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This won't be of help to you now, but maybe will help others in the future. Back exercises, every morning, to PREVENT this kind of thing from happening. Especially as we get older (I'm 60+). I have an active volunteer job that involves lifting and I would be in big trouble if I didn't do prevention exercises.
I do the bird dog, keep my hamstrings stretched, planks, and bridges. As an added benefit, these help prevent stress incontinence as they strengthen your core muscles. I noticed when I stopped doing these for a while, the "leaks" came back.
Hi all,
I was transferring clothes from the washing machine to the dryer which is 3 ft away. As I twisted to get clothes in the dryer, my back locked up and drove me to my knees.
I crawled the 30 ft from the laundry room to the living room. My DW helped me get in a chair, gave me an ice pack, some Ibuprofen (what an angel!).
That was 2 days ago, and I'm not seeing any improvement. I've been to a doctor who prescribed a muscle relaxer and Naproxen for pain. neither seems to help much.
I would see a chiropractor, but I have to drive about an hour to get there.
My question is about home therapy. I'm switching from heat to cold packs, and trying some gentle stretching.
I'm not asking for medical advise, just wondering if I'm missing some other home therapy.
Any help at all is much appreciated!
Have you had any xrays/cat scans to rule out a disk issue. If nothing is physically wrong then doing what you are doing plus, if you can without extreme pain, do some stretches on the floor by laying flat on your back and bringing your knees up to your chest. Do push it too hard but just as far as you can go. Over time you should be able to bring them further to your chest without pain. Here are some do and don't exercises https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/ss/slideshow-exercises.
About a month ago I pulled a muscle in my back and also was in excruciating pain. I did ice, heat, stretches, rest, then finally went to an urgent care where I got a muscle relaxant and pain killer. None of that helped. I thought it would go away but it didn't. My challenge was knowing who to see as I don't (yet) have a primary care physician. Chiropractor? Orthopedist? I finally found a place that had a combination of everything and specializes in back pain. I ended up seeing a doctor who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. I was prescribed the anti inflammatory drug Meloxicam and it worked wonders and I am going for physical therapy. My advice is see some sort of specialist.The internet is full of advice but in my experience doing stretches or exercises when you don't know what you did to your back can cause more damage or pain.
You should drive that hour to the chiropractor. Also check out yoga stretching on search engine. But it is better to have a doctor's okay for any exercises. Note I have been seeing infomercials on inversion therapy (hanging upside down).
I've been to a clinic. They checked me out and concluded I had pulled some muscles. They prescribed a muscle relaxant, and something for pain. Neither seems to help. Keeping heat on it seems to help with pain. Cold doesn't feel as good and cold was not recommended. It's a work in progress and I know it will take some time. Fortunately, I'm retired, so I don't have to worry about taking time from work. I think gentle stretching is fine, but I'm not going to exercise my back right now.
One of the problems with many muscle relaxants is that they tend to relax all muscles in the body, rather than being targeted on a particular area.
Can you call your doctor on Monday and ask if you can see a physical therapist for evaluation and treatment - even just few visits to give you some home exercise recommendations? Then get in to see someone as soon as possible.
It is very important as we get older to NOT stay in bed and be immobile when you have a back pain episode, unless that is the instructions from a knowledgeable doctor who knows the cause of your pain. A poster suggested staying in bed for 2 weeks. That is awful advice. Anyone who has been in the hospital for 1-2 weeks knows how quickly muscles atrophy and how fast you become deconditioned. The older you are, the longer it takes to recover from that deconditioning.
Agree with using the medications, heat or cold (buy one of the blue soft, skin safe cold packs on Amazon - one with a velcro stray for wearing around your back). And see that PT! There's a reason Medicare pays for it....
Great idea! I have a bunch of the blue packs that can also be heated in the microwave and a wrap with a pouch for heat or cold.
I'm definitely feeling better today, I believe the warm packs in the wrap around sleeve are doing the trick.
I'm still sore, but it's way better then yesterday. I really appreciate all the suggestions.
This won't be of help to you now, but maybe will help others in the future. Back exercises, every morning, to PREVENT this kind of thing from happening. Especially as we get older (I'm 60+). I have an active volunteer job that involves lifting and I would be in big trouble if I didn't do prevention exercises.
I do the bird dog, keep my hamstrings stretched, planks, and bridges. As an added benefit, these help prevent stress incontinence as they strengthen your core muscles. I noticed when I stopped doing these for a while, the "leaks" came back.
I'm 61, and I also find that I need back exercises every morning to keep things flexible. I sit too much, I think that most people do, and this seems to cause the hip flexors to shorten or tighten, so I focus on exercises that stretch and flex those muscles.
YouTube has lots of videos by physical therapists demonstrating back and hip stretches and exercises.
After lifting bags of concrete and heavy duty chores over several weeks, my lower back really hurt. I looked up yoga stretching exercises for the back, took aspirin and a glass of wine in the evening, went to the vitamin store and got curcumin, L Glutamine which is an amino acid muscle food and turmeric. In a week or two things were back to normal. I moved very carefully and didn’t do anything strenuous. I’m taking the L Glutamine as a preventative now and back to doing lifting and moving heavy stuff. So far so good.
Hope you are feeling better. Respect your back, and don’t overdo, it’s the only one you have.
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