Constant lumbar pain, Dr. says it's nothing

smashleigh

Hi all,

So for the last two and a half months, I've had constant pain in my lower back in one very specific spot. It just happened one day without warning, I didn't tweak it or anything that I know of, but I could barely walk for an entire week. Although my mobility improved and the pain lessened to a more tolerable level, it's still there.

The doctor sent me for xrays, and this is what they came back with:

Mild degeneration sacrococcygeal junction.
Mild angulation sacrococcygeal junction, a normal variant.
Minimal disc space narrowing L5-S1.

He told me these results are normal and he doesn't know why I'm having this pain and to keep going to physio. That was pretty much his care factor, and then to make it worse, he threw in the classic "well you're young, so...."

I'm 29 years old, and I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (Hypermobility), so I'm used to dealing with chronic pain. But this is something different entirely, and it's actually limiting what I can do even worse than I was before. Anytime I tilt my pelvis at all, it hurts. I looked up all of the things in my xrays, and to me it feels like my pain is located where the L5-S1 is. But my doctor's exact words were, this is nothing and if you were to take ten people off the street at least one in ten would have this same problem.

Can anyone give me some advice on this? I'm already doing light pilates and yoga strength every day for my EDS, so I don't know what else I can do. Should I just continue to live with the pain and accept that I can barely do anything anymore? Or should I keep going back to doctors to be told I'm too young to have back problems.

I feel really defeated, so anything would be helpful right now.

ADRJen

Was this your general doctor or a back specialist? I spent years in pain with my GP telling me the same thing. Once I finally went to a back specialist and had an MRI done it showed the problem.

Savage

When my spinal issues first surfaced...I worked only with my primary doctor.
After about two years with worsening pain, she sent me to pain management/neurologist specialist.

PM was best for me. That doctor did several other tests to help him in diagnosing and treating me...and lessening my pain.
Since this was his specialty, he knew what other tests to run. My primary never did further testing to investigate my pain.

You spoke of your doctor's words after reading findings of your X-ray.
From my PM doctor, I have learned that many doctors can read same X-ray and many will have different interpretations.

My PM doctor always looks at CD himself and many times has seen things that were not noted in initial summary of findings.
The testing..MRI, X-rays, etc.....are diagnostic tools....not the diagnosis itself.....from my understanding from my doc.

Some doctors are more specialized.
You may want a second opinion, which is not uncommon when cause of pain not discovered and esp if pain continues without treatment.
You want to have the best quality of life as possible

sandi123

when it comes to diagnosing spine pain, is a board certified spine surgeon. Xrays only check for fractures ,alignment and tumors or masses. They give no information about discs,or other soft tissue in the spine.
Consulting a surgeon for a diagnosis and treatment options most often does not result in someone needing surgery, but it is the right specialist to help you figure out what's going on.