Yesterday my husband bent over to get a sock out of the dryer. When he stood back up he felt a twinge and had to sit down. He then could hardly get his shoes on. He went ahead and went to work. He works on the install of heating/cooling in new homes. There is not a lot of heaving lifting or overly strenuous work. They stopped at the first house and install some duct, got back in the van and went to the next house. He got out of the van and then the pain escalated. I went and picked him up. He struggled to get in the car and then screamed randomly in pains all the way home. He used the heated seat and was able to ease out of the car once home. I went in to put somethings down and he was slowly making his way in. When I came back out to help he was on the ground. He couldn't get up and screamed if we moved him. It took 3 of us to get him up and into a van to get to the hospital. The doctor at the hospital came in after about an hour and his pain had eased from being in the same position. She asked some questions but did no testing. She said this was common for adults to expierence. I've never seen anyone expierence this. They gave him 3 shots. An anxiety med, a pain shot, & I can't remember the other. He was also given a script for a muscle relaxer, ibuprofen and oxycodone. Last night and this morning he was able to walk a small amount with a cane. This afternoon and on he can't walk, or sit up even with the meds and cane. I have to bring him something to urinate in. This is not my husband. He does not complain or show pain. The pain is in the lower center of his back. It does not radiate anywhere. He complains about his hips a little when the pain is really bad. I think he might be straining on them. He is using the heating pad and it doesn't seem to help either. As long as he doesn't move he is okay. His feet have also swelled up this evening. He has never had back issues, pain, injuries or surgeries. He is 34 years old. He was a smoker for 16 years but recently quit. What could this be? Should we go to another doctor?
Back pain that is so severe he can't move and if he tries he falls. What could it be?
Question posted by jessarms88 on 23 Dec 2015
Last updated on 20 February 2019 by 12AngAston16
I'm sorry I don't know why this was placed in Down syndrome. I unchecked it. He does not have Down syndrome.
3 Answers
The exact same thing happened to me ! I am covered in tattoos and have a high tolerance for pain! This happened about 13 years ago ! I’m 48 now ! I was completely reliable on my partner ! I squatted and rotated to pick up a jacket ! I’m a pre k teacher ! I was being careful with my back because it had been sore ! I felt a tweak or a twinge in lower back ! After that I was incapable of not feeling pain ! I couldn’t sit ! I couldn’t move ! I couldn’t wipe myself after going to the bathroom ! I couldn’t find any sort of peace ! I had no benefits and had to go to the emergency room the next day ! I took about 10 Advil’s that day in a desperate attempt to ease the pain but nothing worked ! After 4-6 hours in the waiting room I was seen ! He told me I “ strained “ my back and gave me a shot and Vicodin ! Since the incident I’ve had lower bad issues but less and less as I’ve lost some weight and try to exercise ! I’ve never experienced the pain again that I had like that day ! I hope this helps !
Hey jessarm88, I am actually writing because I just ran into this problem. My back pain is so bad I cannot get out of bed, literally. It escalated to this but same with me I can't get up to go to the bathroom. I'm not eating so it would limit my bathroom use. It's been 3 days and if there is any improvement I can't tell. Still in tremendous pain. Can you fill me in with any pointers? What happened with your hubs?
EVERY time you bend over, lift a heavy object, or sit leaning forward, twist, or hyper-extend you put stress on the components of your back and spine.
Over time, they can start to wear out and become damaged.
Many of the problems that cause back pain are the result of injury and degeneration of the vertebral disc, so your hubby's ER doc was correct in saying so. The discs in between the vertebral bones in our backs are subjected to different types of stress as we use our backs each day. Eventually discs can collapse, herniate (bulge out from between the bones) and vertebrae can even shift causing spinal stenosis, leading to spondylosis. Bone spurs can also develop and have the same effect.
Acute or immediate injuries to the back are usually caused by tearing or straining ligaments and muscles rather than a nerve related injury. Muscles can also spasm due to stress or tension.
The amount of force placed on your back under certain conditions can be surprising. Anytime you bend or lean over to pick something up, you put tremendous pressure on your lower back.
His follow up care should include MRI, CT, EMG, and x-rays analyzed by a neurologist as this condition occurs to the nervous system.
Pray for a muscle related injury because those heal without surgery.
Be ready in case it IS a nerve issue. Although there are some excellent advancements in spinal surgery, unfortunately this could cause him to experience excruciating pain for the rest of his life.
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down syndrome, pain, back pain
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