Chronic back pain

Hello @joyce1109. Sorry to hear about dealing with so many different neck, spine and back pain. I am going to share a few discussions you may find helpful from the Spine Health Support Group where you'll meet members like @sandiw77, @jjsgrammy, and @jenniferhunter:

- Degenerative Disc Disease: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/degenerative-disc-disease/
- Stenosis/pain: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/stenosis-pain/
- Severe Scoliosis: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/severe-scoliosis-1/

@joyce1109, how are you currently trying to manage your pain? Has anything seemed to help?

I have the same progress of osteoporosis. I have had physical therapy in a pool, yoga, and walking. I also use patches to spots that always bug me. I found Tumeric capsules helpful for inflamation. I am 70yrs old and watch my diet.
Hope I have helped.

Joyce, I’m 71 and injured my back in 1972 and again in 1988 leading to a L4-S1 fusion in 1990. I now have your same symptoms n same places except no pelvic floor issues. As with the other writer I use Turmeric except I just found out it stops absorption of iron in the GI tract, hence I’ve been slightly anemic unable to donate blood. Anyway, I suggest getting a good PT exercise/ stretching program and stick with it. I’m able to walk 2 miles daily and stretch twice a day. I use buprenorphine patch for my chronic pain and cannabis for breakthrough pain. Hope this helps.

very very sorry about your difficulties.

In 2002, I was on an ATV that flipped over and fell on me, crushing me.

As if that was not enough...in 2015, walking in a parking lot and was run over by an SUV.

We were taking my elderly mother to lunch. When I woke up from blacking out, I saw my mother banging her cane of the car door of the person who ran me over!

Anyway, to the back injuries and pain....some possible ideas, from my own experiences.

Get the best mattress you can. Sleeping on a bad mattress only makes everything worse...and sometimes, much worse.

Consult with your doctor about what kind is best for you. I know a lot of people who have done very well with memory foam mattresses like Tempur Pedic. But get a top brand, not a cheap one. Straight from the factory they sometimes have a strong odor. I put mine in the garage during a hot summer...for a couple of months, until that smell was gone....before using it.

While memory foam worked well, for my own injuries, I found a simple pillow top mattress was best for me.

So, you know, consult with your doctor and figure that out.

Also, and a lot of folks don't know about this...specialized sleeping positions. Ask the doctor what kind of sleeping position is best for your injury. For example, I have to sleep with a pillow between my legs...to straighten out the spine and take pressure off. And there are more involved and advanced things. I do sleep with a special memory foam pillow (very important for neck injuries). And there are specialized positions, some from Hatha Yoga, that can dramatically reduce pain while you sleep.

In addition to whatever an orthopedist might do, you might want to look into some natural therapies.

Chiropractic can help. If you have neck injuries, cranio-sacral therapy is even better. Acupuncture tends to be very good for taking us out of pain. I get acupuncture with electric stim. It is the only thing that keeps my back out of pain. And I was in a lot of pain 24/7 for 2 years straight. Some of these natural therapies only hold for a time. But that is much better than nothing. Also, by taking away the pain from time to time, they tend to keep the injuries from getting worse. If I don't get acupuncture for a couple of months straight, I really feel the injury to start getting worse...

if you try a natural therapy for the neck, I would ask them if they know of specialized relaxation exercises for the neck. By that I mean, just laying down on a pillow, but a pillow of the proper height and give...and in the proper position for ideal neck rest. Resting in that kind of specialized position, might be a lot more helpful than just laying down the way we are used to laying down. You know, certain angles will align the spine in a certain way...etc. etc. etc.

Note: Both chiropractic and acupuncture have been recognized by the US NIH, as having proven medical benefits.

Some folks find magnetic therapy helps. It did for me. Definitely helped relax my muscle groups. Maybe a similar effect as a heating pad...something like that. For me, was better than a heating pad. But I did not just use some kind of tiny magnet. I used powerful ones. For those, you really might want to consult with a medical professional (and remember to keep all phones and computers away from those types of magnets).

I don't know all the details about magnets. I do know that the US NIH has recognized magnetic therapy as having proven medical benefits for diabetic neuropathy.

Next...daily stretching exercises. Have to get some kind of medical professional to get in there and give you some stretches that work for your injuries. I have to stretch about 2 hours daily! If I don't, I suffer far, far, far more...and some things, I simply can't do. So, I got my stretching exercises from my chiropractor. They come from Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga teachers know a lot, but they don't really have the very specific knowledge to guide you to asanas for your very specific injuries. A Yoga teacher in consultation with your doctor is fine. Many Yoga exercises for the back and for back injuries.

Note: Hatha Yoga has been recognized by the US NIH as having proven medical benefits.

With neck injuries have to be very very careful. Easy to strain an injured neck. And while one exercise may be great for your back, it could strain a sensitive neck. So, it can be more complex to develop the proper stretches for you.

Sometimes doing a range of things that help a bit...better mattress, some specific stretching work, some specific relaxation exercises for the neck and on...and some chiropractic or cranio-sacral work...combing all these different things, that each help a bit...and you are on your way to an experience with less pain and symptoms and sometimes with significantly less pain and symptoms.

For me? I would say that, cumulatively, the natural therapies I do reduce my pain and symptoms by 205 - 30%. But a few specific things, they eliminate completely. And, from my experience...some help is light years better than no help.

I think that is why some people don't believe in natural therapies. The therapy may reduce symptoms by 20% and they just don't want to deal with anything that is less than a 100% perfect cure. But with chronic back problems? Pretty much nothing is a perfect cure.