Question
I injured my back in Nov. I am a nurse and a pt grabbed onto my shoulders and I twisted in a downward fashion towards the left and tried to lift him back up and failed to. Dr. said have a left side sprain. MRI came back negative. It is now Feb. and still dealing with a lot of pain. I have done chriopractor, accupuncture, P.T., pain meds, nothing is helping! I am now waiting to see a pain clinic Dr. at the end of March. I did see someone who did active release on me . He said my muscles are BAD! It is painful in my neck, s.i.t.'s muscles, along the left side of the spine and wraps around my oblique and shoots down my left leg, both sciatica and hamstring pain. Do you have any suggestions for me to try? Or to go another route with? I am at a stand still and it's affected my whole way of life. I am a healthy , active woman. I am not back to work yet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Amanda,

Your pain picture seems odd, with a global region of pain (shoulder blade, oblique abdominals, left side lumbar, and down your leg?) that is not purely dermatomal and not purely sclerotomal.   Keep in mind that MRI is obtained in a supine position, with the spine and discs unloaded, and if you have any segmental instabiity, then it will not show on MR.  Do you find relief when laying down?  Do symptoms progress as you are weight-bearing during the day?  If so, then instabiity may be a factor, and this means that you must do stability exercises.  Your chiropractor should be familiar with these.  He can also check you with a prone instability test (google this).   If active release was helpful at all, then try a GT provider: www.grastontechnique.com.   There are components of your history that would be helpful for me to know:  when and were did you immediately feel pain?  What anatomic tissue is tender on you?  What body positions provoke or alleviate your pain?   Since you are a nurse, you can appreciate that I can only do so much to advise you with limited information.  

'Best,

Dr. G