Question: my daughter is 14. she was working out to improve her ab muscles in early XXXXXXX and next day had terrible low back pain. this slowly resolved over the next week, and she returned to horseback riding (the reason she had been working out) for 2 or 3 more lessons before the end of XXXXXXX In July, she complained her knees and hips were sore, and then again had terrible low back pain. we were told it was probably sciatica and to see a physio. we did this, and the few exercises provided seemed to help a little. we traveled a fair bit over the summer and it got to the point where she could not sit for more than about 20 to 30 minutes before needing to get up and walk around or lie down. Pain radiated from low back down both legs during this time. She also re-flared a should injury from more than a year ago (a horse slammed into her in a stall) by trying to lift herself into our SUV without using her back muscles which were tight and painful. In early August, xrays were done and painkiller/muscle relaxant pills were prescribed. In late August, we went to the pediatrician. He wanted my daughter to climb up on a very high exam table. She said she couldn't do it. He got a step stool and she still refused b/c it would hurt her back. He said, 'come on, just do it' and then left the room for a minute to grab something. On his return, he found her on the exam table but she had used the stool as well as a chair to create two steps to allow herself to comply with his request. He got mad and told her that was not the way to do it, forced her to get off the table without the chair and made her get back on the table twice using just the step stool. She complied very slowly. The pediatrician told me he didn't think there was anything seriously wrong with her, but wondered about her mental health. I was annoyed but explained that she was fine, just frustrated with this ongoing back problem. (she has some anxiety issues, but this was definitely NOT an anxiety based problem). Before the appointment, she was able to be up for about 2 hours at a time before lying down. After the appointment, she was only able to be up for about 20 minutes at a time and was experiencing more pain. In mid September, an MRI was done of her low back b/c she was leaking urine periodically. The pediatrician said the results showed a bulging disk at L5/S1, but that it could not possibly be responsible for all the symptoms my daughter was experiencing. He again questioned me about her mental health. At this point, I was very frustrated b/c he couldn't seem to look beyond her anxiety issues, which were only ever secondary to the situation. we live in a small town, and the nearest center with more specialists is 3 hours away.
We have been to the chiropractor and a physiotherapist. Only minimal progress has been made, She is now experiencing numbness on her right side, continues to have periodic urine leakage and has only recently gotten to the point where she can be up again for about an hour at a time once a day (she lies down for about 1.5 hrs at at time, and then is otherwise up for about 30 minute intervals). She is unable to stop moving when she is upright; she had a wider stance in late Aug/early Sept which has recently become more narrow and her pace of stepping while upright has finally slowed a little. She is not able to completely open or close her right hand without a sharp shooting pain that goes up to her shoulder. She has great difficulty going down stairs (puts one foot, and then the other next to it, on each step). She is 'faster' going up the stairs but uses the same strategy to complete the task. The last week or so, she has been experiencing cold and tingly feelings in her upper back, primarily at night when she goes to bed. She is very frightened by this, and both of us are exhausted from dealing with this thing which has taken over our lives. I think she probably needs an MRI of her upper back/shoulder b/c these are neurological symptoms, are they not? There is a neurologist in our town, but he will not see her b/c an MRI has already been done and he believes the pediatrician is correct (ie, this is all just in her head somehow). I work full time and am a single parent. I just need to know if it is worth putting my daughter through the stress and discomfort of attempting a 3 hour trip in order to get another MRI.