Is it muscle pain or is it in your spine?

Stretching the legs has a very positive impact on the back (quote- my chiropractor)

 

Personally I would stay away from the shots. I had them and they did nothing for me, at least in the long term. Like another said it is a temporary fix. I look at the long term and it did nothing. My brother also except his is a lot more serious than you me and most combined.

The chiro. is a good idea. I would first go see your doctor to make sure there is no major problems. Make sure and this is very important, you learn stretches an exercises that you can do on your own. You want to build up the muscle that is around the waist area. That will help take some pressure off the muscles in the back and help give extra support. But make sure you learn proper stretching exercises. For me that helped and still helps take away about 20 to 30 percent of the pain.

Myself I have a herniated disk and I think 5 or 6 of my facets are soft. One side of my body is actually lower than the other. My spine has over the years started to make a sideways S. I pretty much wake up in pain everyday and have for the last 10 years, possibly longer. I am only 32.

Other things to try.

A little on the personal side but it definitely helps. If possible start taking fiber before you go to bed. This will help bulk up your, you-know-what, and clean your system completely out. Alot of people do not realize how much that stuff effects you back, even just a little.

Drink plenty of water. Ever since I started drinking vast amounts of water it almost feels as though my spine is more lubricated, (for lack of a better word). This definitely helps with and problems of rubbing vertebrae together.

Plenty of stretching. Make sure it is proper stretching though.

Proper diet. Being overweight does not help.

Keep active. One of the worst things you can do is be inactive. This lets your muscles tighten up and eventually degrade. The tightening up will cause you pain as it pulls on the spine.

Mood. Your mood also makes a difference on the pain level. I have found the worse my mood is the more likely I am to feel the pain. This part kinda deals with the brain.

But before this make sure you figure out what the problem is first. When it comes to the back don't just jump in without getting it looked at first. Get X-rays, MRI's(preferably) and any other recommendations from your doctor. Your back is one of the strongest parts of your body but also probably the most delicate. Be very careful with it. Never just jump into anything without first getting it looked at by your doctor and a back expert.

Once you have that done then try the chiro. or in my case physical therapy. I did the pain management and pain killers but they were all temporary fixes that lasted a few hours to about a day, and cost alot of money. I then went to physical therapy for 6 weeks and took myself off the pain meds and bingo. I am not cured, but the pain is manageable. Sometimes I do not wake up with pain but most times I do. It is usually gone within an hour of waking and am fine all day. It is something I have learned to live with. Kinda sucks but I can still do things.

Good luck to you. I hope this post wasn't too long.

 

I had a similar problem about a month ago, I was in taking a shower. Got out of the shower and bam.... Something hit me and I couldn't even walk hardly... And still had to get dressed. Needless to say took me about 45 mins to get dressed and putting shoes on was another story. Took me like 30 mins to get to my truck. It was lower back like tailbone or something. I had difficultys moving for almost 2 weeks. And slowly just got better with time. I have only been in a big truck for almost a year. But have been driving a wrecker and moving companys for the last 12 years. I know if I have that problem again I am going straight to the chiropractor..... BOL to ya!

 

Do you know how to lift? Do you know how to work so your back is doing what it's supposed to do, support your trunk? Other muscles are designed/intended to move weight not your back. Lift/work smart.
Before you laugh, I had a spinal fusion when I was fifteen, as part of my recovery, I had to do exercises to learn how to lift and work and not force my spine into motions and torques it wasn't designed/intended to do. Thirty plus year Navy career then flat beddin'. BOL

 

I disagree about the cortisone shots. If they are monitored by your chiropractor they are safe. Cortisone along with exercises and diet have made my back pain slowly disappear. The cortisone is only needed to help the back muscles and make the pain more tolerable while you strengthen your back. I no longer need the cortisone, but I do the exercises religiously. Everyone is different and only a licensed doctor can tell you what is right for you.

 

From personal experience, don't go to a standard chiropractor that does the "snap-crackle-pop" stuff. Find a chiropractor who practices the ACTIVATOR METHOD. No spine snapping, no twisting, no cracking. It is a phenomenal pain-free method that got me out of bed and able to tie my shoes. Before I couldn't even bend down enough to squeeze into a car to sit down I was in so much pain. It was a miserable 2 months for me and thousands spent on MRI's, x-rays, surgical opinions, pain medicine, etc... before I found out about the Activator Method and got realigned and back on the road to being healthy.

It is an educational process as well as a healing process. Your back problem didn't just start when you woke up one day. It has been an on-going problem that has been smoldering just waiting for you to make a wrong turn -physically-to let you know you now have a problem. And stress is a big cause believe it or not.

Research it and find a chiropractor in your area who uses the Activator Method. I highly recommend it from my personal experience and you won't even consider the painful cortisone shots.

Best of luck

 

Well... THIS one certainly "took off!" :lol:

Millersod, there have been several threads on this already. I've posted on most of them. I may NOT be the ONLY "expert" on this.... but I'm certainly one of them! :lol:

I'm 50 yrs old, and have had chronic back pain since about 13! I was fortunate enough to have found an EXCELLENT chiropractor, who was about 75 years old at the time, when I was just a young kid. He never took an X-ray (although, I believe this is a good idea,) but was able to just TOUCH me in places and say, "that HURTS, eh?" Damn right it did! And, I'm even talking about places on my HEAD.... that I didn't even know were affected! Your SPINE affects your whole body and even your entire HEALTH! It is literally the "backbone" of your existence.

General Practitioners (Medical doctors) spend most of their time in school learning about your ORGANS, and about chemical remedies or surgeries. Chiropractors spend about an equal amount of time learning about ONE thing! How your spine affects your health. Go with the Chiropractor!!

At 15, I was temporarily paralyzed by a slipped / degenerated disc. When I joined the Air Force, they insisted that they had to FUSE my backbone before I could be qualified for airborne duty. I told them to F#ck off! I had lived with this problem for years, and KNEW it was a simple matter of spinal alignment and muscle tone. They finally 'waived' me and let me fly.

M.D.'s only KNOW one thing (or two.) MEDICINE to ease the pain, or surgery to correct a problem whether it exists or not! Chiropractors recognize the fragility of the human spine, and how it affects our lives.

You DO need to avoid a chiropractor that just wants to "milk" your insurance.... they are out there (not unlike doctors.) And those who want you or your insurance to help them pay for all their expensive "ultrasound" equipment. I even had one that was bonkers for "magnetic theories." You have to stand your ground. Spinal alignment is a SIMPLE thing, but is responsible for MOST back problems.

Ultrasound is mostly needed ONLY if you cannot relax enough to allow "movement" of the spine. Trust your chiropractor, and all will be well. Sometimes, when you walk out, you will STILL hurt. That is because the muscles in the area are still inflamed and are pinching nerves. That does NOT mean that the chiropractor hasn't done his job. Once the spine is aligned, the muscles relax and the nerves are no longer pinched.

With the "history" you revealed to us, it would be hard to know just what aggravated your alignment. Regardless, sometimes it only takes a simple PULL of a muscle at the wrong time to yank your spine into a postition to pinch the MAJOR nerves that run right beside it. It can take months for this to get to an aggravated state.

Either way, with a simple X-ray (do NOT pay for an MRI!) a chiropractor can tell immediately what is causing your problem. Cortisone shots are OUT OF THE QUESTION for now. It would take a serious problem for them to be necessary.

I was about your age before it was apparent that one of my discs was "underdeveloped" and it could be your case, too. Hope not. But, years earlier, I learned that one leg was a simple 3 mm shorter than the other, which led to much of my problems. You see, it is literally a matter of mm's (not even inches!) that can affect your health. Do NOT ignore the issue.... learn about it. And don't bother with an M.D. unless you get no relief from a chiropractor.

Once you get yourself "aligned," do exercises to strengthen your lower back ( the lumbar region. ) One of the best is what is called a "flying situp" where you lay over a fulcrum with your ankles anchored, and let your torso drop towards the floor, then SLOWLY lift yourself up to a LATERAL position. It's like a "crunch" in reverse.

Like many here have said, chiropractors are CHEAP for what service they provide! Another thing.... look at what is on the wall of his office and exam room. If there are pictures of big houses and sandy beaches.... RUN! Find the guy with pictures of your spine and the affected muscles. Tell him you don't believe in Ultrasound. See what he says.

But remember, the WORST chiropractor I ever went to, helped me more than the best M.D. I ever saw! And remember... God created your spine! Scientists and pharmacists created drugs!

Good luck! Let us know how you feel in a few days!

Hobo

 

Well i had my first official treatment today, he took about 8 x-rays and showed me what my spine was doing, up near my head where it should begin to curve back, mine isn't doing so, it's actually pointing forward, supposedly i've lost my lower curve in my spine, and i actually have an S effect on it, all of this was clearly visible in the x-rays, he also noticed that two of my lower vertebrae were beginning to lose their flat edge and beginning to curve upward. He did an initial adjustment which felt great, and was the most disgusting thing i've ever heard, but i'm still feeling alright now, i'm going to go ahead and go through with the treatments that insurance will cover and reevaluate my condition at that point. Thank you all for the replys, it does seem to be kind of a mixed bunch here, although for the most part you guys agree that i should try the chiropractic treatment for now before i get into the more serious side of things such as surgery and cortizone treatment. And on another note, there were no pretty scenery pictures on the walls, just posters of how a normal back should look so i could compare how jacked up my back was.

 

Did the Chiro show you how to do the simple back exercises? Since you understand that something is going on with your spine, you have to be pro-active in order to stave off worse problems. There are numerous shoulder and hip exercises that a driver can to to keep things limber. Proper stretching is important to.
I have seen plenty of "Tough" guy's hop out of a truck after hours of driving blow out thier backs, because they didn't take the few extra minutes to walk around,, stretch out, and simply work out the kinks.


That seat in your truck doesn't help either, combined with the spring ride suspension. Yes...all those little bumps add up.