Arrrrg My Back !

[stevebamford]

Hi all,

Just done my back in (lifting our 2 year old !!). Classic bad lifting technique - hold him out at arms length and twist lower back. Anyway after 2 days pinned to the bed I'm up and about even if I am moving very gingerly !

So two questions

1) Have YOU done your back - and how - and how long did it last ?
2) Any suggestions on whether I should see an osteo, a chiropractor, a physio or just keep popping pain-killers until it gets better !

cheers all

S

 

[noseall]

i have only encountered muscular spasms and never any slipped discs or the like. painful and debilitating enough though. usually rights itself after 3 days rest.

doc says my spine is ok. lucky really considering the trade i'm in.

a bit of massage and manipulation seems to do the trick. i go to an osteopath.

 

[anobium]

Had the same problem off and on for years. Disc problem.
Had all the treatments you mention , even had traction in hospital twice, but at the end of the day the best way I have found for relief is a few simple exercises and walking.
OK it takes time, usually a few days in my case, but it will get better far quicker than lying down all day and popping pain killers.
A couple of pints of stella also helps you relax and tends to take your mind off the problem .
Good luck.

 

[stevebamford]

cheers guys - yeah i find staying still is the worst so i pace around a like a loony !

Am back at work now but the problem is I sit behind a desk all day which is not ideal !

 

[Mark Br]

Bad luck, beaten up by a two year old can't be good.

Bad backs were once the bane of my life. Start out by popping the pills, if it happens regularly or doesn't go away then yes it might be worth seeing a chiropractor. Personally I found it hard to find a good one, lots just seemed to want to take my money and only after quite a few visits admitted that they couldn't sort my back out.

In the end I turned to a therapy called Amatsu. Bloody marvelous stuff, don't ask me to explain how it works, kind of a chiropractor on steriods and works by pulling the body back into shape by various limbs and using pressure points.

If you do find an Amatsu practitioner, don't marry them. I did and don't get a look in now unless I'm crippled in bed.

 

[stevebamford]

Spend most of my life being beaten up by a two year old

- 2 scratched eyeballs
- 3 nosebleeds (he seems to know some karate killer finger jab!)
- 1 broken back !

 

[Mark Br]

Spend most of my life being beaten up by a two year old

- 2 scratched eyeballs
- 3 nosebleeds (he seems to know some karate killer finger jab!)
- 1 broken back !

I'm the same, I blame it on them watching Power Rangers

 

[Shutpa]

Steve, if you think that you've got pain now, wait until you are on your hands and knees crawling to the toilet. The wife starts laughing, the kids start laughing and although you really dont want to, you start laughing too. Then you will know the real pain of having done your back in!

 

[stevebamford]

I'm the same, I blame it on them watching Power Rangers

He's not quite into Power Rangers yet - He must get his karate moves from 'In the Night Garden'

 

[stevebamford]

Steve, if you think that you've got pain now, wait until you are on your hands and knees crawling to the toilet. The wife starts laughing, the kids start laughing and although you really dont want to, you start laughing too. Then you will know the real pain of having done your back in!

I'm actually getting a fair bit of sympathy from the wife - except when she went out for 4 hours on Monday leaving me staring at the bedroom ceiling with only a pint glass for company (I'll let you guess what that was for!)

Our little boy doesn't understand sympathy though - he just wants to jump up and down on his dad. Ouch !

 

[anobium]

cheers guys - yeah i find staying still is the worst so i pace around a like a loony !

Am back at work now but the problem is I sit behind a desk all day which is not ideal !

Just reminded me that I also had a desk job which didn't help sitting around all day.
I had a so called executive swivel chair which I eventually realised was not helping the situation as there is a tendency to swivel your spine, which exacerbates the problem.
I changed it for a normal non swivel type chair and found that the problem resolved itself quicker.
Worked for me.

 

[masona]

1) Have YOU done your back - and how - and how long did it last ?

Only a muscular spasms, don't know how it happened but lasted 4-5 days, sat on a hard chair helped

Any suggestions on whether I should see an osteo, a chiropractor, a physio or just keep popping pain-killers until it gets better !

I'm not a lover of chiropractor but I'm a lover of Bowen treatment as you only generally need 2-3 treatments unlike chiropractor. Many people haven't heard of Bowen treatment and it's getting very popular as many chiropractors are turning or learning the Bowen treatment. It is amazing experience and curable. My wife has tennis eblow and was cured in 3 treatments.

http://www.bowentherapists.com/BTER/facts.htm

Watch the video below and the Bowen treatment is a lot cheaper than chiropractor

http://www.bowentherapists.com/

Tom Bowen came to the UK before he died to introduced the Bowen treatment

 

[Richardp]

I did my back in 21yrs ago, carrying furniture of a helicopter!! well, its through a narrow entrance,which puts your back in an awkward position. in those days they just told you to lie on your back on a hard surface, at the time they was making a film here (my 8yr old daughter was playing one of the main characters) Helen Mirrem was her stage Mum and she brought her in to see me, god I was embarrassed as I lay on the floor staring up at her LOL but even more embarrassed when my doctor turned up and told Ms Mirram to go away!OK! enough name dropping, my back is mostly OK now but I think that's only because I now know my limitations, occasionally I forget and do something stupid ouch! so the answer in my case is 20yrs

 

[wreckedit]

Hi, One of the problems of back pain, if its muscular, is that you find that when on the mend you need it more often than you think. So, I do believe in anti-inflammatry pills, massage and immobilising the muscle, to allow the muscle to heal before excersising it. Immobilising the muscle can be done with a wide (2") firmly fitted belt. Nothing unusual in this because without one Weight Lifters wouldn't be able to function. Remember the 3 pops. Pop a pill, pop on the table, pop on the belt. The sooner you do these things the better. Waiting for something to be on the NHS is very painful and my Doc said pop a pill and drink what you fancy. To think he gets paid £100k for that kind of advice.

 

[Thermo]

i've suffered with a bad back for the last 13 years. I went through various osteopaths etc for 4 years until (who in the main were crap) i found a physio who virtually got me my life back. He instantly saw what the problems were and through manipulation and giving me exercises it has improved my life no end.
With any muscular injury in the back, the other muscles tend to overcompensate to protect the damaged ones. This means they get weaker and don't improve. Various stretching routines to get the muscles back working help to improve it in the long term. He always used to advise me to use anti-inflammatory tablets such as nurofen and to keep moving gently to avoid the muscles seizing back up.