Crohns and Back Issues

[northerngurl]

Just wondering if anyone has found that back problems may have something to do with their CD? I have always had a sore back and have frequented the Chiroprator for many years. I know that nerves running all aroung the body are entwined in the spine and just thought maybe if one of these was pinched it could be causing all these problems. Just wondering if anyone has thought about this or sought Crohn's treatment with a Chiro?

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I haven't been to a chiropractor, but I do get regular massages as I frequently have lower back pain. I did pinch a nerve in my back last year as well. I've had back pain issues for years, well before I got ill with this gut illness (I'm still undiagnosed), so I don't know if the two are related or not. But I definitely do have more back pain when I'm flaring, so they probably are connected in some way.

 

[ruth]

I too have back pain but I've been told that mine is muscular and not skelatal.......mine seems to move up and down my back but its definately worse around the shoulder blade area.

Ruth

 

[Crohnadian]

I get back pain like crazy all the time especially when I'm in a flare. I visit the chiropractor regularly but I find Tai Chi helps the most in conjunction with both chiropractic care and regular massages. Tai Chi is a daily practice that helps stretch and strengthen your body, but I can tell you as someone who's been in bed for weeks due simply to the back pain and not even the abdominal pain of the disease in certain cases, it has helped me. I really need to get back into it though. I stopped when I got sick and ended up in the hospital. You must find the right teacher to work with you and I highly recommend private lessons as opposed to groups.
The intestines are attached to a sac which is attached to the back. When the bowels are inflamed, it only makes sense that they would pull down on said sac and cause a strain on the back. It's called the mesentery I believe.

 

[Crohnadian]

Oh an PS: I've been told my back pain is in my head, I've been told my back pain is 'not really that bad', I've been told my back pain stems from my back and I've been told it's my disease that' causing it. All from different practitioners and specialists. The reason I suggest Tai Chi is because being a form of eastern medicine, it doesn't 'patch up' the problem so to speak with a quick adjustment (chiropractor) or a pain pill (GI or GP), but it goes to the root of the problem. The only way I got any relief from my back pain was by no longer listening to anybody else's opinion about it and taking it completely into my own hands.

 

[Jennifer]

Yes I've been to a chiropractor before and yes back pain and Crohns are related. Whenever there's strain on your abdominal muscles it strains your back muscles as well and vise verse. If seeing a chiropractor helps you then do continue or as Crohnadian suggested there are other ways to manage your back pain. Do what works best for you.

 

[Crohn's 35]

I have had both chiro and massage therapy, and I will never get the massage again. She was amazing but when she did my lower back my CD went so haywire and even though I drank alot of water, apparently they move muscles that release lactic acids and in high volumes cause havoc to my crohns. Light therapy is fine but moving muscles and such.... could hurt more than feeling better. Just a to let you know.

 

[sjw]

I was diagnosed with sacroiliitis, or inflammation of my sacroiliac joints, and I was told by the rheumatologists that it was related to my ulcerative colitis. I saw a chiropractor and went to physical therapy to help with the pain. Pain killers really didn't help all that much. I am pain free most days now and I saw the biggest improvement once I started stretching regularly with the advice of the physical therapists.

As a side note the rheumatologists prescribed Humira as the only cure for the back pain but my GI doctors recommended starting on Imuran first and my back pain went away just before starting it.

 

[kenny]

It was explained to me that our guts are not just floating around all loose. There is a filamentous material that runs from our intestines to the abdominal wall (carrying blood veins, nerve bundles etc) and holding our intestines in position. Some of that is strongly linked to the lower back and seems to transmit the pain and discomfort of the colon/ilium to the sacroiliac filaments. Those are big tissues that help anchor our upper body to the pelvis.

It came up when I asked my surgeon why it seemed they do resections is standardized sections. I was told that they have to remove parts that share a common blood vessel and that is how these blood vessels attach to our intestines. Otherwise parts would die from interrupted blood supply.

I really feel this when I have a bad go of D from this ongoing bile dumping due to eating something too yummy

 

[outlier]

I have something called ankylosing spondylitis, it's a form of arthritis from my crohn's. My which causes ribs and spin hurts. You might want to talk to a rheumatologists. PT and meds help. chiropractor and message therapy actually made things worse because all the touching of the inflamed joints caused more inflammation.

 

[Lucy]

Never seen a chiro, but if crhon's can cause inflammation in eyes, arms, hands, legs, etc. I'm sure you can have inflammation in the back area too. Just a thought.

 

[semicolon306]

I am sort of different since I had a J pouch with back pain. They thought the pain was due to so much scar tissue, from my past surgeries. I was always having back stiffness and sciatic nerve pain and would just go to a chiropractor. Then I started tracking when I had the issues. I found that mine was after I had a slowly or temp blockage the pain would follow. They did an MRI and found the the j pouch connected itself to the spine and the pouch had produced a fistula that went into my spinal cord. After many doctors and test the took it all out. Since the surgery NO back pain at all or stiffness, so was worth losing the J pouch, also saved my life.

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

I too have Ankylosing Spondylitis, and suspect the initial symptoms first appeared concurrent to my Crohn's diagnosis 20 years ago. Many years i was misdiagnosed with sciatica, and in retrospect I am suffering for it today.

I still have a great deal of mobility issues, as the pain is primarily centered in the sacroiliac joints, and to a lesser extent in the neck area with fused vertebrae.

It's worth bringing up with your doctor.

 

[girlygirl]

Hiya,
I am too having some back pain today (Lower Right Side). I was worried mine might be my kidneys or some other internal organ. It's not too terrible just yet but there is definatly something going on in there.