Dealing with chronic lower back pain

One week from today, Brady and I will be celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary. My brain is having a hard time comprehending how so much time could have passed us by already, but here we are almost 2 years wed. I’ll share our wedding story next week, but today is a different anniversary to remember. Today marks 2 years since I herniated my L5-S1 disk in my lower back.

The story of how my back betrayed me…

It was set up to be the perfect beach day. Family had come from around the country and from the other side of the world to help me get ready. Some of the family staying with us had gone up to NYC for a couple days, so I planned out for the rest of us to head out to the beach for the day because we needed a break from everything wedding. I put together a noodle salad, some snacks and drinks, grabbed the beach toys and boogie boards and the caravan was off. I can’t say the pain came out of nowhere, because I had been dealing with a bulged disk in my back for about 4 months but I had been mostly fine for a few weeks.

By the time we got to the Rehoboth Beach after a 2.5 hour drive, I was so, so, so uncomfortable. I was determined to have a good day and hoped that floating in the water for a little while would bring some relief. I love body surfing and boogie boarding but I was only able to do it a few times since it felt like the pain in my lower back was growing with each minute that passed.

We had come to the beach with my cousin Mark and his family including his 5 year-old daughter, Sianna, who was going to be my flower girl. I hadn’t seen them all in almost 5 years and it was so fun being able to spend time with them. I was trying to treasure the time I was getting to spend with them because I knew it would probably be a long time before I was able to see them again. Later in the day I was down by the water lifting Sianna over the waves and playing with her which wasn’t helping my pains but a really special moment for me.

Well I really got kicked as we were walking off the beach. The pain had been getting worse but it wasn’t fully intolerable until we were walking. It’s almost like a light got switched on and all of a sudden I was shocked with horrible pain throughout my back as numbness traveled all the way down my right leg to my toes. I had never experienced that much pain in my LIFE. I tried to lay down but it kept growing. I don’t know how seriously everyone else was taking my pain but I was writhing in pain and crying in my seat as we drove away. I was scared because I had no idea what was going on and I was freaking out like, we should probably go to the hospital!

I felt a little ignored because they all decided to go and ride go-karts for an hour. Once everyone was finally ready to go, Sianna came up to me so sweetly and asked me what was wrong. After I told her that I was in lots of pain, she said “We should pray because whenever I’m feeling bad, I ask Jesus to help me feel better and he does.” Melt my heart so cute. She would know because she’s been through more medical problems in her few years than most of us ever will. She said the sweetest little prayer for me that I have heard, and then we got in the cars to head home. About an hour later, my pain subsided to a bearable level but the numbness still hadn’t gone away.

I was 22 and my last practitioner was my pediatrician so my dad had to beg a very busy doctor to see me Monday morning. She only said yes because it was pretty sad to hear that someone was only a few days away from their wedding and dealing with so much pain. She gave me prescriptions for some heavy duty pain meds, a prednisone pack, and an X-ray and MRI. Apparently insurance won’t pay for an MRI unless you’ve had an X-ray first even though an X-ray would say absolutely nothing about my back problems…

I spent all of Monday and Tuesday morning, the week before my wedding, in multiple doctor’s offices. Based on my MRI results, I was sent to see a neurosurgeon who squeezed me into his schedule on Thursday. He said he was surprised to see someone so young in his office and after evaluating me and my MRI, he prescribed another round of prednisone to get me through the honeymoon and PT for when we got back. I’m have to say that the meds I was given is probably the only reason I made it through the honeymoon without any real issues. I had a limp because of the nerve thing in my leg but don’t remember having any pain at all.

The pain and numbness has never fully subsided so it’s a main part of my life these days but I have found a few ways to cope.

How I deal with chronic lower back pain

1. Exercise. This can also make it worse if I don’t take the right precautions or if I over-do it but more often than not, exercise makes my overall pain much better. Swimming is the best one because it’s no stress on my back and the weightlessness gives some natural traction.

2. Specific back strengthening exercises. Most core muscle workout focus on abs which can often be just too much for me to handle. I found this book at the library that focus specifically on the postural chain muscles. There are 3 levels of exercises and they aren’t easy but I can feel them working to strengthen my back whenever I do them so I’m trying to dedicate myself to doing them every day.

3. Icy Hot Pain Relieving Cream. This stuff is a lifesaver. I don’t want to be dependent on my pain meds for relief especially when I know that an episode I might be having will only last around 30 minutes to an hour. This feels like it helps relax the muscles in my back and is often the fastest way to get pain relief.

4. Sitting hurts. I sit at work so I wear a back brace for support whenever I’m sitting at my desk. I also try to get up every hour to walk and take at least 500 steps.

 

So there it is. I don’t know what things will be like a year from now. I know I need to lose some weight to relieve pressure on my spine and I know that strengthening muscles will help as well. I hope to avoid surgery even though the doctor’s all claim that the pain won’t go away without it. I don’t know. I’ll keep doing what I can and hopefully things will just keep going up.

 

Do you have back issues?

Any advice to add or share on dealing with any kind of chronic pain?

 

 

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or any kind of medical professional, please consult your health professionals before entering into any new health or exercise plan. I claim no professional knowledge, I am just sharing the things that have worked for me.