@patriciajennye @franknstein

I have had back problems most of my life. When I was younger, I pretty much ignored it. However, about 7 years ago, my trips to the chiropractor and for massage no longer worked to ease the pain. I had taken so much ibuprofen that I got ulcers from it. I can never take it again and at the time Tylenol wasn't helpful. I reached a point where about once every 3 months my back would "go out" and I had acute pain and used a wheelchair until it got better. I had an MRI an MRI 6 years ago and the doctor told me I had 4 herniated disks in my lower back. I refused to do anything about it in terms of surgery as I had heard horror stories from my brother about his back surgeries. I simply tolerated the pain and I started back into Yoga which had helped me for years. I also started seeing a chiropractor again when I was having acute problems. Massages were pretty regular to keep me going.

This most recent acute pain was MUCH worse than previous episodes. I decided to see my new doctor St. Jude's in Fullerton, CA. He referred me to the Spine clinic there, and they did an MRI and xrays. They explained to me that I have spinal stenosis, degenerative disk disease, herniated disks at L4, L5,, L3, L2, spondylolisthesis, amyloidosis, and a compound fracture at my C7. I was shocked to see how bad it was. My L5-S1 was impinging on my spinal cord, and my L4 was extremely out of alignment. We decided to take care of the L5-S1 first, with outpatient Laminectomy surgery to fix the impingement on my spinal cord. It was very successful and all the pain on my left side, hip thigh, knee, ankle and toes was/is gone. However, my L4 was still causing chronic pain on my right side, hip, thigh, knee, calf, ankle and foot. The surgeon said it would take major surgery with rods and pins to repair it, and he recommended I try everything before taking that step.

So, I tried acupuncture, physical therapy (2rounds), and pain medications, i.e., Tramadol 50mg 4x day, Gabapentin 900mg 3x day, Baclofen (I don't remember dosage or strength). It was about that time that I found Mayo Connect. I read on this site early on about a treatment called ART, Active Release Technique that some people found helpful. I decidedto research it, and found that the theory is that muscles and nerves get bound together after a trauma of some kind at some point in your life. This therapy uses very very deep muscle massage at the same time your body part is moved. It is focused on one spot at a time. I decided to find a practitioner in my area and try the ART. When I looked I discovered that some chiropractors used ART. I found the most qualified Dr. of Chiropractic in my area and saw him. He told me I needed 2 sessions a week for 3 weeks, and it would cost $95 a session. Medicare doesn't cover it. That's a lot of money for me, but I decided to try it anyway. After 3 weeks, I was nearly completely pain free, much to my delight. I continued to go every other week for a couple more months and was pain free. In the meantime I got off the Baclofen, and the Gabapentin. I continued the Tramadol until this December when I began withdrawing from it. I now only take 1/2 a Tramadol when I need it. I've been traveling a lot lately so that has me in some light pain. I go for a tweeking about once a month now. I see Dr. Andrews for my ART on Wednesday this week.

I cannot tell you how much this treatment of ART has helped me. I walk with no pain, even up stairs. The part of my body is causing pain right now is my neck an left shoulder from my C7 fracture. I get cervical radiculopathy in my left arm that is excruciating. I don't get it as often as I used to, and we are using ART to work on that right now. My chiropractor also uses laser treatment to heat my muscles before he works on my muscles and bones. It's working for me. I'm hoping to avoid surgery again for a long time. The surgeon I had was wonderful, so if you live in Orange County CA, and can't get into Mayo, I can provide his contact information. I too prefer Mayo, which I have been to 3 times in the past (once with my husband's heart attack), but my surgeon here is excellent.

Let me know how things go for you and if you decide to follow up on anything I have suggested here. As a Volunteer Mentor, I am not a medical professional; I am here to offer my real life experience and to support you in your decisions about what will work for you. I hope you find relief from your back pain.

Gail B
Volunteer Mentor