Back Problems

[VACoastie]

I'm 25 with the spine of a 60 yr old. Working at my young age doing heavy manual labor and now the military have wreaked havoc on me. I haven't had my back go out on me in 5 years though. Then today it sought its wrath. I reached down to pick up the dog food and BLAM straight to the floor I went. Couldn't move and felt like Lucifer had a solid grasp on my lower spine.

I'm going to a Chiropractor (Thanks TriCare for not covering that) and its helped it out a bit but once those 10 sessions (like 80 bucks a pop) are over the problems slowly comes back. Question: Anyone else here have similar issues and have good home remedies?

[Gotlabs]

Tricare covers chiropractors, you have to get a referral. It can be a PITA, but keep going to medical about it. When I was stationed in NC, they kept telling me pulled muscles/spasms....flexeril and celebrex and like an idiot, I kelt sucking it up. I PCS'd up here and it got so bad I could only run a few 100 meters at a time. Bethesda discovered herniated disc and pinched nerves. Bottomline is, badger the folks at medical and you also rate a 2nd opinion regardless of wha they say.

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[allingeneral]

When I was a kid, my dad had constant back problems due to a wreck on a three-wheeler when he was in his early 20's. His back problems persisted for as long as I can remember - until he bought an inversion table. He used that thing when his back started hurting (he had a slipped disc in his lower back) and after a few nights of stretching out on that thing, he was good to go again. After a couple of years, he stopped using it, so I assume it helped his back heal up by turning him upside down and relieving the pressure or something.

Anyway - any time I hear about someone having lower back problems, I feel the need to relate that story, as it seemed to work well for him.

His was called a "Gravity Guider". I've seen one on TV called "Teeter hang-ups" or something like that. I think that one is really expensive. Here are a couple that look affordable

http://www.amazon.com/s/?tag=theallinge ... Submit.y=8

[Ammo747]

Just retired from the Air Force about a year and a half ago and I was able to get a referral to a chiropractor from my primary care doctor that was covered by Tricare.

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[cyras21]

Where do you live? Shop around; my Chiropractor cost $35 a session. That's full price no insurance payments.

[Mindflayer]

I'd prefer to go to a PT and/or neuro doc. I have a really messed up back - at 26, I got a blown disc, had back surgery, and have been in worse shape since. Chiropractors relieve some of the pain, but that's from the massage, release and endorphin rush. Of course, I am biased based on my past experience and now being married to a PT.

Home remedies? I like Bushmills 16. Seriously, a home TENS unit might be covered by your insurance, and that offers some relief. If you have any belly, try to lose it. Do planks to strengthen your core.

I feel for you. I've lived with pain every day for the last 16 years and it's no fun.

[VACoastie]

I'd prefer to go to a PT and/or neuro doc. I have a really messed up back - at 26, I got a blown disc, had back surgery, and have been in worse shape since. Chiropractors relieve some of the pain, but that's from the massage, release and endorphin rush. Of course, I am biased based on my past experience and now being married to a PT.

Home remedies? I like Bushmills 16. Seriously, a home TENS unit might be covered by your insurance, and that offers some relief. If you have any belly, try to lose it. Do planks to strengthen your core.

I feel for you. I've lived with pain every day for the last 16 years and it's no fun.

Sounds like a lot of yall too have had them pesky military health "experts" too. I at least told the doc here in PR about me going to the chiropractor and lower back problems so it's on file. I got work tomorrow so I'm gonna hop (more like hobble) on in there and get me a referal to some place for x-rays. Least its much better right now though, I tested it out and went down and back up 3 flights of stairs with some pain but nearly as knee buckling as I went through a few hours back.

AIG - my old man has one of those too and they really do wonders. I'm thinking that's what I'm gonna have to invest in as well.

Oh, I just remember too why TriCare doesn't cover me right now. I'm OCONUS. Uncle Sam hates us guys with a passion apparently lol.

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[zykur]

I'm 41 and in my late 20s and all through my 30s my back hurt so bad I would spend weekends in bed because the pain was unbearable.
I've always thought I was in good shape but just because I was strong my core and posterior chain was a mess.
Do yourself a favor and see a specialist where you can get a MRI. if you dont have physical damage like a disk issue its 90% core and posture. Don't mess around with chiropractors they will make it worse and lock you into being a long term patient.
Look into physical therapy , work on core issues like planks and make sure your posture is correct.
It might take awhile but some light dead lifts will do wonders you just need correct form.
I feel so stupid that it took so long to fix myself but I started at 39 and have been pain free since then.

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[tinner666]

I feel for you. Same issue here with L-4. Mine goes out every few years and I spend liots of time on my back on the floor with a rolled towel at that spot.
VA was going to operate one Monday because my legs would just quit and I would be paralised for minutes to an hour. The Thursday before though, I fell off a roof and busted up lots of things on the stone/cement sidewalk.
Docs were amazed though that my back was all back in place and painless.
It stayed that way for several years, but started going south again 3 years ago when it just popped. Wheelchair for 6-8 months again! Every try roofing in a wheelchair?

Anyway, no cure, but I feel for you. Unless you feel like dropping onto a sidewalk and taking yer chances.

[Mindflayer]

Listen to zykur - good advice there. But yes, see a doctor!

[zykur]

There are so many people and companies preying on people like us and only a medical doctor can determine if its damage ie disk damage. If that's the case then you need to look at real medical options.
What turned me off chiropractors was I had a MRI done and there was no damage and the spine specialist suggested physical therapy. A few weeks in I was still suffering and a coworker convinced me to see her chiropractor. He took X-rays and came back with a program of 3 or 4 months and wanted all my insurance co pays up front which was about $900.
He showed me X-rays that might not have been mine because he was showing all this misalignment that didn't look right. The thing that busted him was I had my MRI results on a computer disk and I showed him the to compare the X-ray I caught him in several lies that he couldn't defend he said he wouldn't treat me.

Take my advice with a grain of salt but please only consider a chiropractor as a last resort.

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[zykur]

Oh yeah don't use heat, it draws the blood to the muscles and only makes it worse. As bad as it feels ice is what's needed, it sucks because who wants something that cold on their back but trust me it helps. Don't keep it on for more then 20 minutes at a time .

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[VBshooter]

Accupuncture . Chiropractor and an inversion table helped me;; Lot of excercise ,,,2 herniated discs and a double scoliosis,.Had the shots like 12 times and on Vicodin for years...Pain free now and no drugs...

[dorminWS]

I made the post copied below in May of 2012 in response to a similar post by the kinetic.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I’ve been living with 2 or 3 different back problems (including sciatica) for a long time, now.
My sciatica is the result of degenerative damage to my lower spine. It comes and goes as the discs protrude against and retract from nerves in the spine. I refuse to take muscle relaxers or pain medication. But over the long period I’ve lived with it, here are the lessons I’ve learned:

1. Walking (if you can stand it) helps. Believe it or not, swinging a golf club (carefully) seems to help me more often than not.
2. I’ve been advised again and again that weight loss will help this. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you from experience if it does. Still trying, though.
3. Before you get out of bed and put any weight on your legs or back, roll over on your stomach. Push your rear end out over your heels and stretch your lower back muscles as far as you can. Do this a half-dozen times or so.
4. If you have stairs, go down them backwards. It’s much easier on your back and helps stretch the lower back muscles.
5. Get in a warm swimming pool as often as you can. Your body effectively weighs less in the water. I can actually feel my spine decompressing. The heavier you are, the more this helps. It therefore helps me A LOT.
6. Heat gives relief from the pain. I use automobile seat heaters year-round, and I keep a heating pad on my recliner in the den. It is particularly helpful first thing in the morning, when I sit there drinking coffee and watching Fox & Friends. It loosens me up enough to walk out the driveway and get the newspapers.
7. A good long soak in a very hot bath is also efficacious. Not enough water for relief from gravity, but the warmth and moisture helps.
8. While you’re soaking, if time and circumstances permit, take about four fingers of your favorite distilled spirit. Alcohol is nature’s muscle relaxer, you know. I’m partial to single-malt scotch, but I would think that whatever blows your skirt up will do just as well.
9. As soon as you finish the “soak-and-shot” therapy mentioned above, sit in an armless chair you can reach under the seat of. Reach under the seat as if you were trying to touch your buttock on the other side from the arm you are reaching with. Alternate from one arm to the other; trying to loosen up and reach a little farther on each attempt. Frequently, this will cause my problem disc to realign (or at least that is what I suppose) and the sciatica will largely disappear (for a while, at least).
10. Epidural nerve blocks can give significant relief for quite a while IF you are lucky enough to know a doctor who really knows how to do them right. I have met one such; and he was at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. I have had other doctors in other places attempt the same thing and about 2 times out of 3 it hurt like hell and afforded no relief.

Some of this represents doctor's advice; some of it advice from fellow sufferers, and some of it learnings from happy accidents. I'm not advising anybody to try any of it. But it represents my long and unhappy experience with sciatica. Remember: if you've got back trouble, life's a bitch and then you die. Just do the best you can.

Read more: http://vagunforum.net/post121383.html?hilit=back trouble#p121383#ixzz2KJaw59w2

[VACoastie]

When I went to medical today, they did something smart for once. They sent me referrals for x-rays (which I just got done), a MRI, and Physical Therapy by a medical doctor.

They also gave me medicine thank goodness. Some NorFlex, and the wonder drug Motrin haha. They offered me some kind of shot to bring down inflamation but denied that. I want the problem fixed but don't want to appear in so much pain that they kick me out.

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[VBshooter]

Flexeril is better muscle relaxer,,Walking is a real good help...Get an Ice bag and a heating pad... Ice for pain and heat for sore... Biggest thing is not to get too stationary....

[Gotlabs]

Also, do not take any motrin for several days or weeks prior to the XRAY and MRI. Since they will reduce inflammation. Personally, I stop taking all meds a month prior to MRIs if possible.

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[tinner666]

I forgot something usefull, primarily because I'm remiss in my own therapy.
There's a booklet my therapist gave me called Spinal Stabiliztion. It lists and shows about 12 or so exercises that are easy that strenghten your lower back muscles. The stronger they are, the better they hold your back in place.

I've been pain free for about a year this time and neglect to do them until I feel the symptoms coming on. I should be doing them every week of my life, and likely you should too.

[GregVa]

I have had back pain on and off for 5 years. I have gone to several Chiros and it seems to help. I recently purchased a home TENS unit, electrostem shock therapy and its great! If you have been to chiros I am sure you have tried it before. It really helped me. They cost about $80, but being able to use it at home almost nightly made the difference and paid off for me.

If you have something more serious like a bad disc, not sure if it will help.

good luck!

[540usmcvet]

Halfway into my active duty enlistment in 2002(24 years old at the time), I had back problems for about 6 months due to all the humps we were doing at the time. About 12 miles into a 17 miler, my back just gave out and I was put on light duty for about a month. While on light duty, I saw an actual Navy doctor, not a hospital corpsman, I was put on physical therapy for 3 months.

During physical therapy, I was introduced to yoga and the concept of 'core strength,' something at the time Marine Corps PT didn't really focus on. I was also told to be more mindful of how I bend over to pickup objects that are below my waist. Since that time, I always bend at the knee(s) to pick anything up and I do exercises to keep my core strength up.