Upper Back Pain And Numbness need advice

She has a pinched nerve, probably caused my a bulging or herniated disk. Ice packs work better on this type of pain.. She needs some anti-inflammatories and needs to get an mri asap.

Thanks tamadrummer!

Had spinal fusion surgery back in 1997 and know how to get through just about any type of painful flare up. :roll:

i still have pain from another bulging disc, but I go to pain management now (2 years). My doctor is awesome and so are the people there.

I take 45 mg of ms contin a day, receive botox injections for my thoriac area muscle spasms every 3 months and a series of (3) cervical epidurals once a year. Doing much better these days. :d

Tamadrummer,

i was on the duragesic (fentanyl) patch for most of the first year of going to the pain clinic. After awhile I started getting really tired during the 3rd day of the patch and yawned all the time. Then I developed restless leg syndrome too. It felt like I always wanted to kick something. Very annoying.

My doctor started having me change it every 2 days instead of 3 but then it was speeding me up and and i'd wake up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. :roll:

he switched me to kadian (time released morphine) but my insurance charged me $40.00 for a months supply. What I take now is only $10.00 / month and it works good. He also gives me some lortabs for breakthrough pain, but I usually crack them in half.

From one chronic pain suffering musician to another, I am like a new person too. I can stand up and play through a whole practice now and have been for months. I used to have to sit down all the time and would be suffering through gigs. I play bass and use the slider strap that goes over both shoulders to help distribute the weight of my heavier basses. :d

those things also have saved my life. :d

Actually, I have to disagree but a chiropractor is not a good idea until she has an mri. I had a ruptured cervical disc that caused terrible pain on the inside of my shoulder blade. The doctor was quite laid back about it and it took a bit to get an mri. When they got the results he sent me to a nuero surgeon and they scheduled surgery as soon as possible. The disc was pressing on my spinal cord badly enough that it could have caused serious permanent damage. If I had gone to a chiroprator they would have likely caused more damage. I would let your doctor advise you what to do.

I respect other people's opinions but my injury had nothing to do with an accident. I was digging through my pocketbook looking for my keys when I got a sudden terrible pain and it stayed like that until I had surgery. Had I gone to a chiro. Or a massage therapist they could have definately caused more damage. My disc was pressing into my spinal cord and I had problems moving my arms. A friend of mine went to her doctor with severe headaches and back pain. Her quack doctor sent her to a chiro. Without doing any tests to see what was wrong. Every visit caused her more pain. She was rushed to the hospital one night in agony and they finally did some tests. She had an anyurism that was about to burst. How can someone treat something without knowing what they are treating? She could have died.

Back in 1987 I watched my dad die of cancer. The night before he went into a coma, he was in agony. They gave him a 5 mg valium and told us that they did not want to give him any thing for pain, as they did not want to get him addicted. He had hours to live and they did not want to addict him. What a freaking joke
opiates have been around for thousands of years and they have given back meaningful lives to people who live in chronic pain. Yes they will become phsycally addictive. But if taken as directed by the doctor, they are completely save. You can kill your liver by taking 3600mlgs of motrin or tylonel or any over the counter drug. Opiates are very easy on your liver .
Its time that our country, our govt and the dea lays off the drs who want to help the chronic pain sufferers and go after the street dealers . Thats why they are going after the legit drs now, they cant win the drug war on the streets, so they have to prove up their need somehow.
There is absolutely no reason a person with end stage cancer should suffer or a chronic pain patient should suffer because of ignorance on the drs part. Or fear on the doctors part that if they prescribe narcotics to a chronic pain sufferer , the dea will bust down their door and haul them off the jail.
The dea, the pharmicists need to stop playing drug police and let the doctors do their job and treat the chronic pain sufferers as needed.
There is just some pain that cant be managed without drugs, its plain and simple. And I would not go with in 100 miles of a chiro, or a do. They have limited skills and do more harm than good.
Now im sure that my post will cause a riff, but that is my 2 cents worth. And the last time I looked, its still a free country to make my opinion. That is , it is free unless bush has his way and takes the rest of our freedoms away.