IrishSceptic

An amateur Irish (former) athlete 25yrs old
had shin splints late 2004 during a period of non stop sport.
obtained orthotics and saw some mild relief but still had residual tightness in the soleus muscle of calves in spite of excellent flexibility.
2006- developed lower back tightness and some hamstring issues, again despite excellent flexibility(able to place palm of hands on ground whilst bending over).
Diagnoses: June Lower spinal MRI, degenerative changes and schmorls nodes at various junctions. diagnosis. not really serious but should be cautious
Health Professionals visited :
2008 - Rheumatologist noted no big problems and to continue exercise.
GP recommended cycling or lower impact activity to avoid 'further damage'.
Summer 2008, spent 6 weeks in Africa on volunteer trip. pain always there but not significantly interfering with life.
Early 2009- significant pain and avoidance of physical activity in order to prevent 'further damage'
2009 - involved in car accident in which I knocked over a pedestrian luckily only causing minor injuries.
2010 - cycled and swam, pain constant whilst completing an internship in medical device sector.

2011- graduated Engineering began thinking about finally getting my back sorted. I had assumed it would get better if I put some real effort into pilates
early 2012 - began job that involved auditing ISO procedures.
mid 2012 - developed benign heart condition due to anxiety over work&pain combined.
2012-Dec laid off
2013 -began morphine patch desperately seeking solutions to pain, sleep affected and general quality of life plummeted.
Made a vow to find a solution within a year as this situation was incredibly demoralising and made the future look frightening.
looked at all possible causes and was completely focussed on the structural. I assessed each treatment based on studies done or anecdotal evidence.

Summary of treatments tried: Used an inversion table, gravity boots to give my discs some breathing space. Massage, heat, ice, Epsom salt baths, Magnesium flakes, tablespoon Turmeric daily, vitamins D3, C, Zinc,Magnesium,Raw garlic cloves, Omega 3 oil, DeepHeat cream, capsaican cream, 6 months pilates/yoga, accupuncture, cupping, butrans morphine patches(like Fentanyl), CBT, meditation, Posture alignment (Esther Gokhale), month of Egoscue, foam rolling, TENS,

treatments denied/turned down because I wasn't convinced: Alexander technique,Rolfing, MELT method(fancy money making version of foam rolling), Hammock for sleep,

treatments I wanted to try but couldnt afford or get round to trying yet: Hyperbaric oxygen(considered building my own chamber), float therapy(wanted to build again as v.expensive), Muscle activation technique as used by Peyton Manning, Prolotherapy(only available in US)
Tim Ferris has a book called 4 hour body. he summarises a heap of treatments and assessed each individually. If you are skeptical of Sarno, go look at Tims chapter in his book as it breaks everything down really well.

March 2014 - pain specialist told me to expect pain for rest of my life and I would know real pain when I got married. (sic)