Back pain on one side

[BlueMozart]

My husband, who has pmr, is now down to 6mg of pred and the pain is reasonably well-controlled. However, he has low back pain in a particular area on one side which makes standing and walking difficult and painful. The consultant says the back pain isn't pmr as it is only on one side. Is that correct?

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

PMR itself is usually bilateral, but that doesn’t mean the pain isn’t related to it.

Many suffer from bursitis or myofascial pain as well as PMR or could be sciatica. Think your husband needs to chat to GP about this if consultant isn’t offering any advice.

this link might give some clue -and plenty of advice online, but firstly you need to know exactly what it is to be able to treat it

nhs.uk/conditions/back-pain/

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to DorsetLady]

Link?????

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRpro]

oops, ta… one eye on the Rugby….

[LabradorH]

I am experiencing similar back pain on one side and am on the same 6mg prednisone dosage. My doctor and I have decided to try physiotherapy for the back pain, following success with physiotherapy for PMR associated shoulder pain. I feel better after a few days. It involves a lot of patient ‘work’ but it’s constructive to try, then review after a month or two.

[Seacat30]

He hasn't got scoliosis has he? I discovered that I did when being assessed for PMR. I wonder whether that is why I have asymmetrical symptoms?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Seacat30]

A scoliosis can contribute to myofascial pain problems being lop-sided - MPS can be part of PMR and the scoliosis puts strain on the back muscles.

[Whitner in reply to Seacat30]

oh that’s right! I have slight scoliosis and have recently been having low back pain. X-rays showed nothing new and massage is very helpful!

[piglette]

I find if painkillers help the pain it is unlikely to be PMR, as only steroids really make any impression on PMR.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Not directly due to the PMR but myofascial pain syndrome can be part of PMR and can lead to problems in the back muscles which aggravate sacroiliitis (inflammation of the SI joint in the pelvis). However - if he is using that as an excuse to claim it isn't his job - poor medicine on his part. My rheumy deals with it because it is a component of my clinical picture.

jrheum.org/content/jrheum/4...

Where is it? Over where the baby's dimples are - not central over the spine?

[BlueMozart in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for your replies! My husband will be seeing his NHS physio in a couple of weeks and she has been willing to help with all his aches and pains, not just the actual pmr ones. Hopefully she will be able to give him appropriate exercises for his back pain.

[Ligaamisgefok]

I too had lower back pain on one side whilst on 7mg of Prednisone. As I have suffered from back pain at various stages of my adult life, I just tried to treat it as I normally would e.g. Ibuprofen, hot water bottle. After a few days of no improvement I came to the realization that I had possibly been tapering too quickly. I upped my dose to 12mg/day and within a couple of days the backache was gone.

I am now useing the slow taper method, but only in small steps of a 1/2mg.