Hands up if you are a sufferer..... I have the occasional back problem; I can go for years without any pain and then one day, like this weekend, you can be minding your own business when you see a burning orphanage filled with kittens and you realise that you are the only one that can save then children and their fluffy little pets. Or maybe your back goes when you are getting into a car (cough cough - that smoke really gets on your chest.....). So mine is now aching - the right hand side of the base of my spine is in spasm so sitting/standing/moving is painful - not crippling, but it takes me a good 5 minutes of hobbling around like a 90 year old looking for his slippers, before my back loosens up and allows me to walk slightly easier. This usually lasts about 4 days and then eases for a few so that I'm back to riding/saving damsels in about a week. I've never done any more than going to the docs and getting some paperwork about back exercises and some ibuprofen. So I was wondering if any of my fellow forumites can suggest another course of action? I have one of those cummerbund back brace things (that is currently trying to cut me in half) and a blister pack of pink pills and that is getting me through it at the moment. I can't believe that this is the best way though. It's been suggested that I try a chiropractor but I've not bitten the bullet and gone that way (time, money, pain etc.) but if people have experience of this and can recommend it then I'm all ears. Any other suggestions will be appreciated too as this is (almost) a pain in the ass. Right - time for a cuppa. The machine in the office is about 5 meters away so that should take me about 20 mins to get to
Go to a chiropractor. They are ABSOLUTE magicians! I wrecked my bike a little over a year ago hitting a tree in the process at my hip/spine. I suffered with the pain for many months until biting the bullet and setting a chiropractor. Best choice I made!
Yeah I have had this for years, I pulled something in my back lifting flags when I was a teenager, and I get pain every so often when I give my back some stick it dos,nt like and its with me for a few days and then i,m as right as rain. It is a pain, but I now think about my back when ever doing any lifting this seems to help. Thankfully its never been a problem riding.
Snap. I'd put my hand up but it hurts if I do. Nigh on the same thing too, a spasm just over my right kidney, just over a week ago carrying a roll of roofing felt and some timber across the car park in Wickes. In the last 25 years it's happened about half a dozen times. Worryingly 3 of them have been in the last year or so. It jerked me upright and I struggled to bend again to sit down. After a week it had eased off a lot so on Saturday I went on a mission. DIY, housework, washed the cars, rebuilt a PC, all stuff that worked it rather than rested it and I swear it was better for it. Now its just a pain in the arse. If it gets too recurrent I'm going to have to bite the bullet and see a chiropractor. When the discomfort outweighs the cost.
Touch wood I've never had any problems with my back. Even after I pancaked into the ground hard enough to dislocate my shoulder after supermanning through the air......still no back pain. I put it down to being a short arse
Go to a chiropractor....... you will not regret it....I was in agony for 7 months with a prolapsed disc,the pain was unbearable.Couple of visits, hand over some cash...pain free.. Jobs a goodun......just go....
I blame my dad - like him I'm a tall one (6'4") and I've always had niggles in my back, but as time is ticking on I'm finding the bad ones happening more often. My dad eventually had to go for surgery on his. When they opened him up apparently he wasn't wired up correctly and the surgeons had to make up an operation on the spot to fix him - I hope that it's not the same for me as I remember times in my childhood when he couldn't get up for days (thankfully that's not happened....yet.) I'm off to the Docs again tomorrow and will ask him for a referral I think. With Mrs Stu and Mother-of-Mrs Stu on at me to get it sorted I think that in the end any pain I suffer at the hands of a skeletal origami master will be minor compared to the combined pain of constant ear-bashing from the wife and M-I-L. (Love you Mrs Stu XXX )
Dont get me going on this issue, Long story made a bit shorter. I got out the car in August and wham, base of my spine went into spasm. I was in absolute agony for weeks thinking I had just pulled a muscle. In the end I went to the docs and was told slipped disc take these really nice tablets for 4 weeks and see what happens, two days later I was hobbling to the loo at double quick time and more or less that is where I remained for the remaining three and half weeks. Back to the docs and said its no better and mentioned the tummy problem, oh yes didn’t we mention that as a possible side effect! Enough was enough and the BUPA trump card was played, consultant within a couple of weeks, Xray and 3 MRI scans the week after which confirmed, yep prolapsed disc, a minor operation the following week under local anaesthetic, a weeks rest and off to the physiotherapist to be pulled through a mangle once a week. Here we are in December and whilst it is not better it is improving all the time. With any luck Ling can take a turn underneath soon. So the moral to the story, if you think you have a back problem go and get professional advise/help as soon as you can.
I suffered for years tried everything ,then i went on a diet and lost 2 stone in weight which was all from my stomach area(too much beer and takeaways) been fine for the last 3-4 years . Makes sense as my pain was bottom of the spine. So the number one question "Are you overweight"
Of course there are loads of reasons for bad backs but the last thing i thought was it was my 2 stone of weight In my case I was overweight and that cured (touch wood)my back problem which I had for 10 years approx . My back would go every 6 weeks approx I would then walk like the leaning tower of Pisa for about 7 days . I tried everything ,injections , heat treatments , chiropractor,osteopathic ,etc etc. Not one of the above ever mentioned loosing weight,I lost the weight as a new year resolution and when I had, I realised my back had got better .It worked for me I guess it just took me a while to admit I was over weight.
This is also true. I am nearly four stones heavier than I was at the turn of the millenium. Speaking technically, I think my bit of string is gone.
Another issue that a lot of people don't address is their mattress. The only time I've ever had any pain with my back was muscular and was because my mattress had outlived its life. My lower back muscles were spending most of the night fighting to keep my spine straight because of the lack of support. I bought a 1400 pocket spring thingy and the next morning the pain was gone. A guy I work with was having the same problem and I hammered on at him for weeks to change his mattress. He was adamant that there was nothing wrong with it but finally relented and decided to give it a try and whaddyaknow......his back was right as ninepence after a couple of days.