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Black Dog
Lv 6
Black Dog asked in HealthGeneral Health CarePain & Pain Management · 1 decade ago

Just had an MRI that showed no degenerative lower back disk disease and no stenosis...why is pain still so bad

I have been told since 2000 or so that I have degenerative disk disease in my lower back, and I certainly have had enough chronic pain there to make me believe it. It radiates into my hips and outer thighs at times and tires me out endlessly. It is the reason I stopped active martial arts training. Now they tell me my latest X-rays and MRI was a "negative study," showing no problems with my back. Anyone got a good guess as to what I should ask the doctor to rule out next? Or does anyone think I have an advanced case of hypochondriasis? I have suffered from lower back pain chronically since an auto accident in 1998 that did not break anything but left me on crutches for a month due to a deep bruise on my right upper leg/hip.

I am maybe 15-20 lbs. overweight, but I work out regularly, swim, weightlift and do yoga. I am 42 but consider myself to be fairly healthy. I'd know if this was a pulled muscle. But pulled muscles don't last for 10 years, do they? Thanks for any suggestions!

Update:

Thanks, Coyote; I am trying to focus this way with yoga. Sometimes the pain is overwhelming and keeps me from focusing. But your point about the mind-body connection is well taken. Perhaps my yogic practices are beginning to show medical results, at least radiologically, and I'm just impatient when the pain hits too hard for too long...a good angle to consider. Cheers and Namaste! (P.S. I heard your brethren yipping up a storm last night) :+)

Update 2:

Phoenix, it is interesting you should mention pain being caused by small shifts outside normal range of motion. One of the things that seems anomalous in my experience is that I am extraordinarily flexible, sometimes to the exclusion of stability (which is one reason I took up yoga--to improve stability). I'm not at pretzel level, but I've only been doing yoga about 7-8 months. I haven't noticed an increase in flexibility, probably because I'm already too flexible to begin with, but I do have trouble with weightlifting with my legs and lower abdomen because of the pain. Otherwise I could probably build strength there more effectively. I have tried traditional chiropractic before and found swimming helped more. (It was a practice that used those handheld "adjusters" ). I've also had physical therapy. I'll check out McTimoney though it isn't likely to be too findable in rural Tennessee. Thanks!

4 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    There is the mind body connection. Your lower back seems to want your attention very badly. If you haven't done so already you might try putting your attention there while in meditation, doctors can only help the body heal itself, it's the mind body that does the healing. : )

    EDIT: Howling were they? We all howl, sometimes from pleasure, sometimes from pain, I guess the knower needs the known, whatever that may be. : )

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I agree with Cosmic Coyote about the mind body connection.

    However, lower back problems are often susceptible to manipulative therapies such as McTimoney Chiropractic, Osteopathy or Craniosacral Therapy - in that order. If there are no McTimoney chiropracters in your area, check out the ordinary ones for someone who treats as gently as possible.

    Very small shifts beyond the normal range of movement, in the sacro-iliac joints particularly, can cause huge amounts of pain.

    Normal medical practice does not access these problems.

    Source(s): My own experience of crippling back pain. My own clinical practice. Working with a group of McTimoney people.
  • ictemptationz
    1 decade ago

    Has anyone ever checked to see if your Sciatica nerve is pinched or twisted? It's possible it was damaged from the car accident. I believe they can identify this by injecting a dye and then doing an MRI of your lower back and extremities.

    I'll include a link so you can review the common causes, symptoms, and treatments. Good luck!

    Source(s): http://www.medicinenet.com/sciatica/article.htm
  • Blue Oyster Kel
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Sounds like the kind of pain I get when my sciatica is hurting....could be something like that from that accident.

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