sciatica/lower back troubles

[jdkneelo]

had a lot of trouble with sciatica lower back problems over the last 5 years ,it has kept me out of the water for the last 5 weeks and the goldy has been pumping. have tried chiropractors ,physios,and yoga,any advise or ideas on exercises would be greatly appreciated wednesday avvo at d/bah was alltime thanks jdkneelo

[Willy Kelly]

jdkneelo,

have you tryed accupuncture? Give it a try and you will be out of pain and surfing the goldie before you know it.



peace and good waves

Willy Kelly

[john -]

hi

if there is a connection to and or the occurence of lower back muscle tightness

A. crawl around the floor..this loosens the muscles and stretches them

B. lie on on your back the floor with your ankles resting on the bed...legs at about 45 degrees...this also stretches the muscles and eases tension in the lower back...quite relaxing to


worked for a long time lifting people out of wheel chairs so back is a bit dodgee....works for me


good luck

[Beeline2.0]

..

[DrStrange]

you probably know that on the order of 800mg of IBuprofen is the
only thing that knocks this out.

Down side of Ibu is it accelerates arthritic degeneration (lab studies) and trashes your liver. There are good herbal anti-inflamm that are user friendy (tumeric, Zyflament [a combo from New Chapter] etc)

Better still is big doses of proteolytic enzymes (like bromaline and papaine) taken on EMPTY stomach. These are anti-inflam and speed healing dramatically.

Definitely acupuncture is a good call

Get the book "7 Steps to A Pain-Free Life" by Robin McKenzie. It's cheep and can find used on internet. He's is/was Kiwi phys therapist who discovered very very simple quick set of stretches/exercises you do many times a day for a couple minutes per set. I had severe sciatic pain off and on for 15 years, worst last couple, to the point where I was sleeping sitting up in recliner chair for about 18 months. These exercises brought the pain down from a 9 to a 1. No real problems since, been couple years. If I sit too long in auto or something and get mild flair up, couple minutes of McKenzie puts me right.

Also, expensive but overall good for you and will help tremendously is if you can find a good Pilates trainer and work with them. Rebuild your whole motor

[Smokin Rock]

jdkneelo,
for the long term, nothing makes chronic LBP go away like strong abdominal muscles. weak abs make the low back muscles work harder and can pull the vertebrae slightly out of place which in turn can cause a pinched nerve. also be constantly aware of good posture especially while sitting or driving. get a lumbar support device to help this out. a crappy mattress can also be a culprit. try sleeping on a hard surface in the fetal position a couple of nites and see if this helps.
it's all about alignment (and keeping it that way)
a chiro once had me lie on my back and twisted my spine by putting a foot on my shoulder and brought my opposite knee up to waist level then twisted in opposite directions (very slowly and gently) . he did this several times in both directions and i could hear slight cracking noises as the vertebrae moved back to their rightful place (consult your chiro on this one). it was instant relief. i don't go to a chiro anymore cuz i just have my wife do it. if your back is really sore DON'T try any adjustments until it's better. this could be really inflamed muscles that won't be amenable to further stretching and moving. fixing a bad back is a lifestyle change. not a quick fix. but as i'm sure you know very much worth it.
my Mom recently told me that acupuncture worked for her chronic neck pain when nothing else would. worth a go.
good luck and hope you can hit the waves soon!

[Jerry]

Like Gilligan said, strong abs make for a strong back. I too had lower back problems until about 5 years ago when just by chance I tried my wifes ab-slide. Worked wonders on my back and abs. It was a piece of junk, so I found a thing at the sporting goods store that is alot cheaper and works just as well. Just a wheel with a handle on each side. You just get on your knees [ something we can all do ] and roll the wheel forward as far as you can and then roll back. I do about 150 every other day and I have no more back problem. Maybe worth a try for you. Good luck.

[Smokin Rock]

Jerry,
thats just the same thing i do! unreal eh.
i put it by the tv and do reps of 10 while i'm watching. old reruns of my show of course. since i started the wheel i've had like 1 or back 2 back "go-outs" since then and they were minor. ($7US @ wal-mart)
BTW, awesome pics of c-cide lately. you obviously scored. my bro lives in portland and i'd like to surf that place at least once. even if i have to buy a 5-mil.

[DrStrange]

Careful on that wheel!! Why the Pilates is such a good thing--w/ incorrect posture, (what generally causes the problems in the first place and tiny variations count,) I blew my back out BAD on one of those wheels. That was one of several close in time injuries that started all my probs.

[Brendan]

Have you had a x-ray or MRI on your back? You may have a bulging disk or a burst disk (don't want to frighten you). I burst a disk in '93 and the contents was puting pressure on the spinal cord. Had the operation to remove the contents of the disk and walked out of the hospital 3 days later after going in in a wheelchair. Been relatively trouble free ever since.

If if is a bulging disk a simple exercise of leaning up against a wall with one shoulder and feet together about 1 foot out from the wall. Move hips to the wall slowly and back again (just like the disco dance "the bump" which I still perform at nite clubs!). You'll know which side you have got it on because of the greater discomfort.

This gave me relief when I first hurt my back. May work for you.

Brendan

[Jerry]

Mr. Rock, Glad it worked for you too. Obviously, it won't work for everyone. If your ever up here visiting your bro, look me up.

[waka]

Being a concretor for the last 25yrs , I have had back problems since I was 18. Have been to chriopracters- physio- osteo-you name it, I have tryed it!
But at the end of last year , I suffered what was possiblely the WORST back pain ever.
SCIATICA PAIN - shooting down both legs.
Couldnt sit or walk properly, and forget about surfing.
The silly thing is , it happen after I had finished work for the Xmas break, and i thought my back would get a good rest for 2 weeks and would be fighting fit for the new year.
the total opposite happen, and my back pain increased the more i rested and it didnt matter what i did or who i saw it gradualy got worse.
My chriopracter sent me for x-rays, which showed the 2 lower verterbraes were out, but he also tested me for STRESS.
STRESS and worry are our greatest problem of modern day living.
I was stressing bigtime- didnt know if i was going to walk properly again,
worried about my business, and so on.
Agood freind who went thru the same problem, and made a full recovery, suggested i read this book
HEALING BACK PAIN, by JOHN E SARNO, MD.
I bought this book from ANGUS AND ROBERTSON for 29.95.
The best $30 I spent.
After reading this book, and putting its principles into practice, i made a full recovery, and havnt had a problem since.
It took about 2 weeks before I was totaly pain free- the trouble when you have long term pain , the surrounding muscles clench up to protect your spine, in theory they have a memory in them, and it takes a while for them to finaly relax.
Once this happens you will be able to get on with your life.
Just some advice from somebody that has been to hell and back!

[Smokin Rock]

what Geoffrey fails to point out is that he propped his feet up on the front fender of his trusty AMC Gremlin (lime green of course) and charged Lombard st. in San Francisco head first with his then girlfriend driving. of course now he just sais it was the wheel. always the extemist.

[alitzow]

boy do i knowa lot about this.in '95 and again in '96 i got crashed bad in 2 car accidents-both by drunks,both times i was coming home from working out. they wanted to operate but my father had been a surgeon and had a back operation-he taught me all the signs of when you had to get cut-foot dropping, loss of bladder control etc,etc. went through lots of rehab etc.,had a great rehab doctor,but in the end here's what worked for me: 1) swimming-i still swim 6 days a week. why it works i don't know but but i have so often entered the pool with a tight and painful back and gotten out almost or completely better.also it sure doesn't hurt your surfing to swim 1500 to 2500 yds a day.2) yoga- i went to 304 sessions over a period of less then 2 years (still have receipts). in retrospect it didn't have to be anywhere near that long. really about 6 months of 3 or 4 times a week would have been enough. why?-it teaches you, if you are very careful and conservative in the beginning, not to fear moving into unusual positions,teaches you the great relaxation that proper breathing can bring you.it gets rid of a lot of the fear you have that you're going to be a cripple. 3) the drug skelaxin. it was new when i was first hurt, my doctor perscribed it because i would not tolerate feeling doped up, groggy,or sleepy. it does none of these things-i still have a srip for it and take a 400-800 mg tab 6 to 10 times a month-just one usually does it. my personal doc didn't believe in it,when i was off rehab,and had to ask him for a scrip.when i came back a year later i found out he had screwed up his back and had tried it-he's been a believer ever since.