been suffering a bit lately, got shunted lightly last friday and been a bit of a bugger since. I wake up in the morning as stiff as a plank (my back
that is 
), so tend to do a few stretches in an attempt to loosen it. Doesnt have much affect though, im wondering if stretching it loose too soon
and too early is possible making it worse? Ie maybe i should shuffle off to the van with a few painkillers and leave the stretching til i arrive at a
job (2 hours driving later!)?
Any good advice? Im off to a chiropracter in a few days/next week, as i find it too painful getting 'manipulated' whilst muscles are
resisting.
My best ever investment is an inversion table
It has EASILY paid for itself as i rapidly lost faith in chiros as none of them would give me an initial consultation and then an idea of how long it
would take to ease or solve my problem.
The inversion table is wholly under my own control and has completely sorted my bad back, plus it sorts any little niggles i may get from lifting
aquardly
If your local give me a shout and you can have a try if you like
Back problems are fairly simple (usually!!)
Take some painkillers to keep the pain under control so you can keep mobile
Don't over-do it, don't over-stretch, don't lift things. Don't sit in any one position for too long and if you have to drive takes
breaks intermitently to have a cautious stretch.
but equally don't lie down for a week (even worse on a hard floor!!) else you'll seize up like a Fiat in a salt bath...
Certainly doing too much too soon can do more harm than good (but then so can too little!!).
Ultimately what you're trying to do is to keep the muscles and ligaments moving so that scar tissue doesn't develop between the fibres
therefore causing stiffness and pain but equally not doing so much exercise that you're stretching and tearing further the tissues that are
trying to heal....
Simple?!?!?
I feel so sorry for you as i know whats its like as i done mine in a few weeks back while weeding the grass! 
Woke up the other day and my left knee gave way and i couldn't walk! Had no pains the night before or anything? Now its all swolen up!
Friends of mine said i might have been bitten by some insect. WTF sort of insect does that!!!!!
My lower back used to be really dodgy after years of humping photocopiers upstairs etc, got recommended a bloke in Easingwold Simon Barnard he's
an Osteopath absolutly brilliant, 4 sessions at £40 no problems again for 5 years, but just went back last monday actually as the top of my neck was
giving me a bit of grief after lifting my scuttle wrong, anyway sorted now. Definantly worth a call on 01347 822946 but does work at a surgery in
Teeside and Easingwold on different days.
Cheers
Rich
some excellent advice there chaps, much apprciated. Will look into inversion tables jos 
Trouble is i do a lot of manual work as a kitchen fitter and being self employed with two employees i cant take any time off. So i need to work
through it, which i know isnt ideal. Thought id throw up this morning it was that bad - sprinters have the worst seats imaginable.
Annoying thing is, a bloke ran into me at some lights. He was a grafter too in a van, pulled his bumper off with my towbar but no damage to my van so
i sent him on his way. Messing about with insurance claims isnt a good start to a day! Looking back there was no crumple at all as my tow bar dented
the metal under his bumper, but that just meant all the more jolt to my back, as i was leaning forward.
Ah well, live and learn!
I hurt mine last week picking up a washer...M4 type not a washing machine! I only ever hurt it now doing stuff like that, never lifting somthing
heavy.
Only stretch I do when it's bad is to lie on my chest and push my shoulders up as far as posible from the floor while keeping my hips down,
arching my back. Hold as long as my arms will stand and then rest. I repeat 3 times. Works a treat. Don't take too many pain killers either so I
don't do more harm and not feel it.
adrian
I recommend a dose of lifting a wheel-less trailer up onto another trailer. That should do it!!
I broke three vertibrae in my back a few years ago and I have got used to living with the pain and odd twinge. If I take any painkillers before I go
to bed, I'm in crippling agony for days! The pain protects my bobbins when I'm asleep so I don't make it worse.
I sometimes use a mix of Parots-eat-em-all and Ibuprofen. That takes the edge off it. Or I do have access to some synthetic mophine if it gets too
bad!
Get well soon matey....
It usually gets you when you bend over to get something small and light... but the damage will have been done some time previously, due to bad lifting
technique, over-reaching, etc.
The last time I did it, I had helped my neighbour to lift something heavy into the boot of his car - it wasn't the weight, but I did have to
twist and reach before putting it down. Didn't hurt then, but it got me when I settled into my comfy chair many hours later! Next time
I'll volunteer the use of my little trailer...
Woke up the sunday morning at Stoneleigh about 6am , walked to the loo OK but on the way back I could hardly move. Didn't see a lot of the show that day .Still isn't right so I know how you feel.
having 3 knackered discs its a daily thing for me, worse case tramadol and codeine dont overdo the Ibrupofen / anti inflamatory thing make sure you eat before hand or you could end up with a stomach ulcer as I did. To make sleeping easier raise your legs with pillows if you sleep on your back, if you sleep on your side place a pillow between the legs, apparently helps the alignment of the back. Feel liek a qualified practitioner now. PS play on it and get the other half to run around for you
good thinking!
Dicloflex the only thing that works for me got a nice little stash hidden away as its near impossible to get a docs appointment as im not a habitual drug abuser.
quote:
near impossible to get a docs appointment as im not a habitual drug abuser.
and today taking it easy. gets a call from the nurse to come in for a blood pressure check and arrive all
chilled and calm to listen to a frigging junkie arsehole speaking at the top of his voice while rattling his dog lead off of the reception desk side
while doing so then he nicked a couple of magazines for the journey home FFS I wanted to rip his head off and more to the point
why did/do the staff put up with arseholes like this. Safe to say the blood pressure reading was not great
Rant over and apologies for my Langauge
(but I was being reserved)
Get this book. It is a very good book, and allowed me to go snowboarding just 10 days after being immobile with a slipped disc. It was recommended to me by several folk (including a doctor) as being the best book available to self-treat.
As a fellow back pain sufferer - it's easy to dis when you haven't got one.... I always found the Cat Scan to be the best remedy....
Steve
does your daughter know what you've done to the cat Steve??
PS how much for the arches your dad said you were selling as you where fitting new ones
regards Andy
can i second the osteopath suggestion, had a lot of problems solved that way.
I used oxycodone and hydrocodone in combination with paracetamol when i had my liver resection and stomach surgery. because i was cut right up my
front it put a lot of pressure on my back and these drugs helped.
regular codeine(sp) and paracetamol is nearly as good
as an aside, i found out that some of the other pain killers i was on are worth $50 ea on the black market. I have at least enough to build a couple
of sports cars and race them!
[Edited on 13/5/08 by liam.mccaffrey]
lol@the cat scan an F*** me it hurt
Back problems, feel sorry for ya. Ive had a fair few and im only 20! Probable from car crashes, bmxing and slouching though!
What ive found that has worked though;
Good posture, straight back, pulled shoulders back and chin slightly down pushing the back-top of the head up.
Regular excercise, you'll probably have to go to the physio for this but excercises like laying on your front and raising your head neck and
shoulders and pos chest off the floor. Alternate arm alternate leg extensions.
Stretching and not just your back, somtimes when your lifting things your legs can be straight and back doing all the work. Like if lifting its
important to use your strongest muscles (quads) in your legs and keep a good spine shape.
If pain is localised then hot/ cold therapy is good. Ie if you pull a muscle then put ice on it instantly as this eases spazm and stops any internal
bleeding. Then icing 5mis on 5 mins off or warming on the same basis, gets fresh blood flushing through to the injured area. alternatively open the
window in your bath room (ensure private glass is in place first!) run a hot bath, and just get in and out of it.
Hope this helps!
quote:
Originally posted by nathanharris1987
alternatively open the window in your bath room (ensure private glass is in place first!) run a hot bath, and just get in and out of it.
Hope this helps!
well after weighing up todays performance against yesterdays, i will definately be stretching first thing tomorrow morning! Was bloody awful! Was
pretty much crippled when i stopped for a bacon sarnie at scotch corner!