back problems
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Anyone here suffer from back problems? My lower back seems to tweak/throw itself out about 1-3 times a year. It's from the belt line up on one side but sometimes my hips hurt, almost like they're not aligned properly. Sometimes it hurts in the crotch area too. It stemmed from an injury a long time ago, almost 20 years. I was working in a hotel and cockily went to pick up a heavy bag. I lifted it up and felt fine, until an hour or two later when I sneezed. I felt my back clench and I was huddled over in pain. It was very painful and I was out of work for three days.
Some poeple I've spoken to about it say to avoid surgery at all costs. In fact, I've never been to the doctor so I don't know if I even need surgery. But I'm getting tired of this happening. Sometimes I can't even walk and if you saw me try to walk, you would burst out laughing. And because the lower back gets jacked, the upper back muscles get tense and sore from overcompensating.
I do streches and yoga sometimes and I always try to lift with my legs. In fact, one time it happened just bending over to throw something in the trash under the sink.
Any advice?
Some poeple I've spoken to about it say to avoid surgery at all costs. In fact, I've never been to the doctor so I don't know if I even need surgery. But I'm getting tired of this happening. Sometimes I can't even walk and if you saw me try to walk, you would burst out laughing. And because the lower back gets jacked, the upper back muscles get tense and sore from overcompensating.
I do streches and yoga sometimes and I always try to lift with my legs. In fact, one time it happened just bending over to throw something in the trash under the sink.
Any advice?
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My advice is stay away from yoga for a little while, that's not as low impact as it might seem. Stretching is a good idea. Try to concentrate on stretching your hips and legs. If those are tight the muscles will pull constantly on your back and cause pain there even though the problem(s) may be rooted elsewhere.
Pain often telecasts itself to areas that aren't the root cause of the pain. The last time my knee went out I went to a physical therapist and she looked me over and spent the whole time on my hips and my knee has been feeling great ever since.
I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend massage therapy. If your muscles are tightened or spasming you need help getting them to relax and 'shut off.' Your leg, hip or back muscles sound like they are working overtime, probably 24 hours a day, every day. It sounds like you need a masseuse to get in there and release some tension to get those muscles to turn off.
My wife is a masseuse and she deals with injury like this a lot. Often times after an injury your muscles tighten up as your body's natural response to try to protect itself and without a little help they might not be able to ever release and just relax. Without intervention you'll develop brand new problems as your other muscles will have to compensate for the questionable ones and the never ending cycle begins. Go get a massage, or several, and get your muscles to relax.
I have to second or third the massage therapy. That, and cigars are the only real relief I get from my chronic back pain. The cigars help me more than anything and I would pay anything at all for a good couple hours of relief (too bad that ccom stopped selling to us Canadians, but I now have a crazy sellection of Cuban sticks to help me through the day).
Take care of your back, see a chiropractor and a massage therapist and I HOPE you find something that works for you because if you don't, life sucks. I don't mean to sound hopeless. I still get out and fisn and camp and stuff, but sometimes the turkey buzzards circle me while I try to get myself off the ground before they attack, so take car of your back before you become lunch!
no, I'm not kidding!!!
If you hips are really really hurting it maybe worth your time to head in and get it checked out. My legs would give out and all kinds of great stuff. There was nerve that the bulging disks was pinching, anyhow they just went in there and injected some *** that killed said nerve and presto no more lower body issues due to back. Hope it helps my friend.
A pain specialist has numerous ways to deal with chronic pain. My wife, for example, went through a series of epidural injections to her spine administered by the pain specialist - as frequently as he felt prudent - but the pain persisted. The next, and probably final, step will be to implant a morphine pump just below the skin with a very slim tube (catheter) leading to her spinal column where it will meter out doses of painkiller directly into her spinal column. These doses are about 1/100 or less of the painkiller she's been taking orally. Much more effective and much better for her.
Once we were referred to a pain specialist, he told us point-blank that there was no kind of pain that he couldn't stop. Even if it meant killing the particular nerve that was causing it. Scientific techniques nowadays are wondrous. By all means, ask your doctor to refer you to a pain specialist.
Marty
Marty
A little heat can be great, but do not sit with the heat pad for hours or you WILL make it worse, Wwesterns "curl up" is good, aligns the vertebrae. Heat and stretch before activity, ICE it after. You won't like the ice at first, but it will help more than heat ever can.
Lastly, there are some neurosurgeons out there who are working wonders, might be worth it, although if it goes bad it goes really reaaallly BAD!
As for me? Got stuck holding up 800lbs tank track, May 16th 1985, and have had pain to some degree every single day, without exception, up until this moment. Nowadays it only "goes out" 3 or 4 times a year, and it's been a long time since I could't put my own pants or shoes on because of my back. (Knee's a different story, but since the replacement, that's better, too).
Keep the size of your gut down, there are some really good exercises for lower back strengthening and vertrbral alignment, any physical therapist or chiropractor can give them to you, and they'll help, IF you'll do them. Most people won't, and those who do will stop when they feel better, until it happens again. This, too, I know from experience. Good luck!
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
After many years of pain and DRs. telling me not to have surgery because I was too young and if not sucsessful I could be in more pain and worse shape, I waited.
My Dr. finally suggested that I see a surgeon for a consult to see if he thought there was a good enough chance to try surgery.
Well now except for a nasty scar that runs down from the middle of my back to just above my ass crack. This thing is like 12 - 14 inches long. I had a disc that was cracked and would move around if my back was bent just a certain way. That was what would cause the major pain. The surgeon removed part of that disc and took a bone graft from my hip and with that made up a bone cement. Then they inserted two titanium rods which span across three vertabrea. These are screwed to the disc above and below the damaged disc. The damaged disc had an insert put into the void where the part of the disc was removed and then the bone paste was applied to all as a cement.
When I saw the first X-ray after the surgery I thought I would throw up. The screws they use look just like drywall screws! You could actually see the threads on the screws.
My surgeon laughed atfer the surgery because I asked him if I would set off the scanners at the airport. He said that it shouldn't. The first time I flew after I had no problems. Since that time. with the added security and more sensitive scanning, I set it off every time. I now tell the person at the gate that I have had surgery and lift my shirt to show the scar. It saves quite a lot of time.
I have been almost pain free for about 10 years now. I still am very stiff in the morning and the stretches that have been mentioned were shown to me after the surgery to help stretch the back in the morning. I can only sleep for about 6 - 7 hours tops as I still get quite stiff and sore while laying down. I am about 80% pain free most of the time which after 20+ years of some degree of pain constantly...seems like a good deal.
I would NOT reccomend the surgery unless your surgeon thinks he can bring you pain relief. I got lucky and I am happy that my DR. got me to hold off for as long as I could before going the surgery route.
I would suggest that you see your Dr. and tell him what is happening. Ask him for some muscle relaxants and when the back "goes out" take a couple of them and go lay down. If your back muscles start to tighten up you will NOT be able to bring yourself pain relief until they relax. That is one of the most important things you can do for a bad back... find a way to relax those muscles. Good luck with your problem. Hope you feel better today.
They start with a minimalist approach (at least he did with my wife) and if it doesn't do the job, they'll kick it up a notch until they get the right response. No sense shooting a cannon when a pistol will do the job.
Marty
I have a little bit of a different take on the pain. If it was constant like it used to be I would do something about it. The way it is now, I use the pain as an indicator that I may be over doing it or it's time to do some stretching or relaxing. Pain is the body's method of telling you to pay attention. IMO
Marty
Does the Dr. say how the arthritis will progress as time goes on. Does it always advance?
Back specialist says my only two options are surgery (wrong answer) or taking pain injections in my spine which may or may not work (wrong again). I have found over the years that one well-timed valium will set me right again - think I'll take that option til it doesnt work anymore, thanks doc!