So, got over the pseudo mumps, got past the nasty cold, got past the stomach virus. New Year's day I went to pick up a magazine off the couch and there went the lumbar. Went to the Chiropractor today and left hip is over an inch above the right one. Will need to get adjustments 3 times a week for the next month. In the meantime, I am eating Ibuprofren like jelly beans and will have to ice the backstrap tonight.

Sucks to be getting old. Went up to Estes park over the weekend and could barely walk the two blocks around downtown without moaning like an old fir tree in a strong wind.

Not exactly the best way to start the new year healthwise, but at least everything else in life is going okay.

Yikes, makes my back twinge to think about it. Best wishes on a speedy recovery.

Enquiring minds now want to know:

"What magazine?"

Just be glad you're not a horse!!

You are really starting to scare me! Is this what I have to look forward to?

How you heal soon, friend.

-Blast

Good Luck on a speedy recovery from the back injury. I share your pain. This "getting old" crap ain't all it cracked up to be. Guess it beats the alternative though.

"...eating Ibuprofren like jelly beans..."

Me too. Mine are 800mg. Hope you get morebetter soon...

"...Is this what I have to look forward to?..."

Oh yeah. I could tell you stories that will curl your hair (you lucky dog, you have hair)...

Ben.... you are really casting doubt on my plan to die at a 120 from an overdose of 20 year olds. Knock it off, get better.

Amazing how one can pick up heavy things all day an no problem. Then pick up a quarter from the ground and become a walking lowercase "r". Good Luck

I know you know this already, but it bears repeating. Watch your daily and accumulated total dosages. NSAIDs are really tough on the liver, and it's surprisingly easy to get to a toxic blood level, where Really Bad Things happen. Take care, my friends and fellow chronic back pain sufferers.

Jeff

Benjammin,

I thought that the wife got a procedure done before all your malady's set in. Has that not off set some of your discomfort?

"... a procedure..."

Might make him better, might make him worse. You know how it is to have a new "toy" to play with, but not feel good enough to do so...

Ben, please consider
http://www.mckenziemdt.org/method.cfm
if there is a McKenzie certified Physical Therapist in your area. I am a psychologist and have (unfortunately) treated a significant number of patients with chronic pain from orthopedic injuries and from failed treatment (orthopedic, chiropractic, or physical therapy treatment) of such. I don't want to contradict or challenge any well-trained practitioner who has actually thoroughly examined you... but I'd be glad to share my opinion further in a PM. [You're account on ETS is over the PM limit, whatever that means..but I think you can still PM me] I don't want to practice over the Internet or offer myself as an "expert" in this or any open forum. But I have been well pleased with my experience with McKenzie-trained Physical Therapists using this approach both for my patients and for myself. Sorry for your troubles!!

You are still on this side of the grass, so it is still all good.

Getting older is not for P.P.o.W.'s!!!

You made another mistake going to a Chiropractor to get that oh so common pseudodiagnosis of lopsided hips. Get a real evaluation by an M.D. (if it persists) is my recommendation. Hopefully it is just a strain (likely) and can go away on its own, but physical therapy and learning some back stretchs/strengthening moves would be more beneficial.

Man, I feel for you. Get better soon

Boy, I've been so torn on the whole chiropractor issue.

I'll be turning 50 this year. Broke my back during high school - car accident. It never's been the same.

I have to be real careful about lifing heavy stuff, but with the horses I'm forced to do it all the time. About every two or three years I do something that puts me flat on my back for a few days or more.

I've been to the orthopedic surgeon - he said there wasn't anything wrong except for some arthritis. That was bogus. He said it was muscle strain, but why was the muscle strain always hurting EXACTLY at the vertebrae that had been broken?

Last year I was really bad off. Finally caved in and went to a chiropractor. I always walked out feeling a lot better, but after a day or two things weren't much better. I'd go back ever 3 days or so until finally I stopped going and decided to just over-protect my back (NO lifting) until it got better. Sloooowwwwlllyy my back got better on its own.

The McKenzie idea makes a lot of sense to me. When my back is bad it feels like if I could just stretch a certain way it would get better ... but I've never found that stretch. To be honest, it feels like if I hung from my legs or arms and let it all stretch out that things would do better. Maybe ... maybe not.

I'm starting to feel the aches and pains of a man turning 50, especially after sleeping on the ground at night. The secret there seems to be taking Ibuprofen before I go to bed AND getting up once in the middle of the night to stretch things out a bit.

Good thread, but I'm sorry to hear you're hurting Ben!!

Ken

Thanks for all the great advice. Fortunately (or not), this is a recurring injury, and I have previously run the gamut on visiting orthopedists and doing PT and shots and meds and such. At one point the Ortho was inclined to recommend surgery, and I put the kybosh on that idea. I have too many acquaintances who've had back surgery and ended up permanently crippled.

My physician usually recommends flexeril and bedrest for 24 hours, which if I take flexeril pretty much ensures I am going to be in bed that long. It is a great muscle relaxant; turns me into the jelly man for at least half a day and I get some of the best sleep I've ever had that way. After the bedrest, I am usually referred to PT, with mixed results. If I don't want to go the Flexeril route, then it is heat and cold packs, anti-inflammatories, and a visit to the Chiropractor. I've found that a series of adjustments combined with some electrical stim similar to what I've received in PT work wonders. Apparently once I've tweaked the back, the muscles start to spasm and seize, creating the alignment issue, which then aggravates the nerve bundle going from my spine, which then exacerbates the muscle issues, which compounds the whole thing into a big ball of pain and posture issues. Getting the muscles out of spasm while also getting the spine to realign seems to be the objective. About once a year or so I get this happen to me, usually as a result of changing my daily ergonomics ( as with moving to Denver, working in a new office with a new office chair etc). Things shift, and before they can accommodate the changes, something in the lower back gives way, and so I have an "episode". No matter which path I take, whether meds or PT or Chiro or a combination, I eventually recover in a couple weeks to a month, and then I am back to my old self again.

The first time I did this was about 15 years ago. I was climbing around on a roof and tried to come in through a window while holding onto some equipment. I twisted just right, and about wet myself when the pain hit me right below my kidney (almost like being kidney punched). That was my first introduction to Flexeril.

Gimme a couple weeks and I should be right as rain. For now, it is all about letting the muscles settle down and back into place.

I've not heard of McKenzie PT before. The PT I've gone through has run the gamut from massage to infrared to EMS to traction to heat and cold therapy to conditioning, some of it works, some of it only made it hurt. I guess after a while you learn what works and what doesn't and go with it. We'll see if the Chiro and the ibuprofren helps.

BTW, good advice about the Nsaids. I try not to take them on a continous basis. My ER doctor friend says they are really bad for the heart as well. Today I opted for topical analgesics instead.

THE KNIFE MUST BE THE LAST RESORT!!!!

I built a house for a surgeon that does nothing but backs. His comment was that if one has back surgery a zipper should be installed in the opening, because it WILL NOT be the last time someone is in there. (unless the patient dies of course)

He is the best cutter around (Just ask him, he will tell you so.) and he still has repeat business.

I wish you better health and good luck.

"...if one has back surgery a zipper should be installed..."

Yup. Had lower back surgery in 1983, again in '87 to remove scar tissue from the first surgery that had caused some non-repairable nerve damage to my left leg/foot. Luckily I have been able to avoid another procedure (so far) with a combo of caution, motrin, flexril, neuronton, and vodka or rum. Only resort to the knife when you are living flat on your back 24/7, not eating or drinking 'cuz you are afraid to have to get up and go to the bathroom...

Then give it a try. Not all PT's are trained alike. In 4-5 sessions of PT from a McKenzie trained therapist you'll know if it is going to help.. or know if it isn't..IMHO There are several McKenzie trained folks in Denver.

Be thankful you can still feel the aches and pains. It is not a good thing if your body gets so old you no longer can get ill of feel the hurts. All I know is all the checks my body wrote in my teens through my 30's have come due and are payable judging by all the hurts I have now.

I don't know if I would wait too long. I am only 37 (well 38 on the 17th), and this surgery stuff is not getting easier than when I was younger.

For me I have found that a monthly trip to the Chiro will keep everything in balance to eliminate the back episodes. If I would just do the stretching/exercise the chiro recommends I would probably not need the chiro treatments at all.

For those that have back issues, you know what works for you and what doesn't. Good suggestions from everyone and has given me additional things to ask my Chiro about next time I go.

As with most things prevention of back issues is much better than any cure (treatment). If I had only known 30 yrs ago what I know now!

I will look into the Mckenzie PT. For now, after my 2nd trip into the Chiro yesterday, my pain went from a 7(approaching unbearable) on Monday to a 1 last night. This morning it is back to 3, but it is subsiding.

Ergonomics is what seems to be my biggest bain right now. My work chair is not appropriate, and I am tired of requesting an upgrade. I will be shopping for one this weekend.

Hot tubs are nice for easing the pain too. Although that might not go over so well in most offices. Hope you get back to "normal" soon.

Thanks all for your thoughtfulness, concern and advice. I take it to heart.

Yep, I think we got a pretty good campfire going here. That alone takes some of the pain off my mind.

Well, at least a round of Koom-By-yah maybe...

Golly gee whiz.

Several years ago a client was buying Herman Miller Aeron Chairs for his office and I plunked down the cash for a pair for myself. I use one in my home office and have another that I take for long-term jobs. The difference between sitting in one of these all day vs most any other chair is just amazing.

If you are a desk-bound professional, I highly recommend one of these.

My PT was telling me that the back muscles loose the fight in a tug-o-war with your hamstrings. So they got me stretching those steal cables a bit. The other usable advice i got from them is the old sit-ups or crunches. The word is a strong front helps a support the back and visa-versa. However, i graduated from school with a fine arts degree not a PHD, so you can basically ignore me and GET BETTER!!!