Physical Therapy Following Mystery Back Pain

Last week I spent some quality time with my doc and the ER with severe pain in my back which acted like a kidney stone. Of course after several tests....blood work, ct scan, xray, etc.....no one could find any kidney stones or a reason for the pain. The pain finally subsided after a couple days and some pain medication.

Now I am in physical therapy for the pain in my back, hips, knees, etc. I have been twice and following both I end up with a fibromyalgia flare up along with the regular joint pain from sjogren's. I am benefiting from the pt. Found out that I have developed some habits to compensate for the pain and am relearning how to stand up, move, walk, etc. I would love to continue the pt but am not happy with the flare ups afterward. Any ideas? We live in an apartment complex with a pool and I am able to do pt in the pool on my own with no problem.

Hey beautifulSC,

I'm glad you posted! Welcome to the discussion boards!

Though I am not a Doctor, I feel that through experience, this discussion is right up my alley, unfortunately!

It sounds to me like the area you are referring to may be the SI (sacroiliac) joints. Here is a link that will show you where they are located, and it also discusses various reasons for back pain. Keep in mind that 'referred pain' is a possibility too, it's a pain that radiates to another part of the body, so that must also be considered.

http://si-bone.com/learn/faqs/

http://surgery.about.com/od/glossaryofsurgicalterms/g/ReferredPain.htm

As you know, pain from Fibro and Sjogren's don't show on x-rays, and the beginning of arthritis does not show up at first either, it takes time. The good thing about these x-rays is that you have a base line for comparison, something to look back at when you have these repeated, to see if joint damage is taking place, and hopefully it's not!

I understand the compensating very well, and what my Chiropractor has always told me is "We are ONE UNIT, when one thing is injured or out of place, it affects something else." So I think in this case PT is a good idea, however if you are suffering to this degree, it make us wonder if PT's IS worth it.

PT seems to be the answer of the moment for fibro, however some thoughts on this is that Fibromyalgia is a 'stress response'. My Rheum told me that my Psoriatic Arthritis most likely CAUSED my Fibro, and here is how he explained it. "If you take a lab monkey, severely injure his left hand, and do not treat it, this pain changes the brain flooding it with pain signals until every part of the monkey you touch, you get a pain response." Sorry for my reference to harming an animal, but this is how medical lab science takes place, and this is what my Rheumatologist teaches on a University level, as a Asst Professor.

My suggestion is to talk to your Doctor who sent you to PT, and possibly consider going to an arthritic swim class, they are trained to correctly move and strengthen all parts of the body in WARM water with their exercises. Your pool temp may not be ideal for you, so please ask. He may want you to attend these to get to know the exercises and then allow you to continue at home if he feels the difference in water temp in not a factor.

I hope that you can get some answers and some substantial relief, I feel for you! I hope this has helped, I'm not a medical professional, but have some major back issues.

Wishing you well,

SK

Hi

The back pain could be from FM.

Aquatic PT is good for FM and SS. I took it for 12 weeks but what really helped me was time.

It takes a while to recover from the flare ups. It took about a year for me to recover from vulvodynia with the

help of yoga. It took about a year to get better from the neuropathy in my legs. Could not wear any pants with a

seam on the inside of the thigh. I had accupuncture to help me.

Thank you for the responses!! I have a primary immune deficiency...CVID Common Variable Immune Deficiency. Basically my immune system doesn't function correctly and I get sick extremely easily. I have done pool pt and loved it but I kept a lung infection and various skin infections from the indoor pool and from the other patients so I do much better here at home in the pool. I go first thing in the morning when the pool is the cleanest and no one else is around and leave once the kids start showing up.

I started yoga a few months ago but can only do a few poses. The breathing technique in yoga is awesome even though most of the poses are too difficult for me...I am quite overweight from meds, especially prednisone, but do what I am able. Netflix or maybe it's amazon, but they have yoga for beginners that I really enjoy.

Beautifulsc
I’m trying to leave you a private message. There is a chance I might have CVID as well. I’m scared. I’m catching sinus infections left and right. Is there any connection between this and SS? Are you doing gamma globulin??? I’m doing the pneumonia shot challenge probably in a month

Hi Nomad! Many CVID patients have SS. I have been doing IVIG since 2006, I get infused with antibodies (IVIG) every 4 weeks with 60grams of Carimune at a rate of 150 so it takes 5 hours for the infusion.

I sent you a pm.

Many thanks beautiful sc. I’m sick tonight and using my phone and pushed the wrong button and erased your pm after reading it. I’m so frustrated. Thank you for responding!!! I’ll pm you again tomorrow. I have many questions. Appreciate your reply VERY much! Be well! :slight_smile: