dbassman
10-22-2007, 08:07 PM
I've had lower back pain for 27 of my 29 years as a C4/5 quad. The last 10 - 15 years or so it's gotten increasinly worse. I have good & bad days, but it's always somewhat there. I don't have a burning, but more of a dull pain. Sometimes feels like someone's pushing on my lower spine w/ a fat broom stick. But most of the time it's just a dull pain that I really can't describe, but as it gets worse. It's more of a throbbing pain. If I don't sit just right in my chair it starts out bad and gets unbearable. Laying in bed doesn't always help the problem either, as I have to be positioned straight while laying on my back and have my legs pulled slightly to ease the pain. When I turn on my sides, it's often difficult to get my legs and hips situated just right to be comfortable.
I had a Baclofen pump implanted approximately 9 years ago on a Dr.'s recomendation & wish I had researched it more. It took care of my spasms, but didn't help the pain, much. By getting rid of the spasms I'm more susceptable to pressure sores because my muscle tone has atraphied. I'd known about this side effect, I may have held off and tried to find a different solution.
Actually, my back pain has been much more of a handicap to me then my quadriplegia ever has! I no longer take my wheelchair in the grass or anywhere else that's even slightly bumpy as it causes me to shift in my seat, which in turn causes my back pain to increase exponentially. When I go down ramps, 99% of the time, I back down. So the downhill gravity doesn't slouch me down any. And when going anywhere in my van I always have to remind the driver to go easy the on the brakes and instead of trying to think of the shortest route, I always think of the least bumpy.
If I should get shifted out of shape in my chair, my back pain gets worse the longer I sit the worse it gets, and I don't get a chance to enjoy the activity I went to. If I have a couple people available, I can have them straightening me up in my chair, but that's about a 20 minute job and not a very easy one. I need someone who can lift me from behind under the arms and sit me back down gently while someone else pushes my knees back. This makes it hard to find lifting help at home, let alone while I'm out as I've been unable to find a lift that can lift me this way.
I haven't had any tests recently, but in the past have had CAT scans, MRIs, x-rays, etc. and according to the doctors never found anything wrong. A few doctors mentioned phantom pain, but I just can't buy that for the following reasons:
#1. If I'm not sitting in my chair or lying in bed just right, the pain gets worse.
#2. If someone bumps me in the back I get a shooting pain.
#3. When driving down a sidewalk and hitting a bump or small drop-off, I get a shooting pain in my back.
I would think ill it was phantom pain, the pain would be the same, not change if one of the above three things were to happen.
I took Darvocet for years, which helped take the edge off, but never eliminated it completely, but two years ago I switched to Narco, which seemed to help more, but it doesn't seem to be doing as much as it was when I first switched.
Does anybody else experience anything like this, and if so what have you done or what do you do to help it?
I had a Baclofen pump implanted approximately 9 years ago on a Dr.'s recomendation & wish I had researched it more. It took care of my spasms, but didn't help the pain, much. By getting rid of the spasms I'm more susceptable to pressure sores because my muscle tone has atraphied. I'd known about this side effect, I may have held off and tried to find a different solution.
Actually, my back pain has been much more of a handicap to me then my quadriplegia ever has! I no longer take my wheelchair in the grass or anywhere else that's even slightly bumpy as it causes me to shift in my seat, which in turn causes my back pain to increase exponentially. When I go down ramps, 99% of the time, I back down. So the downhill gravity doesn't slouch me down any. And when going anywhere in my van I always have to remind the driver to go easy the on the brakes and instead of trying to think of the shortest route, I always think of the least bumpy.
If I should get shifted out of shape in my chair, my back pain gets worse the longer I sit the worse it gets, and I don't get a chance to enjoy the activity I went to. If I have a couple people available, I can have them straightening me up in my chair, but that's about a 20 minute job and not a very easy one. I need someone who can lift me from behind under the arms and sit me back down gently while someone else pushes my knees back. This makes it hard to find lifting help at home, let alone while I'm out as I've been unable to find a lift that can lift me this way.
I haven't had any tests recently, but in the past have had CAT scans, MRIs, x-rays, etc. and according to the doctors never found anything wrong. A few doctors mentioned phantom pain, but I just can't buy that for the following reasons:
#1. If I'm not sitting in my chair or lying in bed just right, the pain gets worse.
#2. If someone bumps me in the back I get a shooting pain.
#3. When driving down a sidewalk and hitting a bump or small drop-off, I get a shooting pain in my back.
I would think ill it was phantom pain, the pain would be the same, not change if one of the above three things were to happen.
I took Darvocet for years, which helped take the edge off, but never eliminated it completely, but two years ago I switched to Narco, which seemed to help more, but it doesn't seem to be doing as much as it was when I first switched.
Does anybody else experience anything like this, and if so what have you done or what do you do to help it?