Back Pain

[pipenscotch]

I've suffered from back pain for pretty much my whole life. I was born with minor Scoliosis and as a result walk a little but crooked, causing strain on my knees and lower to mid back. When I was a teenager I played football for a number of years, as an offensive guard and defensive tackle. For those of you who have played before, you know what kind of punishment a football player puts on their body, especially lineman. In my brief 4 year career I broke my elbow (without seeking medical attention, it was only recently I went to the doctor where he told me I broke it and now have bone spurs, little bits of bone basically floating around that were causing irritation), tore both my knees out (whilst still continuing to play with braces on), and suffered many other minor injuries. Now, at 20 years old, I feel like I'm much, much older. Today, I was building a cabinet from IKEA, and now a few hours later my back and knees are absolutely screaming in pain. Fortunately, I know realize the virtue of good health and bones, so I'm starting to take care of myself a lot more. Hopefully I can continue to get better. Pipe smoking definitely provides me with much needed relaxation after days like today.
Happy puffin,

pipenscotch

 

[ravkesef]

Well, pipenscotch, I can truly sympathize with suffers from back pain, since I've had five spinal surgeries in the last year and a half. I have a PhD in pain. I am, however, distressed to hear that you are so stirring this kind of pain at your young age. And I truly hope that your doctors are able to do something for you. In the meantime – you're absolutely correct – relaxing with a pipe certainly helps a lot. It may not cure the pain, but it certainly puts one in a better frame of mind.

 

[ravkesef]

Looks almost like my lumbar region, except I have more screws and more cages. I go all the way from L-2 to L-5. Plus the same setup in every single one of my cervical vertebrae.

 

[woodsroad]

At least YOU have a spine!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEIApUNVBKg

 

[natenice1]

Eric maybe that's what makes us crave P&W blends all that Titanium holding us together! Triple fusion L-2 to the Sacrum, and I didn't realize triple fusions are rare! ::

 

[igloo]

I got a Simmons with the cooling gel top ,much better than the other brand .One trick that works for bad backs is to hold a broom handle with your hands far apart .One palm up and the other one down and slowly rotate the handle left to right .But the best advice I can give for pain is not to tell yourself you hurt over and over ,rather try telling yourself I don't hurt as much today .I have enough screws and plates in me to tell you when the weather changes in Europe .

 

[newbroom]

If at all possible, avoid surgery on y'er back. I've seen a lot of people spend a lot of money to let some guy experiment with their bodies. I've got an inversion table that seems to help keep me from misalignment and compression.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

On the odd occasion I'll throw my back out, or just get posture related pain. You wake up in the moning not able to walk because your muscles have tensed up overnight. The only solution I've found is doing stretches. First I curl up into a ball, and then do the "superman". After about ten minutes of that I"m mostly fine. If I were in better shape I would probably get back pain less often in general, but when it comes, I just have to do the stretches. If you have serious back pain I would see a Physiotherapist, they could probably give you some good exercises.
At one point I was seriously considering an inversion table, it still soinds like a good idea.

 

[ravkesef]

Today was my day for seeing my pain doc, an appointment I have every three weeks, and as always, I got 40 injections in my lower back. Such fun!

 

[woopigsooie]

Cakeanddottle: I too have spondylothesis from an injury I had playing football at age 16. I dealt with it fairly well for a while but I'm 31 now and it's starting to get bad, makes me worry what will happen when I get old.
Newbroom: I have one of these too and it helps a lot, mine is a Teeter Hang-Ups.

 

[sablebrush52]

Restorative yoga has been my solution. When I was in my late 20's I ruptured my L-5 disc. The sciatica ran down both legs. All I could do was lie down and scream. If I had had access to a gun I might have used it on myself. Eventually, after about 6 months, I was able to relieve the pain and had no recurrences until 6 years ago when the sciatica came screaming back, a result of spinal stenosis that had developed over the years. Injections of steroids into my spine did nothing. Various other forms of treatment did nothing, And after 6 months the pain was just as intense as it had been at the beginning. I decided on surgery. One of my students suggested that I try yoga before going under the knife. To put it mildly, I thought the idea was complete airy fairy bullshit. But I also figured that I had nothing to lose. I found a restorative yoga class that used "rope wall" stretching. The first class was agony beyond all expression. I felt like someone had ripped out my legs at the hip. I kept at it, going to class daily. After two weeks, in the middle of a hip opening pose, the sciatica faded away for a moment, the first cessation of pain in over six months. That was very encouraging, even if the relief was temporary. After three weeks, the sciatica was gone. In the ensuing years I have made it a practice to stretch daily, using the poses that address my specific issues. I've had one more attack of sciatica earlier this year because I became lazy about daily maintenance. Two weeks of stretching ended the flare up and served as a reminder that recovery requires daily work. But I'm out of pain and have more flexibility than I've had in decades.

 

[newbroom]

I only paid $100 for my inversion table. It's not the brand name but it is perfectly serviceable. I assembled it in an hour. It took me a few attempts to figure it all out. (I hadn't thought to look at youtube, or read all the instructions)...but in my mind, it helps alignment and combined with 'yoga' breathing, can actually be considered an asanas. Time helps most of us when our backs revolt. Posture awareness too. Years ago, a chiropodist? told me that surgery might help, but that if I put in the work, my muscles could serve their purpose and keep me upright w/o pain. He was correct in my case.

 

[mso489]

Every back is a little different, so proceed with utmost caution. Yoga can be excellent, but you have to

do it in a therapeutic way and not get competitive about it, or you can do damage. Likewise, physical

therapy can be helpful if you find a knowledgable and careful p.t. Likewise with massage, but go to someone

who has experience with medical patients and will know not to get heavy handed. The right exercises, yoga

and otherwise, can be important, but done with great care. You have to be your own physician and use the

expertise of others to get you where you need to be. A mattress, a proper chair where you sit and work, and

especially the seat in your car or other vehicle and its suspension can be extremely important. Any car with

tighter suspension to enhance cornering is not what you need (anyone with back, joint, or bladder problems).

You don't have to drive an old-person's car, just get one that doesn't hammer you on a daily basis.

 

[sablebrush52]

My particular case was the L4-L5 disk blew out so bad that there were fragments floating around and pressing on the spine and nerves.

Yep, same here. That's what was causing the sciatica then. Now it's the effect of spinal stenosis after years of wear and tear in that area, and some compression. My doctor was dubious about yoga helping enough, but it has done the trick in my case, at least for now. Surgical techniques are improving all the time. I'm hoping that better procedures will be available if I need to go the surgical route in the future.
Note that I said "restorative" yoga, which is a very mild form for people with back issues as well as pregnant women and post pregnant women. Downward facing dog is not part of the routine.

Yoga can be excellent, but you have to do it in a therapeutic way and not get competitive about it, or you can do damage. Likewise, physical therapy can be helpful if you find a knowledgeable and careful p.t

Absolutely correct. My yoga instructor is a licensed physical therapist. I found her through another yoga instructor, whose sciatica had gone into remission after she worked with my instructor.
Whatever direction you take, just be very careful about the process.

 

[newbroom]

I had one Yoga teacher. That was over 40 yrs ago. I haven't kept at it as a daily routine, but I've retained the lessons and applied them whenever I could.
The fist thing he told the group was that yoga was not supposed to be a typical athletic exercise and that if we felt PAIN (as opposed to tolerable discomfort) that we'd exceeded tolerances and should modify or change.
I made wonderful progress and realized that the practice helped me with posture and balance dramatically.

I never got so far as to release my chakras all the way from my kundulini. (something like that?)