So, I have been dealing with a back injury for 5 years. I have a herniated disk that is pinching a nerve in my left leg causing severe pain. I have had 2 surgeries which have relieved the pain for a little amount of time. My last surgery was in May and the pain was gone for about 6 months. It returned in October and has gottenincreasingly worse. I am now unable to get out of bed for more than 5 minutes without being in excrutiating pain. Does anyone have any ideas of exercises that I could do from bed. I dont want my muscles to weaken. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow, so hopefully he will be able to tell me what is going on. Most likely I will need a third surgery.

You might want to talk to your doctor about whether your insurance covers some physical therapy, because a physical therapist would have the best understanding of what you could do that wouldn't risk making the problem worse.

Another thing to ask about is warm wather therapy pools that might be in your area - or warm water arthritis exercise programs. It may be a while before you can manage getting to the water, but when you are able to, it can provide tremendous relief, and build the muscles that can make the back stronger. When I herniated a disk, it felt like someone had poured gasoline down my lower back, hip, leg and ankle and then set it on fire. Even a fairly substantial dose of vicoden barely numbed the sensation. I had to return to work after six weeks, and to accomplish it, I discovered that being in warm water helped (the YMCA I went to kept the water crazy warm in the mornings for the arthritis exercise class. Some days it was almost like bathwater). At first all I could do was tread water (and even then, too quick an arm movement would send jolts of pain down the leg), but the relief from gravity was so awesome that I was going to the pool three times a day. Before work, at lunch, and after work. I was a probation officer and joked to my boss that if they found a way to waterproof the files, I would spend all day in the pool and see my probationees poolside - and I'd really be set if I could find a way to sleep in the water without drowning.

One thing to consider, though - my husband and I both go to a local warm water therapy pool, and my husband's doctor recommended that my husband not spend much more than an hour in the water, 90 minutes about tops, because of a possible rebound effect. The water sometimes relieves pain so much that you do want to stay in the water forever - but too much time in the pool (especially a warm water pool) can make the return to normal gravity on land feel that much worse.

I'm sorry I have no advice, I've suffered back pain off and on since a high school injury. So I know what you are going through sort of, I've been bedridden twice because of it and it was horrible. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and I hope that it heals quickly and you find some exercises that work and find out what is going on.

No advice either, you really need that from a doctor or PT. Lots of hugs though, and good wishes.

I haven't posted in ages, but I had to come out of lurk mode and offer you some encouragement.

Is there any way you could go to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore? Dr. Khaled Kebaish is a lifesaver...Totally changed our lives.

My husband Howie herniated a disc and had a level 2 fusion at L4-L5 done in Columbus in 1996. Flash forward ten years and he was in debilitating pain. Now, he also had scoliosis as well as kyphosis (hunchback). The fusion surgery changed the foundation for all the spine above it, so those conditions worsened progressively through the years. In 2005, he was in so much pain he went again to the local surgeon, who said he needed another level 2 fusion.

Long story short, someone we'd never met contacted us and enabled us to travel to Baltimore so he could see Dr. Kebaish for a second opinion. For the long version, go to my husband's blog at http://thehman.com and look in the back surgery category over on the sidebar.

Dr. Kebaish said if Howie was to have the surgery suggested by the Columbus doctor, he'd be right back in Baltimore in a couple of years because the curvature would continue. He needed to have the whole spine straightened and put back in alignment and the correct curve.

In January 2006, Dr. Kebaish did just that, and Howie can now walk for miles. Before his surgery, he could only walk maybe 30' before he'd have to lean over on something and rest. He was in constant, debilitating pain before.

Do yourself a favor and give them a try. It might be life-changing for you! Here is Dr. Kebaish's info: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/refer...hysicianID=781

My mom has Degenerative Disk Disease. One of her Nerves was also pinched They did this new non invasive surgery where they take an sonograph of your back to see where the nerves are and they shoot some sort of medicine into the nerve that actually kills it so you don't have the pain anymore. She was on methadone which is a very strong pain killer and was taking 6 a day before the surgery. and Now about 6 months later she is almost completely off the medicine. They did have to wean her considering this is a very powerful drug. It's pretty new thing they are doing not all insurance's cover it but I know it has helped my mom a lot. Eventually the nerve does grow back and pain can persist but you can get it again. Sometimes surgery just doesn't help. My mom had open back surgery where they open it up and went completely in her back to fix the disk and it just still slipped so this was the best thing for her. Hope you get better I know from living with my mom, back problems are no fun!

Good Luck

Kayla