Lower back pain?

I am a fellow sufferer of back pain.... dealt with sciatic nerve pain and bulging discs and I went the route of pain meds and ICE then got really frusterated with the pain and went to Dr's,,,after much ado they said that I had bulging disc...after being more than a little skeptical I finally (after much prodding from my friends) went to a chiropractor. I have to agree with imspoiled with this...between the chiropractor and stretching and a good pair of orthotics (I am a nurse and on my feet 12+ hrs a day) that I am in pretty good working order. It took the better part of 9mths...but I was able to swim during that..I laid off the heavy pulling and kicking. Did moderate free practices. Used lots of ICE and heat. I also ended up getting 1 cortisone shot into my back...It was really a combination of a lot of things but I absolutely swear by chiropractors to keep things aligned. I live here in Houston so if you want the name of a good one then just let me know... Get better soon!

If anyone is interested, :) I went to another doctor's appointment at the "Texas Back Institute." They took x-rays of my back and didn't really tell me much. I go back for a follow-up next week. Its a little frustrating to not really know whats wrong with my back..:confused:

Everyone is going to give you different advice on this one. Here are my two cents. I suffer from back pain from time to time and my quick fix involves taking muscle relaxants and doing some very mild stretching. This means lying on the floor on my back and very gently hugging both my thighs to my chest raising my bum off the ground in the process. Next I repeat with each leg individually. Generally, after 3 or 4 days of this treatment I am about 80% better already. Far more important than curing the symptoms (although I am sure this is foremost in your mind at the moment), is long term preventative exercises. It is so easy to forget the pain once it subsides and slip back into your bad posture habits. Once again everyone is going to have their favourite back strengthening exercises. If you are familiar with yoga you will know about the Sun Salutation warm up. I do these every morning shortly after getting up. I swear by them. It would be too complicated to explain them here but if you Google: sun salutation exercises or salute to the sun or some variation I am sure you will come up with literally hundreds of explanations on how to them. I will see if i can find a link with diagrams and post later. Syd Ok found a link with graphics (moving ones too)! www.santosha.com/.../suryanamaskar.html Print these out, stick them to your wall and when this pain is sorted out, start doing them everymorning when you get up.

I too have a bulging disc problem and discovered a way to control my lower back pain from a suggestion here on this forum about one year ago. The method is called the McKenzie method and is some exercises to help realign your lower spine when pain occurs. It amounts to doing a push-up except your hips stay on the ground, so that you extend the back and push the disc back where it belongs. Kim Tarnower, thanks for the advice last September! If anyone is interested here's the website for the McKenzie Institute. I would highly recommend the book "Treat Your Own Back" http://www.mckenziemdt.org/ Good luck! :groovy:

I (most of us) feel your (or part of your) pain. I would stick to your chiropractor. Most good ones know what they're doing. Some not so good regular doctors are too quick in not examining all possibilities. I had severe sciatic pain on my left side a few years ago, starting in the glute and radiating down the front thingh to the back calf. No position was comfortable. (That also caused lower back pain because my body was trying, unconsciously to bend itself into less uncomfortable/painful positions). X-rays revealed two damaged discs. Chiro adjustments eased the situation somewhat but the chiro persisted in her search and discovered that, apart from the vertebral sciatic pain, I was one out ten people whose sciatic nerve runs through (the middle of) my piriformis muscle and sometimes that muscle moves or gets inflamed in such a way as to press the sciatic nerve causing what is known as pseudo-sciatica. Again gluteal massage (but even more targeted) helped. I've been pain-free (in this particular regard; other pains in the a@@ region are different stories) since then. Apart from all the other advice you'll get (on the forum and from your doctor///s///) make sure that when driving you're not sitting on part of your handbag/purse or some such. I had been keeping my wallet in my hip pocket. Boy, did I learn fast to keep it elsewhere. Good luck.

... Has anyone else delt with lower back pain? How long was it before you started to feel better? i routinely suffer a pinched nerve in my lower back (1-2x/yr, maybe 3-4x/yr). it usually takes about 3 weeks before i feel completely recovered on bad sessions, maybe as little as a week on mild ones. this happens usually with the simplest of actions. in recent times it has been bending over the lavatory to wash my face/hands, or to get something (any size) out of the fridge. it usually happens w/o any warning what-so-ever, but sometimes i "see" it coming. if i immediately start doing gentle forward bends and maybe some floor stretches for the back it can significantly shorten the recovery time. i highly recommend a regular yoga practice as preventative maintenance, but if your condition is current and severe you should consult a physician first. if you do take up yoga i strongly suggest you get a teacher.... like swimming, doing it wrong can be worse. my worst years for this were in my 20's, when i was a carpenter (i'm now pushin' 50). those were my most intensive yoga years too. if i did even just a little bit every day (usually a dozen or so sun salutations in the a.m. and some standing and some floor back asanas in the evening) i could prevent this ever happening. when it did happen the pain was merciless, and it cut into my pay, so i was VERY motivated to prevent it. once it happened simply from sitting bolt upright from lying on my back. i firmly believe stress plays a big part in this for me. addressing that issue as well has helped a lot (in everything really). i still do back stretches, but not often enough. (just last month i pinched that nerve again bending over to wash my hands.) i routinely "crack" (adjust) my back doing yogic back twists. i've even felt my back adjust (most recently yesterday) while i swim, especially with front crawl when i can get the most stretched out. i find my yogic conditioning for balance has helped me immensely in my swimming practice. it is a thought process as much as anything else. when the process becomes as automatic as breathing, then you know you are getting somewhere. i am constantly trying to lengthen my strokes, which i can most easily monitor by occasionally paying attention to my stroke count. in a SCY pool it is about 8 (full) cycles/length for the big four (an IM), on a good day. i'm not the fastest fish in the pond, but i'm faster than most (of the general population anyway), and very efficient. :cool:

I to have occational back problems. My occupation invites back troble, I own a furniture store and still do a great deal of moving. Rest works best for me when it acts up. Stretching, before any sort of physical activity is the best thing, swimming, golf, heavy lifting etc. I hope everything works out well for you. Got Boost

I used to get laid up with extreme back pain about every 6-8 months from the time I turned thirty until about 10 years ago, (I'm now 60). A visitor at my bed and breakfast recommended reading Dr John Sarno's book on healing back pain. I read it skeptically and didn't really buy into his theory, but it worked! I went 10 years totally free of back pain (other than mild muscle soreness when I overdo some new activity) since reading his book. But in the last year I've had two occasions where arthritis has caused enough pain in my back to limit swimming for a few weeks, but I still am a fanatic supporter of Sarno's theory. Over the years I have given copies to several acquaintances, almost all have reported the same miraculous results. It's a quick read, inexpensive, non invasive and has some carryover value to other types of pain. I consider it one of the most valuable learning experiences of my life.

I just recently came back to swimming (about 3 weeks ago) after a couple years break. (I am 27). After the first week of swimming in the local Masters program, I started to develop lower back pain. Hi Sarah, As the back pain seems to be swimming related (altho' may be reasonably assumed to be "caused" by other things, such as posture, alignment, weak muscles, etc.), I would work with a coach on body position in water and kicking mechanics. Otherwise, taking a general anti-inflammatory before swimming, such as Tylenol (acetaminophen), and doing pre-workout and post-workout stretches should help (I'm not a dr., but I've been through quite a lot). Adding a small amount of daily strengthening exercises, such as basic yoga (your choice), should also help. It's been two years since you asked your body to engage in certain motions. It might help if you reintroduce them gently and just cavort in the pool for a few days, listening to your body, before taking on structured workouts. It does seem to be true that everybody's back problem, and the solution thereto, is different. Good luck! VB

Alright, I am open minded I will go out and buy the book. :agree: