Back Pain.

[torcot]

I am 22 years old 210 lbs, 5' 7" overweight.  I exercise rarely (yes I know I need to lose wieght) and don't eat healthily.  I have been having pain in my lower back, just above my hips (it also migrates to my hips, lower legs, and mid back).  When I was in the 8th grade, I thought it would be fun to jump from 12 feet.  When I landed I felt a ripping feeling in that area of my back.  I thought I had ripped my pants till I tried to stand.  I couldn't stand up straight for about 4 hours.  I didn't see a Doctor about it.  the pain comes and go every couple of months and only lasts a few days.  I told my GP and he did not even blink, he didn't care.  Could I have tore something?   Or dislocated something?  

[torcot]

Doc didn't take any x-rays or anything else.  They did do a urine test to see if it was my kidneys or bladder.  I don't want to take the muscle relaxers.  I hate anything like that, that simply covers symptoms and doesn't treat them.  

[femmy29]

That is what they first gave me is muscle relaxers.  But looking back, I wonder if I had the those discs problems back then too.

The only way to truly rule it as muscle spasm is by looking at your MRI scan results or X-ray/CT Scan (resolution is crude with these diagnostic tool) and seeing that your spine is healthy and everything is intact and where it is supposed to be.  

I also have myfascial pain syndrome (fancy term for chronic muscular pain) and I am also on muscle relaxers.  The muscle relaxers I found, relieve the pressure applied to my spine from tight muscular bands of tissue that surround the triggerpoints.  This helped alleviate some of the pain caused by the slipped discs as the muscles were pressing them further out and into the nerve roots.

I am glad you went to the doctor and that he gave you something for the pain.  I hope you feel better soon.

femmy

[torcot]

went to the doctor, he said it was muscle spasm and prescribed muscle relaxers.  When he went to poke my stomach, just over my colon, it hurt like hell.  I don't know what that was but I told him about it,  

[femmy29]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the low back pain you have been experiencing.  I also suffer from low back pain caused by lumbar interverbral degenerative disc disease with lumbar radiculopathy.  These conditions also cause pain in my hips that presents itself as a burning sensation along with shooting pain down my right leg.  My pain comes from dislocated or bulging discs and a ruptured disc.  These herniated discs apply pressure on nerve roots responsible for sending pain signals to the brain from the hips and legs.  There is no cure for degenerative disc disease but surgery, injections and/or medications can make it easier to deal with.  There are some with degenerative disc disease that do not exhibit any symptoms so it isn't a "one size fits all" type of diagnosis.

The best way to determine if your pain spawns from problems with the discs between the vertebrae is through an MRI scan.  These types of scans generate images of your spinal cord, vertebrae, and discs in 3D, and hence, problems are more easily seen this way than via X-ray.  When you jumped from 12 feet you could have inflicted damage to your spine which could be at the root of your problems.  However, you will need to get the proper tests to determine what is really causing your pain.

If there aren't any disc problems, then your pain could be caused by a combination of excessive weight applying pressure to the spine, inactivity, sprained or torn ligaments, and/or misalignment of the spine.  I would recommend that you see a medical doctor first to rule out spine problems before going to a chiropractor.  Many have found a lot of relief from chiropractic but it is important to know that there are certain spine conditions that a chiropractor can make worse so it is important to get an OK from your medical doctor first.  

I hope you feel better soon and that your doctor is able to find the cause of your pain.

femmy