Non operative treatments

After the initial injury I underwent various forms of treatment before my MRI scan. You must remember that these are just my thoughts on the treatments and really have no medical basis to them at all.

Physio
I personally found this did very little but aggravate my condition further. For some people I have spoken to this has helped greatly. For me and being as active as I was before the injury it did very little. I did pursue this with hope that it would help release what was thought a trapped nerve. Any sort of movement will help and all I can say is if you are offered physio it is well worth giving it a go as it may work for you and then you won,t need to read this any further! I pursued this once a week for 3 months before giving it up.

Traction
Traction treatments can use a mechanical device consisting of a systems of weights, cables, and pulleys in an attempt to reduce pressure on the disks and the joints between the vertebrae. It was thought that such traction as well as stretching muscles and connective tissues of the back might have a beneficial effect.
I tried this and was placed on a split table and secured in a pelvic harness. I had four sessions of this and all it managed to do was pull my neck and give me unbelievable back pain almost to the point where it was near on impossible to walk the next day. If do you a search on the Internet you will find that this is a very old form of back treatment but one that is very open ended about the results and none of them seem to be conclusive about whether it actually helps or not. Personally it did not work for me and nor world I try it again

Manipulation
This is an ancient art of correcting the back and allows the chiropractioner to arrange and sort out the biomechanical and structural derangement of the spine which can affect the nervous system. This did nothing for me as doing weights and power lifting for years it was found that the lumbar muscles were spasming against the pain and allowed very little movement and maniuplation of the spine. It is worth trying this though and even though it was not possible for me it is something I believe can work.

Acupuncture
In traditional Chinese acupuncture, needles are inserted into specific areas of the body. The needles are then rotated to produce a mildly irritating stimulus. Evidence that acupuncture is effective for treating patients with chronic low back pain is not dependable. Acupuncture has not been sufficiently studied in patients with acute low back pain to permit a conclusion. Acupuncture was found to have risks of complications, including bacterial and viral infections, bleeding, and nerve injury.
I had 6 sessions of acupuncture and I was very skeptical of the results but found it did help greatly. The first 4 sessions really improved my mobility but the last 2 did not do so much and I found I bled a lot after the needles were removed. Again something I have spoken to many people about and they have had success with it. I would recommended giving it a go and maybe for people that do not like needles they could give acupressure a try? This is where the same points are used on the body but the pressure is applied by the hands.

Drugs&Painkillers
You,ll find that you will be offered these in abundance, just remember they all have side effects. I do not really like taking pain killers but at times the pain is so bad that you need to. I found that after 12 months of taking painkillers I developed a stomach ulcer which was put down to the painkillers. Maybe I have a weak stomach or my body just does not like them but I have found Ibuprofen gels (Like Ralgex/Deep Heat) work well.

Hot&Cold Treatments
Cold treatments did nothing for me apart from make my back stiff however the heat pads and hot baths were the only time I actually felt right and the warmth really does help loosen the muscles and back up. Even now after the operation I found a hot bath really helps