Lower back under control.. what about upper/neck?

So for the past few months, the lower back and legs have been getting gradually better, the flexibility work is never done.. but I think the challenge of trying to get more flexible had some good benefits. I do think driving is one of the triggers for making things worse.. I always feel that if I have 2 or 3 day break from driving, that this helps. This last week I have been on a course at a hotel and didn't need to drive.. had a swim and so on.

However, despite all of this great progress.. I have started to get upper back, neck pains. If I tilt my head backwards.. I feel a pain in my shoulder blades area.. Now I am not sure if this is something that is muscular or nerve pain? (or is that the same thing anyway). Actually worse in the mornings (as the sciatica always was).. and it's as if I have been sleeping on a particularly hard bed or something. Not that I have, bed is the same one for a few years now. (the only time that happened when I had a silly hard bed, was when I was stuck in a Japanese hotel for 2 months and the bed was like something from a dolls house)

The only other thing I have been doing is playing a on the childrens Nintendo Wii.. the boxing is fun and a good arm workout.. and wrestling with my teenager who wants to play at being some kind of WWE character.. I am still wining that contest at the moment, but give it a few years.

I really don't want to go back to the medical people.. but I am starting to get the feeling that all these aches and pains is really just life catching up on me!!..

Thank you for your feedback

When I first started writing this blog, I did it as much to keep a personal diary, so I could track the progress.. a piece of paper I would lose.. but unless google goes out of business, the blog would always remain. This part seems to work. It's also a place to have a bit of moan or reflection on what is happening.

I hadn't really expected to get any feedback as I didn't know how people would either find the blog or respond to it.

The blog actually gets a lot of page views (for a very specific little blog).. approx 1000 page views in the last two months alone..

Additionally, some people are willing to go further and add their experiences and advice to this. All of this leaves me with a very positive experience when it comes to blogging.

Thank you for reading, and many thanks for any comments. Please contribute as you can.

Challenge completed

So my Christmas challenge was to be able to touch my toes.. and after plenty of stretching, plenty of warm ups, I finally did it. Really hard work and it's not something I can easily do yet and have to work upto it gradually. However it feels worth it.

Only negative feeling is actually now an ache at the top of my spine.. not sure how this has happened.. but feels sore even after a good nights sleep.. :(

Trouble in 3's

A few technical difficulties this week, first my wife's car started leaking coolant - £200 later and the water pump was replaced. Then the kitchen door locking system jammed, so we couldn't lock the door - callout needed for a locksmith, and then yesterday the internet router seemed to give up the ghost. I was almost at the point of buying another one (and I couldn't check for solutions online as no connection).. when I remembered I had changed the channel on our wireless video link from downstairs to upstairs. Switched that off, reset the router, and after punching in all of the passwords (that I had lost), we had internet again.

Since I am off work, I have been able to do some stretching during morning, afternoon and evening. After some warm up, I am now able to just touch my toes - which feels an incredible achievement. However, what is better from all of this, is that I feel a little more flexible - just a different feeling when I am bending to pick things up - or to put clothes on - a stronger feeling in my back. So maybe in doing this challenge..I have been gradually building up the muscle strength and flexibility - I had thought it was my hamstrings as the biggest issue..and they are still tight tight tight... so I constantly have to think about that.

However I must say that setting some form of challenge, or affirmation - however small it is, does make a big help in achieving things. I have done this in the past.. and perhaps I need to do this more with some of my other personal life problems.

Only a few days to go

I have continued the stretching, but as usual other things get in the way.

I was watching a professional football match over the weekend, and we were sitting close behind one of the goals. We therefore had a good view of the goalkeeper. He was about 1.9metres - with just incredible flexibility - all the time he was stretching during the game to keep warm and muscles ready for action. He touched his toes in a flash - like a piece of rubber bending.. then would stretch up and touch the cross bar of the goal. This player was in his twenties, but there are some premier league goalkeepers who are still playing in their late 30's... so I guess they have similar flexibility - otherwise they couldn't do their job.

The referees were certainly less flexible, just watching the warm up was quite funny. However I shouldn't laugh because I would be even worse.

My wife challenged me to touch my toes last night - I was almost there after two or three attempts, but then my stomach muscle went into a spasm / cramp which was very painful and stopped the exercise. Of course she can touch her toes without problem. So in our household, the girls are winning over the boys.

Pac Man

I added Pac Man for a few days, it was the game I grew up with.. so one of my favourites. However I am sure the noise will get to me after a few days.

I hadn't realised how man great gadgets could be added to a blog.

Progress on the toes challenge

So after setting my target, I have roughly 2 weeks to go to make it.

I had a business trip on Monday, which meant an overnight stay - so I spent quite some time watching the tv in the hotel bedroom - whilst trying to stretch my hamstrings and back muscles. It does take some time to get the muscles warmed up, but I was gradually making progress. However one set of muscles I hadn't thought about was stomach, as I gradually got further bent over.. it was my stomach muscles that started to cramp and become painful. Maybe this is further progress.

However in the morning, I still feel pretty stiff and the prospect of touching my toes seems far away, roughly 6inches of reach is missing on a cold start. But gradually during the week, my muscles start to feel a bit looser.. and I try as much as I can to stretch the hamstring muscles before I go to bed.. however I am concerned that 2 weeks won't be enough unless I try a bit harder.

A Target for Christmas..

Last few weeks at work have been long and hard, and with the dark nights and cold weekends - I haven't got out much and have munched through a load of comfort food.. chocolate, crisps.. the usual stuff. Now I won't be doing some form of diet or exercise programme, but at least I will try and do a stretching target..

so it's a simple target, touch my toes by christmas day.. I think that might be possible.. I am still a few inches shy of doing that.

so started this last night.. let's see how it goes.

One year

I was talking to my wife last night and she pointed out it was probably around November last year when the pain was really making my life difficult. Quality of life wasn't great, and there was a week when both of us were almost useless since she had hurt her neck and it had gone into some form of muscle spasm..

At the time I was of the opinion it would "go away" on it's own and that medical treatment was not necessary..

I see people go to doctors with the most small problem.. or with problems they had a week ago (a pain) and now the symptoms gone.. I can't believe how long it took for me to realise I needed help and to start sorting the problem out. I am also amazed that the first treatment that was offered to me was a pill - rather than thinking about what I could do myself.

With all of the technology I am still somewhat perplexed on the medical profession with this type of problem, what answers and solutions they are offering.

I still have bits of pain, but it's not chronic and acute.. it's more of an ache, which is manageable. I can do pretty much all of the things I need to do.

Getting Better Each Day

The pain is gradually becoming a distant memory - though it appears from time to time and now has more of a feeling of back ache, rather than the really severe and chronic pain that I had before.

Last week I managed a 7 hour drive to Belgium and a 7 hour drive back - with a lot of work in the house and garden - without any issues.

Still can't quite touch my toes yet, and I don't have enough dedication to do the exercises each day - but I do stretch the muscles as much as I can when sitting down.

Status since MRI

So I visited the hospital to get the diagnosis after the MRI scan. It's a bit inconculsive. Basically they say they can see a small problem with one of the discs - slightly bulging - but not enough of a problem to take any action, so I just need to manage the problem (unless it gets worse).

They then said I need to keep all of the MRI images as they have no place to store them.

So since then, what have I been doing. Obviously I have tried to be as active as possible, and my back pain hasn't got any worse.. it's still there a bit in the background. However as long as I can continue to make the situation stable, I feel OK with that.

I had a big breakthrough last week when I was able to touch my toes. I thought this was an incredible result considering where I had started from. However my work colleague said he could go past his toes by 20cm !! not sure if I believed him. He is a tri-athelete so probably it is true.

Anyway - I am convinced that the muscle problem is also a major part to this story and that a could physio program is helping.

Enjoying Holiday

Spending a few days in Finland - and despite plenty of time sitting around on planes,trains and automobiles.. the back and leg held up OK.. but as always, the situations mean you forget about stretching etc.

Watching some professional players of baseball warm up the other night, and was amazed at the amount of leg stretching they did before starting, using some rubber bands to pull against. Then seeing all of my older relatives being still able to easily touch their toes.. a bit frustrating I still can't do it. Progress is just above the ankles.

Today I was encouraged to try at climbing wall, and not just a vertical one - it had an overhang. Being above 80kg and not doing any work on my strength I thought this would last a matter of seconds. I was surprised how far I managed and how far up I got. Again incredible that I was able to move my legs and body to do this - when less than 6months ago I wasn't walking.

Next week is the MRI result.

MRI

Still waiting for the MRI results, but at least now an appointment.. mid of august !..

so more than one month between MRI test and results..

considering the data is created immediately, can't believe the waiting time.

10 days since MRI - no results yet

Having the MRI scan offered some hope that we would get to the bottom of what has been causing my back pain - however - 10 days on and still no news from this.

I had been originally told that the result would be much quicker. What does it actually take to read and interpret an MRI scan?

So glad that I had self treated this sciatica / piriformis - or I would still have the originally agony I was suffering for so long.

lingering pains

so another 1000miles in the car during a week doesn't help the piriformis too much -

have been stretching the hamstrings and doing as much bending as I could manage..

however the awful downpours have made the weekend a bit of a waste of time on the exercise front.

You need to keep stretching -

To be very frank - as soon as the pain had disappeared first from my back and then from my right leg - the energy and persistance to exercise/stretch and massage dropped. I know this is bad and isn't what was needed - but it's that bad reality. Work means you get up early - half asleep into the shower - travel - get back late..the weekends are busy or bad weather.. and the poor life cycle that got me into this terrible problem starts again!!! no.... I don't want to go through this again..

so today I had some pain in my leg - I know what causes this.. it's piriformis and you need to stretch it out..

So any tips on how to break the mental cycle of maintaining the good habits? Please let me know..

tonight I will do some stretching before bed.. and tomorrow I will be away again on business and must find a pool or sauna.

MRI Scan of Lower Back

approx 8 months have passed since my GP first diagnosed Sciatica. After a lot of searching, my personal diagnosis was piriformis syndrome and with some effective physio the pain has significantly diminished. Nobody in the medical teams I have spoken to have talked about piriformis. So today I went for my MRI scan, and I hoped to get a more definiative answer.

The MRI unit was a mobile one, installed into a lorry trailer.

The staff were very nice and friendly, and explained what would happen during the scan. I thought it would be similar to an X-Ray - but it was totally different to how I had imagined. I needed 3 scans and each took 3-4minutes. So in total I was in this tube for more than 10minutes. It is pretty claustrophobic in the tube and the noise is intense, despite using headphones. It's like a noise from doctor Who.

Unfortunately, no results today. Apparently the scans might be sent to South Africa?.. so maybe within a few weeks I can expect the result.

MRI Scan Booked and 24hrs in a Plane

Just got back from a trip to New Zealand and Australia. Some of the travelling was simply enourmous - I don't want to count the hrs spent in airports and on the planes. On the way back, we were stuck an additional 7 hrs as bad weather prevented a re-fueling stop in Hong Kong and we ended up in Manila. So, how did the back manage? Remarkably well. I have to be honest there was the occasional twinge and bit of stiffness - but nothing really bad. I tried to do a bit of stretching whenever I was stuck in an airport terminal waiting area before boarding.

So the treatment of stretching seems to be holding even in adverse conditions. The only disappointing thing is that I have not done any serious exercise now for almost 3 weeks.

I did read a very interesting book about maths and medical diagnosis - which I will post about in a day or two.

Whilst I was away, Alliance Medical called. I had to call them back as they would only speak to me. I now have the MRI booked for tomorrow at a portal MRI unit.

Lets see what further information this brings.

Visit to the Hospital

My GP had recommended that I see the Hospital doctor - but I had heard nothing until just a few days ago. Apparently there is a rule that the Hospital has to see you within 12weeks? and just by coincidence..the 12 weeks was coming up and I get a few days notice to visit the hospital.

However, it's an evening clinic which is a massive help. With all of the improvement I wondered if I should go - however still wanted to find out what the problem is - even if the symptoms had improved.

So day I had the appointment with the consultant. Usual routine, go through the history - short examination. No more or less than was done by the GP.

Ended with his comment that he thought it was a disc issue??? and maybe a trapped nerve??? well actually don't know what it is.. so best is to have an MRI scan.

However MRI scan has a 6 week waiting list. So now we have gone through the system, GP to hospital 12 weeks.. 6 weeks for MRI and it's 18weeks.. now lucky for me the physio has helped to massively reduce the symptoms and get me back on my feet again.

I am now really intrigued what this MRI is and what it can show.

Strangely the consultant never mentioned that the cause could be a possible muscle problem or piriformis syndrome.. I just wonder if it is totally discounted by a lot of the older medics.

Anyway, I will continue with the advice from the physio as this seems to have worked the best so far.

Making the Effort

One of the bad habits I had slipped into in the past years, was not making enough effort to keep my body in a decent shape. With work taking up more and more of my time - getting up at 5am and not home until after 7pm most days - there did not seem any time to keep in shape. However the severity of how hard the sciatica / piriformis hit me - has made me realise what a bad mistake this was.

I now really try to make an effort to do something each week. So this weekend it has been a 25minute run and stretching. When I am away on business I am now always packing shorts so I can use the gym or pool - even if it is just for 30minutes. Have a swim, sauna rather than a heavy meal and drink.