Trying to join the FOGs Mike? :-)

I have had bouts with my back and shoulder for most of my adult life. I was a bit rough on my body as a young man and now I am paying for it I guess.

Hope you feel better soon. Just don't let it interfer with the fishing!
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Carrying that "big gun"! :-)
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I had a severe herniation at L4-L5 that was pushing on my left sciatic nerve, which sent a constant sharp pain down my left leg. The pain would never go away completely and standing or walking made it much worse. I had two injections. The first one was done by a crappy Kaiser doctor and he missed the area completely so it did nothing for me. The second one was done by a well recommended spine surgeon (switched to my wife's much better insurance) who targeted the nerve perfectly. My pain went away completely for about two months and then came back and got worse. I opted for surgery as the pain was getting worse and you can't get more than 3 epidurals in a 12 month period. In July of this year I had a microdiscectomy and laminectomy. My doc basically removed the bulging disc material and a little bone and cartilage to free up as much room around the base of the nerve as possible. My sciatic pain is now completely gone. Different solutions work for different people, and it depends a lot on how good the doctor is.
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:-)
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This was the same for me. I had pain in L4-L5. Shot only worked for 1-2 weeks. Decided on surgery in July and it was the best decision I made all year. I am now pain free. My only recommendation would be is to have a nero-surgeon do the surgery.
Lots of people told me to not to get the surgery but I am glad I did.
Of course it is different for everyone. Goodluck!
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When you tell people you're having back surgery it seems like everyone knows someone who knows someone whose life was ruined by having back surgery. The big thing is to find a doctor who is good at what he does. I was fortunate that my wife works at a physical therapy clinic and has a steady stream of people come through who are doing rehab after back surgery. The doctor I ended up going to has a very good success rate and my wife could see that firsthand.
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I agree with Kevin, though I would try to exhaust all non-surgical options before opting for surgery. I had a lamenectomy in 1989 after cracking two cervical vertabrae and crushing the C7 disc. It gave me my life back, the neurosurgeon did a wonderful job.
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Absolutely. Surgery isn't something to jump into. I only went the surgery route after doing PT 4 different times, having a failed epidural, and a successful epidural that only gave 2 months of pain relief. And a lot of vicodin. Guys, be very careful with pain medication, it wreaks havoc with your body. I feel so much better now that I'm not taking pills every day.
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Got my shot of Cortisone a little while ago - :-)

X-rays showed everything to be good except for the tendon tearing. Got the shot, little heating pad and a brace and I should be good to go in a few days.

Ron
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So, I had an injection this morning, took about 10 minutes, procedure is basically pain free, I am already feeling a difference, doctor says in about 24 hrs. I should really notice improvement, hoping it works and lasts for awhile :-)
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whoops forget about the post in the PIF thread.

Glad you are feeling better.
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You reminded me in the PIF about this thread :-)
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I tweaked my back at work about 3 years ago. (after 30 years of lifting things wrong). It's more of a muscle thing with me. My doc didn't notice and compression of the vertebrae. There was a HUGE knot in the lumbar region, right next to my spine, though. Cramped muscles. I got a deep tissue massage, and that worked wonders. Now, I'm careful not to lift heavy objects without help, and heat helps me. Never seen a chiropractor. I might need to, to get my alignment fixed.

A friend of mine went and saw a chiropractor in HS. The next day, he could not move. His parents called the guy, and he told them (after the fact) that he should have gone and gotten a deep tissue massage to align the muscles with the bones. So, based on that, I'm going to say if you go see a chiropractor, get a massage afterwards. DTMs are AWESOME!! It's been a few years, and my back's been acting up.
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Cool, hope it makes a big difference for you. If you're already feeling better you should be on a good track since there will be additional pressure on the area until the cortisone is fully absorbed.
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I got in an accident back in 2008:
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3337

Ever since my back is rather sensitive. If I ride my Harley too much or sleep the wrong way or run too much I get laid up for days. Doc says its muscular and I'm sol.
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I have had cortisone shots for L1,2 problems. They worked great for me. Just remember that you still have the injury even when you feel less pain. That was the hard part for me.
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In SOME cases the relief of inflammation allows the injury to heal, particularly in conjunction with physical therapy. This is not always the case though, and I'm pretty sure the majority just get relief for a little while and have the pain come back.
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I'm literally going through the same thing right now, had the cortizone through epieral Dec 19th, just to ease the pain, I've already been told that my L4-L5 are too damaged and will require surgery, which I'm having Jan 16th.
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Good luck with the surgery, hope it works out :-)
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I suffer from occasional lower back pain (though it can be severe at times and once laid me immobile on the couch for 3 weeks with every movement an excruciating one) and I've been through the chiropractor thing as well and am not sure I'd recommend that since the internal friction could lead to worse pain and issues. Though I don't know the name of the procedure, my father had something done for his back where they insert needles into the spine or nerves (I think) and use electrical current to provide relief somehow that is intended to last for a good amount of time after. From what I understand, it's the last procedure people turn to before opting surgery. Hope you feel better.
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