Back Pain -- How to deal with it?

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by flamesdyehard

I am experiencing lower back pain, it's very painful and it has been affecting me for around 3 months now. It gets very stiff and sore, and it seems nothing makes it feel better. Does anyone have suggestions?

I had some debilitating lower back pain some years ago, managed to push it away and then keep it away . . . . . although every once in a while it can creep back.

Some things I did . . .

I started to pay attention to posture when sitting. A simple thing but I really do need to have my lower back firm against the chair, both feet planted on the floor (even crossing the feet and leaning back seemed to be a problem). My vehicle seat needs to a certain way or the back gets stressed. Ditto the office chair.

My lower back pain really got started on a couch I loved, where I'd just sink into the thing when laying on it . . . . . beautiful!!! But, that turned out to be straining the back terribly. For awhile, I thought the back issue needed more rest so I'd lay on that couch even more but the back pain kept getting worse. Again, a simple thing but, everything matters for your back. Something as simple as laying on your side instead of flat on your back on the couch can make a large difference.

Managing weight. I tended to be physically fit through the summer, less so in the winter and gained weight in the process. These days, I keep my weight in a range throughout the year now and, every once in a while if I've fallen off the wagon, the strain on the lower back is waiting there for me as a reminder. It's a great incentive to run throughout the winter.

Exercise. Stay fit. Tied to keeping your weight within a managable, pain-free range. If you've got a belly, you're straining your back.

All of the above aren't instant cures. It took some time to push the back pain into the background. But my back rarely bothers me anymore and, if it does, it's because of some reason like the above list.

Hope that helps.

Cowperson

[Rathji]

As has been said before back pain can be prevented through exercise to strengthen your back and improving posture in both your feet, through orthotics and or buying a pair of quality shoes, and hips stop sitting on your wallet, and avoid sitting on very soft couches.

The best thing you can possibly do if you have back pain to resolve it is to stretch your back.

The types of stretches that work for me are:

The cat stretch, or alternately you can arch your back while trying to touch your toes. I do this for comfort because of a knee injury.

The lower trunk rotation, mentioned here, works wonders.

There are also some upper back twists, but the wife hcalled me away, I am sure google can help you out

[Merlot]

How is the bed you are sleeping in? If it is getting worn out it may be causing the pain and a new bed may be in order.

[troutman]

Build core strength. Take Vitamin D, cod liver oil, and eat fish three times per week (salmon and tuna).

Beware accupuncture and chiros.

http://www.quackwatch.org/01Quackery...opics/acu.html

http://www.chirobase.org/

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?cat=4

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3022

An article written by 3 chiropractors and a PhD in physical education and published on December 2, 2009 in the journal Chiropractic and Osteopathy may have sounded the death knell for chiropractic.

There is a significant lack of evidence in the literature to fulfill Hill’s criteria of causation as regards chiropractic subluxation. No supportive evidence is found for the chiropractic subluxation being associated with any disease process or of creating suboptimal health conditions requiring intervention. Regardless of popular appeal this leaves the subluxation construct in the realm of unsupported speculation. This lack of supportive evidence suggests the subluxation construct has no valid clinical applicability.

As the authors of this paper indicate, the subluxation construct must go. And without the subluxation, the whole rationale for chiropractic collapses, leaving chiropractors no justifiable place in modern medical care except as competitors of physical therapists in providing treatment of certain musculoskeletal conditions.

The absence of publicity is astounding. This study has not even been noticed by the media. Where are the sensationalist journalists who usually exaggerate the news and make up provocative headlines? They could be trumpeting “Chiropractic Is Dead!” “Chiropractors Admit They Were Deluded by False Beliefs” “Simon Singh Vindicated: Chiropractic Really Is Bogus” and so on. Chiropractors demolishing the basis for chiropractic ought to be big news.

The chiropractic emperor has no clothes, and now even some chiropractors have realized that. This study should mark the beginning of the end for chiropractic, but it won’t. Superstition never dies, particularly when it is essential to livelihood.

[MoneyGuy]

My bro-in-law is a chiropractor and he swears that it's very damaging to carry your cell phone in your pants pocket or clipped to a belt. I also like the advice of not carrying your wallet in your back pocket.

BTW, my bro-in-law chiro is terrific. He even has patients who fly in from other cities for treatments. He's had people fly in from ss far away as Toronto, stay for two to three days and get a whole whack of treatments. Last Christmas at our house over a couple of hours he gave all these free treatments to anyone who needed anything. There was a line up going up the stairs to the room where he set up shop.

Telling people to avoid chiros is bad advice. Maybe the person has had a bad experience. I swear by these folks. Without my chiropractors, I wouldn't be able to move my neck. They have helped me a lot. Doctors will give you pills and tell you to use a heatpack. Chiros will actually do something for you.

[Phaneuf3]

When I had back pain here's what I did to get me through it:
1) Chiro. Went to this to relieve the immediate problems. Kept going for a while after my symptoms were gone.
2) Stretching. I did a lot more stretching and workouts and things got a ton better
3) Move my wallet from my back pocket to my front pocket.

This was enough to completely cure my back pain. All these ideas have been mentioned in this thread already but its exactly what worked for me.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

I started to pay attention to posture when sitting.

Ditto, the best advice I got was from a physio who recommended getting someone in the morning to put a strip of pressure bandage along the length of the back when in the correct posture.

Anytime you start to slump during the rest of the day the bandage tugs on you as a simple reminder that your posture is wrong.