Hi everyone my mother has been suffering from major chronic lower back pain for the past 5 yrs , the pain get's so bad that she can't move her legs at all and she was on vicodin but it does not seem to help much at all now and she hates taking them. What can I do to try to relieve her pain? Or what else can I try for her? Cause doctors say surgery is out of the question.

Has she seen a chiropractor?

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Originally Posted by retiredforgood

Has she seen a chiropractor?

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Yea it made it worse:(

Message therapist, physio...

Has she had any tests done. MRI, CT Scan?

If the medication does not work then why take it? There must be other ways of getting some control over this.

Being referred to a pain clinic??

Prescription lidoderm patch. The nasties: Fenatyl patch and morphine. A muscle relaxer like Soma and or Neurontin which will dull the nerve impulses slightly.

Can you give us some more information about your mom's condition?

What sorts of doctors has she seen (neurologist, orthopedist, pain specialist, etc.), and what do you know about what they've told her?

Did your mom injure her back? If so, how and how long ago?

Do certain kinds of activities make her pain worse or better?

What do you know about the kind of pain... sharp, dull, burning, etc?

Does the pain travel to other parts of her body? You mentioned her legs: Does the pain travel down her legs?

Do heat or ice help with the pain?

Does your mom have decent health insurance? I ask because we might be able to recommend that she see a certain kind of specialist.

Any info you can provide will help us to give you some things to try. And it's really good of you to come here looking for advice on ways to help her. I hope we can help.

My mom had a similar problem.. she has fractures in her back.. she was on hydrocodone a long time and the fenatyl patch too... (use caution as fenatyl has asprin in it and can thin the blood causing internal bleeding.. read about this first).. the hydrocodone and patch helped some but (and this is really true) the best thing that helped her was miralax... all the pain medicines had caused her to become impacted... she almost died in the hospital because of the impaction... how is your mom's bowels doing? Stool should always be round and brown.. if it is like dihereah it could still be an impaction.. my mom has loose bowels the whole time she was becoming impacted... hope this helps.. and always get medical advice too.. God bless you.

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Originally Posted by straycat1

my mom had a similar problem..she has fractures in her back..she was on hydrocodone a long time and the fenatyl patch too.....(use caution as fenatyl has asprin in it and can thin the blood causing internal bleeding..read about this first)..the hydrocodone and patch helped some but (and this is really true) the best thing that helped her was miralax...all the pain medicines had caused her to become impacted...she almost died in the hospital because of the impaction.....how is your mom's bowels doing? stool should always be round and brown..if it is like dihereah it could still be an impaction..my mom has loose bowels the whole time she was becoming impacted...hope this helps..and always get medical advice too..God bless you.

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Hi I'm really glad to hear you asking on behalf of your mom that's beautiful... I also suffer from lower back pain... well my whole spine is injured due to a car accident and I have fractures bulging discs and to top it off degenerative disc disease in my lower back.. talk about pain, I no well have your mom talk to her physician about putting her on percocet and morphine together for me they seem to lower the pain I also use lidoderm patches (prescribed) you can ask to have the dosages of both of these meds raised to according to your moms pain level... I was a nurse before the accident and can no longer work due to my pain that does shoot down my legs and arms and causes me to be unstable and in an awful lot of pain I will keep your mom in my prayers --hope the meds help--