Degenerative disc disease

my partner has degenerative disc diesese,shes been passed from billy to jack in beumont,had a weekend stay and an mri in the mater who told her they dont interfere with beuomont patients,been in and out of a&e like a yoyo all to be told we have loads of brain tumours ahead of you.everytime we ring the team they say theyll ring back they never do,ive made a complaint,two weeks later i get a call saying they will look inti it,two weeks later now still havent heard back.shes on oxycontin,lyrica and diazepam/valium which initially gave her relief but they dont now,similar to the tylex and bymadol,relief for a while till immunity kicks in:(

Booked a chiropractor for tuesday hes quite confident he can ease her pain but im i bit iffy in case he makes it worse,someone mentioned decompression,where can u get this done in dublin

Hi all, I have just noticed this thread recently, I thought I was the only one who was in this pain/discomfort it's nice to know (if you know what I mean) that I am not alone.

I have been suffering with my back for the last few years, I never actually knew the cause or the syptoms etc.. until my girlfriend had pushed me to demand an MRI scan which I had done in June 2011. I have been diagnosed with having the following ;

'Low back pain with sciatica. There is a broad protrusion at L4-5. There are large facet joints and ligamentum flavum hypertrophy at the same level resulting in some central canal narrowing and bilateral lateral recess narrowing.'

I have been suffering with headaches and extreme uncomfortableness since the MRI scan, my life today consists of headaches, aches, stiffness and general discomfort, I can go outside for about 30mins a day before I have to come back home and lie down, I can not play with my son in the park or lift my baby daughter, I take reliflex and panadol etc.. but I don't see any difference??

I was put on a public waiting list (medical card holder) to have a consultation with David O'Brien Consultant Neurosurgeon in beaumont hospital, the appointment was made in July 2011 by my GP, the date I got was September 2012! over a year wait. I decided I could not wait and went to make appointment as a private patient, I got seen to the same week (July 2011). I was worried that the neurosurgeon would just tell me to 'take painkillers NEXT!' but he actually was quite understanding and he listened and took notes for my entire appointment ( lasted 1 hour) during which he showed me my MRI scan and explained my options, either surgery to correct problem or injections which might ease the pain. I decided to take the injections while I wait on surgery, the neurosurgeon made an appointment for my injections to be done in beaumont hospital, I had them done last week and I can say it has not helped in any way, actually I feel worse

I recently moved counties and changed GP, I made a visit to my GP who has a nice bedside manner but I found I was not been taken seriously, his words were 'keep active and maybe that will take your mind of things..'


I would like to apply for diability allowance (even on temp basis) as I would not be able to work in my present state! I just find t hard to be taken serious and not another 'back pain/disability allowance case' .

So as I write this post I am in discomfort and would like any info from persons who have had the injections with no effect and have gone through the process of surgery, what are the side affects? recovery time? also should I apply for disability allowance?

Thanks for reading my story

bni

Thanks for taking the time to reply Danny, guess I am kinda glad about the DA situation as I don't want to be on it at expense of others.

At the moment the pain is a mixture of nerve as well as numbing pain along the bottom of my back area (just above my butt) I also suffer from headaches mostly on the right side of my head.

I will probably have to go for a second consultation with neurosurgeon but to be honest I would take surgery tomorrow if I thought it would help me..

I have an interview tomorrow for a college place and I am kinda dreading it as I am thinking of the commute into city and sitting for too long in one place, I guess that's the life of a L4-L5 patient

My best advice is go to 3-4 consultants privately,""oh listen to moneybags" i hear ye say-unfortunatly not!,€600 to €800 for an absulute definitive answer + MRI instead of thousands on physio,accupucture and the likes...its better to bite the bullet and try to scrounge the cash together instead of public waiting times...take it from a guy who didnt take the above advice for years..!!
Reasearch your docs
Never be afraid of them,speak your mind and be extremley blunt(not rude)
Just my 2 cents...

mariah54 wrote: »

Danny666 I have thoracolumbar scoliosis and have attended orthopaedic consultant, pain management specialist and most recently rheumatologist. I have been in constant chronic pain for the last seven years and worked up to two years ago when I went to have a thorough investigation on my spine and ended up being diagnosed with avascular necrosis in hip bones which required an immediate decompression of hip bones to in order to save the hips and to prolong hip replacements due to my age. However, I have undergone intense physio, facet joint injections etc. and do a daily physio programme workout in the pool. I manage the pain but the real reason I wanted the investigation is because I was loosing strength in my legs and arms. The leg weakness would come on when walking and would begin with a severe burning pain in the lower right hand side of my back near top of the buttock and would radiate into the groin and lower ab area. This would force me having to get sitting down if out walking which I did a lot of and now I cannot even walk round the shops due to this. None of the professionals can give me an answer to the source of this pain and I am convinced that it is related to a muscle or a trapped nerve in the buttock. I refuse to give up as you say until I get a diagnosis so that my physio can treat what exactly is wrong and I can then manage myself. Can you please give me names of the people you recommend as I am about to go for second opinion from Mr. Poynton and being honest I am fed up spending money which I don't have and need to go to someone who is decent and honest and takes time to check a person out. Have the MRIs, x Rays etc. Would appreciate if you could contact me privately with names. Many thanks.

Hi Mariah, Where are you based?

I am an Neurokinetic Therapy practitioner and an Anatomy in Motion Practitioner with clinics based in Monaghan and Dublin. The way I have been trained to view the body is completely different to the traditional therapy mould. I view the body as a whole, assessing the effect of each and every joint and muscle. In my opinion, the person needs to be treated as a whole, each and every persons history is different, their injuries are all different which leads to different body adaptations and different compensations which will eventually come out as pain somewhere along the line.

For example, you say you have thoracolumbar scoliosis? has anyone showed you how your feet affect a thoracolumbar scoliosis? The feet are the only two things that connect us to the ground and they are responsible for driving the movement up the kinetic chain. If of example you over pronate on one foot, it my cause a hiked (raised) and rotated pelvis on one side, the spine follows the pelvis initially and then begins to counterbalance with lateral flexions and opposing rotations and voila, you have a scoliosis! Through movement based corrections aimed at integrating the foot with the entire kinetic chain it is entirely possible to eliminate a scoliosis!

Have a read about the techniques I employ if you'd like.

www.anatomyinmotion.co.uk

www.neurokinetictherapy.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Mc-Gettigan-Sports-Rehabilitation/195694187122442?ref=hl

I would never diss a specialist or a surgeon entirely as they go through years of extensive training to get to that point in their career but sometimes i see patients that have been to specialists and the specialists ignore valuable information because they only focus on the painful area, negating the influence of other areas of the body! Its a shame!

Can someone recommend a very good physiotherapist in or near Dublin 7? Many thanks.