Great news, sulavaca, great news! :bravo:
Read this book. It changed my life. The amazon comments reflect my on experience regarding this book.
amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain … 0446392308
At the very minimum it will explain why doctors are confused that problems with discs dont correlate with pain level. I was at a point where I could barely walk around for half an hour without being in agony, I was desperate because nothing was helping, then I came across the book in Pages in Taipe 101 and thought what the hell, I will read anything at this point! (:
ben_gb
DO NOT use that McKenzie method book!!! If it worked for you, ok, but that is dangerous advice he gives in there. I followed it exactly and damn near paralyzed myself.
[quote=“Captain Coconut”]ben_gb
DO NOT use that McKenzie method book!!! If it worked for you, ok, but that is dangerous advice he gives in there. I followed it exactly and damn near paralyzed myself.[/quote]
Well, everyone is one different, so you cannot really make generalisations.
I was first put onto the Mckenize exercises (and the book) by my physiotherapist in London. It was my specialist spine doctor who referred me (after diagnosing my back problems) precisely because the physio used the McKenzie method. The exercises may not have been appropriate for you (as you mentioned earlier, you have a genetic back problem so what is suitable for you, may not be right for other types of back problems and vice versa).
Additionally, judging from the comments on Amazon, it is clear that the exercises in the book do work for a lot of other people.
As I said before, it would be best for the OP to go to a physiotherapist (and maybe a spine doctor) who can take him through appropriate exercises for his specific situation. Actually, I probably should have made this point stronger in my original message… anyone should get a professional opinion before trying any type of exercise to fix back problems.
Anyway, I hope you manage to find ways to improve your back problems.
I seem completely without pain now. I took to doing more work on cars and it seems to be stretching me out quite a bit. Haven’t had a twinge since. Thanks.
Yeh, I’ve been having NCV tests regularly for a couple of years now and still havn’t got used to it. Stick my finger nails in my palms every time. However, what I like about it is:-
(a)Its done by technicians rather than doctors, my confidence in doctors (especially neurologists) having been eroded by an intensive course of life-threatening negligence a while ago.
(b)It gives you actual data (if you can get hold of the results), which can be hard to come by, medicine being more an art than a science.
There’s a particularly unpleasant variant involving electrode needles inserted quite deep in your calf muscles, but fortunately I’ve only had that once, the first time. They apparently lost the data from that session, and denied I’d had the procedure, though I showed them the holes. 
Good news about your back. Keep up the good work. Keep down the bad work.
1 Like
[quote=“Ducked”]
There’s a particularly unpleasant variant involving electrode needles inserted quite deep in your calf muscles, but fortunately I’ve only had that once, the first time. They apparently lost the data from that session, and denied I’d had the procedure, though I showed them the holes.[/quote]
I had this done about 10 days before my surgery, while there was still hope of a non-surgical option. Except mine went from the meat of your palm (my, that was pleasant) up to the shoulder. I ended up with a floating disc replacement between C5 and C6. I’d had back problems for the last 26 years on and off, from a car accident that began two decades plus of on and off agony that culminated with a pinched nerve, rendering the right side of my neck, shoulder, arm, hands and fingrs into a hogmash of pain, twitching, numbmess, tingling and other weird symptoms, with a final climax of rapid loss of control in areas I’d rather not mention.
Any attempt at physio just made it a hundred times worse, and the pain was ramping up daily. The people that saw me in the days before I went under the knife can attest to how poorly I was faring. I couldn’t drive, turn my head, move my neck. My right shoulder was nearly 5cm higher than my left, and the pain shooting down my arm was nearly overwhelming. Drugs didn’t do a damn thing. I had no sleep for two straight weeks as finding a comfortable position was impossible.
The third Neurosurgeon I saw only confirmed what the other two, and my original doctor had told me…This will only continue to get worse, and surgery was the only option. I could fuse, or do the floating disc route. After reading several articles regarding recovering time, maintaining movement, etc…I elected the floater route. It was expensive though, 300k against 70k for the more traditional fused disc.
The morning of my surgery, I was so frozen up that the hole my head was supposed to lie in on the operating table? I couldn’t even even lean back that far, or anything even close…So they knocked me out with a pillow under my head and went to business cutting into my throat…
Woke up with a nasty closed throat, a tube hanging out of my neck and my morphine…But by the second day, I was already feeling better, and the first night at home I slept for 11hours straight, something I’d not been able to do for a very, very long time. There is still some residual numbness, and I get sore on occasion, but for the most part I am a new man. It’s been three weeks since the surgery, I’ve been back to work for two, and am well on my way to regaining my strength.
They took this X-ray on Friday…
Great news, MJB! That stuff can be mighty debilitating. 
I’m quite happy to have minor paralysis in one of my legs rather than suffer that excruciating pain.
Seems like your surgery worked out fine. Rehab treatment should rectify most of the side-effects.
Seconded.
How did you get the imagery?
I’ve found it VERY difficult (ie impossible) to get anything out of NCKU other than a photocopy of the handwritten case notes, which I think they are legally obliged to provide.
Nothing from the computer-based information system(s) has so far been available, but maybe I havn’t been persistent enough.
Ouch, talk about scary disc injuries. Check this out, from last Sunday’s NFL.
[quote=“Ducked”]Seconded.
How did you get the imagery?
I’ve found it VERY difficult (ie impossible) to get anything out of NCKU other than a photocopy of the handwritten case notes, which I think they are legally obliged to provide.
Nothing from the computer-based information system(s) has so far been available, but maybe I havn’t been persistent enough.[/quote]
When I broke 6 ribs last year I had to have an MRI as I had some bleeding in the lungs. I just asked for a copy of the CD they made with all the pics on it. It cost me NT$200.
Wow it is amazing to see. Has just X-ray shots of the bones only, but also has images of all my internal organs.
[quote=“TaipeiSean”][quote=“Ducked”]Seconded.
How did you get the imagery?
I’ve found it VERY difficult (ie impossible) to get anything out of NCKU other than a photocopy of the handwritten case notes, which I think they are legally obliged to provide.
Nothing from the computer-based information system(s) has so far been available, but maybe I havn’t been persistent enough.[/quote]
When I broke 6 ribs last year I had to have an MRI as I had some bleeding in the lungs. I just asked for a copy of the CD they made with all the pics on it. It cost me NT$200.
Wow it is amazing to see. Has just X-ray shots of the bones only, but also has images of all my internal organs.
[/quote]
Apparently your LP are so small that they don’t appear in the designated area.
Hi, I have not read every reply and I will be brief here as I am typing on a phone.
I am a neuroradiographer, I produce imaging pre operatiively, intraoperatively and post operatively for spinal cases amongst others.
If you want a thorough answer email me your scans.
But briefly, you are 35. A disc replacement lasts about 10 years. You instantly lose mobility in the spine, so people tend to get problems above and below the initial level. Fusions are even worse for this. So if you have an operation now , I would anticipate you have at least 2 more before you are 50. The reason there are so many operations is simply when you see a doctor, they tend to refer you to a surgeon. They are trained to operate. Its their mind set.
The best surgeon I work with, sends all but the most extreme cases which you certainy are not, to pilates classes. TRX is also very good at strengthening the core. You need to keep moving, working on strengthening your core as well as working on your flexibility.
I can’t really give any more help, without seeing your scans or at least having much more information. You may need to give up some sports eg. Golf, but not all.
Feel free to contact me, steve
Fantastic! Could anyone have hoped for a better response than that?
That’s great advice Steve, and thank you very much for posting.
I suppose I’m most happy to learn from someone in the field that my basic instinct is correct. I have had only the feeling that people want to chop me up and stitch me back together again.
You are right of course and I am certainly not an example of as bad as it gets. As long as I don’t lean forward for long periods or pull strenuously, then I’m as fine as a dandelion.
I’m suffering pain recently again after spending half a day bent over, fixing something on the ground, but as weird as it seems, I’m almost getting used to the pain now. Its as if my body is producing something to combat the pain and help me forget about it. Of course I don’t forget completely, but it gets slightly easier to manage without the need for pills.
No problem. Try and find a pilates class I am sure it will help immensely. The exercises they do are very similar to what a physio would use.
Yoga is also useful.
If you get into a routine iit becomes second nature.
Try to remind yourself too, that even though your back is not hurting you, you still have a bad back, so treat it as such. If I can help at all, feel free to get in touch.
sorry to bring up an old thread
but is there actually a physic/chrio in taipei that specializes in posture correction?
and I don’t just mean the chiro that lays you out on the table, gets some loud cracks out of you, 5 min (and $40 :fume: ) later it’s over
I mean someone that can give you an actual program to follow
Sorry. I don’t know the answer to that.
im hardly finding a good orthopedics or physical therapist or occupational therapist here in taipei, i hadn’t gone to the orthopedics hospital if there are here in taiwan? bedridden if you do that operation. since steve on this thread mentioning its not worth it to have surgery, because my mom also had not to do surgery. she’s 50 plus years old at that time. not a ruptured disc though. she eventually had a plenty of rest taking supplements and it will take longer process healing if you are already old. i had a back problem pain all the way to my right leg hamstring. hot pack is the least i can get, if i can’t move at all. im taking over the counter painkillers but this does not help at all on the long term process and it will also affect your liver because as far as i know that painkillers will toxicity your liver on the future.
1st i want to find a good orthepedics hospital to work on my mobility of my body to strengthen my lower back because i had a back pain. and strengthen my lower leg to support my abdomen and back .
[quote=“upandover”]sorry to bring up an old thread
but is there actually a physic/chrio in taipei that specializes in posture correction?
and I don’t just mean the chiro that lays you out on the table, gets some loud cracks out of you, 5 min (and $40 :fume: ) later it’s over
I mean someone that can give you an actual program to follow[/quote]
I hope by this time you’ve found one, but if not, I’ve gone to Dr. Mark Griffin for a while, and he’s awesome. He’s very knowledgeable, and he will set up a program specifically for you. I was in a car accident about 7 years ago, and my neck went crooked as a result. In the US, chiros would give me a good popping and send me on my way. Yeah, it’d fix the pain temporarily, but he said he can CURE it. My neck is so straight now (and sways where it should), it’s unbelievable! He is very polite and takes the time to explain everything to you. He has lots of good advice and will teach you daily exercises.
phone: (02) 8771-3516
No. 250 Zhongxiao East Road Section 4, 11FL, No. 5
Take the MRT to Zhongxiao Dunhua Station, take exit 3 to Zhonxiao East Rd.
Doctor mark griffin: does he have an MD or a PhD? Maybe a JD or a DPhil, or even a DD?