Pain. Lots of Pain.

Last summer, you might have remembered my complaining of how I hurt my back last summer playing Kinect Adventures for the 360. In the game I was on a flat cart going down a rail and there were many obstacles to dodge, some that I had to literally jump and duck over and under to dodge. Sometimes having to immediately duck after jumping, and I got so into this that I badly hurt my lower back and I was in lots of pain for months to come.

It especially hurt to sit or bend over to pick things up. I couldn't afford to see a doctor, so I just had to live with it until I got better. It sucked. But yeah, after a very long time the pain finally went away for the most part. Sometimes I'd have a bad day where the pain would be back, but there was nothing I could do. The pain would sometimes come back when I woke up in the mornings, but I can't control my positions of sleep while resting, so whatever.

Now, almost a year later, something similar has befallen me, but the cause is unknown.

For a while now I've been having pain in my lower back on my right-hand side that would briefly flare up if I shifted my body while sitting my recliner, but I'd get over it soon enough because I thought it was leftover pain from last summer's incident (the recliner itself has been a good help on my back since then because it hurts sometimes to sit straight in regular chairs, sometimes limiting my time on the computer). I can't do anything about it, minus going for a walk every once in a while which actually helped a bit and asking for one of my sister's pain pills which would help a little bit. So this has been my lot in life for a while now.

But anyways, this pain on my right side has gotten worse. Yesterday I got up to take out the trash and the pain simultaneously shut up the right side of my back and all the way down my right leg. Standing was extremely painful and my leg became weak and wanted to give out on me because of the pain. Walking was worse. My right leg became stiff and I could barely move it forward whenever I wanted to walk, not to mention that that brought about another world of pain. So if I walk I'm now forced to limp and not stride. Coming back upstairs to my room is now a huge chore. I spent the majority of my time in bed yesterday and even then I was in a world of hurt (so I apologize to everyone on ZU for my grumpiness these past few days). Shifting in bed hurts like the dickens. And when I'm perfectly still sitting, standing, or laying down, I get another weird type of pain in my right leg.

Have you ever had the flue where, besides being sick with the flue, you get those random pains in your leg that come, disappear, come, disappear, sort of like fireworks? Yeah, it's an awful lot like that. So when I'm not up and about and trying to remain stationary, I have to deal with that. Sitting at the computer is now a chore and almost a game to see how long I can stay sitting there before I can't take the pain anymore.

Due to financial reasons which I do want to discuss and will not discuss, I cannot go and see a doctor. Welfare currently isn't an option either. I'm on my own with this problem. So don't waste my time by saying I need to go see a doctor and/or chiropractor. You think I don't know that? But I can't, so let's leave it at that please. And there are no free clinics around either, well, not for the white man anyways.

I will say though that I now understand why universal healthcare is such a huge deal these days.

But yeah. I'm in pain. Lots of pain. And there's nothing I can do about it. I apologize to everyone on ZU for my grumpiness these past several days. And if anyone has any good stretches I can try, please let me know, though I hesitate to ask because, no offense, I doubt many of you are specialists in this field.

Sounds like you have a herniated disk. But if your leg is also hurting, then it's likely sciatica. Here's a whole website about it:

Sciatica Treatment

Identify if your symptoms match (which it seems like they do), then try out some of their exercises, stretches, and physical therapy.

Hearing the bit about the pain shooting down the leg immediately made me think of a pinched nerve, too.

I've been a sufferer of back pain for about seven years. It gets achy easily, and has had two awful flareups where I can't move. The best medicine is careful stretching. I would look up stretches online.

Honestly, the second time around I was prescribed vicodin, and it did close to nothing. I had a better time drinking just enough alcohol to make my muscles lighten up (like one or two beers.) Nothing to cause impair, but enough to relax the muscles. It was more effective than vicodin, and had no side effects. But... that sounds like bad advice (LOL ALCOHOL.) Whatever. It worked.

Feel better! I'm really sorry about the pain. It sucks.

Might be an overly simplistic solution, but have you considered maybe getting better shoes with orthodics, and possibly a visit to a chiropractor?
Those two things really helped me, and it didn't take too long to recover (only about a month.)

I was having similar problems last year while playing hockey. Turns out the injury was a combination of bad shoes and twisting funny in the net.


Maybe I missed it in your post, but does it feel like your back is going to give out when your try to stand? Like, I said, I had pretty similar symptoms, and as it turned out, one of the bones in my spine had shifted over to the left like, 3 inches.
You injured it with physical activity last time, so maybe something similar happened?

Like everyone else is suggesting... maybe try stretching it out. But be very careful. It's easy to make things worse if you stretch improperly.

Blizz, is there anyway you can get on some county/state funded MedicAID business? I dont know how it works in other states, but in California, those who dont make a certain income and are between the ages of 18 to 60 or some junk can get standardized healthcare. And if they have a low enough income, theres no sharecost. (of course its pretty heavily monitored...) Anyway is there a program like that in your state? If so, do apply and get checked out.

The economy is pretty bad over here. All the loggers have lost their jobs, and that was pretty much everyone's livelihood, seeing how this is the Oregon coast. I was lucky enough to get on EBT, but medicare is really stupid here. So many are applying that there's a lottery for it.

You have to pay for the doctor!?
Can't you even get it looked at?
NHS NEEDS TO BE EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE

Originally Posted by Gummy

You have to pay for the doctor!?
Can't you even get it looked at?
NHS NEEDS TO BE EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE

Welcome to capitalist America. Paying for healthcare means that we get "quality" healthcare (if we can afford it).

Healthcare isn't a basic human right in America. It's more important for us to pay for it and have people like Blizz and the thousands of other people in Oregon suffer, than to make it accessible to everyone and become SOCIALIST.

All those illegals taking our tax dollars. They should be spent on the war that most of us didn't want. Not on helping those thieves in need.






/rant.

:/ Sounds bad.
Come sleep over at mine, we'll get you fixed in a jiffy.

Sorry, I don't know much about the situation with getting medical care in the US... can't you go to a free clinic and get it checked out, at least? I assume you don't receive the highest standard of care there, but it's better than nothing, right?

It could be a pinched nerve or something like you pulled or tore a muscle. We had to bring my rooommate to the ER tonight for something similar because she had excruiating pain from her groin down. Docs think she pulled her groin muscle which there's nothing really you can do other than take pain meds.

But try apply heat froma heating pad in or if you have any friends who have training in massage to give you one. A person who doesn't know how to massage properly can actually ♥♥♥♥ up your back more, just like you're not supposed to rub along your spine and stuff like that.

Shooting pain/weakness in the leg is a herniated disc pressuring the right sciatic nerve.

I just got back from my neurosurgeon today with the same thing.



What you'll want to do is lay on your stomach as much as possible, completely avoid bending/twisting, and begin doing some exercises to minimize the pain.

What I would do is to lay on your stomach, and use your hands to extend your back, stopping before you feel any shooting pain in the hip/leg. Do it about 3 sets worth of 10 every day until you can manage to see a doctor. There's a chance it can go away on its own, but it needs to be evaluated because surgery is an option and if you don't strengthen your core muscles you can end up either reinjuring or worsening the condition down the road.




So, for starters:

NO LIFTING
NO BENDING
NO TWISTING
Lay on your stomach as much as possible
Press-ups (laying on your stomach, using your hands to push your upper body upwards)
AVOID ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT EXACERBATES PAIN

Anything in caps is a must. The others are optional if you can manage them.


Good luck, buddy, I know first hand how bad it sucks.

I'm so glad that this stuff has never happened to me. Although, I do have a constant cold/flu and various aches. But still, never broken an important bone/ripped a muscle or anything. You'll get through this Zecora.

My mom's a nurse, and she also guessed Sciatica. I guessed this before starting this thread when I decided to do some Internet research.

She told me that if I went to the doctor that all he would say is go on a diet.

WELL GEE ♥♥♥♥ING THANKS, MOTHER. THAT MAKES MY DAY. And while you're at it, be more ♥♥♥♥ing specific. God damn. I'm in a foul mood now.

At least I'm feeling better today. Not as much pain as earlier.

---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 PM ----------

EDIT: Well, I did some research and it seems the low-carb diet is good for sciatica, as I suspected. I'm familiar with the diet. I'd love to get back on it but there's a few obstacles:

1. ♥♥♥♥'s expensive.

2. I only get to shop once a week due to circumstance which will not be discussed.

3. I have to share the refrigerator with three other people in the house who shop once a week.