Slipped Disc. Can I lose my medical because of it?

[330airbus]

Firstly, I apologize for posting on this section, however it does seem to be the busiest, and I figured i'd get the most responses from people that have gone through the same thing maybe.

Having been a weight lifter and an athlete for the past 6 years, I believe I have really strained my back recently.
Woke up 2 weeks ago with discomfort in my lower back. Though the pain does not extend to my legs like it usually does with a slipped disc, I believe there is always a chance.

I should be seeing a Doctor next week, but am just wondering as I am getting very worried about this.
In the case that it IS infact a slipped disc, could I lose my license?
Is this something that cannot be fixed?
Is there someone going through the same problem?

[rsuggitt]

When it happened to me I was declared 'temporarily unfit' . Had to wait ill the AMEs would pass me fit again.

[homonculus]

Sudden onset lower back pain needs an MRI for diagnosis. Early diagnosis and treatment massively increases the proportion of sufferes who get back to work. Treatment varies and there is little evidence one route is better than another so I would recommend you demand to be seen by a consultant who only does backs - a spinal surgeon - not an orthopaedic surgeon or other generalist, and do as he says!

If you have difficulty passing urine or defaecating you need to see someonec immediately, if not then within 'days'

This is very common and although not everyone remains pain free for life, it is unusual for it to effect the ability to work if you are treated promptly. In my experience regulators are little interested provided you do not lose power in your legs. Pain may prevent you flying but that is another issue

good luck

[lbfjrmd]

it is not the pain or the pathology medically that will be a problem. if treatment is required you will have to be off all rx medications to resume flying.

[homonculus]

I am not an AME but this is not correct. I have a number of pilots on all sorts of medications for spinal pathology who are flying. One today in fact.

NSAIDs and simple analgesics do not stop you flying. Gabapentin does - there is a thread about this. An operative procedure will ground you temporarily.

[gingernut]

With a 2 week history of low back pain, I'd be careful not to medicalise things too much at this stage.

It'd be worth seeing your GP, and ask him to listen to your symptoms carefully. He may decide that a strategy of "watchful waiting" may suffice at this stage.

[lbfjrmd]

i should have said 'any scheduled medications (opiates etc) and any medication not approved by the FAA' thanks

[Loose rivets]

MRI, MRI and MRI. It's a miracle tool, and should be used when so much is at stake.

There is a procedure of diagnostic probing and questions. It is based on a very logical sequence and has been improved over the last hundred years or more. Sorry, name eludes me for the moment, but your GP will know it. It's far more searching than you'd think possible.

Discs do not slip. They herniate, or become damaged in one way or another, but slithering out of their resting place is not what they do.


The telemetry from that mess of spasm-locked parts causes corrupt data, and the corrective signals in turn cause more supportive spasm and chaos. Did I mention the pain? The power going into the supportive signal is enough to knock the breath the strongest patient. So, the first thing they have to do is release the spasm. Things won't budge until the spine is unloaded. (that's what the knee up, on the edge of a firm bed and twisting force is all about.)


It is astonishingly easy for the facet joints to travel past a safe point and get jammed edge on, or even possibly with their own encapsulation material - so that moving back into place is not possible. This is perhaps the one that Physiotherapists like the most, cos they can make a huge improvement in five minutes of manipulation. The problem is, when to launch into that pummeling. I am very critical of the way in which some 'Doctors' in the UK. (qualified in various US 'universities' ) simply launch into procedures without ANY tests.

Proper diagnosis is vital, but the temptation to be almost perfect in a moment, after being in agony for a protracted period of time, is strong motivation to take a chance.


Edit for allude v eludes Still can't remember it though. :ugh:

[Pace]

I am not a medically qualified person but had a lot of back problems in my late 20s early 30s due to be shoved through the side of a single seater race car after being T boned by another car doing 100 mph.

Frankly my best advice to you is do nothing medically. Get fit! Loose weight and get mobile.

Walking is great as are exercises which make you more supple.

A great exercise is to lie flat on your stomach pushing your pelvis into the floor then arching your back up with your arms.

The only guy I know who had an operation ended up as bad as before so avoid that route unless your half dead.

In my 40s i went back into rowing. Skulling in particular is wonderful as it stretches your whole spine and muscles. After rowing which at one point in my 50s I was rowing 25 miles a week my back had never been better.
So my un medical advice is keep mobile as far as you can and as you get better exercise more and more.

Forget the painkillers and all the other mumbo jumbo as well as osteopaths who will click you here and there charge a fortune and after 3 months when you would have got better anyway claim it was their treatment that cured you!!! Until the next time!

At one point the whole of the back of my foot went numb and I could not stand on tip toe with the one foot! I was told to live with it as it was unlikely to improve. Scan said impact bruising to the spinal chord.

Climbing hills 3 times a week dispelled that theory as all the feeling came back and no probs since.

Get the Gist????

Pace

[homonculus]

Sure Pace if you have mild pain with muscular spasm then graduated exercises are fine. that is what a good spinal surgeon will prescribe. The problem is that if this doesn't work and you leave it your chances of getting back to paid employment let alone flying is 30%

An MRI is merely a diagnostic tool that helps us decide which route to take.

The facts are clear: in parts of Germany where an MRI is always undertaken within 5 days of onset 70% of patients are back at work in two months. In the uk where MRI is effectively rationed the figure is 30%. Most pilots have one objective: to get back to work.

[Loose rivets]

There are many terms to describe spinal disorders, and healthcare practitioners often use terms differently. For example, the same spinal disc abnormality might be described as a herniated disc, pinched nerve, bulging disc, protruding disc, slipped disc, or prolapsed disc. There is no agreement in the medical field as to the precise definition of any of these terms. Often the patient hears his or her diagnosis referred to in different terms by various health professionals and wonders what the real diagnosis is.


From Spine Health site. You see why it is often hard to interpret what your specialists are telling you.

This is heading in the right direction.


diagnosis of low back pain including exam and diagnostics tests (http://www.lowback-pain.com/diagnosis.htm)

[Pace]

Homonculus

Paralysed cyclist is 'cured' by bike crash and now has Olympic hope | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2065790/Paralysed-cyclist-cured-bike-crash-Olympic-hope.html)

I have added the above link to show how little is understood while you talk of mild back pain mine was diagnosed as impact bruising to the spinal chord and I was told that I would have to live with dragging my foot.

I know a farmer well who had an operation for back problems and after all that has ended up the same and he states worse than before.
I was glad I took my own route and that was over 20 years ago.

Pace

[Herod]

My two-pence worth, having suffered. I'd gone through my 20s and 30s always having back pain at the beginning of spring, when the first digging of the garden started. At age 31 I was tested for disc problems and fitted with a ghastly corset "for life". Well, I used to put it on when the pain was bad, and it felt better an hour later just to take it off!. At 44 I finally did some serious damage in the gym, and went off sick. The CAA rule by the way (unless it has changed) is that if you are sick longer than 28 days they will temporarily suspend your medical certificate. My consultant did all the usual tests and found a prolapsed L4/5 disc. He took the offending bit out and it worked a miracle cure. I was off for a few weeks because I couldn't fully straighten my leg (scar tissue?), but was soon back flying again. Now, over twenty years later, I'm happily retired and running half marathons, with no sign of any back pain. Two points: see a specialist and take his advice, and don't worry about the CAA Medical Branch; they're keen to get you flying again. Good luck.