[i]'ve never been to the ER with my back pain, but my daughter has. She herniated a disc years ago and, on a Saturday evening, she asked that I take her to the hospital because she was in so much pain. The nurse there treated her like a drug addict....."yeah, we have a lot of sore backs in here tonight" and told her to see her primary care doc on the following Monday. No help at all. On the flip side, I went several years ago because of severe leg pain. I'd developed a DVT after hip replacement and was scared that I had another. No clot, but the PA happily handed me a script for Vicodin.....7 or 10 of them. Can't remember.
I can understand an ER doc being hesitant to prescribe narcotics, particularly to patients who are already taking them and are under the care of a surgeon or pain management doc. That said, if a patient presents with out of control pain and is desperate for help, something needs done! Most ER trips are made in the middle of the night or a weekend but most docs can be reached by phone 24/7 as well...and the patient's doc and ER doc should discuss the situation and best course of action for the patient? Chronic pain is so mis-understood by the medical community. I'll never forget asking my first hip surgeon for something a little stronger to take prior to my first replacement and he said..."no, I'm gonna fix you....keep taking your Aleve!"
Of course, further diagnostic testing should be done if a patient feels their pain could be something other than back pain. It gets to the point that we can't tell any more...is it my back? something more serious? should I hang in there and wait to see if this pain eases? Seems to me most of us know our bodies and pain tolerance better than anyone and, if we show up in an emergency room, it's an emergency to us! Help!
Mark....so sorry about your thoracic issues and the crushing pain in your arm and chest. Has to be so scary for you. Assuming you've have a complete cardiology work-up? Speaking of ER's, I headed there 2 years ago with chest pain. Lucky me....because of my age (arrgggghhhh), they admitted me and put me thru all the tests. My old ticker is fine.
I digress. Not sure I helped with your specific question about spine pain taking me to the ER. No, it has not (yet)...but I can only imagine the horror stories you've heard. Sad.....
Take good care, everyone!
Linda
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