O/T: What do you all do for Lower Back Pain!?

Whoa...well, thanks fellas. I got an appt with the doc this Thursday. Went to the chiropractor today and it went well. But still, I am going to request a physical the****** EVEN if I start feeling better...I want my '47 done and I am not taking chances.

 

Yessir, 100% and then some. I got degenerative disc disease from pops. I've had two lower back surgeries (lamenectomies) and umpteen epidurals and "pain tolerance" (big needle bs) tests. My back is wasted, and the only thing left to do is a three-level fusion. That ain't happenin'! (I know a cop who just had one a couple years ago...he's still on the beat poppin 20 Vics a day!) I'm waiting for the HoMOs to wisen up and pay for disc replacement.

It sounds like you may have an inflamed or even herniated disc. As long as it's just enlarged components (no ruptures), you probably won't need to get cut. Whatever you do, don't work your back with exercises--work your stomach muscles. Strong stomach muscles can really support a weak back. You obviously know now not to lift large/heavy things, and always bend at the knees (obvious ****). Might want to try accupuncture. My pops has it done and he says it does wonders for pain.

 

Make sure you understand the nature of your pain. Spine and disc is much more serious that muscular or sciatica. It's possible to have a combination of back ailments. That will put your troubleshooting skills to the test.


Gents, face it, ailments of the back come with the territory of geting older so take care of the thing.

My back pain is usually due to overworking my back, not enough rest and sleep (14 hour days) and too many hours spent working on concrete floors. Standing in place and working is murder. It causes my back to tense and then go into spasms which makes for that Walter Brennen walk. Being able to walk and stride while working makes all the difference. It's that glued to one spot stuff that ****s. The remedy for that is rest, muscle relaxant (Dicyclobenziprene AKA Flexeril), pain killer(Ibuprophen and Vicodin) and apply ice and then alter that with heat. Don't ice for more than 20 minutes at a time. More than that is not good.

I've also had "Wallet **** Sciatica" remedied by removal of trophy wallet from rear pocket.
I've also had the mysterious knot of pain in the lower back. It took a while to figure out that all of the driving that I was doing, my driving position, braking, accellerating, all of that activity was being held as a ball of tension by the overworked muscles in the small of my back. Once I understood this I was able to consciously reduce constantly relying on the same back muscles to support my skeleton as I worked.

It isn't a coincidence that we are all complaining about this now. The long rainy winter gave me a good excuse to get soft and out of shape. Now we are going great guns on the summer projects and "OW'.

Getting back in shape, working the abdominal muscles and the kleagle muscles (***), will help.

I also learned while taking a Yoga Cl*** at ACT I discovered that I was able to unkink parts of my back that had been in discomfort for close to ten years. It worked for me and I realized that my back would need me to constantly manage its health. As long as I was diligent it would remain happy and healthy.

Admit it, what we do is obviously hard on our backs. We are probably designed for subsistance farming or some such but that's not very exciting.

 

Starred in the movie. 6 epidurals, the famous disk o gram of death (Do not ever do this without talking to someone who has had it. You will wish you were dead!), three lidacane (sp?) shots, and one successful radical hemi lapriscopy.

So while I don't own a hemi per say, I did have one and it was very radical! Cost around $50K and worse I was sleeping all through the whole deal and ever even got to see it.

Was in at 5:30 in the morning and on my couch at 9:00 that night. Back to work in 3 days limited duty phone and computer.

Find the best person(s) to figure out what is wrong with it first, then get it treated. Treatment before true diagnosis is the wrong way to go. I had all kinds of quacks and kooks looking at mine and all kinds of theories as to what it was. "Here take some of these pills and live your life all ****ed up". "You'll never go racing again" You'll never do this again" "Find a new career" No more long driving" Blah ****ing blah..... ********!

I got hurt on the job and had to go through all of work comp idiots before demanding to be seen by a neuro/ortho guy. Called my lawyer and made demands. MN Vikings team of docs and U of M Drs. with consults from Mayo. Best move I ever made. Get someone who teaches about the **** and is recognized by peers not advertising on TV.

Another hint is if it feels good, it is working to relieve the pain. Just be careful and ease into everything you do so you don't make it worse. Sometime heat works or a combo of cold and heat. Sometimes just laying in a pool works. Find what works.

Watch the codine stuff as you will get very stopped up if you take too much of that. Rmember what happend to Elvis!

And naproxen is better than ibuprofin. Ibuprofin de-hydrates you instead of hydrating and that may make the area affected feel better but is not what you want if it is a disk problem they need water.

I was told to make it three years and he would go back in and replace the whole disk pack and vertabrae as a set. We are going on 4 years so far and am doing everything I did before and more. If I ever have another issue I will go 1,000 miles to see the very smae folks again. Get the best it costs no more!

And stay with the stretching and excercises they really work and you'll look buff. Plus the women like 6 packs more than the whole keg thing. Stupid, but I always thought quan***y was better too, go figure.

 

Bringing this to the top! I ended up having a bulging disc on my L4/L5 region. I had an MRI done last week. I've now had chronic back pain for almost 2 years this June! Before, it was just acute, but not anymore. Acupuncture has helped pipe down the pain. I am doing physical therapy which has minimal relief (my dumb*** doesn't do the exercise at home). I am doing spinal decompression (Accu-Spina). My next route is to get a 2nd opinion from neurosurgeon. Good times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!