Wow...yes I am having a bit of a problem with my right back side. It seems like it is on the top of the hip bone in the back. It starts hurting when I stand for a while. I'm afraid it might be sciatica but not sure. I have not been to the doctor about it yet. I may if it continues for a while.

Hope you feel better soon! Let me know if you find anything out.

I was thinking it was a muscle at first but I really don't know. I think the pain of a muscle would subside after a week or two. It is on my right side next to the spine but not ON the spine. It may be the hip. Sorry...no help!

Did the doctor do anything for you?

I also have arthritis in my back and knees. I find exercise helps, in moderation. Have to keep those joints moving!

I have a touch of arthritis in my fingers. The Dr recommended taking Omega-3 for osteoarthritis. I'm not sure if its working or even how to tell if its working with so little arthritis but it doesn't seem be getting any worse.
I'm not sure if it would help arthritis in the back.

Maybe a massage will do the trick? Have you had a doctor check out the lump/bump? Sorry to hear about the stress & hope you're able to manage it.

OMG, arabianhorselover! For heavens sake, I implore you to GET A NEW DOCTOR! Incredible that you TOLD your doctor about the lump & absolutely criminal that he/she didn't even LOOK at your back, much less look at the lump.

It eerily, horrifyingly, reminds me of the neurosurgeon who did my first 2 spinal surgeries for arthritis & double scoliosis issues. 1 week post-op on the 2nd surgery something in my low back sickeningly slid sideways & went with a horrific POP/SCRUNCH. My husband took me to the ER. They declined to x-ray or do a CT scan but said to make an appointment with the surgeon for follow-up since I was "experiencing difficulties".

I was in agony for days before I could get an appointment & couldn't believe it when the doctor didn't so much as examine my back, declined to x-ray or CT scan the area, & informed me I needed to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life! In 11 days time I went from "we repaired 1 vertebrae, you're now 'fixed'" to being "wheelchair-bound for life"! He said there was so little bone left in my spine (he didn't tell me this PRIOR to surgery for what reason!!???) that it would "eventually snap & would cause complete paralysis" from mid-chest down & told me "learn to live with it".

For 2 years I lived in horrific pain, hunched over, twisted & bent, 1 leg seemingly much shorter than the other, & so grossly & heavily medicated with Fentanyl patches, morphine, & other pain meds that I was a mere effigy of my former self. I was so drugged I'd fall asleep with my face in my plate of food at the table & my husband would have to shake me awake to clean me up & literally put me to bed.

I couldn't cook, clean, do laundry, shop, drive, concentrate long enough to make or keep appointments, set up my meds or remember to take them. Intimacy was impossible & desire virtually died. What hours I WAS able to stay awake were mainly spent bowing to the porcelain-god in the bathroom from the nausea the meds caused. I was severely depressed & hated my life, IF you could call my existence living. I had no tolerance whatsoever, snapping & snarling, totally unpredictable behaviorally. My husband of 3 years was at wits end, exhausted & stressed out, worried sick, not knowing what to do that would help me.

Then my mother died a few days before Christmas. My family is from Maine & it is not possible to have a burial that time of year because the ground is frozen too hard. I was so sick I couldn't make the 8 hour flight home to be with my family for her wake, much less even cry. The funeral was held in April after mud-out; my husband & I managed to make that trip & it forever changed my life.

Finally, my beleaguered husband could take no more & we separated. He left me in the care of my father while we tried to figure out what we wanted & needed to do. A chance encounter with a friend, a physical therapist who was horrified by my physical & mental state, left me with the name of a spine surgeon. Warily, yet hopefully, I made an appointment. I will forever be grateful I did.

Dr. Laurence Mermelstein of Long Island Spine Specialists in Commack, NY is among the cream of the crop when it comes to doctoring damaged spines & broken spirits. He was more than a little shocked at my condition. I'll remember til my dying day what he said at that 1st visit: "WHO DID THIS TO YOU?" 4 months later I had my 3rd surgery, a year later my 4th.

Let me tell you what a GREAT doctor does:
1. He LISTENS
2. He gives viable, no nonsense OPTIONS
3. He ACTS with compassion & confidence
4. He ENCOURAGES
5. He does NOT give FALSE HOPE, rather he TELLS YOU the way it is
6. He keeps you INFORMED
7. He is NOT AFRAID to admit he doesn't know but makes EVERY EFFORT to get you an appropriate answer, quickly
8. He SPEAKS in a way that is easy to understand
9. He puts everything IN WRITING
10. He encourages you to ASK QUESTIONS then takes the time to give you answers

If your doctor is shy on ANY of these critical points CHALLENGE him for an explanation. If he still comes up short DITCH him & FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR!

By the way:
1. My husband & I reunited BEFORE surgery & are now happily married for 10+ years
2. I spent 6 gruelling months in a full body cast, over 1 year in physical therapy, had to learn how to walk again BUT now enjoy long walks, hiking, full workouts at the gym & playing with my grandchildren
3. Last June I opted/had gastric bypass surgery & have dropped about 75 pounds with about 60 more to go. I have more energy than I know what to do with, feel FABULOUS, & arthritic pain is far more manageable than expected
4. I went BACK to the 1st surgeon; his jaw dropped when I STOOD & WALKED across the room toward him & told him "This is what a GREAT doctor, one who LISTENS & RESPECTS his patients, can accomplish. Close your mouth, sir, you'll be catching a fly if you don't!"

Please, if you haven't already done so, try a new doctor. Even if there's nothing to be done at least you'll KNOW. My prayers are with you. Blessings on your journey, Susan B., aka SuePedB