Old Man Achievement Unlocked

About a month ago, while doing nothing out of the ordinary I seemed to have slipped or herniated a disk in my lower back.

Working at the school of medicine has it’s advantages, as I have a wealth of information at the ready. When this happened, I was meeting with one of my MD faculty members, assisting in the countless and newfound quirks in this new building.

After standing up from my desk, I began feeling an immense amount of pain in my lower back, of the burning kind. I continued on my way to meet with the faculty member, who noted that my back looked “too straight”. I think he was referring to my lumbar region.

The next day, the pain in my back was gone. Instead I had severe pains in my upper left thigh and hip when I put any weight on my left leg. It made me feel as if I needed a new hip. I could barely stand the pain. 2 MDs and a PHD (she writes the Anatomy text book) agreed, I had a slipped disk that was pinching a nerve. Located somewhere in the L4 or L5 region of my spine. Even sending me a handy-dandy graphic from her textbook.

I got on the horn with my primary care physician who got me in rather quickly. She prescribed me some oral steroids, and told me to call back in a week if I wasn’t feeling any better. The steroids definitely helped but the pain was not gone. I called her office after a week, and have yet to hear anything back.

On the recommendation of one of my MD faculty members, I then reached out to my Neurologist. I was able to get in rather quickly by seeing their nurse practitioner. She advised physical rehab and stated that I would be contacted regarding scheduling. I have still not heard anything.

I have been using my girlfriend’s TENS unit, and she ordered an inversion table which recently arrived. They are the only things that have provided any sort of relief.

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