catching up on the back injury

I feel like I've been injured forever, and to some extent, with no end in sight.  It's both annoying and frustrating... often fairly painful and sometimes downright debilitating. The more recent issue is my back problem, the degenerated and herniated disc in my lower back.  In hindsight, I learned a huge lesson with this injury.  I'd had such a great experience with Commonwealth Orthopaedics, that I knew I should look to the same practice for a back specialist.  I was impatient though.  My back hurt and I wanted to get it addressed.  So I settled for a doctor who could see me on short notice.  Now, Dr. Davis was nice, and I'm sure very qualified.  He is the first doctor in all the times I've been seen for my back to send me for an MRI which finally revealed the problem.  That's where my good experience ended though.

So, I have a degenerative disc AND a herniated disc, both at the same
location, L4/L5 [so lumbar spine near the arch]

I wrote before about Dr. Davis' treatment plan, basically physical therapy that ended up being a complete joke, and an ESI that helped for a bit, but obviously didn't solve the problem.  When I returned to Dr. Davis after my trip to Florida, his professional advice was to avoid lying on the ground, which is the thing that triggers my back locking up most of the time.  Huh?  That's all you've got?  I felt as though I was getting dismissed.

At the urging of a coworker who's recently had back surgery for a similar [but significantly worse] back issue, I saw a neurologist (his referral) for a second opinion.  Well, that jackass told me to simply stop doing activities.. no running, no biking, no yoga and even no swimming.  End of treatment plan.  Uhhh.. no, sorry, that's not even close to an acceptable path for me.   But, I guess why they call them "opinions" though, because it's just that.. his opinion.  Next!

Yep.. Jon had to place my wine on the floor for me when my back locked up b/c I couldn't sit up.. AT ALL!
[btw, face down on the couch with ice on your back is not the most ideal way to drink wine]

Immediately, I got on the phone with Commonwealth Orthopaedics and got myself on Dr. Mazahery's schedule.  I had to wait a month, but it was well worth the wait!!  Such a night and day different experience.  He reviewed the MRI and discussed my options with me.

1. Do nothing - but since I'm active and my back hurts, that's not really an option
2. Physical Therapy - which I've already tried, but perhaps with the right physical therapist I could have a better experience.  That said, he thinks PT probably won't do anything extra for me since I'm already pretty active.
   
3. Chiropractor - yes, there are some quacks out there, but there are also some good Chiropractors that can help, and it's a good way to help avoid any surgical procedure
   
4. Pain Management - basically, get another ESI.  He gave me the "prescription" and referral, but told me to hold off using it until I've tried one of the other options, to see if I was still having issues.

I've had one ESI and thought it worked for a while, but then BAM.. locked up again, and went back to hurting constantly.  Andrea told me that it took her 2 injections to really see a difference... but the idea of shooting steroids into my spine doesn't sit great with me, so I'm hoping one of the other methods will help.

OK, so I found a chiropractor close to my home that I visited.  He looked at my MRI and settled on a treatment plan of laser therapy and spinal decompression therapy.  I thought it was odd that I was going to a chiropractor and spending all that money and he never even touched me!  All he ever did was rub some laser thingy on my back and then hook me up to a machine.. anyone could've pushed that start button.  Part of me feels like this was just a huge waste of time and money, and as far as chiropractor care goes, a big pile of shit.

This is the exact spinal decompression machine that was used on me and it
basically stretches your spine back and forth.

Nevertheless, I completed that treatment plan... and my back still hurt.  A lot.  Not all the time, there are definitely better days than others, but enough to still seek out a treatment plan that works.  I feel like I haven't really given the chiropractor route a decent chance because I am still not sure what this guy did was really chiropractor care.  Through connections with Team Z, I found Positively Chiropractic and made an appointment with Dr. Anna who does a lot with sports chiropractic medicine.

Heating pad... Every. Damn. Night.

My first visit with Dr. Anna went well, and I am hopeful that she can help.  She did some adjustments (she actually touched my back!) and did some traction therapy with heat and electric pulses.  She gave me some exercises to do, which I have been good about doing, and instructions to ice and heat my back daily [which I have been doing this whole time].  My only concern with her is that she seemed to want to be more of a life coach than I was looking for, giving me advice about my foot that sometimes contradicted what my foot doctor and PT were telling me, and nutrition advice even though I told her I was working with a nutritionist [who is even associated with her practice!].  Not sure I care for that, but at the end of the day, if she can make my back feel better without the need to get another shot in my spine, then I guess I can handle auxiliary nonsense.

Dr. Anna uses this table for some type of traction therapy also, but actually adjusts me first!

My treatment plan with Dr. Anna is for about 6 weeks, so fingers crossed that this works... because the next step is to revisit the pain management specialist, which I am really hoping I don't have to do.

All my new accessories to hopefully help me at home!  Thanks, Amazon Prime :-)