Threw my back out...
- Thread starter ZB4CY
- Start date
Yoga... seriously. Any time I start having back issues I start doing yoga. We have a yoga DVD that's specifically for lower back pain that works great. A lot of the yoga movements you do mimic the stretches a PT would give you. My wife is a PT. Also, re: chiropractors - they can be a short-term fix but you really need to address the problem that's causing the back issues which is most likely a weakness somewhere.
I use both. Many (most?) back injuries are weakness in something else - hip flexors, glutes, pelvic tilt, mammies - and a PT can identify the imbalances while the chiro can give QUICK relief.
On the chiro thing though - MY personal preference is an old-school bone cracker not one of the more new-age vitamin elixir salesmen you may see. Many years ago I was given Ox Bile and some other hocus-pocus stuff to "cure" allergies. I DID get better though - better at sifting through ox **** so deep my eyes turned brown.
Muscle relaxers seem to work the best. The spasms/sharp pain has subsided. Now it’s more of an ache.
I think a lot of people don't see quick enough results and assume the PT doesn't work or takes too long. I've had issues with hip alignment, lower back arthritis, SI joint, piraformis etc. After trial and error I figured out that some things with a resistance band and a tennis ball for a span of 5 minutes/day works. That and some planks/core stuff and I'm back to regular running and haven't been to a chiro.
It took maybe 3 weeks initially and some of the muscles strengthening brought some discomfort at first but it eventually worked itself out. If I miss even two days I can start to feel things fall apart.
My brother has the same issues but doesn't do anything but chiro and has to go back several times/year.
Keeping weight down and also help with this stuff. 'Muricans love to put stress on the back.
Everclear and koolaid in equal parts. One glass and your back wont hurt.
The repeat appointment comment is not entirely accurate. If you have a disc out of place, the chiropractor can put it back in place, but it may not want to stay. That may depend on how long you waited before getting treatment. The repeat adjustments are to put it back in place until it wants to stay where it's supposed to. You should be able to tell when you are back to normal. My chiro would typically not set up numerous appointments, but after an adjustment tell you when you should come back.
But again I emphasize on making sure you find a good chiroprator. I heard a lot from hanging around with my chiro friend many years ago. At that time some of the chiropractors were giving the profession a bad name. One thing to note is that there are different techniques that these guys are trained in. I don't know what the differences are, but I do know there have been some athletes that have sought a particular type of treatment. It's too bad a chiropractic appointment starts with an Xray. That runs up the cost of that initial visit, but they need to see what they are up against. You may want to check your insurance coverage.
Depends on the chiro. Mine provides an extensive core strengthening routine that really helped me.
I was skeptical my whole life of chiropractic. My dad, who had disc problems, found it helpful in the short term. (He eventually ended up having two surgeries.)
If you go - and I would recommend you try it, at least once - remember that you will still have some pain for a day or so afterward. The muscle has become bruised and has to heal.
If you use NSAIDs, I find Aleve to be least irritable to the stomach. If you're in a lot of pain, I'd try 800mg of ibuprofen (Advil) because at that dosage, it should relieve some of the inflammation.
If you go - and I would recommend you try it, at least once - remember that you will still have some pain for a day or so afterward. The muscle has become bruised and has to heal.
If you use NSAIDs, I find Aleve to be least irritable to the stomach. If you're in a lot of pain, I'd try 800mg of ibuprofen (Advil) because at that dosage, it should relieve some of the inflammation.
Today I've only been taking ibuprofen and some aspirin. I've also iced it a couple of times as well. The sharp pain/spasms have seem to subsided and now it's more of an ache that you get with sore muscles.
I will get a sharp pain every so often if I turn a certain way, but I'm holding up much better than I expected when it first happened.