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Do you get any pain? How long does it take you to "recover" normally?
I am about to enter the 6th day of this tomorrow (Saturday). At the moment I will be pleased to just be able to walk again. Not sure about anything else yet . . .
Yes. Lots of periodic sharp, very intense shooting pains when it happens. Not fun at all. Usually becomes less frequent and less intense as time goes on, which for me usually lasts for a few weeks to recover from.
Over the counter pain killers can help also. As long as it's for short time use only, and you don't suffer from stomach issues such as ulcers, you can do over-the-counter NSAIDs such as Aleve or Advil at triple the normal dosage if needed
There are different viewpoints on this, but besides helping with pain, NSAIDs can also reduce inflammation, which I believe is a good thing that can you get onto the road to recovery sooner.
After you recover, work on building up your core strength to help prevent future occurrences.
Periodic bulging disc here. The above posts mention walking and keeping your core strong. That's priceless. Laying around getting flabby is the worst thing ever. Usually once you get up and walking the pain subsides. Muscle spasms are the worst kind of pain with back problems. Once the pain is nearly gone I catch myself thinking how good that pain feels.
I'll add this ridiculous suggestion. I noticed sitting on a horse didn't bother me at all so, when sitting, about to get up, I position my hips and legs as if I were astride and then stand. Actually helped lessen the pain.
Periodic bulging disc here. The above posts mention walking and keeping your core strong. That's priceless. Laying around getting flabby is the worst thing ever. Usually once you get up and walking the pain subsides. Muscle spasms are the worst kind of pain with back problems. Once the pain is nearly gone I catch myself thinking how good that pain feels.
I'll add this ridiculous suggestion. I noticed sitting on a horse didn't bother me at all so, when sitting, about to get up, I position my hips and legs as if I were astride and then stand. Actually helped lessen the pain.
I think there is a point where you become so deconditioned that the pain doesn’t go away- at least from what I can tell from my dad’s whining. He’s improved his diet thanks to losing his sense of smell from breaking his nose (not a recommended approach for weight loss), but he doesn’t do any sort of strengthening exercises whatsoever.
I take a few fitness classes from a chiropractor and she says that’s one big reason people end up coming to see her. They think that if they have pain and stretch, it will help, but they don’t realize that their lack of strength/deconditioning is the biggest contributing factor. She lectures people in her stretching-based yoga about making sure they go “upstairs” to do the strengthening classes too. At one point I was complaining about some issue and she suggested that magnesium cream can help in the affected area. I told her I already take supplements, but she says sometimes a lot of that goes to helping with digestion/regularity. I keep meaning to pick some up, but haven’t yet. OP, it might be worth a try on your back if it is a muscle spasm.
Yes. Lots of periodic sharp, very intense shooting pains when it happens. Not fun at all. Usually becomes less frequent and less intense as time goes on, which for me usually lasts for a few weeks to recover from.
Over the counter pain killers can help also. As long as it's for short time use only, and you don't suffer from stomach issues such as ulcers, you can do over-the-counter NSAIDs such as Aleve or Advil at triple the normal dosage if needed
There are different viewpoints on this, but besides helping with pain, NSAIDs can also reduce inflammation, which I believe is a good thing that can you get onto the road to recovery sooner.
After you recover, work on building up your core strength to help prevent future occurrences.
I agree with you there are certainly different viewpoints.
Personally, I am anti-pill, anti-injections, pain-killers, steroids, and prefer natural remedies. Well, I will take an advil 1-2x a year for a headache.
Initial treatment with those recommendations, yes. But definitely not long term. It's best to balance it out with probiotics otherwise you can really screw up your gut flora which can trigger more problems. I know this from a relative and was ignorant of cooking wrong (canola/olive oil at high temps) which was screwing mine up too.
Holistic doctors agree that NSAIDs and injections are temporary quick fixes, or a fake band-aid that is masking the root problem. Sometimes, these band-aid exacerbate the problem because you may have a underlying condition that is dormant.
Without any positive changes to what the cause was the back pain will recur. They'll continue with the same posture, same bad diet, put off exercising, or put themselves at risk inside with pollutants and chemicals as they used to do.
It must be treated correctly. Get opinions from a couple spinal doctors and holistic doctors, not a GP.
Chiropractors may try to sell you on coming back month after month.
I just tweaked my back pretty good........probably from overzealous stretching and
trying to build-up my routine too quickly.
I have done so before.....and a lot of times my back-injuries have felt a lot worse than
the minor problem they were. I have been taking it pretty easy for the last 10-days and my back is about 75% healed.
OP, it sounds like you should follow up with your PCP to get some sort of scan to make sure something serious isn’t going on. I have a friend whose husband had an issue that also didn’t seem to come from an injury and it turned out that part of a disc cracked off and was pushing into the nerve. He needed emergency surgery, but after he had it, he was able to bounce back within a few months. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you don’t know what the problem is and are doing movements/exercises that could worsen the problem.
It seems beneficial for you to get a workup done anyway if you haven’t been feeling too well. The doctor can do a workup to make sure your hormones and vitamin levels are ok. That same friend told me she was sort of feeling blah for a while and apparently had very low B12 and getting an infusion was like a jolt of energy. Others have very low vitamin D or found out they had Hashimoto’s. Weight gain is common with that, but I had a friend in grad school who was athletic and fit and I never noticed any dramatic weight change. She said she just felt awful.
Absolutely. See a doctor.
If its just a muscle spasm, they can give you muscle relaxers, if you are willing, to speed the recovery.
Warm baths and heating pads help. Salon pas.
But if its something more serious it may not get well on its own.
Muscle spasms can be really uncomfortable. I've had at least 5 times I remember going back to 13 years old. Sometimes it takes days to recover. I remember one when I was around 45 where I literally could not stand up for about 12 hours.
If its just a muscle spasm, they can give you muscle relaxers, if you are willing, to speed the recovery.
Warm baths and heating pads help. Salon pas.
But if its something more serious it may not get well on its own.
Muscle spasms can be really uncomfortable. I've had at least 5 times I remember going back to 13 years old. Sometimes it takes days to recover. I remember one when I was around 45 where I literally could not stand up for about 12 hours.
I am in the 7th day now (Sunday) and the problem appears to have gotten worse if anything. The lean seems to have gone a few degrees further to the right, this in itself has created tightness/soreness on the left side due to the stretching (I guess).
Also my upper back was aching in bed this morning (the part around shoulder level).
I think I am going to eat well and then present myself at the A&E department (obviously that is gonna be an all day wait). Though I really cannot think of a better option.
It will be difficult to see a doctor. And as they are general practitioners - unless they have a speciality in the subject they might end up being pretty useless.
I do not think I would be able to get out of the bath if I got in one. Was wondering about ordering a hot cold compress thing though.
Last edited by OuchyOuch; 01-22-2023 at 04:22 AM..
Did anyone else here ever have an MRI scan? That was my go to thought actually.
I can get one done privately for around 370US dollars (one body part).
Again, conflicting reports. One sports physio I was talking to a few years back said that one problem with an MRI scan is that they will always show some disc degeneration no matter if one has pain or not - just due to the aging process and repeated use.
I guess I should do any MRI scan. BEFORE potentially seeing a chiropractor.
Did anyone else here ever have an MRI scan? That was my go to thought actually.
I can get one done privately for around 370US dollars (one body part).
Again, conflicting reports. One sports physio I was talking to a few years back said that one problem with an MRI scan is that they will always show some disc degeneration no matter if one has pain or not - just due to the aging process and repeated use.
I guess I should do any MRI scan. BEFORE potentially seeing a chiropractor.
I have gotten an xRay, but both my doctors one workman's comp and my PCP said I don't need and MRI. I am in physical therapy and on a one a day Advil type pill for inflammation. I couldn't walk properly for nearly two months. Sitting in a car is about impossible for any length of time, BUT things are improving with a lot of physical therapy. I have shooting pain, back pain sometimes, and leg and glute pain, but it is getting better. You are going to have to calm down and realize you need to heal. I can do some work from home, so I am lucky, but when I have to drive somewhere. I think I will be doing PT for a couple of months. My lower back is compressed pretty bad and you can see it on the xRay. I sort of want a CT scan, but two doctors saying I don't need it? I don't think they go beyond and xRay unless they feel you are a surgery candidate and most are going to want to do PT over a 50-50 surgery outcome. That is a last resort.
Oh and it probably feels like you are getting worse because you are walking poorly, which puts strains on other parts of your back and legs. PT can help a lot. I suspect a good chiropractor can help as well. Movement is key, but walking poorly is tough on your body. You will get better. Just be patient and this will be a memory.
Did anyone else here ever have an MRI scan? That was my go to thought actually.
I can get one done privately for around 370US dollars (one body part).
Again, conflicting reports. One sports physio I was talking to a few years back said that one problem with an MRI scan is that they will always show some disc degeneration no matter if one has pain or not - just due to the aging process and repeated use.
I guess I should do any MRI scan. BEFORE potentially seeing a chiropractor.
I've treated literally hundreds of patients with Low Back Syndrome over the last 50 yrs....99% of them are caused by an imbalance of muscle tension around the lumar vertebrae/pelvis/hip complex....A herniated disc does NOT cause back pain. (Herniated disc-causes sciatica, which is pain down into the leg or foot, dependng on which disc is involved.)
The muscle imbalance is usually from a fatigued muscle (almost always the psoas) going into spasm. Most people have one leg a little shorter than the other. That often leads to a different muscle tone in the R vs the L psoas, which leads to earlier fatigue on one side.... Another common cause of fatigue/spasm is over-doing an exercise or doing a new movement you're not accustomed to...Just standing still for a long time can also bring it on.
FIRST- you need a proper diagnosis from a doc. A good history & physical exam can usually lead to the right diagnosis. MRI or CT is ordered to verify a herniated idsc in order to evaluate need for surgery. (A peristent herniation can lead to irreversible muscle wasting.)
AFTER it's proven by the doc not to be a disc, then proper rest and proper exercise is in order. You need to avoid caausing more fatigue in the bad muscle, get it to relax, while impriving the muscle tension in the opposite side--> You need equal tension on both sides.
Many minor cases can be helped by just walking with a gallon of milk in your hand on the affected side. Flexing the glutes (the opposing muscle to the psoas) causes a refelx relaxation of the psoas. (If you tell your biceps to flex, your arm won't move unless you also tell your triceps to relax. You never thought about that before, did you?)
Most low back problems treated by a chiropracter will take seven days to get better. If you do nothing, it may take a whole week. (Save your money.)
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I think I will be doing PT for a couple of months. My lower back is compressed pretty bad and you can see it on the xRay. I sort of want a CT scan, but two doctors saying I don't need it? I don't think they go beyond and xRay unless they feel you are a surgery candidate and most are going to want to do PT over a 50-50 surgery outcome. That is a last resort.
