Flew down 6 stairs onto brick floor.

by Sasha Neiman
(Lisbon, Portugal )


I flew down 6 wooden stairs onto brick floor on my butt. I am 74 years old. Miraculously, nothing fractured! This happened 1 month ago.

My sacrum is swollen with a large edema, still after a month! I was walking, resting, icing, taking Adville And recovering!!

Then 2 days ago, an excruciating pain developed down a muscle on the front of my right leg, the outer side and a deep pain on top of the right side of the sacrum, as a surprise! I cannot walk without this unbelievable pain and holding on to things as I limp to do anything. The brunt of the fall landed on my left side! Why would this happen after a month of healing and so suddenly? Thank you so much for any insight to this new development. Sasha.





Hello Sasha,
You are a well travelled lady going by your email! Having lived in Europe myself, I know just how dangerous their staircases are. At any age, but particularly at 74 you must either use a parachute, or the handrail!

You say nothing fractured, so I presume you've had an x-ray. The sacrum and coccyx are notoriously difficult to get clear pictures of.

The pain running down the front of your leg, I presume the thigh is of concern. It's probably not related to the sacrum but from your spine, coming from the femoral nerve. Everything has been weakened by the fall, and the limping.

It's time for a careful and thorough examination of your spine and pelvis; is this pain all from the sacro-iliac joint, the hip or your spine, or even a bit of all three.

Watch out for your knee giving on the stairs or you'll be in for another fall.

Let me know how you get on.

Dr Barrie Lewis


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Interesting challenges of the day

1. Mr S is a 76 year old man with neck pain of some 9 months duration. Luckily, most of the discomfort is upper cervical which is only rarely arthritic; his lower cervical spine is a degenerative mess that I've left alone. After seven treatments his pain and stiffness is 50 percent better, and he's happy in the circumstances. He can sleep through the night now and that makes a huge difference.

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Despite a hectic job, she wisely took my advice and stayed home for what I call exercising bed rest.

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6. I too have had serious lower back issues, luckily fixed by my own chiropractor; so I too have to do my exercises, take care when lifting supers full of honey, gardening and using the chainsaw. Regaining the function of your spine is just as important as the pain.

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And so the day goes; chiropractors shouldn't be treating the elderly most medical sites state but that's so much bunkum.

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