herniated or bulging discs...........

[spareparts]

next time at PT, have them try traction, if traction is good for you the inversion table will help. But you have got to get swelling down before you try anything like that. Getting off the inversion table after stretching is what got me bad. Go see a back specialist

[smokeonthewater]

Yeah same here... Hurt so bad I was terrified I had done major damage

[charlie_the_tuna]

i'm thinking the swelling must be down after 6 weeks. i'm not going back to PT. I just tried to get on the floor to do some exercises and I couldn't get down. then I couldn't get up. this is bad. gonna try the inversion table at a very conservative angle.

[spareparts]

the swelling will not be down if you are still aggravating it. Lay on your back for several hours without moving.I found my couch was more comfortable than my bed, I used pillows to keep from moving when I fell asleep

[scook]

A bunch of comments, general and agreeing with a lot of what the other guys are saying:

I had a friend who was a PT and he would get me in, do traction (an automatic contraption that would alternately pull and release) then do massage. It felt great but didn't do much to get me back in the game. When I learned about the press ups, my life changed radically for the better.

If you have health insurance you should be able to see a specialist (not a neurologist - that was a waste of time - gave me muscle relaxers and said to stay imobile). A CT scan is the likely diagnostic tool, but you need a good doc reading it. If this is the first time you've had the problem and some severe trauma didn't bring it on it's pretty unlikely that you have any ruptured disks, so no fragments to worry about and trying the press ups, cautiously, shouldn't do you any harm, but getting pictures of the problem is absolutely he right idea.

I would ask around and try to find someone you know (or someone they know) who has had a good experience with a medical provider specialist.

I agree with Smoke - you don't want anyone cutting on your back unless you have a lot of unanimous opinions that it's really necessary. I have a friend who had something like Spare was mentioning - a bunch of stuff inside his spine that was pressing on the nerves and he got to where he had almost no use of his legs. In that situation, there's no choice but your sudden onset makes me doubt that's your problem.

I agree with Spare - if you're still in serious pain, the inflamation/swelling hasn't gone down. Try the ice, but mostly work on finding a competent specialist and trust your gut if you don't think they have it right -just reading the pictures doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. A few years ago, I really did myself in. I hadn't been stretching and did some hard exersize - it felt like an electrode in my back and it really hung on. I finally went for a CT scan and met with a surg3on

My PT friends are VERY scepticle of chiropractors - there are LOTS of quacks in the
business.

Don't give up on all PT's just because you got a jerk. My experience convinced me that most doctors and a lot of PT's don't understand spinal problems.

[scook]

I had a really bad one several years ago and it hung on so long that I decided to consult a surgeon. When I met him, he said that looking at the CT scan he was thinking "clear the operating room and get this guy in here". Then he did some physical tests - had me try to lift my leg up,while he held it down and almost lifted him off his stool. No surgery needed - more press ups, ice and reasonable moving around to keep pumping fluids through the joints and it got better.

Two really hard things about where you are right now are that with that kind of pain, you can't imagine your back isn't broken in six places and it's an empty feeling not thinking there's anyone competent to figure it out and get you fixed up.

Do your homework to find a good doc and hang in there - you'll beat it.

[charlie_the_tuna]

so I went to a pain management specialist last night and got an epidural. they put me out and injected some medicine right into the discs. he said it could take a couple days to start to work. he said he could do two more if necessary. the pain has gotten just a tiny bit better over the last month or so, but still pretty bad. I've seen two more doctors since the original post and it seems this could take up to two years to heal. anybody have any kind of handle on what kind of time frame you were looking at? 2 months? 6 months? a year? 2? I cant imagine being out of commission for two years. I guess i'll do what needs to be done but two years is a huge thing.