So what happens now?
I haven't had many injuries over the years. Almost six years ago I was in a bad car accident. That was the only major injuries I have ever had. About six months ago I blogged about my back injury (or what I suspected was an injury). I sporadically took time off and worked through it, even competing when I was injured. It never went away.
When I saw the doctor, I was told that the pain was "exercise induced" and it would eventually go away. I was also given muscle relaxers, that never really helped. It did not go away.
Recently, I took a month long vacation to Europe with my husband. The weeks leading up to the trip and during the journey, I did not workout. I had a good six weeks without physical activity (other than walking 8-10 miles a day in Europe).
I returned from vacation, and the pain was still there. In fact, it never really left. It morphed from a tightness in my lower back (think of tightness like a rubber band and being unable to put your shoes on because you cannot bend over) to a pain all the time, especially when laying down and trying to turn over. I finally reached back out to my doctor after finishing my muscle relaxers (that did nothing) and continuing to be in pain every day. She ordered x-rays and physical therapy.
Before getting the x-rays done, I wished they would show something. Because I knew if it were muscle, the x-rays would show nothing, and I would be in a situation of trying to figure out how and when this would go away. On Sunday, the pain was so bad I just hung around the house all day. By Monday morning it was worse. I went to work late to get the x-rays done and scheduled my first physical therapy appointment.
Tuesday I had not heard anything from my doctor. I emailed her, anxiously awaiting the results. Around 10:15 am Wednesday I received an email from her. She responded in one sentence saying "Colleen, Your Xray looks good. It showed "mild disc space narrowing of L4-5". It is otherwise normal. Physical therapy should help."
At first, I was relieved. Okay, so I am not crazy, there IS something wrong that is not muscle related, but I had so many questions knowing this. What exactly is this diagnosis? Is this injury related? Degenerative? How did I get this and what can I do to prevent it? I responded as such.
In the meantime, I did some research on this matter. The more I looked, the more it began to sound like this was something I would be stuck with for the rest of my life. Most of what I read was from people who lift weights like I do. They live with it, and it flares up now and then. Some have had to have surgery. Mostly, they live in pain. My worst fear.
This morning my doctor responded, easing some of my fears. To be clear, I am not a person who typically googles problems. In fact, I never do, I just ride them out. Today she said, "The disc narrowing is probably unrelated to your pain. It is very common in people your age with or without back pain. The radiologist also said that you likely have a transitional spine, which is found in 25% of individuals. That just describes how your spine was formed before you were born. Overall your Xray is normal. The things we look for when we order a Xray for chronic back pain are arthritis, broken bones, bone cancer, and scoliosis. You don't have these problems luckily. I recommend coming in to see me if physical therapy doesn't help."
Great, I have some answers. But still questions. I presume I will know more after I see the physical therapist who will (I hope!) advise me on how to continue activity, without causing pain.
I do not have answers to what happens now. I have been having back pain for 6 months and I am not sure I feel any more confident that the pain will be addressed soon. I hope that the physical therapist has some answers....so that I can know, what happens now?
When I saw the doctor, I was told that the pain was "exercise induced" and it would eventually go away. I was also given muscle relaxers, that never really helped. It did not go away.
Recently, I took a month long vacation to Europe with my husband. The weeks leading up to the trip and during the journey, I did not workout. I had a good six weeks without physical activity (other than walking 8-10 miles a day in Europe).
I returned from vacation, and the pain was still there. In fact, it never really left. It morphed from a tightness in my lower back (think of tightness like a rubber band and being unable to put your shoes on because you cannot bend over) to a pain all the time, especially when laying down and trying to turn over. I finally reached back out to my doctor after finishing my muscle relaxers (that did nothing) and continuing to be in pain every day. She ordered x-rays and physical therapy.
Before getting the x-rays done, I wished they would show something. Because I knew if it were muscle, the x-rays would show nothing, and I would be in a situation of trying to figure out how and when this would go away. On Sunday, the pain was so bad I just hung around the house all day. By Monday morning it was worse. I went to work late to get the x-rays done and scheduled my first physical therapy appointment.
Tuesday I had not heard anything from my doctor. I emailed her, anxiously awaiting the results. Around 10:15 am Wednesday I received an email from her. She responded in one sentence saying "Colleen, Your Xray looks good. It showed "mild disc space narrowing of L4-5". It is otherwise normal. Physical therapy should help."
At first, I was relieved. Okay, so I am not crazy, there IS something wrong that is not muscle related, but I had so many questions knowing this. What exactly is this diagnosis? Is this injury related? Degenerative? How did I get this and what can I do to prevent it? I responded as such.
In the meantime, I did some research on this matter. The more I looked, the more it began to sound like this was something I would be stuck with for the rest of my life. Most of what I read was from people who lift weights like I do. They live with it, and it flares up now and then. Some have had to have surgery. Mostly, they live in pain. My worst fear.
This morning my doctor responded, easing some of my fears. To be clear, I am not a person who typically googles problems. In fact, I never do, I just ride them out. Today she said, "The disc narrowing is probably unrelated to your pain. It is very common in people your age with or without back pain. The radiologist also said that you likely have a transitional spine, which is found in 25% of individuals. That just describes how your spine was formed before you were born. Overall your Xray is normal. The things we look for when we order a Xray for chronic back pain are arthritis, broken bones, bone cancer, and scoliosis. You don't have these problems luckily. I recommend coming in to see me if physical therapy doesn't help."
Great, I have some answers. But still questions. I presume I will know more after I see the physical therapist who will (I hope!) advise me on how to continue activity, without causing pain.
I do not have answers to what happens now. I have been having back pain for 6 months and I am not sure I feel any more confident that the pain will be addressed soon. I hope that the physical therapist has some answers....so that I can know, what happens now?
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