herniated disc. any solutions?

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Betty T - 19 Sep 2005 22:28 GMT

My sister has RA and a herniated disc in her lower back. All bones in her
body are deformed, but she has always lived with the pain. This back pain
is something she can't live with. They have done three epidurals using some
sort of cortisone mix and they can't do any more of them. She has a Tenz
machine, It does nothing for her. She did acupuncture and got worse.
Chiropractor can't help. Physical therapy isn't helping. Any ideas anyone
has would be worth their weight in gold. :o)

Thank you.

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Bud - 19 Sep 2005 23:09 GMT

> My sister has RA and a herniated disc

Has she seen an orthopedic surgeon for possible chemical ablation or
surgical removal of the disk? (Ablation refers to injecting a substance
into the disk that dissolves it.) Good luck.

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escrita@gmail.com - 20 Sep 2005 01:51 GMT

I had a ruptured disk at C6-C7 (neck) that was surgically removed a
week ago. I'm recovering at home now. I haven't taken any painkillers
today, and my pain level is less than it was at the worst point before
surgery. I'm not going to paint a glowing picture yet, as it's early
days, but so far so good. I go back to work on Wednesday, but luckily I
can work remotely.

The pain before the surgery was sometimes extremely debilitating. I've
had three cortisone shots to the nerve, all of which helped, but I
didn't want to continue doing that. Also, I've been taking
nortriptylene and vicodin for pain and to help me to sleep, and I want
to quit taking those. I'll start decreasing the notriptylene probably
this week.

A neurosurgeon did the surgery, but he told me that different hospitals
have different approaches--some use neurologists, some orthopaedic
surgeons. He did what's called anterior diskectomy. Anterior means from
the front, or something like that; he made an incision on the front of
my neck, pulled aside the trachea, larynx, esophagus, and whatever else
is in there, then removed the disk. He said the anterior approach gives
them much clearer and easier access to the disk. The surgery took about
two hours, but can vary, average is 1.5.

I stayed in the hospital overnight, but I think I would have been
better at home, as the noise level and constant interruptions at the
hospital were not conducive to a good night's sleep.

They gave me a bottle of Percocet to take for the pain, and I'm down to
taking it only just before bed. I'm thinking I won't take any tonight
and see how I do.

You need someone to stay with you for a few days, and you're not
supposed to drive for a couple of weeks (for everyone's safety!). This
is my second week after surgery and I'm still kind of tired, still feel
kind of like I've lost a fist-fight with someone, but feeling better
all the time. This is actually my first day on my own, with no company,
which means it's my first day to snooze as much as I think I need to.

I hope this information is helpful. Having just gone through it, I
thought you might be able to tell your sister my version.

Cheers,

Evelyn

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d'huit - 19 Sep 2005 23:39 GMT

> My sister has RA and a herniated disc in her lower back. All bones in her
> body are deformed, but she has always lived with the pain. This back pain
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Thank you.

hi bettyT--

sounds like your sister is in my boat. i'm not trying to make light of this
or being facetious here, because i know what she must be going through, but
a sense of humor helps me sometimes. i'm sometimes at my silliest when i
hurt most, but it helps me cope. and once you see my list below, you'll
know why i say that a sense of humor helps.LOL i have 17 damaged disks,
ranging from just bulging/herniated to ruptured/leaking and/or pressing on
nerves .

i've done epidurals this year, too (helped me for 4 months--wish i could
marry that stuff); have a spinulator table (sometimes helps); and inversion
table (1 to 3 minutes on it gives me about an hour's relief consistantly);
massage chair (quasi helps); hot tub (helps); a massage/heat chair pad in my
car (great in the winter); shiatsu massage chair pad for tv (sometimes
helps, sometimes downright hurts); jacuzzi tub in the bathroom (helps);
massage/pulsing shower head (always helps); tens machine (doesn't really
help me); have tried acupuncture (for me it seems to depend on who is doing
it, if it helps or not); asian bongers (helps for just muscle knots in my
back); have tried Rolfing (don't waste your money); various types of
hands-on massages (definitely helps. a masseuse skilled in at least 5 types
is best. start with very mild pressure and give LOTS of feedback to the
masseuse.); chiropractic adjustments (sometimes helps a little); yoga for
arthritics (helps); stretching (helps); aqua-exercises for arthritics
(helps); meditation (definitely helps) and on and on, because i've been at
finding relief for a couple of decades.

start here, betty---tell your sister to ask her chiropractor to order an
11"x15" (or larger) Chiropractic Health Care All-Temp Therapy pack for her.
they cost between $10-$20 apiece, depending upon if her chiro wants to make
a mark up on them or not. i have two that i use daily, generally frozen,
and they help the most. these packs have a gel inside them, that stays
soft/flexible and can be either frozen or microwaved, depending upon what
therapy she needs at the time. most of the time, i use them frozen (for *no
more* than 20 minutes at a time---that's important to avoid soft tissue
damage and more pain) and put them in a king-sized pillowcase. the excess
fabric i wrap around them several times and use small safety pins on the
fabric only ,to keep the fabric from creasing badly.

she also needs to have some kind of pain medication for the rough times and
might need to be on anti-inflammatories. my rd FINALLY said/admitted she
can't take care of my spine problems. so i'm finally going to be going to a
spine institute and will be under the care of an orthopaedic spine
surgeon/specialist. i have also been to a neurologist for diagnostics,
without being referred, cuz i was fed up with doctors not taking my back
pain seriously enough to suit me. my neurologist suggested the epidurals.
but my pocketbook took my spinal pain seriously, didn't it?LOL

i wish you and your sister the best of luck in finding what helps her the
most in dealing with her back problem and coping with it.

kate

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Duckie - 21 Sep 2005 05:56 GMT

I have two ideas....

1. The first is the device that Jerry Lewis has implanted
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002-08-29-jerry-side_x.htm

2. A friend's BIL had this experimental surgery in
Conn. They drove to Conn. from Mass for the surgery and
drove home the next day. I can't imagine driving that
far in pain after surgery so he must have been okay.
Then they drove back a week later for a check up. Amazing.
http://yalemds.org/ProgPage.asp?name=Spine+Center%2C+Yale

Here are some other links to read.

http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article1245.html

http://tinyurl.com/ddvfe

Tell your sister to not give up. Her doctor's need to
understand her pain issue and work to make her life
easier. And you are a good sister for trying to help.
Duckie

> My sister has RA and a herniated disc in her lower back. All bones in her
> body are deformed, but she has always lived with the pain. This back pain
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Thank you.

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