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Old 9th Sep 2009, 15:33
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Loose rivets
Psychophysiological entity
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
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The opinion of a pilot.

I would be very, very careful about having it pulled about by anybody - until you know what's causing the pain.

There is a reason, or mixture of reasons why you're feeling the pain in you leg. The nerves that leave the main spinal cord are very vulnerable to bulging discs, but also to general stenosis.

Typically, that nerve will need to move laterally in its duct some 3mm as you move, further in extreme cases. Anything stopping this movement can give rise to pain.

A good Osteopath or Chiropractor will often work miracles, but if the disc has herniated, then there are often fibrous fragments on the edges of the annular tear. The last thing you want is for these to be worked into your nerves. An expert will determine the difference before starting any kind of treatment...but I'd bet my bottom dollar that 99% of the people you'd find would launch into treatment with little or no investigative procedures.

Sitting gives the highest intervertibral disc pressures - not counting things like lifting of course. Add to this the routine moving to reach for flightdeck items - for hours on end - and you can see why flying is one of the worst jobs to have when suffering lower back problems.

Go to a specialist, and try to get an MRI set up so that it's available on his computer by the time you get there. It'll cost you, but believe me, lower back pain can be a life sentence.
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