The Student Room Group

Lower back pain

Due to my recent back injury, I believe that I have a herniated disc that is causing me excruciating pain in my lower back. The doctor assured me that it was nothing serious, although, I think they are wrong. I won't believe them till I have an MRI scan.

I can't sleep, sit or stand and my life feels so pointless, I am 20 years old yet feel as if I'm 60 now. I can't even bend my back or pick things up, I can't go to the gym without feeling worse or scared that I'll make my pain worse.

Nobody even sympathises my pain, and act as if it's like a minor injury yet I, myself believe that I may have just ruined my entire life, I'm scared of what effect this has on my future. I've spent hours researching the symptoms of my pain and am sure it's something to do with my discs which my GP made no reference to during my visit.

All this thinking of not being able to do anything and thinking of the impacts of my future have caused me to feel so down and depressed. I struggle to see the point in anything due to this injury and having nobody is making things worse...


tl;dr

back injury in the gym
went to gp, assured of no real serious injury
struggling to do day to day things like sit or stand, pick things up etc
researched symptoms now seems like herniated disc?
scared of this injuries impacts
depression.
I hope you feel better soon!

Honestly, I understand. But PM me because I don't really feel comfortable discussing it here.
Exactly the same thing happened to me last year when I was 19!

I went to my doctor at home, she diagnosed sciatica (sciatic nerve pain which occurs in the lower bag and can go down your leg), probably caused by a disc, but she didn't take it seriously and just said to take paracetamol and it would go away by itself!

A couple of months later with constant pain, I went to the Philippines to go to a funeral but while I was there, I saw a doctor who made me get an xray and MRI which confirmed I had a slipped disc and two disc bulges.

After I returned to the UK, I saw my GP at uni, showed him the xray and MRI scans, and then he referred me to an orthopaedic centre for assessment.

Long story short, after 8 months of horrific pain and a long referral process, I got referred for 6 weeks of physio from an orthopaedic specialist. And another 4 months later (after not really doing much of the physio they told me to do) the pain has eased little by little, to the point where I get only small twinges now and again. An MRI in December shows that now I only have a small disc bulge and no slipped disc. :smile:

My advice to you is:
Go back to your GP. Make sure they understand how painful your sciatica is. Make sure they do a 'straight leg test' on you - as this will help them confirm it (all GP's and specialists should do this test to assess the problem).

Make sure to ask your GP for a referral. Tell them you want to get an MRI and get treated. The first course of action is physio, if that doesn't help then probably steroid injections. But make sure you keep nagging them about a referral even if they put you off. The sooner you start physio, the better.

Also, one last tip: as much as it hurts, try and keep active. Even walking for twenty minutes a day will help.
Take breaks between sitting down for long periods. If you're having trouble sleeping with the pain, I've found that sleeping on my side, with my other leg bent, really helps relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve.

PM me if you have any questions :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by SleepingLion3
Exactly the same thing happened to me last year when I was 19!

I went to my doctor at home, she diagnosed sciatica (sciatic nerve pain which occurs in the lower bag and can go down your leg), probably caused by a disc, but she didn't take it seriously and just said to take paracetamol and it would go away by itself!

A couple of months later with constant pain, I went to the Philippines to go to a funeral but while I was there, I saw a doctor who made me get an xray and MRI which confirmed I had a slipped disc and two disc bulges.

After I returned to the UK, I saw my GP at uni, showed him the xray and MRI scans, and then he referred me to an orthopaedic centre for assessment.

Long story short, after 8 months of horrific pain and a long referral process, I got referred for 6 weeks of physio from an orthopaedic specialist. And another 4 months later (after not really doing much of the physio they told me to do) the pain has eased little by little, to the point where I get only small twinges now and again. An MRI in December shows that now I only have a small disc bulge and no slipped disc. :smile:

My advice to you is:
Go back to your GP. Make sure they understand how painful your sciatica is. Make sure they do a 'straight leg test' on you - as this will help them confirm it (all GP's and specialists should do this test to assess the problem).

Make sure to ask your GP for a referral. Tell them you want to get an MRI and get treated. The first course of action is physio, if that doesn't help then probably steroid injections. But make sure you keep nagging them about a referral even if they put you off. The sooner you start physio, the better.

Also, one last tip: as much as it hurts, try and keep active. Even walking for twenty minutes a day will help.
Take breaks between sitting down for long periods. If you're having trouble sleeping with the pain, I've found that sleeping on my side, with my other leg bent, really helps relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve.

PM me if you have any questions :smile:


Hi there I'm really struggling with sciatic Pain and GP will not order MRI, I was wondering if your issue resolved? Am quite terrified if this is chronic

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