Do You Have Back Pain?

[I Can Do This]

I have developed pain in my lower back. I've had injections, and the pain returns. I am wondering if this might have to do with my emotional pain.

Does anyone else with PTSD have back pain?

 

[DharmaGirl]

I do!! The injections didn't work for me. I had stenosis from L-1 through S-1. I am recovering from my 2nd surgery and have been in therapy for 1 1/2 years and I mostly don't have pain. I have to pace myself, exercise, meditate, and take Aleve twice a day at this point. Anyway, back pain can trigger PTSD, and PTSD can trigger back pain. I saw a pain psychologist who helped me a lot.

I was also a case manager at the hospital, which entails reading charts. In over 50% of back pain patients ( my estimate, not a proven study) people also had PTSD, or check the box that asked if they has suffered abuse.

There was also a study done on Adverse Childhood Effects. You can google it, it shows a direct correlation between trauma and illness later in life.

Even if it is triggered by emotions, you should probably have an MRI, since it is probably physical too. I was told there was NOTHING wrong with my back, and 2 years and 2 surgeries later I'm told my back is so fragile that I can't work. Boo.

 

[I Can Do This]

I've had it MRI'd - the tests said I have degenerative disks right where the S5 meets the L1 (if I got the numbers right). It has just gotten worse in the last two years - I do yoga and it has begun to really interfere with my range of motion. I really think it is linked with emotional pain - just don't know how to find relief from it all. I was given celebrex but I don't want to take it every day.

 

[DharmaGirl]

I think you mean L5-S1. Did they say you had any stenosis? If your pain is increasing, and its been 2 years since your last MRI, I would ask for a new one. You shouldn't have to be in so much pain every day.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

Me too. Mine is from a car accident though. I have back neck and hip pain. I also have shoulder and arm pain but that's due to a pinched nerve in my neck. I've been in chronic pain for 6 years. I've had physical therapy and shots. Nothing helped dramatically.

If you find that it's getting worse DDD or Degenerative Disc Disease does that. That's one of the things I have. I have it in my C spine and my T spine. I'm sure it doesn't help my PTSD symptoms. And I can tell you it doesn't help my depression.

I have a friend who does deep tissue massage. She says people store a lot of emotional pain in their bodies where their muscles are tight and locked up. She says that she'll work on a client and as she gets certain muscles to release they begin to cry. Not from pain of what she's doing.

 

[Abstract]

My physical underlying issues are nothing as serious as are being mentioned here by others but I have had problems with migraines and back pain since a child and eventually realised there was a definite link to the emotional side of things. I would regularly be off from school with back issues. There are physical underlying contributing factors as well but I am lucky as I have learned how to manage it all much better in recent years. But sometimes the pain is severe regardless. I have also had some very odd and intense reactions to massage and do agree that it seems intense emotions seem to be somehow stored of connected to what is happening in the muscles.

In over 50% of back pain patients ( my estimate, not a proven study) people also had PTSD, or check the box that asked if they has ....

Even if it is triggered by emotions, you should probably have an MRI, since it is probably physical too. I was told there was NOTHING wrong with my back, and 2 years and 2 surgeries later I'm told my back is so fragile that I can't work. Boo.

Very interesting about your observations about trauma and back pain Monster! I found that study very interesting too.

Being invalidated and unheard in that may must have been totally crazy making and damaging! Stenosis and this type of back injury must be literally excruciating. I remember your stenosis was severe from your posts a way back.

 

[DharmaGirl]

I was told that Degenerative Disk Disease is normal aging. However I was also told I have the back of a 75 year old when I was 50. I know there is not much they can do with DDD, or bulging disks that do not pinch the spinal cord, but it is still painful. That is why I recommend a pain psychologist. They can teach you methods to handle your pain. It has really helped me.

 

[Pencil]

I have chronic back pain, and I used to get migraine. The migraines stopped mysteriously about 15 years ago.

 

[Springer80]

I think this is related somehow o the Vagus nerve, it's the main highway from the brain to all the organs which our nervous system is wired into. Look up images of it on the web. My spine is fine but I too have been for deep massage, chiropracters and internal/external body scans. Mine was linked to kidney pain in the end.

 

[I Can Do This]

I got a call yesterday from my GP who took blood levels when I was there to see if there were other reasons for my pain. The results showed that I am allergic to gluten and have high levels of yeast. So now I am learning about how to eat gluten free and sugar free (pray for me!). At least there appear to be reasons, and that feels good to have some control over what I put in my body so i don't have so much pain.

I should have known in some ways - I had a breakdown several years ago and my psychologist sent me to a nutritionist because he didn't know what to do with me and I was having a lot of migraines. The nutritionist put me on Krill Oil at the time - and I swear by it! No more migraines. But I learned that I am sensitive to improper nutrition and changed the way I eat - but now I guess I have to change it even more.

No gluten - which is in everything - and cutting back sugar to nearly nothing. Oh well, it will be an interesting experiment to see what happens to my body as a result of eating even better. I like a project.

I am also lucky because my best friends are very restrictive with their diets, one being gluten, sugar, and dairy free. I can learn from them, and get support too. So once again, I say thank God for my girlfiends!

 

[DharmaGirl]

I just started low carb, sugar free diet. I have to lose weight because my back is fragile I used to have migraines, but if I took Aleve when I got the aura, they weren't that bad. Now that I'm in menopause, I don't have them at all.

 

[Springer80]

I just started low carb, sugar free diet.

oooo it's good! Well at least the sugar free bit is....:tup: