Severe Ongoing Constant Back and Leg Pain
Mr S is a 30 year old gentleman who had multiple unsuccessful treatments including 2 injections and L3/4 discectomy (removal of herniated disc) 6 months before coming to us. He had to hold onto furniture when walking, relying on his family for driving, and was even unable to lie flat in bed for sleep. Despite strong pain medication, he had severe constant pain and it took him 2 minutes to stand up from sitting.
On examination, Mr S had only 5 degrees of movements in all directions with sudden shooting pain. He also had very limited Straight Leg Raise (SLR) test at 30 degrees, indicating significant compression to his lumbar disc and nerve roots. He was constantly sweaty because of pain and he lost a lot of hair on his leg since he developed the condition, indicating significant dysfunction of his autonomic nerve system.
Treatment included gentle but very precise acupressure on several strategic points not only in his lumbar area but also along the entire spine and legs. Whenever a pressure was applied on the strategic points his movements improved significantly despite the soreness from the pressure.
The photos showed the difference in his body response at the earlier (the 4th) and the later (the 8th) sessions. In the earlier session, Mr. S developed significant redness along his spine from the treatment. As the condition improved, he had much less redness from the treatment. He also stopped sweating constantly and even his leg hair started to grow back, indicating improvement in the health of his autonomic nervous system.
Mr S continued to show improvement in pain and function. Below is a brief summary
After 1 week, random shooting pain in the leg stopped
After 3 weeks, able to walk 100m with ease
After 4 weeks, SLR improved to 45 degrees both sides
After 2 months, able to walk 400m with ease
After 3 months, able to travel overseas for 3 weeks
After 4 months, able to walk 1km
In conclusion, Mr S showed significant improvement to his severe back and leg pain following the holistic treatment covering the key acupressure points through the entire body. It is possible for disc and nerve related pain of lumbar spine to recover without surgery. Patients with back and leg pain are advised to seek conservative management before resorting to surgery.
