In January, I began to run again after several months of inactivity. I ran longer and harder than I should have. The next day I experienced an intense pain in my lower back, very close to my butt. This pain has continued off and on since the injury occurred. I have had several treatments from a chiropractor but the pain continues and I can't afford to continue the treatments. Please advise me what I should do now. Any suggestions how I can lessen the pain and what might be causing it? Or better yet, how I can fix the problem? --
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I am sorry for the delay in responding to you. I hope your pain is improving. Please respond if your pain is getting worse and you have not sought medical care.
Chronic low back pain is a very difficult problem to treat. It sounds like you do not have weakness in your legs or loss of control of bowel or bladder. You also don't mention any previous injury or surgery, fever, age over 50 years, or fever. If that is the case, then you seem to not be in danger of losing function from nerve damage and you probably don't need xrays. If that is not the case, see a family doc or internist. That gets us back to controlling the pain.
Tylenol and aspirin-like medications (for example ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen) usually take away no more that about a quarter of the pain. Narcotic and muscle relaxant medications help for acute pain for a few days but wear off with continuous use and are addicting. Some antidepressant medications can help with sleep and with reducing _chronic_ pain somewhat. Accupuncture, massage and other physical treatment may help without causing any harm. Self-help support groups for chronic pain would be helpful.
Specialists generally see a skewed population of people with unusual problems. Family physicians, general internists, and general pediatricians have the perspective of comparing your problem with a more general population. Generalists are more experienced than specialists in dealing with undifferentiated problems without an obvious cause. Specialists are expert in dealing with problems once the cause of a problem is more specific.
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P. H. MD Family Physician Correspondent for General Medical Clinic Organization For Community Networks
NOTICE: OFCN is not engaged in the rendering of professional medical services. The information contained on this system or any other OFCN system should not supplant individual professional consultation. It is offered exclusively as a community education service. Advice on individual problems must be obtained directly from a professional.
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