General Discussion - Killing pain in my lower back / hip

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Killing pain in my lower back / hip

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Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Description: Patients can post questions and experiences about physical therapy in general for discussion.
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Topic: Killing pain in my lower back / hip

Posted By: SillyWilly
Subject: Killing pain in my lower back / hip
Date Posted: Apr 30 2020 at 7:58am

I'm a 42 year old caucasian male, muscular 6'1" tall, and I weigh 187lbs. And I've been trying to get rid of my lower backache for over a year now. It started during a very stressful period of my life. It's only getting worse. Currently it's driving me crazy. I don't do drugs, other then the ones prescribed to me for my ADHD. 36mg Concerta daily. I started those somewhat less then a year ago. It has been a life-saver, so I hope it's not the cause!

The pain is most severe in the mornings. It originates from somewhere between my left hip and lower back. Somewhere in that connection. The pain radiates into my left leg and makes my toes tingle. It's like an electrical pain. The whole area surrounding my hips feels very stiff. As if I have exercised a lot. As the day advances, it gets better, but doesn't go away completely. I walk a lot, and that seems to alleviate it somewhat, but only very temporarily. And the end of the afternoon I'm exhausted because of it, and all I want to do is lie down.

After 20 sessions, my physical therapist didn't know what to do with me anymore. And he suggested to seek the help of a specialist. So, I went to my GP who then transferred me to a neurologist. The Neurologist examined me, but didn't find any evidence for neurological pain. Not enough to see any necessity for having a scan done anyway. He also consulted with a rheumatologist for me, but he didn't know either. After that I saw an osteopath. That seemed to help in the beginning. (Or maybe it was wishful thinking?) After 10 sessions (and lots of money, because insurance didn't cover it) I'm worse off then I started out!

If I search online then a "trapped sciatica nerve" seems to have the best matching description to my symptoms. But I have no idea what can be done about it. I did some exercises that I found online, but those were excruciatingly painful and made things worse. I also read that a trapped sciatica nerve resolves by itself after 6 weeks. So that can't be it, right?

Please please please help me and point me in the right directed. How do I help them help me?

Replies:

Posted By: Ask a PT
Date Posted: May 04 2020 at 10:08am

Have you had a MRI of your lumbar spine yet? A disc issue is what come to mind first for me when you mention worse in the mornings with radiating pain down the leg. What did your PT think was going on and what kind of treatment did you receive?