Instant Pain/instant Cause? Or Gradual Cause? Posted: 09-07-07 10:34am
Things "were slow" 2 years ago at work
& my longtime employer gave me the
option of heavy freight hauling &
lifting to keep working while waiting to
get back into my electronics job. I was
ok for a while but at age 52 I was
delivering very heavy boxes in a confined
space in a time constraint, in an awkward
deep twisting bend. My back INSTANTLY was
struck by an excruciating, sharp, intense
pain during lifting & putting down a
load. I could barely move after that and
missed the next workweek; then painfully
worked with elastic supports, ice &
aspirin. Got my old job back 9 months
later. At time of injury, workers comp
exam included xray & a diagnosis of
"sprain/strain", at which time I was told
it would heal and would not last. At
times the pain subsided some, while eating
high doses of aspirin, and I truly tried
to have faith that time would heal me.
After ending my late-life occupation as a
laborer, I suffered another 6 months
waiting for healing and concluded that
ending my heavy lifting job wasn't
helping, despite what I was told about the
short duration of a "strain". I then
tried chiropractic treatment and employer
denied comp coverage , saying the problem
couldn't last that long. Not much relief.
Finally 1 year & 8 months out, I saw
an ortho specialist who prescribed an MRI.
It showed a bulging disc at exactly where
the pain instantly started and never left
(right side between L4/5 with
encroachment, with a smaller similar bulge
next L up & next L down. This injury
became painful instantly and permanently
upon performing heavy lifting and has
stayed in exactly the same place. Could
it legitimately be attributed to a
degenerative process unrelated to the work
injury, or could the work injury cause
this to happen in one movement? Could the
condition have pre-existed without
symptoms, then become painful instantly
& forever by a motion? Could the
initial diagnostic tests have been
inadequate in using xray only? I
currently have constant pain, my upper
body strength is good, any bending is
really bad. Can bulging discs happen as a
reult of injury instead of degeneration,
or would an injury make old buging discs
go from painless to painful immediately;
if so how? Is my situation influenced by
workers comp money/politics?
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rollar64
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Nov 2006 Posts: 143 Location: melbourne
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Reply Posted: 09-11-07 06:33am
Hi reverb sorry to hear of your troubles,
gee there are a lot of questions in your
post, i will try to give you my opinion on
some of them. Regarding whether you had a
preexisting injury there is no way to
tell, but i would think that beginning a
heavy labouring job ( i don't think i
could envision a job more likely to induce
a back injury than the type of job you
describe) at your age would be enough to
cause your injury even if you were in
perfect health.
I would think that if you had a
preexisting injury, you would have felt at
least some small amount of pain in the way
of stiffness, and some sort of discomfort.
You don't mention this.
A standard xray is not much use when it
comes to diagnosing a back condition or
injury. I think your diagnosis of a
sprain/strain was not much better than a
guess.
It is possible that disks can rupture
sometimes as a result of a slow
degenerative process. Sometimes people
have a number of ruptured disks, without
even being able to recall a traumatic
event, but they would usually have history
of back trouble.
You asked "Can bulging discs happen as a
result of injury instead of degeneration,
or would an injury make old bulging discs
go from painless to painful immediately;
if so how "?
To the first and second questions, yes to
both. Disks are made up of a tough outer
rubber like layer and have a center that
has the consistency of jelly if the disks
are subject to to much force they can
either bulge or rupture with the jelly
spurting outside the torn outer layer,
either a bulge or the jelly can interfere
with the nerves, or the lack of abnormal
disk can cause mechanical problems in the
spine.
As for workers comp, money/politics, don't
get me started.
Good luck with your injury.
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revb
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 2 Location: RIMA
Thanks 4 Reply Posted: 09-11-07 20:23pm
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. To
elaborate, no, I did not have any
discomfort before the instantaneous
painful injury. While I won't get into
the legal aspects, it seems to me that the
"strain" diagnosis was designed to see no
evil and served in fact to divert my
attention from further, faster diagnosis
and treatment. Since I'm not a medical
professional, I didn't know that xrays
can't find a lot of important back
injuries, but those examining me should
have known this. It certainly was a
traumatic event. If you, or anyone, ever
read(s) this: what would you do to treat a
bulging disk? I know of one person who
had some type of surgery, then resorted to
fusion and permanently reduced activity...
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rollar64
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Nov 2006 Posts: 143 Location: melbourne
Thanks: 2
Thanked:0
Posted: 09-13-07 08:26am
Hello Revb, i think you are right about
the strain diagnosis being a way to pull
the wool over your eyes at least partly.
It seems when there is no simple and
effective treatment for a condition such
as a bulging, or ruptured disks, doctors
sometimes downplay, deny, or simply fail
to investigate properly the true status of
an injury.
As far as treating a bulging disk surgery
is usually a last resort, only to be
considered after other conservative
treatments have failed. If what i have
read on the subject is correct, sometimes
it is possible for a bulging disk, or even
a ruptured disk, to heal itself after a
period of time.
Maybe you should start by seeing a
qualified medical professional, who knows
they might actually be of some help, (fat
chance) ,seriously you
probably should. I would suggest trying to
remain fairly active, and avoid any
activity that aggravates your injury if
possible. Gentle swimming, breaststroke i
think is ideal, stretching, and trying to
maintain your joints full range of motion,
(hips, knees, ankles, back, and
shoulders,) would also be helpful, walking
frequently is probably essential, try to
avoid sitting for long periods, i don't
know how hamstrung you are but you should
try to keep as active as you can, as you
probably know there is not a lot of hard
science in this area so i would also be
cautious, you also said one of your disks
is ruptured, in that case i would be even
more cautious.
Once again all the best revb, if you have
any more questions i would be happy to try
to help. As far as dealing with the
medical profession i will quote Reagan,
"trust but verify", one of the few smart,
and funny things he said. Doctors have a
tough job they are not all bad but they
often just don't have the tools to help
particularly when it comes to back
injuries.
,seriously you
probably should. I would suggest trying to
remain fairly active, and avoid any
activity that aggravates your injury if
possible. Gentle swimming, breaststroke i
think is ideal, stretching, and trying to
maintain your joints full range of motion,
(hips, knees, ankles, back, and
shoulders,) would also be helpful, walking
frequently is probably essential, try to
avoid sitting for long periods, i don't
know how hamstrung you are but you should
try to keep as active as you can, as you
probably know there is not a lot of hard
science in this area so i would also be
cautious, you also said one of your disks
is ruptured, in that case i would be even
more cautious.
