worried about nerve damage
 

hello,i am new to this site,i have suffered for many years with lower back pain.that has left me misery.and to get any kind of help these days seems like a full time job.i have a moderate degree of disc loss between my l5s1,i also have a large central to right disc protrusion that abuts and deforms the thecal sac.i also have a bulge of the annulus fibrosis causing bilateral neural femoral compromise.the herination is causing central canal stenosis.i had my mri 6 months ago,i had one consult with a surgeon,waiting for 1 more consult with another but i have to wait until august,i did not like the first one,i waited 2 hour for him and he was short and quick i had a list of question to ask,and he said his nurse can answer my questions?? is this the norm??i have been in bed for days on end,i cant take the pain anymore,i feel like something is moving on my right side,my back, butt, and leg are on fire,not to mention the weakness i am going through.and the pins and needles in my leg,most of my pain is on my right side,but know i am starting to feel pain on my left side.i wont be going to this surgeon anyway so i did not call his nurse.will i end up having nerve damage from this????i am not even sure what they will do as far as surgery goes.i am tired of pills,the pain and doctors.i just followed up with my pcp,and told him he needs to find someone to help me soon,i am about to lose it.my poor kids just dont know how to talk to me anymore,i am miserable.i dont understand why things take so long.:confused:

Welcome dismissed,
sorry you are in so much pain, I have been in your situation many times . I should say for many years.
Can you be sent to a pain management doctor while waiting for your back to get evaluated by another surgeon? I did and it made a world of difference.
I agree and would never go back to that surgeon. That is not the way it is. Well with the doctors we reject. I have a wonderful spine surgeon who would explain things to me and find out about other aspects of my health and life in general.
I don't know what it takes to have permanent nerve damage. As far as the spine symptoms are. I know lots of people have sciatica and have surgery and it is gone.
What i have done recently for my lumbar spine pain is to have a set of lumbar injections by my surgeon. I just did 2 weeks ago and they took care of the weakness i felt in my legs, one foot that always got numb, and some pain on my left side. Unfortunately they did not help my right side!!
Others will come on with more knowledge than me, but i just wanted to try and say hi and welcome you
judy

nerve damage
 

hi judy,thanks for the welcome.its funny it takes a couple of months to get into pain managment too.everything seems like a process these days. the weakness bothers me the most.i hate being bed ridden for days on end.anyway i hope you have a great day.takecare

Hi dismissed and welcome,

I'm sorry you're getting the runaround from you doctor and health care. Please tell us where you live and what your insurance circumstances are so we can better make recommendations.

What you experienced with your doctor is not unique. If he was recommended by your insurance co., tell them what happened. If he was a referral from your gp, same advise.

As for your nerve damage - there is no way to foretell the permanence of nerve damage but the longer it exists may impact both the time it takes to 'heal' and/or that it will not get better. Even masking the pain with various strong pain killers will not diminish the damage.

As it appears you need to wait to visit any doctor, including pain management, I would suggest ice to keep swelling down. I've been told 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off but honestly, I will stay on ice for much longer. Heat can be beneficial to those muscles in protective mode but if it makes the pain worse, stay away from it.

I'm sorry you find yourself in this game. It's ruthless and apparently we don't count. I wish you better care,

Dale

welcome
 

Seems like a strange thing to do welcoming someone to a world of hurt however it's good that you found the forum and hopefully will not feel dismissed here!

Yes, that has happened to me as well in the near 30 years w/back probs. I guess I'm sort of immune to it now. Sometimes someone can still get me upset with how dismissive or abrupt their attitude is or cavalier..

Is nerve damage going to be permanent? Good question. Don't know how many times I wondered the same thing myself. Most diagnostic testing seemed to indicate not in my case and my symptoms ran hot and cold on and off over the years and have been more off than on in quite some time (good thing).

Find another surgeon, get some more opinions, don't let someone's abruptness,dismissiveness, rudeness or whatever stop you from getting a good diagnosis and good treatment.

Keep plugging away tho it's frustrating, tiresome and depressing. Fortunately these days there seems to be far better diagnostics and treatment options so keep your hopes up and keep pursuing answers~ from the doctor!