Back Health

[Smokinal]

I'm sure I'm not the only one with some lingering back pain. I have a degenerated S1L5 disc and one in the upper neck that hasn't been fully diagnosed yet but I have found some relief I'd like to share with you. No, it's not in the form of snake oil or a pill; just 10 minutes of your time a day. After a few months of PT, I have learned a lot of techniques to control my back pain.  2 of these I will show you and hope you give them a try.

First is a stretch that has been a total game changer for me; the ELDOA

 

 

2nd is an exercise to strengthen the lower back to help support weak discs; called the Bird Dog

 

 

Just by doing these 2 things once a day has helped my back pain considerably. Believe me, I know the feeling of being on the boat and wanting to stay out but a tight, aching back has made me look for the ramp. Winter is a good time to get into shape so our next season is enjoyable. Nothing is more miserable than fishing through pain; unnessesary pain.

Give them a shot!

[NHBull]

Thanks for sharing, but think I will buy an ulterra and skip the stretch.

Now if you have something for shoulders?

[Smokinal]

14 minutes ago, NHBull said:

 

Now if you have something for shoulders?

I've been through the shoulder surgery/rehab too. I'm no Dr and obviously don't know your issue but a lot of shoulder issues come from weak rotator cuffs and it wouldn't hurt to strengthen those anyway.

 

 And there are many more but these are some basics.

[scaleface]

Thanks for posting . Not only does my back hurt from fishing all day  because of holding a rod out in front of me , I also have tendinitis in the elbow from pitching worms   . Thats been a lingering pita for several months now .

[flyfisher]

31 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Thanks for posting . Not only does my back hurt from fishing all day  because of holding a rod out in front of me , I also have tendinitis in the elbow from pitching worms   . Thats been a lingering pita for several months now .

Tendinitis is an overuse injury and will not go away without resting it, sorry to say.  Also you will have to come back very slowly after you "think" you are ok because you rarely are.  I went through that a bunch when i was climbing pretty heavily.

 

[WRB]

You what to be extremely careful with positional exercise with lumbar spine pain. Going to a PT without knowing exactly what the problem is by having MRI-CT and X Rays evaluated by a skilled spinal othropedic dr could be harmful.

The one body muscle group that helps the lumbar is having a strong core.

My S1L5 is fused, very familiar with the lumbar spine.

Tom

 

[BuzzHudson19c]

Injuries (aside from trauma) occur from either lack of mobility or weakness. This goes for NFl players as well as grandma. Prevention means we stretch and smash muscles to get more mobile and do some form of strength training whether it be powerlifting, oly lifting, sled pulling, even body weight stuff is great.

 

Three people I would recommend checking out Kelley Starrett, Mark Bell, Chris Duffin. These guys have tons of free information out there.

 

13 hours ago, NHBull said:

Now if you have something for shoulders?

 

 

 

 

[Rick Howard]

I would feel a lot better after a day with Stefanie also lol.

 

All kidding aside thanks for the video.  I had never seen that stretch before. 

[NHBull]

12 hours ago, flyfisher said:

Tendinitis is an overuse injury and will not go away without resting it, sorry to say.  Also you will have to come back very slowly after you "think" you are ok because you rarely are.  I went through that a bunch when i was climbing pretty heavily.

 

Your doc can also give you the 7 day steroid pack to jumpstart the recovery.  Pills won’t work if you don’t solve the problem or do the work to get better

[flatcreek]

I'm having s1 l5-4-3 fusion surgery in 3 weeks.hope it don't keep me off the water too long this spring.i've done plenty of the core flex ion exercises.my construction career caught up with me.Gotta take care of your back and be careful as you age

[A-Jay]

Back pain is no joke.  I've injured my back a few times over the years.

Successful recovery for me Always took all the patience, self discipline & hard work I could muster. 

Currently it's in decent shape and I'm working to keep it that way.

A-Jay

 

 

[Turkey sandwich]

I agree with WRB in that you definitely want a good read on MRIs and X Rays for any major back problems to make sure PT doesn't make things worse.  I herniated a total of 7 discs in a car accident and I've had L5-S1 fused.  I have good days and bad days still 2 years after surgery, but I have experienced a lot of relief.  I think it's important to remember that you need to maintain your condition.  As much as you can hurt yourself being over aggressive with physical activity, you can also make a ton of problems worse by sitting around and getting fat.  Figuring out that balance is kinda the tricky part.  

 

I have no familiarity with the technique in the first video, but there are a lot of good variations off of the bird dog stuff.  Also, any kind of decompression and iliopsoas stretching tend to be good ideas.  

[Turkey sandwich]

30 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Back pain is no joke.  I've injured my back a few times over the years.

Successful recovery for me Always took all the patience, self discipline & hard work I could muster. 

Currently it's in decent shape and I'm working to keep it that way.

A-Jay

 

 

I think you were just looking for an excuse to take your shirt off.  When did they start letting jacked dudes into the Coast Guard?

 

kidding aside, pull up variations and dead hangs can be awesome for decompression.  

[flatcreek]

Williams Flexion are the ones I use

[WRB]

You are never the same after lumbar or S1L5 spinal fusion surgery and takes about a year to recover where you can get back to feeling good enough to tie your shoes and go fishing. The alternatives are loss of bowl control and the ability to walk. Nerve damage is permanent, don't expect your balance to return or numbness to go away. The lumbar is a shock absorber for the spinal column, every disk takes the load.  When disk are removed and replaced with spacers and the vertebra fused, you transfer the shock loading upwards damaging L4, L3, L2 vertibra/disk stack where lots of nerves arecexiting the lumbar for body functions, legs strength, etc.

Caution should be used to protect the nerves, damage is permanent! Good Physical therapy helps you recover by strengthening your muscular support. Avoid problems by staying fit with proper excercise so you never need to face these problems.

Stay healthy!

Tom

 

 

[A-Jay]

3 minutes ago, Turkey sandwich said:

I think you were just looking for an excuse to take your shirt off.  

Yea - you might be right.  But it keeps me headed in the right direction.

Super easy to develop habits that do not ~ especially over the winter.

A-Jay

 

[Turkey sandwich]

@WRB It really is a process.  The injury eventually forced me to stop training and teaching BJJ/MMA/wrestling and totally changed my lifestyle. I may be able to get back to it at some point, but I'm in no rush to go through injury nightmare again. The hard part was the very depressing realization that competing on the international level was out of the question after so many years of training.  It really hurt to see that go away. And while I may never deadlift 450lbs or grapple in tournaments again, 2 years after surgery I do feel good most of the time.  I try to get in the gym 3-5x a week and spend a lot of time stretching while I'm there.  

 

Now, the hardest things for me are the bad days when it still takes a while to get out of bed, drastic changes in weather, and long days on the water.  Casting and spinning gear isn't too bad, but throwing streamers with the long rod will cause some really nasty fatigue and spasms (I also have herniations in my thoracic and cervical spine).  Having a comfortable seat in my kayak is very important, and paddling has actually been a very beneficial workout.  Still, if I do consecutive days in the kayak, I'm feeling it on the second day.  

 

Other stuff worth doing for back neck pain:

Neck: shrugs, lateral raises, neck strengthening exercises (yes, the neck harness really works), nerve glides

Low back: front squats, deadlifts and variations with sensible weight and GOOD FORM, core strengthening exercises, yoga/stretching

[WRB]

As the song goes "don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys" , I would change to Gymnasts. I did the majority of the skeleton damage between 15 to 20 years old when we think we are indestructible. Racing fuel drag cars and boats with a few sudden stops didn't help either.

You play, you pay.

My point is be careful with PT, it can do more harm than good if done incorrectly. I am very cautious regarding doing any more harm to myself, getting to old to recover.

Tom

[Rick Howard]

Race cars, wrestling, fisty cuffs.... Nope.... I ruined mine playing golf lol  

[Turkey sandwich]

41 minutes ago, Rick Howard said:

Race cars, wrestling, fisty cuffs.... Nope.... I ruined mine playing golf lol  

The irony is that 10+ years of grappling didn't do it, getting rear ended leaving the gym did.  At least I can still say I never really took up golf 

[WRB]

42 minutes ago, Rick Howard said:

Race cars, wrestling, fisty cuffs.... Nope.... I ruined mine playing golf lol  

Golfing...I thought golfers just lost their balls.

Tom

[flatcreek]

Football, 2x10's , 6x6's, etc. it catches up with ya. exercise and eat healthy, fish as much as you can

[lo n slo]

i started having problems with my back about 15 years ago. i was doing alot of running at the time and i noticed some pain, running down the back of my left leg and in the bottom of my left foot when i stood. i was 45 then. long story short, pinched nerve, probably from years of abuse in my early days digging ditches for the local water works. periodic chiropractic care and core strength training has helped me avoid the knife.....so far. i still hit the gym most week day mornings and try to keep myself in decent shape, for a gray headed feller.

 

but, i re-injured my back around a month ago and i’m back at the chiropractor once again. not too severe, but still, third time in the last 15 years. i’ve been doing carpentry work since i retired in 2010 and it’s probably about time for me to realize the inevitable. i have always held the belief that a man should be working and that hard work is good for you. well, that’s my story, happy back health to all of y’all.

[soflabasser]

Good subject. I strongly suggest anyone with back problems to seek help from a Orthopedic or Neurosurgeon since they are Board Certified in Medicine. Other treatments from other professions might alleviate some of pain, but these other professions cannot do much if you have a herniated disk, spinal stenosis, etc.There are cases where certain treatments can make back problems even worse, such as spinal manipulation of a patient with a herniated cervical disk.With that said, I have been powerlifting, freediving, running marathons, hiking, etc for almost 20 years now and my back is as good as when I was a teenager. I still deadlift over 500 pounds for reps and what has helped me the most is making sure that my core is functionally strong by doing functional strength exercises. I stay away from machines and bodybuilding, and stick to compound exercises, calisthenics, and I don't push myself anywhere near my best since I want to avoid injury.

[Gundog]

I've suffered with lower back pain for the last 6 years. Hurt it at work. Did the rehab and exercises they taught me. Still its tough. It has taken a toll on my hobbies. Even forces me to fish less than I want to. Wouldn't wish back problems on my worst enemy.