Back Problems

Towermonkey, Your pain seems to be rather acute. Bulging disks sound like a compression problem thus I wonder if you could experience sufficient relief through some from of back stretching exercise? Off and on, I've experienced sciatic nerve issues during periods of relative physical inactivity. It got so bad that I had my leg collapse under me while walking out of the office one day. Since then, I've discovered complete relief through riding a road bike. My forward posture on the bike stretches my back while peddling helps to balance out my back muscles thereby bringing my spinal column into alignment. I mount my road bike on a bike trainer. Not only does this keep back problems at bay, but it also improves my cardio vascular and physical fitness. It's a win win for me and it would be great if you found relief as easily as I have.

I'm telling you, PT saved me. So glad you found a good one. Good luck!

So far, so good. I've been having pretty sever pain, to the point where I didn't sleep for several days since I started, but now it seems to be letting up. I also found a dispensary that sells edibles that are actually crafted as medicine - they don't get you high but knock the pain level WAY down. I've been using those to sleep and it is making a world of difference. It is really hard to find MMJ that is actually intended as medicine. Too bad they are abusing this law as it really makes a difference to those who need it.

Best wishes to your back concerns towermonkey. Yes they can be troublesome and it always seems to take too long to get better, whether you end up just managing the pain or actually getting rid of it. Hopefully you actually get rid of it and don't have to keep going after it, unless of course you do something that causes it to go bad again.
I know many back problems, even in your situation may be eliminated, not just feeling better. Hopefully your PT will know these techniques and employ them on you, so you can actually be pain free without any kind of meds.

Hello TM

I hope the PT does well for you. I know I have spoken to you in the past. I didn't really mention much about the laser I have. If you go on my website, rockymountainlasertherapy.com there is a testimonial there about a man who had a mild to moderate disc buldge. He was having numbness and tingling into his leg as well as foot drop on the left side. He did not want to have surgery and opted to try laser therapy. This was down in Florida and I am pretty sure that his case study is on my website. If not I can get it to you. Anyway they had taken a pre-MRI and you can see the disc buldge, 15 laser treatments later all of his symptoms cleared up and on the post MRI there is no disc buldge. They have followed this patient post care for 18 months and no symptoms have returned and he is doing very well.
The disc is made of annular fibers and when they tear and weaken they stay torn so even if you can get the disc to suck back in via traction or other therapies the key is getting it to stay in. With weak annular fibers it won't. The anterior one third of the disc is vascular, meaning it gets some blood supply. The laser helps to stimulate cell growth thus healing the annular fibers and holding the nucleus of the disc in place. I hope this helps in your future decisions, and if you have further questions please do not hesitate to ask.

To Your Health
Dr Greg