Lower Back Pain Episode 2: My Story
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
So basically, my story started 14 years ago. My back had been hurting and I went to bend over and had a VERY difficult time standing back up. I knew then that I needed to have it looked at.
Long story short, I started going to a chiropractor was treated and things went well for a while, then the pain acted up once again, I was sent for an MRI to find out I had 3 herniated discs in my lower back. What caused all of this? I honestly do not know. I was sent to physical therapy which worked out well. A few years later, I tweaked my back picking up my nephew which lead to quite a bit of pain for quite a length of time. This then warranted a cortisone shot, which again, worked well. My back was way better than when it all first started but I would still have little flare ups which would cause pain here and there. Monthly maintenance visits to the chiropractor usually held the pain a bay along with some stretches and exercises, until one day last November……
I had been having a bit more pain than usual for a few weeks prior to this wonderful event I am about to speak of. I was visiting the chiropractor a bit more frequent during this time to help with the issue and I was also doing quite a bit of stretching. I was actually trying to stretch through the pain, later to realize that this was making the issue worse, not better. Sometimes the no pain, no gain phrase isn’t always the way to go.
I had a visit to the chiropractor and filled her in on what was going on and how I was trying to stretch myself out with certain stretches BUT my body just wouldn’t let me ( a hint right there I should have listened to my body) so she did an adjustment that was a tad bit more aggressive than I was used to which left me feeling pretty good after the fact…UNTIL…
I wake up the next day and I am still in pain. I mean the kind of pain that you can’t even relax with. Like, I couldn’t even relax enough to go to the bathroom..SERIOUSLY!! AND this is where it all unfolded!!
My pain had gotten so bad that it was VERY difficult for me to even get up ad down from a sitting position. I was so tense that just going to the bathroom was a feat. I couldn’t even relax enough to release my bladder ( I know TMI) SO, long story short, again, I went into the bathroom to “use it” only to have a gianormous shooting pain in my back which lead me to scream, a scream I had never heard before come out of a human, which then lead me to lay myself flat out on my bathroom floor in a panic thinking I had ruptured one of my discs. I lay there with no phone, no one home except a little 4 year old sleeping in the next room, who would later become my hero for grabbing my cell phone so I could call my sister for help.
So, a trip to the ER warrants in the verdict being MUSCLE SPASMS!!! I swear I thought I was dying. I hyperventilated and everything just trying to get through the pain. They gave me 3 different types of pain killers only to have VALIUM somewhat calm it down in the long run. I STILL hadn’t used the bathroom as of this point ( I thought you might want to know that). Alright, let’s make this long story short and get to the point..ER visit, Surgeon follow up, meet a doctor that would “HEAL” me!!
Yes, the doctor they told me to follow up with was of course a surgeon, who said I needed surgery for a SEVERE pinched nerve…Uhh no thanks. I decided otherwise since in the mean time I had come in contact with a doctor who visits our gym regularly and does free injury assessments. Well, I had him check it all out. I walked in there, explained what had happened and he had me touching my toes in about 10 minutes. At this point, I could hardly walk, standing was painful as hell and forget about touching my toes. I thought I’d never see them again.
Well, at that point I decided I NEEDED to continue with this method, whatever it was, in order to function normally again. I say that because I could NOT even do NORMAL daily activities. I find out, through his educating me, that the stretches I was doing to HELP with the pain was actually CAUSING more damage than anything. See, once he assessed me, he was able to figure out WHAT was causing the pain and address it the RIGHT way.
Again, long story short, I have been seeing him regularly since the end of November, it is now March and I can say that my pain has gone down 98%. I was walking crooked, couldn’t touch my toes, had daily pain and was FRUSTRATED to say the least.
Here’s the benefit to it all. It took a while to “straighten” things out but with the PROPER stretches and adjustments, I have worked my way out of pain. It wasn’t an overnight fix BUT it sure the heck beats having surgery. I didn’t want to touch that with a 10 foot pole. I went through pain, frustration and LOTS of patience to get where I am at today. And ya know what? I can maintain this with about 4 to 5 different exercises that I can do on my own!! FOR REAL!!
I can remember sitting in that surgeons office watching people slowly wince in pain and get up from their chairs as they were called in for their appointment. I thought to myself, THIS WILL NOT BE ME! I knew I had to find a way to avoid surgery at any and all costs and I am thankful I did. I’m not saying I won’t ever have back pain again or that I am miraculously healed of my herniated discs BUT what I am saying is that is was SO worth the time and effort to find a way to get out of the pain and avoid surgery. I will be forever thankful for Dr. Del Real at the Back and Joint Rehab Center.
Living with pain sucks and I didn’t want to live that way.
Latest posts by Melanie Sobocinski (see all)
- Why Your Metabolism and Hormones May be a Little Slow - November 5, 2020
- My Before and After Story - September 11, 2020
- 7 Changes That Happen When You Don’t Eat Enough - July 16, 2020
