Back pain can be extremely tormenting and life-changing. Thyagi Thyagarajan, 71, recounts how he has fainted at airports, stopped his favourite sport tennis, and endured excruciating lower back pain for 10 years before he agreed to a surgery. He shares some lessons that help him maintain a pain-free back.
It was 2006. I was returning from Vancouver to Singapore via Seoul. When I had to disembark in Seoul I found I couldn’t get out of my seat due to severe back spasm. I requested to stay on board and asked the stewardess for Panadol, a painkiller, hoping I would be okay when I landed in Singapore. This was my first experience of back pain and I felt this must be “one off”. When I landed in Singapore, I found myself striding down the terminal without any problem. No pain, no loss of speed and back to normal!
To reassure myself I consulted my GP the next day. After having a chat he suggested I have an MRI of the lower back done. The results showed a degenerative disc condition focused around L4/ L5 and S1. My GP recommended that I rest for a few days and go easy on my tennis and gym workouts asking me to revert back to him if I experienced back pain again.
Did Acupuncture Help?
Despite working for the pharmaceutical industry, I was keen to manage any potential back issues without resorting to allopathic painkillers and getting habituated to them. So, at the recommendation of my colleague in Korea, I consulted the top acupuncture specialist there who was reputed for his expertise in treating spinal issues. Under his treatment, I found great relief and was pain free for several years. This enabled me to continue with my business travels which were an essential part of my job. What was more satisfying was the fact that I continued to play tennis and exercise at the gym. Keeping fit was an important part of my personality.
Recurrent and Worsening Pain
Just when I thought, I had everything under control, my back issue resurfaced in a dramatic manner in 2012/2013. Again while traveling back from San Francisco, after a family wedding and a business trip, having checked in at the airport, I sat down for a cup of coffee. I experienced a very severe attack of sciatica out of nowhere! The pain started at the hip, radiating through my thigh, my calf, right down to my ankle and toes. It was pain like I have never experienced before. A friend of mine, who had suffered from sciatica before, gave me a few powerful painkiller tablets to take it on the flight in case my back played up on the flight to enable me to get to Singapore in one piece!
As it turned out, the opioid like painkillers did their job and I had a pain free flight. However, after I got home I started experiencing some of the side effects of the painkillers— one was extreme constipation and the other being mood swings, both of which I were painful and disturbing. My GP asked me to stop the opioid painkillers immediately and suggested complete bed rest for a few weeks. The situation was fairly serious and I had to get another MRI done. This revealed my back condition had deteriorated and the diagnosis was spinal stenosis which in lay terms meant the gap between two vertebrae had narrowed a great deal and were pressing on the nerves causing sciatic pain.
I was reluctant to consult an orthopedic surgeon as for me surgery was the last resort. Many of my well-wishers asked me to avoid surgery at all costs. I continued to manage my back pain taking milder painkillers and practicing yoga as well.
I had, by now, developed a high threshold for pain and continued to travel as before, reducing my other physical activities.
Pain Free For The First Time
In April 2016, I collapsed at the airport, while on my way to celebrating my 70th birthday. I had to resort to using a wheelchair as I couldn’t walk. This was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”! A visit to the orthopedic surgeon was inevitable. After a second consultation, I decided to go in for surgery as further delay would damage my nerves which were evidenced by numbness in the toe region. The surgeon performed a decompression laminectomy on L4/L5 and S1. This meant shaving of some ligament and bone to increase the gap between the vertebrae and allow the nerves to exit freely. Fusion of the vertebrae was not an option in my case given my age and the fact that it would lead to fusion of the other vertebrae in due course.
I felt the impact of the surgery immediately as I was pain free for the first time in ten years!
I underwent intense rehab which included gym and Pilates to strengthen my core and other muscles.
I accidentally discovered “The Gokhale Method” a few months after surgery. This method focuses on posture correction, incorporating steps in one’s daily activity. Details of this methodology can be found in the book by Esther Gokhale called “8 Steps to a Pain-free Back”. This is helping me to correct my posture and helps me be pain free. Early morning stiffness of the back is an issue! Having said this, I am reminded that this is par for the course as one ages.
Lessons From Dealing with a Degenerative Back
The last ten years of dealing with pain caused by a degenerative back has taught me a lot of lessons:
- Ayurveda, acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may all be viable options provided you have faith in them. For me they proved palliative.
- Don’t give in to pain easily— this will help develop a higher pain threshold.
- Keeping physically active is important.
- Confront reality. If situation indicates that surgery is the best option don’t be afraid to opt for it.
- Slowing down is not necessarily a bad thing as one ages.
- Make the most of what life has to offer — there is still a lot of exciting things to look forward to!
I still aspire to be on the tennis court one of these days!!
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