Can't stress enough how important it is to be ahead and just keep hoarding as much as possible. I've been dealing with an iffy back for a few years now. Well yesterday I woke up to numbness in my left leg and shooting pains from my lower back down through the calf. Tried to get through it and woke up today in bad shape. No feeling in my left leg, pins and needles the whole way from my azz cheek to the bottom of my foot. Went to the ER. MRI and Xrays revealed a severely enlarged herniated disc. I believe they said the 5. Got to go to a specialist next week but the ER doc said he believes surgery is in the cards. Juiced up on pain pills in the meantime. This sucks!
Doesn't sound good at all. You are right about being ahead of the game because you never know when something will happen. Take it easy and do what the doctor says.
So sorry to hear that! I hope the specialist you're going to see will have some good therapies for you, and if surgery is needed, I hope you can recover quickly. I know how important making firewood is for you, try to endure not having it in your life for awhile.
This is not good. When my back was doing what yours is doing now none of the pain meds even touched it. What I believe finally helped were some pretty large doses of steroids.Ive never truly recovered from the damage. My right leg is still much tighter than my left & I always have the sensation that a sock is bunched up under my toes in that foot. That happened to me back in 2008. I lost most of my muscle mass in my entire body that following year because I was afraid to go at any work to aggressively thinking I’d have that pain again. I hope & pray you can get some immediate relief. I really feel for you brother.
Prayers shall be said. I have been there but fortunately have not needed the knife. Exercises each morning have made mine liveable
I’m 3 years post-injury, and figure I’m about 70% capable physically of what I was pre-injury (I can do 90% of what I want to, but can no longer bull through jobs or throw 500 bales into the hay mow). I damaged it in March (doing firewood!), it got progressively worse in April. Leg pain, feeling of bunched up sock, unable to stand on my toes, numbness in the soles of my feet. By early May I was unable to do my 40-minute commute, and in mid June I had the surgery (L5/S1). Relief was immediate. But I did do some permanent nerve damage. I had the same experience as Farmchuck, spending the first year in fear of doing too much (I even back out of my PT after the first session in fear of doing too much). In hindsight I would have recovered more quickly doing some PT. Edit: Sounds like you are on the right track. take it easy (my nerve damage is mild, but you can make things worse while waiting for the surgery). The improvement from the surgery was amazing. Best wishes - ask questions here, as there are quite a few of us here that have been through this.
Sorry to hear that BeechNut I have 2 herniated discs in my neck which affects my right arm. Seen a neurosurgeon and since chiropractor visits have been helping, he suggested continuing that path, and surgery when it no longer provides relief. Hope you get better soon.
Really sucks reading this post. I need to be a bit more careful with the big stuff. Thanks for sharing your story BeechNut I hope you get through this and get back to a normal life, even if it's a bit changed.
Ive been dealing with back pain like that since mid January, but kept making firewood regardless. Probably not the smartest thing ive done, but my desire to hoard is strong (who wouldve guessed) and being an active person, plus using my back for work all the time. It didnt go away like a simple pulled muscle so finally after several dr visits, an MRI and seeing an orthopedist, PT was scheduled. Never saw a chiropracter. My first PT on Tuesday. (Wish i'd gone to ER first, wouldve been a lot easier and quicker.) Mine wasnt as severe as yours, but shooting pain down left leg, which has subsided to some tingling. Good friend of mine gave me his extra back support which his son (who is a massage therapist) gave him so its a good one. I wear it religiously now and actually like it. Makes me look 15lbs lighter!!! LOL!!! Goes on when i get in the PU in the morning. My only gripe is sawdust gets in it. Does help with good support and posture. I had got scrip for 800mg ibuprofen 3x daily. I took it 2x daily for a while and now only as needed. Didnt seem to help with the pain just as an NSAID. This one was given to me a couple weeks ago. Tried it and more stiff than the one im using. Take it slow my friend. Hope all goes well for you! Were you able to finish that pine job?
Wow BeechNut my heart goes out to you. Prayer will help and many of us will help on this. Your story brings back some very sad memories. Mine started almost 35 years ago; September 1984 and it ruined my career big time. Fortunately, they have made good strides in back surgery and I pray your's will come out good but you will have to slow down a bit for the rest of your life. It isn't all bad though as many will continue what they were doing just doing less of it. Like Flamestead where he can still do but not as much. Please keep us posted.
I had two ruptured discs in my lower back 15 years ago. Pain in my left leg was severe and oxy stuff did nothing for pain. I would have felt better eating M&M's. When I woke up from surgery the pain was gone. I have to remember not to surprise the back. I have to be careful and deliberate in what I do. I can't go all day with cutting and splitting and stacking but getting a few hours in per day the job gets done. Slow and easy wins the race.
You know Guy's, as we get older, we should try to take it a little easier. I'm one that has always has to help some one, weather its cutting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood, or just working in general. I can not stand around while others work, i'm NOT bragging, but, i've always tried to put out on the job 110% plus. I've hurt myself, and paid the price for it, so, now i'm trying to tell myself, ''your retired, you don't have to do it all at once''. But,i still mentally set times i want to get my pickup loaded with wood, or if a storms coming, get that wood before it hits, things like that. I am doing better, but, i really enjoy running my saws, working with my hands, but, i have to slow down to be able to enjoy the rest of my life. I actually got my wood in this year about 2 months earlier than last year. I try to beat the heat, or get the wood before they close the wood cutting area's down for the fire season. My daughter had some oak tree's fell this past week, i'm going to go clean it up, but, i'm not going to kill or hurt myself doing it, i want to really enjoy my retirement i've earned it. I'm really sorry to hear you hurt your back, been there a lot, done that. Try and do what the Dr's say, take it easy, and every thing takes time to heal. Be patient, and see how it works out. Nothing like a injured back to really try your patients. I'm working through a injured Achilles tendon right now, i've GOT to get better, i hate it when i'm hurt, i'm only 71 and looking forward to 90, that's my goal, seriously, hang in there.
