My back hurts so much! I don't know what is wrong. It is on the right side. For months it has been a stabbing pain that will sometimes go away for a week but always comes back. Tonight at work it was completely numb, which is even more alarming to me than the pain. I can go to the free clinic at my college but they will probably just refer me to a specialist and then do expensive tests which I will have to pay for. So I might buy insurance before I get diagnosed. Does anyone know of a really cheap plan?

Do you ever have problems peeing, or an increase in pain when you go?

I don't know of any cheap plans but I know my college has an insurance plan. If yours has one you could look into what it costs and covers. In all honesty my parents insurance is quite good but since I went to a place that was "out of my network" I still got charged an arm and a leg for getting simple lab tests done. Had I known there was a network to go out of I could have saved myself the money. So that's something else to check into with your insurance plan once you find one.

That sucks. Not having health insurance is a bitch.

The only information I can really give you is hospitals which recieve money from the government (which virtually all do, as far as I know) are required to stabalize patients who go to the ER. They'll slap you with a bill but they have to treat you (assuming it get's bad enough you go to the ER).

I wouldn't discount your college's health services if you haven't even gone yet. I hurt my back this summer and went to health services and they did an exam, ran a U/A in case it was my kidneys, and gave me Rx strength aleve and icy hot (both no charge from the school's pharmacy... I was offered narcotics and muscle relaxers I was in so much pain but I declined) and I did get better over time. Right now, you can't predict what will happen when you go over there, and it's better to have someone look at it than no one.

Insurance might be tough because you have a pre-existing condition. I suggest going to the hospital and ask about payment plans or even ask if there is a treatment center that wont turn away the uninsured.

if it's in the back muscles and not related to something else (like kidneys), then probably taking a yoga class with a good teacher would solve the problem for you.