Hi Jaquie , the hot / cold towel is the exact same way I used it on the horses ! Or sometimes 20 mins of cold hosing , followed by 20 mins of hot towel ( water in a bucket as hot as you could handle , soak the towel , wring it out then hold on the horse's leg until it cooled down , then repeat. ) Doing that several times a day worked wonders for healing the horse's injury. I've got 2 gel hot / cold packs. All I'd need to do is heat one up ( they're both in the freezer just now), either in the microwave or in a bowl of hot water. Being a bit of a chicken , I'll try it later .
Dawn , thanks . I phoned Bupa and Alliance Medical this morning. Bupa is £495 for 1 scan. If they need to take 2 , it's over £800 . Alliance Medical have mobile scanners and charge £485. They didn't mention anything about 2nd scans or anything. I phoned my work this morning to talk about what the Occupational Health Adviser said on Friday. My Staff resourcing manager told me that Royal Mail have paid for private MRI scans for staff in the past . They have a conference on Thursday so I will find out after that if they are going to pay for mine , fingers crossed. Other than that , I'm just taking things easy , doing the stretch exercises my chiropracter has given me , and not walking too far with Missy. She's cool with that as we do a lot of mental stimulation exercises in the house. I've got a canine I.Q. test to try with her. The only thing I'm worried about with the MRI , is that Bupa told me they inject dye into you to show things better on the scan . Makes me cringe at the thought of getting a needle in my spine . I'll need to enlist the help of an army to hold me down for that .

They only inject stuff into the spine on occasions, not every time, they didnt with me. Hope they rule in your favour on Thursday.

Thanks Dawn .

my doctor says that he is 99% that i will need a microdicectomy, he isnt even waiting for the scan results he has already made an urgent referal to the specialist in edinburgh,ill still let u know how i get on on thursday

Well , I tried the hot & cold earlier and it's not a good idea . I put my ice pack on for 20 minutes , then a hot one for 10 minutes. The heat gave relief while it was in place but now the pain is worse . Never mind , my next dose of painkillers is due in 15 minutes. I'll go put some Biofreeze gel on just now as that will take some of the pain away.

ive got my scan on thursday then the doc wants to see me on friday, the thing is my boss has let me have last week and this week as a holiday but i know the doc is going to tell me he wants me to go on the sick until my apointment with the back specialist thing is im right worried about the financial side, i have a rented house and a 11 month old daughter, my partner doesnt work as she looks after our daughter so i am the bread winner, im not sure if i can afford to be on the sick so im tempted just to take the pain and soldier on at work(im a joiner/glazier) i actualy got ready this morning after been stuck in bed for the last week and went for a walk down the street, i got 200 metres and had to turn around because the pain was too bad but i dont think i have a choice if the doc tries to sign me off ill have to refuse and just try working the best i can.
has any one had this experience or know if id get any help as 79 pound a week sick pay wouldnt be enough to support my family

I'm so sorry you are suffering so terribly. Go on the Lifescan Website, they have different types of scans (private) for different areas of the body, it might be worth you saving up for one of these, I'm going to get one myself.

I've been suffering since Christmas just like you, but the left buttock,leg and hip, and sometimes, again like you, it's such a sharp searing pain, quite unbearable, and othertimes it's just a strong aching. Lying in bed is a nightmare too, and every time I get up in the morning, there it is, same old pain. I don't take anything for it (coz I'm like that, I don't like pills!) but I do slap on a Neurofen patch on my bum overnight, trouble is they're never big enough to cover the whole area I need!

Try that website for Lifescan, they're very, very good and can possibly put an end to all your suffering if you can manage to have one. Whatever your problem, the NHS will do the work for you, so you won't have to fork out privately for that at least, but the trouble will be the time factor once again, all that waiting.

I'm so sorry, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm suffering the same thing. I've already got the vertigo that Phil has, that was diagnosed in Hospital 4 years ago when I couldn't stand up without falling over! That is another nightmare too when it rears it's ugly head, but thankfully, I've only had one bad episode of that in the past 2 years, so it's looking good on that front at least! Always something isn't it, but I just put it down to getting older, I think we've got to expect these things if we've abused our bodies like I have with all my horse riding etc. lifting all the heavy bales of hay and shavings, it has certainly damaged my back. I've also got the worn discs in the lumbar region too as I've had x-rays (private )and also my coxic coz every time I fell off that darn horse, I always landed on that coxic!! (sp? probably wrong!)

I hope things improve for you, but please visit that website, I hope they can help you.

Oh Suzanne, I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time of it..

I've never had that but I do have an idea of what you're going through as when I was on morphine and methadone they would knock me out and make me sick, too.

If you need a chat - you know where I am. Keep your chin up - it's a bloody long time to go through this but hopefully it won't be too much longer xx

Good luck with your scan Neil , I hope it isn't anything too bad. I really think if your doc tells you to take time off , then you should. I know it will be difficult money wise , but could your partner get a job ? Even a temporary job just to allow you to take time off to recover. It's really not a good idea to just keep going and put up with the pain. That's what I did ! In pain since April , I just kept going. The pain became so unbearable by November that I couldn't do anything at all without being in pain. It's physical work you do as a joiner/glazier , and one day while you are at work , the pain will hit you like a steam train. What if that happens when you are up a ladder , or on a roof doing Velux windows ? What happens then if the pain causes you to have an accident at work ? You won't have the choice then whether you stay off or not. You could even be killed ! I'm lucky with my work at Royal Mail as first , they pay full wages for the first six months. Second , they can give me alternative work to do , sorting letters instead of the heavier work I normally do. They can also shorten my hours to what I can manage , again , still on full pay. As you are the breadwinner and your family rely on you so much , you really need to recover by taking time off and getting the right treatment. If you carry on working now , 6 months or a year down the line you could be in the position you can never work again. Where about in the Borders are you ? My chiropracter lives in Melrose. He is the chiropracter for Melrose Rugby team. I could give you his number if you like. I'm not having a go at you or anything , you just need to think about your longer term health as being more important than having a few weeks off work.

had my scan today, the mri scanner is small mind, i barely fitted in it lol, they couldnt give me no indication of whats going on or not they say the doc will know within 5 days and go from there, still havent heard from the specialist in edinburgh yet either, im in 2 minds to go back to work on monday and just take it easy as im feeling a bit better now, i still get the pains from my back to my foot, stronger in my foot now(like its been hit with a hammer) but other times it feels fine next to no pain at all but im not sure if thats cos im taking 24 pills a day, maybe i shouldnt take no pills at all for a day and see how it is, not sure my heads in bits not knowing what to do and whats the best for my family