Bad back??? What do you do when it "goes out"?

I used to have lower back pain so bad it would put me in bed for days, and when I could get up again, it would take more days just to walk normally. Chiropractors never did me much good.

Then about ten years ago I discovered liquid colloidal minerals ( a lot of calcium plus over 60 other trace minerals). I started taking minerals daily and within a couple months my back pain had gone away. Now I only occasionally have a slight back pain.

I know a chiropractor who quit her business to sell colloidal minerals. She apparently also "got it."

Great discussion about bad backs which most people seem to have at one time or another.
Yes, I'm quite happy going 4 yrs. without any problems but like everything there is room for improvement and want to go 5 next time.
For the "it's not bad enough until you need prescription drugs" believers. I've been there, done that, and have the scars and T-shirt to prove it. I like to think that now the stronger muscle is my brain and I like to use it more than my back now. Don't ever believe that pain is good or the more you live through the more you can take. You definetly build up a tolerance to pain but you're just causing more damage. I've got that problem when doctors ask me about my pain level from that kind of thinking, my tolerances are very high.
Chiropractor has taken x-rays and as someone said x-rays don't show discs or nerves. Spacing between vertebrae was very even and no bone contacting bone. Part of the chiropractor thing is always to check the length of your legs and adjust you to get them even. I have knee problems and have hip problems also, throw in a popping cracking neck too.


One of the big discrepancies is hot or cold? some say ice others say heat, what is it?

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

Everyone has different back problems & there are different ways to deal with those problems. What one does for their back my harm another. Seriously, if I did the excersises my mother-in-law does, I would make my back worse.

I have two bulging discs & hope I never get a herniated disc. Actually my physical therapist said, I will probably never get a herniated disc because of what I do. Most common people to get a herniated disc are those that lift very heavy objects in the morning.

I do my back excersises every day & will have to the rest of my life. I have also learned not to overdo it. I would rather have something take a day or so longer than to be in that pain & not able to function to my fullest for a couple months.

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~Be the change you wish to see in the world.

I've had back problems since I was a teenager.

Several years ago I hurt by lower back bad and had pain shooting into my legs.

The doctors gave me exercises to do, but they didn't help much.

I was told to avoid manual labor at all costs.

And I'm one of those strange people who like manual labor, so I didn't listen.

I haven't had a back problems in nearly a decade and here's why (as far as I can tell).

-I lost 20 pounds.

-I quit my office job which required sitting in front of computer.

-I stopped sitting in front of a computer so much at home.

-I starting gardening, which involves manual labor, but not heavy manual labor and it facilitates stretching and squatting and lots of movement.

-I avoid shoveling snow.

Alternate heat and cold for the best results.

Most nurses wind up with chronic back problems.
Te epidural steroids did me NO good whatsoever.
I was on the way to becoming a partime invalid when I said to myself, "Dummy! How would you treat a PATIENT with your problems?"
I asked my dr for a prescription for Elavil - 25 mgs, at night. And I had taken aspirin for years with attendent gastritis- switched to Doans Pills, which is Magnesium Salicylate, about the closest thing to Trilisate (TM) which is my hopsice's preferred NSAID. At that time- 1994- trilisate cost $60 for 60 pills- a 1 month supply- and the "generic" Salsalate- didn't have any effect on me. I also had the prescription opiod/acetominophen .
In 1999 I had to advance the Elavil to 50 mgm. They do say that it has too many side effects- well, my main side effects are constipation- and I take 500 mgm Magnesium at night, which also keeps BP low, and sedation- so I take it at night to help me sleep.
It also made me aware I had been suffering from chronic depression for years by freeing me. I had so much energy! I realized that I had been wading thru invisible mud for years! And yeah-THEY say you have to advance to a full psychiatric dose and you won't see benefits for up to 6 weeks- THEY are wrong! I had freedom from pain and depression at 25 mgm within 72 hrs!

When I have to do a lot of driving, I use the Salon_Pas HOT capsaicin patch- its fairly large, 2 of them help splint your back. (It's not the initial injury which is most painful, it's the self-splinting spasm your back goes into in an attempt to immobilize the injury) Works very well. I get it at Walgreens or CVS.

I used to lie down at work when I would have a bad spasm- on my tummy- Yoga LION position- that seems to help.

Now I use naprosyn. It's less expensive then Doans (TM) and doesn't affect my BP quite as badly.
Every NSAID has negative effects on your kidneys and possibly your stomach. I figure that a lot of my hypertension is related to over 20 years of NSAID use, but I would rather be moveable now and hope medical science advances enough that I don't wind up on dialysis in the next few years.

Ive had my back broke and my pelvis in 3 places.I dont care much for drugs I was on morphine,hydrocodone those are just nasty.What works for me is hot baths or showers and hard work.

Back pain? My constant companion. To start with may I recommend arthritis strenght BC powder. They taste awful, but work well. I was taking percodan and switched to the BC when I decided I was liking those percs just a wee tad too much. Can't take anything with codine in it, and Lortabs in any form have me bouncing off the wall for hours.

Streatching is good. Also, I bought one of those nice goosedown matress pads about a year ago and that thing works wonders in taking pressure points off you spine, plus it's ubercomfy.

I've had back surgery three times now. My spine is fused from shoulders down to the old L4 and L5 disc's which were nice enough to start 'bulging' and will eventually lead to surgerey number 4, but not this week. My spine is basically held together with pins, screws, and wires. I refuse to let it stop me. And I still work. I've thought about filing for disability, but I don't know if the hassle would be worth the money.

And stay warm. When the temps drop, or I get cold, evey pin, wire, screw, and bolt in my back remind me they're in there. I could rent myself out as a human thermometer.

http://www.healiohealth.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&grp=32

There is lots of different companies that sells them. This web site should explain the concept. The insurance company paid for mine. But I have to buy my own electrodes, as they don't last forever.

I've had lower back pain since I was a teenager, only through years of living with it have I found, that when it does go out, I need to get the ice on it as fast as possible to shorten the suffering. Also, to keep the weight off, as soon as I put on a few pounds I can feel that it's only a matter of time before it goes 'pop' again. If I follow the regimen of stretching and diet I can go years without even a twinge - until I get cocky, then I'm out for the count.

Jesse and Judy
www.homesteadarticles.com

On the alternating hot/cold thing, I had always been told this for minor strains & sprains, etc. but my physical therapist said recent research no longer supports this as the best method. Darned if I can remember what he said worked better though (cold all the time?? not sure).

As everyone has said, treatment depends on what's causing it. Mine is a herniation (rupture) between L4 and L5, diagnosed by MRI. After the initial injury, had to go on the 3 or 4 day steroid pack to get the inflammation down. Then I did 4 months of PT to build my core strength. If I don't keep the core strong, inflamming it again (in other words, having it bulge out enough to lay against my sciatic again) is more likely. I also went through a lot of traction along with using an inversion table at home. I can't really sit for more than a few minutes during flare-ups, but when I'm forced to, I use a sacro-wedgy pillow. Good luck to you. I hope you feel better soon!

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Melissa
Reformed hoyden. Please forgive me if I relapse.

My coworker was referred to a nuerologist for her back pain and leg numbness- turned out she had torn a muscle in her HIP and was having the back pain as her body attempted to compensate for the torn hip muscle. Neurologist diagnosed with mylogram- mri was useless.

Ouch! I'm lucky to just have a buldging L4 & then my L3 went during a wedding I was in. I never want to have a herniated disc as what I felt was more pain than childbirth. My siatic on my right side is the first thing that bothers me if my back isn't up to par. I forgot to mention before that yoga helped me out a lot. I use heat on mine, but that's to loosen things up if I can't get out & walk.

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~Be the change you wish to see in the world.

I've also had back problems since I was a teen.Ihave not had lower back pain in the last 10 years or so.I started doing yoga and abdominal exercises.I tried the back exercises but they did no good. wasn't until I strengthened the abdominal muscles that my back quit "going out".Sit ups are hard on your back. I do crunches .If you have alot of weight in your belly it helps to get that off also.

Grandmotherbear, excellent point. The EMGs are a very interesting diagnostic test - had that done on my arms this year and probably will have it done on my legs soon.

rose2005 do you use epsom salts? I have but they don't really seem to help all that much, at least for me.

I concur on the frozen water bottles.
Last year I had three vertabrae in my neck deteriorate and collaspe on the nerves. This created extreme pain in my upper back and left arm. It took nearly 6 weeks to diagnose through several attempts at a MRI, get authorization for a neurosurgeon and schedule the surgery. Although I had been prescribed nearly every pain medicine they make nothing really worked and most made me violently ill. I could not find relief anywhere until I discovered if I placed the frozen bottle in that part of my back and leaned against the sofa and rolled it slightly from side to side. This was the only thing that gave me any relief. They used bone from my hip to repair the spine. My hip has not healed and casues a lot of problems, but the neck/ back is fine.

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Christanie Farm...living life as it was intended