So, the appointment with the GP went pretty much how I'd anticipated. She said yes, she could see that all the muscles in my back were in spasm and it was obviously very painful. Then she told me to put ice on it, take painkillers and keep moving, and come back if it wasn't better in six weeks. Yes, that's right - I said SIX WEEKS.
She said she wasn't worried that it had happened four times in three years, and she wasn't worried that I had been unable to walk when I got up, "because you can obviously walk now". She didn't think any further investigation was needed, and recommended that I do core strength exercises to strengthen my back once this episode is over.
The osteopath, on the other hand, gave me a good massage to start loosening things up, did some acupuncture on the damaged ligaments (yes, apparently there are now two) and told me that as well as the muscles being in spasm, she could feel the cause of that spasm, which was a huge swelling around one ligament in particular.
She was interested to hear about the first episode, when I was putting my niece in her car seat, and said that from what I was doing and the angle I would have been bending at, she was pretty certain that the ligament I would have damaged that time is the same one I've damaged this week.
She then covered me in strapping to support and protect my back while it heals, and booked another appointment for Monday.
And I'm happy to say that although I was limping and in pain when I got up this morning, I was able to stand upright and walk, and having iced my back, taken painkillers and walked around for half an hour or so, I'm now able to walk reasonably well and without too much pain.
And that's why I never usually bother going to the GP, but love my osteopath! And hopefully I'll stop whinging about my back and resume normal blogging tomorrow.
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Wow, I can't believe that's all your GP said. I am really in shock. My husband has back trouble and his doctor gave him this really awesome electrical therapy thing. He sticks the pads on his back and adjusts the current to a setting comfortable to him. It helps a lot. He also got an injection of something in his back that took away the pain permanently for a long time. Another useful thing he did was get different in-soles made by a podiatrist for his shoes -- this helped him not to re-injure it by walking incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteI am glad your osteopath was able to help you!
What an icky nightmare with your back! I'm horribly sorry that you are in so much pain, and add frustration to that as well. You're assumptions about the GP visit are similar to mine which is why I often wait until I've a long list of complaints or something has become painfully insistent before I go for a visit. Always seems such a waste of time. They take your money, but don't really help very much.
ReplyDeleteCertainly hope this episode ends quickly and that you're back to your normal self soon. Take care...I'd say rest up, but in this case I guess "keep moving" is more appropriate.
I think sometimes it doesn't help if you do too much for yourself. If I'd rung the GP first thing in the morning saying I couldn't move and then stayed in bed until someone came to see me, I might have got a less flippant attitude from her. Because I knew that I just needed to get myself moving and it would eventually ease off a bit, I worked through the pain and managed to walk to the surgery (it's literally two minutes' walk away - on a good day).
ReplyDeleteI think she just thought if I'd coped with this on three previous occasions, why was I bothering to go and see her on the fourth - whereas I was worried that each occasion was worse than the last and wanted to make sure there was nothing underlying it that might be causing it. I suppose she reassured me on that.