how advanced my arthrithis is,cos the way I am now I am near the end of my thether,I am 40 years of age and was until 3 years ago fairly fit,I know i have to make some changes in my life but if I dont know how serious things are how do I deal with it.
What do I do???
Thank You
Mike

skezier

Hi Mike,

The helpline team will be far better than me at answering your post but i wanted to say Hi and welcome to the site.

I have 3 bulging disc's in my neck and lumber they do hurt but your scan must have shown that they weren't effecting your spinal cord or they'd do something. Mine are caused by my bones narrowing on one side more than the other and the discs are being squeezed. I also have a dehydrated disc below the bulging one in my lumber and recently I have been chucked to the pain clinic and they have done Facet injections in my neck and they really helped so maybe you could go back to your doctor and see if you could get a referral to them. They are now going to do some more faucet jabs lower down and some trigger point jabs to my neck.

The only thing bar the pain clinic they do for mine is good pain relief. i am on Diclo's, tramadol and pregabalin (that has made so much difference!) May be you could go back and have a double appointment and have a chat with your gp about better control and ask the questions so you understand it better.

Good luck and I hope you get some help soon either via physio or pain management.
Take care, Cris

helpline_team

Dear Mike

Thanks for your enquiry to Helplines. Sorry to hear about these frustrations you are having with the re-hab physiotherapy.

In the mean time there are very helpful sources of self-management information and support that we can signpost you to. For example there is an excellent book written by an orthopaedic specialist that's a bit of a bible for back problems. 'better back' by dr John Tanner might be worth getting from the library (or it's not expensive in the shops).
If you e-mail helplines@arthritiscare.org.uk with your postal address and mention back and oa we would post you lots of helpful booklets.

Often a quick chat with your GP including getting weighed and measured will give you a weight loss target.

Self-management is all about getting good information and then choosing the priorities which are right for you.

If you'd like to talk things over, you would be very welcome to give us a ring.

I hope we can help

Guy