Prolapsed disc... and in a lot of painnnnnn

[the hackmaster2013]

Hi everyone im new to this message board but I suffered a prolapsed disc L4/L5 (which seems quick common) about four weeks ago. Had a massive spasm leaving a lot of my back muscles in a bad way and needing an ambulance!! I had a bit of a rough time in AandE and left with a bag of very strong pills and no follow up!

I am very lucky that I have BUPA cover as many have noted and I was in straight away to my GP and then off for a scan and the results to confirm the above. I have had some really good progress in this short time and I wanted to share how I had done it.

Firstly started stretching (4-5 times a day), mainly floor exercises (toe touching, stretching sides) including the leg area as much as my back.
built up to walking for about 10-15 minutes round the block.
to be honest the stretching helped ease a lot of the pain as I felt that the muscles around the area has tightened up so hard to protect the disc, however this was causing other problems such as tight groin muscles, thigh and hamstrings which again was really painful.

I started yesterday on the exercise bike as its getting cold out (which doesnt help with movement!!) but i felt a little weak round my spine and around my hips so I started trawling the internet to see if there wer any supports that could help and I decided to purchase a couple of items for the house that would hopefully ease my problems.

I did this as I had been drilled by my specialist that posture was the reason for my problem and it had built up of time (6 years in a desk/car based job) and I couldnt asses if my posture was right or not without looking in the mirror or being shown?

I bought a posture correcting chair (which is ok but not made things massively easier however i think it will prevent further instances) and a back support which is amazing (a bit pricey but has really helped me) the link is here http://bit.ly/8XqIBn the strap is quite tight but keeps my posture right when on the bike and walking about it also helps supprt the muscles at the top of my hips.

I really wasnt keen on it at first but was pushed by a willing girlfriend to do everything I could so in for a penny and all that!! I can now do quite a bit more exercise than I did and it seems to have helped with the pain aswell. I hope this was useful, happy to share stretches that I do if anyone wants to message me. or if anyone has any really affective exercise for around the rib area I would love to know!

best and good health

 

[heidiblass]

Wow that is pricey at £61.99, I got mine from screwfix, and although I gove mine over 10 years ago, they're still only £13.29.

Myarka

 

[Paulius]

I do hope you have had a recent mri and they aren't operating off an old one as it sounds like you have ongoing problems that are changing your pain.

What operation are they going to do as all the questions you ask seem to revolve around after, and not a care about the actual form the operation will take? That affects the after more than anything else!