by gumby 43 Replies latest jw friends
As a result of a car accident I was in extreme pain for about 3 years. I did all the therapy, steroid (&other) shots...things just got worse. I could only walk for about 100' before giving up, because of the spasms in my back and thigh.
The bulging disk was squashing a nerve from the spinal cord against another part of the vertebrae called the facet. Ow!
I had a great back surgeon and I've been *totally* without back pain the last year & a half !
Rabbit
*heya Gumback !
I have pretty bad back pain, resulting from a childhood injury. It seems I broke my back when I was 5, and it wasn't discovered at the time. I fell about 30 feet onto a pig pen rail and bounced onto the barn floor. I was unconscious briefly, and jumped right up and seemed all right, for about 40 years. But, it healed wrong, and my 4th and 5th vertebra are misaligned, and I have a bulging disc.
Anyway, I take Advil several times a week, and alternate with Aleve. I often forget to take anything, but sleep better if I take them at night. During the day, I am usually fine. Walking and moving around are all right, but standing just kills me. Sometimes when I get into bed at night, my back goes into spasms but only for a short time.
When I was a regular pioneer, the pain was so bad that I could hardly get in and out of cars. My chiropractor told me it was a stress reaction and not really related to my injury.
I'm supposed to do yoga and stretching exercises, nothing strenuous, but I don't do them very often. He told me to definitely NOT ride a bicycle or exercise bike unless it's a recumbant one. Ice helps a lot when it flares up badly.
I've had minor troubles - but since March of this year my husband has been the back pain sufferer - He's been home from work since August 18th when he had back surgery for 2 herniated lumbar discs - 2 weeks after the surgery he herniated 2 more discs in the cervical spine - he is a mess - he is in physical therapy 3 days per week, vicodin (sp?), muscle relaxers and TENS at home - he has continual numbness down his leg and also down his left arm and pain. Currently he is getting a second epidural block in the neck on Tuesday - but so far it hasn't really done much. The Dr said if it doesn't she'll send him back to the surgeon for the cervical spine. At this point he does not want to go through another surgery, he doesn't think the 1st one on the lumbar spine did anything.
He says he'll just live with the pain. I asked the Dr if it could be degeneritive disc disease, but she said no. He's only 35 but he feels like he's 90!
I notice alot of people suffer from chronic back pain. My husbad does, or did. He went to a bunch of physical therapy, and that seemed to help alot. I know it can be just awful for people though. I feel for anyone who suffers from it.
LadyLee.....a waterbed? I remember it was president Kennedy who had back pain and he said a waterbed helped him greatly. I haven't had one of them babies since the 70's though and didn't know people still used them....intresting.
Brenda....accupunture is something I'd forgotten about and may give that a try.
Poppers
That day I went to K-Mart and bought an inversion table for $99, a great price.
Inversion tables work awesome for many and I too have one. Right now I have a knee injury and cannot use it but wished I could.
Do many of you find that certain car seats when you drive make or break you? My wifes car is awful on my back for some reason and I can't stand it for more than 15 minutes before my back kills me. I found if I recline the seat back a ways it goes away....but she has to drive......and that's the bad part.
Gumhurtin
Gumby
LadyLee.....a waterbed? I remember it was president Kennedy who had back pain and he said a waterbed helped him greatly. I haven't had one of them babies since the 70's though and didn't know people still used them....intresting
If you looked at some of the new ones you would never be able to tell it was a waterbed. Instead of those wooden sides with the water bladder inside the new hybrid ones look exactly like a regular mattress. The top zips off and there are thick bumper cushions that hold the water bladders inside. Each side of the bed has its own water bladder and own temperature controls so if a couple prefers different temps and level of softness they can each have what worls best for them. They take regular sized sheets.
My last bed was a king-sized hybrid but I had to leave that behind in Winnipeg.
Reading so many people have problems I'd like to offer one treatment that a friend of mine used.
Her problem was mostly stress related and in the lower back. She was so bad that she would be walking down the street and have to lie down on someone's lawn or find a bench so she could relax and walk another 100 ys to the next place to rest.
One doctor recommended a really simple exercise that anyone could do. He thought her problem was really pain transferred from her shoulders.
Several times a day he wanted her to stand and simply swing her arms together back and forth. The swing would go from a 4:00 to a 7:00. The arms should not come up to shoulder level but about half way between. Don't swing the arms too fast - just a nice easy swing without going too high in the front or back. Do about 10 swings each time and that's it.
It was so simple she thought it was silly but she tried it and it worked. She could do it waited for buses or walking down the street or while talking to someone.
I tried an inversion table once. Never again. As soon as I got back up and gravity pulled my spine down. I thought I was going to die. The pain was excrutiating. (sp?) I could feel my vertebre rub against each other again.
What about those new NASA memory foam beds? Has anyone tried one yet? I'm thinking of getting a mattress topper made of it before investing in a full mattress.
I don't have back pain most of the time. I have had it in the past, due to an inflammation and fistula caused by lower abdominal surgery. The fistula went undiagnosed for three years. I was very ill with it during that time. My back hurt the worst low and in my pelvis/tailbone. The pain radiated up my spine, between my shoulder blades. It also radiated down my inner and back thighs. I remember being so ill from it that it was hard to get out of bed or function. One morning my caring sister in law, a guest in our home, stood outside my bedroom door and said, "My back aches, too, but I don't stay in bed and whine about it." When I discovered the fistula, she apologized to me profusely.
My pain was not from a disk injury or bone injury. I used anti-inflammatories and a heating pad or hot water bottles or soaks in a hot bath. When I had surgery to deal with the inflammation and fistula, the pain in my back soon went away.
My brother and nephew both hurt their backs at work. They are both disabled from the chronic and severe pain. It amazes me how unsympathetic people have been towards them. One of them "caught a car" as it came down on a lift. The car penned him to the garage wall. My brother slipped in grease, while holding a 60 lb box. He sat straight down on a tile floor. The impact and weight of the box causes the pelvic bones to separate from the tail bone. No one was aware of this and they didn't heal back together. So they grate against each other. I cannot imagine how painful it is.
I also had two bones "go out" in my back right before my first grandson's birth. I was to be the birthing coach. I could not sit or stand up because the weight of my body on my spine made it excrutiating. I have no idea why that happened. I come from a family full of chiropractors. I believe in it. So I went to the chiropractor everyday for two weeks and she fixed whatever was wrong. I was able to be there for the birth.
I have used mind over matter to control acute pain. I am not sure how it would work with chronic pain.
My lower back was just awful for 5 years or so until someone recommended exercises. Just strengthening the mid-section with crunches a few times a week has taken 90+% of the pain away. It seems too simple, but it literally has given me a new lease on life. I suffered through either extreme lower back tension or sciatica every day to the point major debilitation. It seemed hopeless. Five Advils would barely even dent the pain. When the abs are strong (no six-pack here, btw), they take much of the pressure off the back when bending or lifting. I install and sand wood floors full-time, and chronic back pain is now a thing of the past. I have not taken even one Advil in at least six months and my back feels great in general. The results from 5-10 minutes a week worth of crunches have been amazing.
I used anti-inflammatories and a heating pad or hot water bottles or soaks in a hot bath.
I was told to only use ice. Heat might feel good, but causes the inflamed areas to swell, which makes the problem worse. I did the same thing, just because it felt so good at the time, but when I used ice, it was better.
new light.............thanks for the encouragement and your experiences, about the exercises. I guess I will get going on them.
What about those new NASA memory foam beds? Has anyone tried one yet? I'm thinking of getting a mattress topper made of it before investing in a full mattress.
FlyingHighNow...................We got the foam mattress topper for my mother, who has osteoporosis. She says it is wonderful and takes the pressure off her hips.
We had a waterbed for about 20 years. It felt great sleeping, but it had one of the old style mattress holders, wood frame. Dave has a different kind of work related back pain, and he would wake up in pain every day. When I was about 45, it became increasingly difficult to get out of bed, maneuvering that side rail. I think if the bed had been higher off the floor, it would have been easier. So we got a regular bed and it's fine. Dave got the relief he needed. I love waterbeds though.
