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I have had a few niggles with my lower back over the last few months, last week I ended up in crippling pain and ended up in A&E, from here I ended up in Oswestry Orthopaedic hospital for an MRI scan.
I spent 5 days in the hospital where I have been diagnosed with nerve damage in the lower back/spine.
Has anyone else experienced this?
I have been in severe pain, I have about 4 different painkillers which to be honest dont really make all that difference.
No cycling for sometime now. I'm still walking, local stuff only as I have been told to keep moving, I have always believed 'motion is lotion'.
BUT the boredom is killing me!! lol
My wife had really bad back pain with nerve damage, with several debilitating episodes. Painkillers and anti inflammatory stuff didn't work.
Her GP put her on Duloxetine, which has worked wonders with only the occasional ache (It's actually an anti depressant)
You need to be weaned off these carefully though
IANAD
I have nerve damage to my spinal cord op but it's higher up in my neck and due to chiari malformation and a syrinx.
I've been on Amitriptyline, clonazepam and pregabalin for nearly 2 decades now and they definitely help a huge amount. Unfortunately, long term, they have some concerning side effects.
Mounty, firstly good luck. I have had nerve damage (+ bone damage etc) in my back and specifically lower back. Had the drug cocktail for a while but that became awkward, so had denervation op, plus extensive physio and a change in work structure/lifestyle and I'm in hugely better shape, cycling, dog walking, good level of activity and v little pain.
So there's hope, and if you want to msg me, not that In know much or am an expert, but pls do - southbankaus AT gmail DOT com
IANAD so not too sure about your nerve damage but when I has issues with my neck and lower spine (bulging discs) I found acupuncture was fantastic.
Go and see a professional. A GP wont be able to help that much other than referrals / pain killers.
You need to find, fix and manage the cause. Its the only way.....speaking from experience,
Yup. After far too long trying to ignore the problem, interspersed with episodes such as yours a MRI identified a bulge in L4-5 disc causing severe narrowing of spinal canal and L4-5 arthrosis, both of which were in turn causing severe sciatica.
Physio helped a bit, particularly by strengthening my back muscles - strong back muscles mean your spine is suspended as opposed to the vertebrae being stacked on top of each other.  However, the biggest positive impact came from removing my wallet from my back right pocket which was causing me to sit all day with a crooked pelvis, and reducing the amount of commuting by car I was doing. As soon as I found that was the trigger, I was on the road to recovery. Unfortunately it took several years of painkillers, physio and doctors first….
Good luck!