Hate to put this in CC but I'm in debilitating pain and need a good dr. to look at my lower back ASAP, don't want to just go to the emergency room...any useful information would be extremely appreciated

thanks in advance y'all

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 12:25 PM. Reason : i.e. would prefer to go straight to specialist rather than ER]

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 12:27 PM. Reason : went to chiro yesterday - pain worse this morning than ever before. need 2nd opinion]

1/25/2012 12:24:17 PM

i have no recommendations, but wish you luck nonetheless sir

1/25/2012 12:39:00 PM

don't got to a chiro. Ever.

1/25/2012 12:48:03 PM

also, when my back was fucking me up, they gave me some muscle relaxer that seemed to help a bit - skelaxin, maybe?

1/25/2012 12:49:20 PM

yeah I have some of that but it's not a muscular problem, it's a joint or disc problem with my first vertebra

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 12:51 PM. Reason : thanks though any help is good help]

1/25/2012 12:51:10 PM

Dr. Kevin Kahn 919.942.4424 Chapel Hill, Dr. Collins at Duke, or anyone at Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic

If you can come to Greensboro, I recommend Dr. Vincent Paul, Dr. Cohen, Dr. Dumonski, or Dr. Tooke. They really are fantastic.

^^Skelaxin or Flexoril is pretty common in back injuries, also Mobic.

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 12:54 PM. Reason : ]

1/25/2012 12:52:54 PM

Quote :

" don't got to a chiro. Ever"

1/25/2012 12:56:37 PM

Yeah, the ER isn't a good choice either. You'll be diagnosed with a lumbar strain and told to come back in 4-5 days if it still hurts. Then they'll do an MRI and realize you have three herniated discs before referring you to an orthopaedic specialist or neurosurgeon three weeks later.

1/25/2012 12:59:54 PM

due to my schedule I need something close by in Raleigh, and unfortunately Raleigh Neurosurgical isn't covered under my insurance :/

thank you though, if it comes to it I will check out Dr. Kahn or Dr. Collins


edit: Is that what I need? orthopaedic or nuerosurgical? I've never really been to doctors so I don't know what I'm doing

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 1:02 PM. Reason : asdf]

1/25/2012 1:00:52 PM

It depends on what your problem is. An ortho will be able to do 99% of your back problems, the neurosurgical can do the other 1%, and they are more neck and back. If it's lower to mid back, definitely an ortho. If it's upper back to neck, I would do neuro. Either one will be able to treat you, it's just a matter of what they do more of.

Any radiating pain/numbness/tingling?

1/25/2012 1:03:47 PM

Quote :

"don't got to a chiro. Ever"

1/25/2012 1:07:36 PM

no it's a severe grinding pain in my lower back but it's pretty localized...I don't get shooting nerve pain, tingling or anything like that. Certainly no numbness...

It's a constant, powerful dull ache coupled with blinding pain when I try to move or put any weight/strain on my lumbar region. Can't sit, can barely stand, and when I lay down it's damn near impossible to get up. Took me almost 2 hours of slowly working myself out of bed to get up this morning

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 1:08 PM. Reason : any opinion on Raleigh Orthopaedic clinic?]

1/25/2012 1:08:00 PM

Yeah, that would definitely be an orthopaedic then. Good luck! And wherever you go, make sure they don't just diagnose you with lumbar strain and leave it at that. Request an MRI if they don't mention it.

I've heard good things about Raleigh Orthopaedic, but have no personal experience there.

Dr. Reinke at Cary Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine is quite good too.

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 1:10 PM. Reason : ]

1/25/2012 1:09:21 PM

Quote :

"don't got to a chiro. Ever."

1/25/2012 1:11:32 PM

cool. I really appreciate all the advice, thank you

1/25/2012 1:11:58 PM

Apparently Raleigh Ortho is the official provider of the wolfpack, so you can't go wrong there!

1/25/2012 1:12:21 PM

1/25/2012 1:20:13 PM

idk if your insurance works this way, but many of them will require you to see a GP first to get a referral before you can get an appointment with a specialist. hopefully this isn't your case, but just wanted to put that out there as a head's up.

1/25/2012 1:32:54 PM

yeah, was about to mention ^

1/25/2012 1:33:52 PM

You can also try going to a Sports Med doc if you can find one that will squeeze you in today. I locked my hip this past summer (literally, the hip wouldn't do what it was supposed to) and my Sports Med doc was INCREDIBLE. She gave me the right medication, the right advice, and then sent me to a top notch PT. I couldn't have asked for better. Unfortunately, all of my care was through UNC's Sports Med program at the school or else I'd recommend my doc. Hope you feel better soon!

1/25/2012 1:49:48 PM

1/25/2012 1:51:27 PM

and if you do have to get a referral first & can't get in with your regular doc today, a trip to urgent care (not the ER) will usually do the trick too

1/25/2012 1:52:37 PM

I used Dr Osborne in Rolesville when I had a lower back issue before.
http://www.osbornechiropractic.com/About_Dr_Matt_Osborne.htm

Went from barely able to walk and taking 15 minutes to get in/out of the car to getting back to work in just weeks. Within a couple months he had me running and in the gym again, which was our defined goal as fully recovered.

1/25/2012 7:50:44 PM

ibtblackdog

1/25/2012 7:52:44 PM

I'm actually quite the expert here...unfortunately

I've had a lumbar discectomy and laminectomy on L5-S1 in 2010 and followed that up with an anterior interbody lumbar fusion on L5-S1 last June...all for a severely herniated disc.

Triangle Orthopedics did both procedures and I highly recommend them. I went to the one in Durham.

1/25/2012 7:58:08 PM

1/25/2012 8:00:14 PM

I think hmo insurance requires a referral. I hope you get better fast. Back pain is a mother fucker.

1/25/2012 8:04:12 PM

Seeing a specialist may take forever.

I had my injury late November. I didn't get an Ortho appointment til Jan 6.

They try to move you up though.

1/25/2012 9:19:02 PM

Quote :

"Dr. Reinke at Cary Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine is quite good too."

I have to second Dr. Reinke. I saw him when I broke the navicular bone in my ankle. I didn't have a great deal of difficulty getting an appointment, but I did go to an urgent care first for an X-ray and the recommendation that I be seen in the next 24-48 hours. I had to talk to the Garner and the Cary offices to find a doctor with availability, but they did get me in the same day that I called.

1/25/2012 9:35:12 PM

reinke works at the regular cary ortho, they have a spine center right beside it.

they do work in's, usually in the afternoon i think. (919) 297-0000.

edit: I went to Dr Smoot. Real nice guy, and he helped, but I think he went a little too soft to begin, or maybe I didn't put a high enough number on the "rate my pain" meter

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 9:43 PM. Reason : ~]

1/25/2012 9:38:43 PM

Did you ever get your back issues resolved?

2/11/2012 10:03:48 PM

many people w back problems on tww lol

2/11/2012 10:07:46 PM

^^went to Raleigh orthopedic and saw the PA there...basically told me what I knew but showed me on an xray where there was some fibrous tissue (or something like that) that may indicate the infancy of a bulging disc. But said that other than a PT referral and some good NSAIDs my only options were steroids or surgery. So been taking the 800mg ibuprofen like clockwork, taking it easy and doing exercises. Back seems to be pretty solid on a daily basis now, only flares up occasionally and even then it's manageable. I did just swap a keg at work for the first time since all this started, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow morning

Appreciate all the info and well wishes folks, good to know there's some support out there

2/11/2012 10:18:44 PM

feel better, dave. miss you!!

2/11/2012 10:25:41 PM

It is a ticking time bomb( re: herniated disc). You could even sneeze awkwardly and get one.

And if you are def. more active than the avg. then, it will come sooner than later.

Don't let it prevent it from doing what you love, though. You just have to be careful.

2/11/2012 10:28:53 PM

Dude...still recovering from my L4-L5 spinal fusion two months ago. Going well so far...but enough about me.

If I had known about "The McKenzie Method" when I first injured my back in 1997, I know I would have have had two surgeries (one in 1999 on my L4-L5 disc and the second in December).

Just look at the stuff on his site, considering learning about the ways to stretch and strengthen your "core" muscles.

Also, keep in mind that an Orthopedic surgeon's only perspective is to "cut the pain out."

Now, don't get me wrong, I needed the surgery in December. I had tried traction, epidurals, chiropractic care, inversion therapy, stretching...EVERYTHING...and it didn't help; my disc was too far gone.

But Ortho's don't consider chiropractors "doctors" (even though they are), and chiropractors don't consider ortho's helpful to you.

There IS a balance you have to find. You can't take one Ortho's assessment as "truth," just as you can't take a chiro's.

If you are getting results saying you MAY be getting a herniated disc, try looking at Dr. McKenzie's information, or go to a good chiropractor.

My wife just went to one this past week for some tingling in her fingers she's been having since a car accident in November. My surgery has trumped anything we needed to do for her, and she's finally gone to see one. The guy is quality, and you know that because before he even adjusted her, he did a whole range-of-motion assessment, took X-rays, and evaluated her posture, gait, etc. It wasn't until after her second appointment that he adjusted her and went through what she should be doing (on her own) to help herself, and what he can do to help.

http://www.mckenziemdt.org/

2/11/2012 10:38:23 PM

2/11/2012 10:42:41 PM

I too have heard of McKenzie.

Do you understand why it works? And these excecises are only to minimize pain so that you can go on doing your daily routines right, and not become bedridden?

Or those the mcKenzie method actually help reabsorb disc material? I know once you herniate it doesn't magically go back in, so to speak. But I have heard of some reabsorption which your body does naturally.

I am asking this because everyone who has had back problems talks about it like she/he is a god.

2/11/2012 10:44:22 PM