The Chronic Pain Chronicles, Part 2: Back Pain

Photo by Sam Burriss on Unsplash

I used to think there was no worse pain than back pain. (That changed in 2018, but that's a story for later.) My life was pretty normal until 1997. In 1997, I started having some crippling back pain and I had no idea why or where it was coming from. I felt like going to my family provider would result in nothing but pain meds and I wanted to get to the root of the problem. I went to the phone book (Yes, I'm dating myself.) and found a Chiropractor on my side of town. The clinic was warm, welcoming and informative. A set of MRIs revealed that I had 2 herniated discs in the lower lumbar part of my spine. The chiropractor prescribed an adjustment, heat therapy and physical therapy. Luckily, I could do it all in that one location.

While in the midst of getting treated, things suddenly got worse. One morning, I woke up in excruciating pain and could hardly walk. My Mom took me to the chiropractor and the chiropractor immediately sent me to a different clinic to do something called, "Vax-D" (vertebral axial decompression therapy). I'd never heard of it before, but when you're in pain, you're willing to try anything. I face up and harnessed around my hips and chest onto a computerized split table. The table literally separates in two, at so many pounds of pressure slowly, creating a stretch in my lower back. The session lasted about 30-45 minutes and then I was moved to another table, where I laid face down with an ice pack on my back for about 15-20 minutes. I repeated this 5 days a week for a month and it was the best thing I'd ever done.

I thought all was well and went back to work like normal, but my back was finished dispensing its displeasure. My profession was in training and development, so I could be standing and facilitating for hours and multiple days at a time (as well as running through airports to various destinations in and outside of the United States). Suddenly, one day my toes began to tingle on my left foot and I felt a weird pain going from my butt and all the way down my left leg. Back to the chiropractor I go and the result was a pinched nerve (also known as cervical radiculopathy). More adjustments, more decompression, and more physical therapy.

Over 20 years later and the herniated discs in my lumbar spine are still my constant companions that flare up and spasm every now and then and prevent me from doing a lot of physical things but all I can do is be careful of how I move and try to strengthen my lower back muscles. What I never anticipated was the neck pain that joined my lower back pain in 2001.

To be continued...Part 3.