For the past, oh, three weeks, I’ve had a pain in one very specific spot in my lower back about two or three inches left of my spine. My guess was that it was a pinched nerve since, well, it feels like something in there is being pinched. But I don’t really have any radiating pain or numbness down my leg that seems to be commonly associated with a pinched nerve. What little numbness I do have, I’m 99% sure is psychosomatic.
So, my questions are…Can you have a pinched nerve without the associated pain/numbness? Is this likely something totally different? I keep wondering if it’s a muscle thing. My mind keeps thinking that a benzo would make the pain melt away.
Something I’ve learned recently…there are soooo many back remedy websites on the internet it’s virtually impossible to do any kind of research. That’s why I’m asking here. I do plan to go to the doctor, but I’ve been putting it off since I don’t really care for my current GP, so I have to set up an appointment with a new doctor first. Also, I just restarted P90X and I’d like to figure out what’s going on with this before I make it worse since this pain will likely be masked by the pain P90X will cause. The other reason I’ve been avoiding the doctor is because I figure they’re just going to write me a script for NSAIDs and tell me to come back in a week if it still hurts. NSAIDs give me godawful heartburn, hell I’ve avoided even taking ibuprofen for the past three weeks.
Well, one morning last year, I raised my arm over my head like I’ve done a thousand times. This time I felt a sharp pain, and I figured I kinked a muscle or something. Well, it did get a little bit better, but after a week or so, it was still a bit more uncomfortable than it should have been. There was also some aches in my shoulder and tricep area.
Around the one week mark, about half of my index finger tip, part of my thumb, and small part of my hand began to get numb. So, I went to the doctor , and suspected a pinched nerve in my neck. By that point, the neck discomfort was very little, with most of the discomfort in my shoulder and tricep area.
MRI confirmed the pinched nerve/disc in my neck, and several months of physical therapy ensued to decrease the bulge and strengthen the muscles in that area.
All back to normal after that. 
That’s the thing, I don’t have any numbness, just one very specific spot that feels like it’s being pinched/stabbed every time I take a step, go up a stair, sit in a chair, keep perfectly still etc…
Then it’ll go away and I’ll forget about it and decide not to go to the doctor…then it starts back up again.
Sounds a lot like my herniated disc. At first it was just a dull ache that would come and go, then I started having pain along my sciatic nerve, but it would also come and go, and things generally got worse over time. Thing is, I kept exercising, and the sport I was doing is terrible for bulging/herniated discs, and I think I just kept making it worse. I kept putting off seeing a doctor, though, because it would seem to start getting better randomly, but it always came back and worse. In the end, I saw a doctor and got an MRI which confirmed a herniated disc at the L4/L5 level, I started athletic therapy, had a couple of rounds of pain killers and a lot of time not exercising and strengthening my core muscles and I’m on my way to getting better. I’m still limited in what I’m allowed to do, though, since healing these things takes a lot of time.
If you are doing an intense workout regimen, especially if your core isn’t already really strong, then you increase your risk of a lower back disc injury since your back muscles aren’t strong enough to hold your disc in place as you stress it. That’s what happened to me. You really want to get this looked at and begin therapy to heal it, because it can get worse, and you do not want to get to the point of surgery or permanent pain!
You’re right, I really really don’t want to deal with surgery. I’ve got yoga tonight (as part of P90X) so I’m thinking that shouldn’t hurt anything too much. Would a herniated disc cause pain off to the side of my spine by a few inches?
Yes, in my case it’s to the right, but I’d say it feels like it’s a good 1.5-2" away from the spinal column. The MRI showed that my disc is in fact herniated rearwards with a right turn, thereby irritating my sciatic nerve. It was inflammation and muscle spasms that was causing the worst of the pain that I went through, and physio, at-home excercises and naproxen+oxycodone reduced the inflammation and dulled the pain. At this point I just always feel a little stiff around that spot and I have numb patches on my right leg, but very little actual pain. I’m still far from healed though - we use our backs so much it’s hard to let them heal up properly.
Yoga might not be a good thing - the first thing my therapist told me was to stop bending forward at all, since that’s what was putting the most stress on the disc. Everything from how to sit, even bending a little forward when doing dishes/brushing teeth…I had (and still have) to be careful about it all. It’s all about a gradual re-inforcement of the target muscles, without over-doing it.
If you do, in fact, have an injury like I do, you will be told to stop your workout regimen - including yoga - in order to begin allowing yourself to heal. It might be something else, but it will take a doctor or a trained physio/athletic therapist to diagnose you (with an MRI to confirm, but it’s unlikely to change your course of treatment unless surgery is necessary).
Naturally, IANAD, so please take the time to go see one!
The yoga program is an hour and a half. By the end of the last round of P90X, I could make it about 45 minutes, I knew I wouldn’t make it far this time (since I haven’t done it in about eight months). I quit at about 10 minutes. After a two Sun Salutations I figured that’s either going to make things better (really stretches that spot) or make them worse (for the same reason).
What really bugs me is that this pain seems to come and go. Like I mentioned earlier, I can go anywhere from an hour to a weekend with no pain at all, but it’ll show back up seemingly out of nowhere.
I feel weird going to a GP I’ve never seen before for a pain. I wish I could go to my regular GP, but (barring an emergency) I’d rather not see him on principal.
That sounds nerve related, I agree. A disc pinching is one option. Another is a (probably benign) type of neuralgia.
My mom actually is missing a few disks from a wreck a long while back, and those were some of her early symptoms. And she also has some neuralgia. Now she often gets where she can barely walk–so I’d take this seriously.
A pinched nerve doesn’t necessarily involve numbness; for my mother (back problems) and me (foot problems which thankfully don’t happen often any more but were a daily occurrence in my teens), it means pain.
Well, I just made an appointment with a new GP, but it’s not until next Thursday. It’s going to be a long 8 days.
I have to stop in at that office today for something entirely unrelated, I wonder if it would be bad form to ask the receptionist if they have anything earlier. Perhaps I’ll ask what she thinks about me continuing to exercise. At the very least maybe I’ll be able to talk to an RN or PA.
I’ve had one in my neck for the past two days, because I’ve apparently been sleeping in a bad position. I get a little numb in my face, but I’ve also been either sneezing, or getting that feeling in my nose like I have to sneeze. Ibuprofen seems to help take the edge off, but not moving my head, or moving it gently seems to help, too. Right now, I just want to keep the pain at bay until it goes away on its own.
Hopefully they can help, but it really was something that was diagnosed based on exact location of symptoms and description of them, as well as range-of-motion limitations in my case. I actually saw an athletic therapist first, and a doctor the next day, but the AT was able to correctly diagnose and start treatment. If you have access to a physio or athletic therapist sooner than next Thursday, you can try that. I went to the Sports Medicine clinic at the local university (I’m a student there, but it is open to the public).
The only person I could reliably get into sooner is an Orthopedic Surgeon that did surgeries on both my Dad and my sister. I believe he’s a friend of my Dad’s and I could probably get into him whenever I want. However, I don’t think it’s that serious yet. I did ask about a sooner visit when I stopped in and they said next Thursday is the earliest. However, they could do a same day visit if the condition suddenly get’s really bad. As of right now, I don’t see that happening.
I’ve decided I’m going to skip tonight’s P90X as it’s legs and back. IIRC that’s one of the more intense workouts. Lot’s of squats (with weights). Tomorrow is Kenpo (kickboxing), I think I’ll pass on that as well. Hell, I think I’ll just put it off until I see the doctor and go from there.
Something else interesting. When I made the appointment she said “Also, just to let you know, the doctor doesn’t prescribe narcotics on a first visit and if you miss your initial visit we won’t see you again” I’m curious as to if they say that to everyone or just people that call in for a first visit with “back pain” which IIRC is a fairly common “symptom” for drug seekers. Not a big deal, it was just odd. If I can fit it in, I’ll mention that my dad uses him, a very good friend of mine (and the docs) uses him and my daughter goes to his partner. I’m worried I won’t be taken seriously if my symptoms* don’t match up with something like a herniated disk or pinched nerve, I want to make sure he knows that he’s not just a random doctor I picked out of the phone book.
*pain comes and goes, doesn’t run down my leg or radiate, I still have full range of motion, no severe numbness or tingling (that I haven’t ruled out as being psychosomatic), no spasms, been going on for three weeks without getting worse etc…
I mentioned this earlier, but I want to re-mention it…as a question.
Can herniated/degenerated/bulging/ruptured disc pain come and go? It seems that the pain I’m having can be almost non-existent for a few hours to a few days and be really really annoying for a few hours to a few days, but spends most of it’s time somewhere in the middle. For example, right now it’s not bothering me at all, not one bit. It makes me want to cancel the doctor’s appointment, but I know that within the next day or so it’ll come back and start bugging me again. I hate to go to the doctor for something that might just be a strained muscle.* Also, I’m still not sure I’m noticing any kind of pain or tingling in my leg. Anything I have noticed I just assume has been in my head since that’s one of the symptoms I know should accompany a disc issue. I’m just trying to figure out if this is going to turn out to be nothing or turn out that it is a disc issue and I caught it really early.
*Of course, the fact that it’s been nearly a month now tells me that’s not what it is.
So, I know this thread is nearly three years old. Since then, I’ve had to call the doctor a handful of times (or stop in) to get refills in mild pain killers (Tramadol) or crappy muscle relaxers (I hate Flexeril so they give me Carisoprodol). They work and the pain subsides over the next few days and I move on with my life until it flares up a few months or a year later.
Anyways, I hadn’t thought about it until today. Today I got an account set up online with my medical group so you can make appointments, ask your doctor questions etc. But the fun part is, you can see test results and read the reports. Well, I read the report from a CT Scan I had about three months ago from a kidney stone. In it the doctor mentioned all the kidney stone and related stuff as well as noted some other things. Normal looking organs, something about my appendix, but then there’s a note that says "There are mild degenerative changes of the spine. " I have no idea if that’s one of those things that everyone has, but I like to think it’s probably what causes that on and off pain that I’ve been having.
My doc did mention that if my back pain didn’t go away after a few days (last time I had it) he’d like to get some imaging done. When I had my first kidney stone I was sort of half wondering if they picked up that area of my spine in the process and he could use that CT scan. This note was on my second kidney stone…hopefully the next time I have any kind of back pain, he can just take a look at that and go from there.
At the very least, it’s one of those ‘nice to have it validated’ type things. At least I know it’s not in my head and the doctor knows that I’m not making it up or not just complaining.