Update on my lower back pain...

[DitchPanda]

 So late last fall I wrote a post talking about my back pain after fishing so I thought I'd give an update. I thought I had it whipped but it came screaming back with a vengeance no pun intended. So today I went in to see my chiropractor... I know everybody has an opinion about chiropractors some people love them some hate them...but its always helped me. I've gone to the same guy for 17 years and he's always been honest with me if he can help or not.

 This morning I ended up getting a very sharp stabbing pain across my lower back where it basically locked up and I couldn't walk. A very extreme spasm. I told him my lingering symptoms and he told me that without even doing an X-Ray or MRI he's confident in saying I have a ruptured or herniated disc in my back. So we did some inversion therapy and electro therapy to take pressure off everything and loosen me up a bit. He also gave me some basic stretches he wants me to do several times a day to keep everything stretched so my nerve doesn't get pinched again.

 Obviously this all kinda freaked me out to say the least even tho I know its very common. But he made me feel better when he said he's dealt with hundreds of  patients with these exact issues in the last 20+ years and he thinks we will be able to turn it around. My buddy Brian has a really bad disc in his back and my chiropractor was able to help him tremendously- so that eases my mind some.

 The plan for now is do the stretches, keep going on my diet to get additional weight off (down 26lbs since Christmas), therapy a few more times, he wants me to do some walking a couple times a day if possible and when I'm feeling up to it he's gonna give me a list of core exercises to do everyday to strengthen back up. Now that sounds like a long list but all told its like an hour a day total time and that is better than dealing with even 1 minute of the pain I had this morning.

 The last part of this story and the most hopeful part comes from his receptionist \ assistant a gal I he known for 20 years. When she was in her late 20s she suffered from 2 herniated discs in her lower back. Her uncle was a chiropractor and told her either get your weight down and do core exercises daily or your going down a road of a life of pain and surgeries. She said his words scared the s#$% out of her so she started eating better and excercising. She is now in her 50s and to this day her back has held up and she's never had to have surgery.

 

[Dwight Hottle]

Sounds like your chiropractor is giving you good advice. I had a disc problems years ago that gave me a lot of grief. I did stretches, walked & core exercises which has solved almost all issues. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

[A-Jay]

Sounds like you're on the right track ~ I must also say getting a second professional opinion is a   solid plan.  

Food for thought ~ on Jan 2, 1988 while using bad form & too much weight doing barbell squats, I ruptured 3 discs in my lower back.  It was REALLY bad, I went right to the floor on my face.

Couldn't walk.  I was scene by several (military) DR's most of which 'recommended' surgery. 

I wasn't into that.

So I rehabbed it my self - went really slow .

Didn't need to lose weight but had to begin moving a little at a time and as tolerated.

Took 18 months to build myself back up to where I would even think about weight training again. 

But I did get back into it.  Just trained a lot Smarter.   

CORE WORK IS KEY !

So 35 years later, I've kept at it and have no plans to stop.

If & when I do, I'd  FULLY expect my back to become a problem again.

Going from not being able to walk, to stroking out 500 lbs (at 62 years old) is very empowering.

https://youtu.be/Qrys4czoGy8?t=149

And it also shows that while not always the case, a body can often heal itself

if we just give it a chance.

Good Luck. 

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gim]

7 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I must also say getting a second professional opinion is a   solid plan.  

I'll second this.  A second opinion from a medical professional, not another chiropractor.

[Skunkmaster-k]

Chiropractors are medical professionals. 

[DitchPanda]

20 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I'll second this.  A second opinion from a medical professional, not another chiropractor.

I agree that this is a good plan but I guess I'm not super concerned about this yet since all I'm doing is some therapy and stretching. Had he said something radical like surgery or injections I'd get several opinions. He's not doing any actual adjusting just therapy. My best friends mom is a physical therapist and what hes suggesting is much like what she has suggested.

1 minute ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Chiropractors are medical professionals. 

Agreed. Just because they don't have an M.D degree doesn't mean they don't have any medical knowledge or training. I think my guy has 4 years of schooling then he studied under a guy before opening his own office. He's been doing this like 20+ years and treated thousands of patients..so I trust him. If he thinks he can't help me he will send me to a specialist...he did that with my sister. She tried physical therapy and it didn't work so she tried chiropractic care...after several treatments he recommended a spinal specialist and said I won't continue to hurt you.

[Captain Phil]

Do yourself a favor and get an MRI.  In my forties, I started suffering from similar issues. By the time I was sixty five, I couldn't stand for longer than ten minutes without pain.  Last year at seventy four I had major surgery to correct spinal stenosis (arthritis in my spine).  There is a good chance you can avoid surgery if you find the problem early.  Don't guess, find the problem.  If anyone says they can fix you with a laser, leave immediately. 

[volzfan59]

I feel for you @DitchPanda, I hope that your back improves. I have zero problems with chiropractors. My wife is a nurse for an orthopedic surgeon, he refers people to chiropractors from time to time. I have arthritis in my lower spine, it's an adventure some days.

 

[DitchPanda]

22 minutes ago, volzfan59 said:

I feel for you @DitchPanda, I hope that your back improves. I have zero problems with chiropractors. My wife is a nurse for an orthopedic surgeon, he refers people to chiropractors from time to time. I have arthritis in my lower spine, it's an adventure some days.

 

Thank you-im hopeful

[gim]

55 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Chiropractors are medical professionals. 

I'm going to refrain from commenting on this for specific reasons.

[volzfan59]

3 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

Thank you-im hopeful

I'll be praying for you.

[roadwarrior]

4 hours ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Chiropractors are medical professionals. 

 

 

                           

[Skunkmaster-k]

The people who have been helped by chiropractors to avoid carpal tunnel surgery would strongly disagree with your magic theory, or maybe not. It is almost magical how much a chiropractor can help without a knife or pills. 

[throttleplate]

17 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

 

 

                           

yes, the magic metal clacker they use that sounds like .22 round went off.

[Jigfishn10]

On 4/26/2022 at 11:44 AM, A-Jay said:

CORE WORK IS KEY !

Can't agree more, 3 times a week, I do core workouts with weights and bodyweight. Strength, mobility and stretching. Can never get enough of it.

 

I had issues with my knee and the doc was convinced that I had a torn meniscus but it wouldn't show up on an MRI. All the while my deductible bills were piling up, he suggested a scope procedure. It was bad enough that I had to take a small loan to pay my deductible, so I opted for self rehab after some professional consultation. Never had any pain since. 

 

Great advice A-Jay. It's amazing what the body can do if you put it in a position to succeed. Favorable outcomes will be your return on time investment.

[cyclops2]

The pill pushers HATE Chiropractors.  We have a great 1 also.    ?

 

  Never needed any pills.

[Bankbeater]

Hope your healing up.  Last year I strained by back, but kept going with it.  About a week later it just gave out and started to spasm.  I think I didn't let it heal enough and the muscles back there finally just quit working.  After 2 days it was finally strong enough where I could walk again.  Without doing exercises a couple of times a week, who knows how long I would have been down.

[DitchPanda]

8 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

Hope your healing up.  Last year I strained by back, but kept going with it.  About a week later it just gave out and started to spasm.  I think I didn't let it heal enough and the muscles back there finally just quit working.  After 2 days it was finally strong enough where I could walk again.  Without doing exercises a couple of times a week, who knows how long I would have been down.

I've been walking, stretching and doing core exercises daily...even in this short time my back feels better then it has in 6-7 months. I'm excited to keep going to see what I can do.

[NorcalBassin]

Glad you're starting to do a lot better. Some chiros are really good, some are a carpenter with a hammer and view every injury as a nail needing the exact same intervention (hammer). Sounds like you have a good one.

 

For anyone else with significant LBP... research shows there's little to no correlation between the intensity of one's pain and pathoanotomical injury (e.g., disc "rupture"), and MRI's for localized LBP have been shown to lead to many unnecessary surgeries due to chasing diagnostic anomalies that weren't actually causing symptoms. If you have neurological symptoms by all means seek imaging and a surgical consult, but if someone "just" has localized low back pain odds are they'd be amazed what can be attained with conservative treatment.  

[throttleplate]

The Piriformis muscle is a muscle in your butt that the sciatic nerve runs through. Many people have a tight piriformis muscle that is mistaken for a disk problem.

 

Watch youtube videos on what the piriformis is and how to stretch it. Also tight hamstrings can cause lower back pain.

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, throttleplate said:

The Piriformis muscle is a muscle in your butt that the sciatic nerve runs through. Many people have a tight piriformis muscle that is mistaken for a disk problem.

 

Watch youtube videos on what the piriformis is and how to stretch it. Also tight hamstrings can cause lower back pain.

That seems about like what I’ve got. I found a stretch on a sheet the doctor gave my coworker that feels like it stretches the butt cheek, it helps tremendously. Until I slip in mud and start more spasms and start it all over again 

[GreenPig]

7 hours ago, throttleplate said:

The Piriformis muscle is a muscle in your butt that the sciatic nerve runs through. Many people have a tight piriformis muscle that is mistaken for a disk problem.

 

Watch youtube videos on what the piriformis is and how to stretch it. Also tight hamstrings can cause lower back pain.

But a disk problem can also cause the glutes and hamstrings to tighten up.

[VolFan]

The above is true, but losing weight, gaining flexibility and strengthening your core will core will remedy many, many back problems without need for surgery. Not all of them mind you, but removing and/or fusing things in your spine should be an absolute last resort.

[TnRiver46]

On 5/10/2022 at 9:25 PM, TnRiver46 said:

That seems about like what I’ve got. I found a stretch on a sheet the doctor gave my coworker that feels like it stretches the butt cheek, it helps tremendously. Until I slip in mud and start more spasms and start it all over again 

this is the stretch I was referring to, but I also turn my head toward the outreached hand

[N Florida Mike]

I have LBP regularly. I get it from Standing on a hard surface too long, fishing in my bench seat Jon boat for over 3 hours,  and sometimes after doing yard work.

Ive never sought medical help, but may need to some day.

The worst is trying to get into my work car after standing outside talking to customers. By the time I get to my next stop, I’m fine…