Health News - Rene Stephens - Anger at poor treatment for back pains

Published: 29 July, 2010
by TOM FOOT

A GYM fanatic fears he will be left having to use a wheelchair because doctors are not interested in treating the agonising back pain he suffers from.

Rene Stevens says he was unable to get proper treatment despite the shooting pain – caused by sciatica – in his legs and upper back, which he described as “not from this world”.

Mr Stevens, 44, said: “It feels like I’m being punched in the kidneys and hit by electric shocks. My upper back and neck get really stiff.

“I can’t go shopping or train in the gym.

It is a very serious matter and I’m going to end up in a wheelchair at this rate. My confidence has been shattered – but the doctors are doing nothing.”

Mr Stevens demanded to see a specialist at University College London Hospital last month but, he says, security were called after he refused to be examined by a junior doctor.

He was eventually seen by a rheumatologist and prescribed various drugs that he says caused severe side-effects including heat rashes and dizziness.

Eventually, Mr Stevens was referred to the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital in Holborn where acupuncture and massage sessions failed to reveal the cause of his back problem.

Mr Stevens, who believes his years of gym training may have left him with “imbalanced muscles” – meaning he walks with a crutch – condemned NHS treatment for his condition.

He said: “What I want people to know is that the treatment and therapy they are using in these hospitals for sciatica does not work.”

Mr Stevens said he had found exercises to ease sciatica – intense pain caused by nerves in the back being trapped or irritated – and asked why doctors did not tell him about them.

He said: “It is really important that the disc in your back is manipulated. Otherwise it catches the nerves.

“Everything I have learned about sciatica has been from the internet or from friends – nothing from these highly paid doctors.

Many people just give up but I’m not the sort of person to suffer an injustice. I want people to know what is going on.”

Mr Stevens said he had been forced to turn to illegal drugs – “knocking myself out” with cannabis.

The former Richard of Chichester School pupil lived in Dorney in Primrose Hill but has recently been rehoused to temporary accommodation in Enfield.

Mr Stevens, who grew up in care and has learning disabilities, said fitness training was very important to him.

Unable to work, he has filled his time volunteering at sports events, helping young footballers and teaching ultimate frisbee.

He said: “Training is my life and I want to get back to it.”

An NHS London spokesman said there was no single cure for sciatica.

The spokesman added: “Treating chronic sciatica will probably require a combination of self-help techniques and medical treatment.”