Chronic Back Pain

[MMatt]

Anyone deal with chronic back pain or have found a cure for it?

I have had lower back pain for I'd say about 5 years now, but in the past year it has gotten to the point where it is always uncomfortable. I can't even put my socks on in the morning without pain.

I tried a series of yoga stretches for a while with no result, and finally decided maybe there is a spinal issue and went to a chiropractor. This is costing me a fortune and so far no relief.

Of course, I examine the chiropractor from a business standpoint and It is hard for me to believe the sales pitches they are feeding their customers. Is it really true that a few cracks of my back are going to solve all my issues in 6-8 weeks?

I have had x-rays taken and there is no significant spinal issues, so it is simply an issue of improper joint function or alignment.

I have also tried just about every joint health supplement on the market, with no noticeable benefits.

Sitting down for long periods, especially working on the computer alot, make the pain worse, but I have found nothing that provides any sort of relief, temporary or long term

So, has anyone experimented with back exercises and stretches to see what actually works? There's thousands of articles and youtube videos on the subject, so it's tough to pick a routine that is likely to work. A couple routines I have tried from youtube have failed to provide relief. Has anyone cured their lower back pain and if so, how?

 

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[Charnell]

I have a pretty bad back, snapped up my lower back when I was in the Marines. 24 years old can barely workout anymore. The only temporary relief I've found is doing the cat arches/cow arches stretch.

 

[MMatt]

Wow, that sounds like no fun. I just tried some reverse hyper extensions and the felt like they have potential. It supposedly strengthens the entire area and brings fluids to the lower spine and i did feel the area loosen up a bit and feel warm.

 

[DayIFly]

I´m getting great results with stretches for the piriformis muscle. There are tons of demonstrations on youtube.

Here´s a simple one:

And here´s a more advanced one:

The guy in the second video wrote a book about back pain, "Overcome neck & back pain (4th edition)". This book goes really in depth about this stuff, I found it very useful.

 

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[Iwokeup]

Exercise, exercise, stretching, a good mental attitude...no seriously. We've known for years that depression worsens chronic pain, so if you think that may be a factor in your life, try as much non-pharmalogical optimization as possible.

Stay away from chiropracters. It's never curative (though it may help temporarily). Never pay for xrays as they aren't helpful.

Fun tip: if you took 100 (or 1,000) people of all types, half with and half without chronic back pain, and MRI'd their lower backs:

* 50% would have "bad backs" by imaging.

BUT(!) you absolutely could NOT predict who would and who would not actually experience chronic pain. Not at all.

Other tips (for friends & family):

* PLEASE do not get started on opiate therapy. It's a downward spiral, doesn't help, and so many people become addicted from this condition.
* If you've had pain > 6-8 weeks, consider xrays only. We're basically looking for cancer or a fracture.
* Skelaxin (forget generic) works well for acute pain.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Bila]

Some things that really helped was the rolling foam and acupuncture

 

[eqttrdr]

<----- 3 herniated discs...

Laminectomy/Microdiscectomy l4-l5

other 2 where "cured" by this..


the BEST investment I EVER made in anything.... Miracle is an understatement


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I8I4F70/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

 

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[Iwokeup]

So the tens unit is better than surgery?

 

[eqttrdr]

So the tens unit is better than surgery?

It would have been for me if I hadnt waited so long in the first place. The 1st herniated disc was so far advanced I couldnt even sit upright.. I had no choice but to have surgery. However my back pain remains under control from a combination of stretching, correct exercise therapy, and the TENS unit. Even using the ultrasound on that machine works wonders.

Wish I had found it and used it when I first got injured.


The absolute WORST thing I found for me was a chiropractor. You take any herniation and get your spine "cracked" by a chiro and expect it to make the pain better? You are forcing out the nucleus of the disc even further into the spinal nerves. Sheering/twisting force is the absolute worst thing you can do for any back pain.

just my .02 because I was basically a cripple from the amount of pain I was in

 

[eqttrdr]

Also.. almost forgot.. it may not be a spinal issue in and of itself.. you need to get an MRI immediately..

xrays dont show shit...

has to be 100% an MRI

If the MRI is cleared as normal with no bulges you may actually have tight hip flexors and or a Psoas problem.

http://pbmassagetherapy.com/the-psoas-and-back-pain/

http://www.somatics.com/psoas.htm

http://stronglifts.com/the-psoas-is-it-killing-your-back/



Also FYI... yoga kills my back... could never do it.. and still cant. If I want to make my back pain worse.. I do yoga and I cant get up off the floor..

 

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[Josh]

Im an athlete and have hurt my lower back several times. It is most likely the problem is not your back but somewhere else (probably inactive glutes).

What worked for me was releasing my piriformis with a laccrosse ball and glute activation exercises.

Basically with a lacrosse ball sit on it and move it around until you find a really sore/tight area. The sorest area will most likely be close to the hip.

Then apply pressure until you can feel the muscle release. The more you do it the quicker it will take. You can also move your leg around to get more pressure.

And as far as glute activation exercises go there are many out there but my favourite is definitely the single leg DB deadlift (alternate hand/leg).

Ie. Take a DB in the left hand and stand on your right foot and do a DL.

Here is a video:

Make sure you squeeze your glutes ad hard as possible.

Also, check out MobilityWOD and Kelly Starletts stuff. Life changing if you have chronic pain.

 

[Josh]

Oh and if it is psoas tightness google psoas flossing. Probably one of the most painful things you will experience.

 

[Mattie]

I had some back pain in 2003. Chiropractor didn't work. What worked for me was learning to relax my body with meditation, managing emotions, stress, and anxiety. And believe it or not that does play a part in it. While at first they did physical therapy, and gives some relief. Mine was the V muscle in my back though torn in three places. Which heat and physical therapy helped some, but instead of pain pills and muscle relaxers, it was elavil that took care of it, and like I said managing your stress, emotions, and feelings. I know that sounds funny.

Did you have a MRI, because sometimes you can have a herniated disc or even like my brother ended up with some nasty virus that end up giving up problems, and they couldn't figure it out until it deteriated his discs, and how they found out is because he had to have emergency surgery because he couldn't get off the floor.

Really, I would get another opinion and go to a good back specialist, versus a regular doctor. That made a difference for me.

 

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[Durete]

Your problem sounds like bad posture/bad muscle usage.
Due to bad posture your back has to take over from other muscle groups (Hips, abs, glutes etc) and therefore gets overworked.

Few questions:
- Do you do any strength training? If so: What kind of training do you do?
- Do you do isometrics aimed at strengthening your core(Including abs and glutes), lats and hips?
- Do you practice joint mobility exercises?

If the answer is no to any of these, you should practice specific exercises to teach your body to move the right way.
(bad posture/bad use of muscles is the #1 reason people get bad backs.)

 

[James Fake]

Listen to the guy @Josh !!

It's a 99% chance a muscle imbalance; and more than likely with glutes/hammys.. let me tell you what epiphany I discovered and changed my life.

I've always been an athlete playing sports in school, etc. and actually have degenerated L1 S1 disks and I always thought this was the problem. Not really.. the degeneration happened because of a cause, and it was simply an after effect.

The Problem: Short/weak hammys & weak glutes (compared to your body's overall strength) and I am betting 95% of you have this problem even if YOU DO WORK OUT. I consider them weak if you're a male over 170lbs and not doing at least 225 squats (and I'm not talking sissy squats; full and deep ones); otherwise those muscles (the strongest in the body by the way) are proportionally WEAK.

I workout at least 3-4 days a week with bball and different intramural teams I'm on.. even with that; everybody has short/weak hammy's unless you're a full time pro athlete.

Short/Weak Hammy Causes:
Sitting. That's right.. it's abnormal for humans to sit all day in a chair. We were designed to sit like apes do; on the ground with our leg sprawled out straight. By sitting; the hammy's curl in and stay "un-activated" which eventually loses it's strength, elasticity, etc. and becomes short. THIS HAPPENS TO EVERYBODY>>> WHO DOESN"T SIT IN A CHAIR ALL DAY?

Short hammy's have to make up by pulling on your glutes... your glutes getting pulled down cause your lower back muscle to pull down to compensate.. chain reaction and your back loses it's arch thus causing the natural "protective" curve you're suppose to have. It's slight, but years and years and it happens even if not noticeable to the human eye.

FIX?
Do free bar squats and dead lifts. Bad back, how the hell do I do those? By starting off light and absolutely perfecting technique. Perfect dead lifts and squats is all in the "thrust" motion of your glute (imagine humping lol).. your back muscle is only used to stabilize, never to lift. And go deep in your squats (but absolutely make sure you Google 'squats butt wink' and NEVER go down that far to where you lose your back angle). It's scary at first, but you'll build confidence and can go heavy.

Anyways; my glutes and hammys have never been stronger and my back has never felt better... ever in life.

You Know Why People Hate Doing Squats and Deadlifts?
Cause it's work... think about it. The same reason why slow-laners are... SLOW. Cause they avoid hard work.. get your a$$ in there and do it. You'll thank me later when you can run and jump around with your children at 60+

 

[Ninjakid]

Have you had a serious injury, or did it just start? If it's from sitting for long periods of time, then I would recommend try yoga. Don't try to ignore the pain, because the pain is a signal telling you something is out of line with your body, you might need more physical activity.

Here's some stretches that I use for my taekwondo training. Many of them are good back stretches. You can give these a try (you don't need to be as flexible as the guy in the pictures)

 

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[biophase]

Definitely check your muscles. For me it was weak glutes not firing. Tight psoas.

Workout your legs and your back may feel better.

 

[biophase]

Oh and if it is psoas tightness google psoas flossing. Probably one of the most painful things you will experience.

I get that done a lot. Can deal with the pain now. Just don't ever get it done on a full stomach!

 

[MMatt]

Thanks for all the responses, it is definitely a lot more that I expected.

First of all I use the electric pulse machine at the chiropractor but the machines are clearly outdated. They have like six machines and every one I get on feels different and some feel like electrocution rather than a deep pulse and they just clearly are malfunctioning.

Seems to be the consensus that the chiro is a waste of time and money. This is pretty much what I thought. They say everyone's back doesn't work properly so they create their own market, that being anyone with a spine...

As far as muscle imbalance, I lifted weights on and off for years and my squat was always 225 for reps with pretty good form. Also worked abs and the pain always had flare ups but it has been consistent for the past year of so. I stopped doing deadlifts because I'm 6'1 and they hurt my back more than anything. Yes form was good, it just hurt and it hurt in my spine, not just the muscles surrounding it.

When you guys claim it could be a muscle imbalance, are you saying it is referred pain to the spine, or it is actually my muscles hurting? I've have my fair share of muscle soreness/pain and this certainly feels like it is in my spine, not the surrounding muscles.

Another problem with working my glutes is I have deteriorated cartilage in my knee, so any high impact or heavy leg exercises are kind of out of the picture. If I need to work the glutes, I need low impact which is why I liked the reverse hypers, pure glute and lower back isolation with no knee involvement.

I have been working my core more recently too as I know this helps support your back and body as a whole.

I have not gotten an MRI done, just the x-ray. My last MRI was $800 out of pocket. At this point I am so sick of wasting money on doctors. I have been going for various issues over the past two years, have spent a few thousands and as I sit today, not a single issue has been resolved so I have a pretty bad taste in my mouth about doctors.

So from the recommendations so far
-Don't go to chiropractor
-Strengthen glutes and abs
-electric therapy (when I can afford a machine)
-stretches

 

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[Journey2Million$]

Try buying a masticating juice machine and drink vegetable juice. Learn about what vegetables are good for juicing & nutrition. Vegetable juice cures MOST chronic diseases by providing the body with the nutrition it needs so it can function properly & heal itself. This is for real. It really does cure diseases. Most people get poor nutrition, far less nutrients than they need, because of the crappy processed foods Americans typically eat and all the awful factory farming methods. I used to have some moderate chronic back pain but it's gone now. Logically speaking, the only thing that will fix your back is if it rebuilds itself, and the only way it can do that is with nutrients. Even if it doesn't fix your back, at least you'll be a lot healthier. I recently started juicing a few months ago and now I can't live without it. It seriously is a necessity. I eat organic veggies, organic grass-fed pasture raised meat, coconut milk, chia seeds, flax seeds, raw nuts, and other healthy things. I avoid flour, sugar, processed food, junk food, refined carbs, caffeine etc.

This documentary is about 8 people with 24 different chronic diseases who were cured or greatly improved and went off all or most of their medications after only 30 days of juice fasting.

 

[MMatt]

I do agree than diet is a big role in overall health and well being, I would love to try juicing but the cost of organic fruit and veggies is pretty crazy. I love fresh home grown produce but the gardening season is only a few months here. Maybe with my money saved from the chiropractor I can start juicing haha

I just did some stretches and man, my hammies are a lot tighter than I thought. I can't stretch my legs with knees locked 90 degrees to my waist. Stretching the left leg brought greater discomfort in my back especially, so those tight muscles definitely must be contributing to the problem.

 

[GSF]

Diets important, I have ankylosing spondylitis and also other lower back problems ( currently bad sciatica) if I eat a low carb more paleo diet my symptoms and pain seem to go away within a few days, with me its all down to keeping my inflammation levels down, also staying active and keeping a good posture really helps

 

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[biophase]

Thanks for all the responses, it is definitely a lot more that I expected.

As far as muscle imbalance, I lifted weights on and off for years and my squat was always 225 for reps with pretty good form. Also worked abs and the pain always had flare ups but it has been consistent for the past year of so. I stopped doing deadlifts because I'm 6'1 and they hurt my back more than anything. Yes form was good, it just hurt and it hurt in my spine, not just the muscles surrounding it.

When you guys claim it could be a muscle imbalance, are you saying it is referred pain to the spine, or it is actually my muscles hurting? I've have my fair share of muscle soreness/pain and this certainly feels like it is in my spine, not the surrounding muscles.

Just because you can squat alot or lift a certain weight does not mean that every muscle used in that move is firing. You can go through life not working out a specific muscle simply because it has never fired and the muscles around it have compensated for it its whole life.

Imagine you bench press, but your left middle chest pectoral never fired. Your shoulders, triceps and upper and lower chest have been compensating for it. You'd never really know this until you or someone felt your muscle fibers in your left pec.

The muscle imbalance may cause your spine to not be aligned properly thus causing the pain.

 

[James Fake]

Just go light.. like just the bar or 25s on each side. Youtube and really study and perfect correct technique. Alot of people think they are doing them correct but not. Your back should not be hurting, height doesnt matter.

 

[Shades]

So you havent had any insult to the spine? No sort of nerve blocks or anything? How did this all come on initially? Was it a injury that occurred?

What kind of pain is it? Nerve pain, muscle pain? Scale of 1 to 10 how bad is it most of the time? How bad at its worst?

Id be curious to hear your answers.

One thing Id say is to try DDP Yoga. Not try as in a couple stretches or a couple times. Try it for at least a month.

O, and never ever go back to the Chiropractor. Hopefully not to much damage has been done there.

 

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[MMatt]

Just go light.. like just the bar or 25s on each side. Youtube and really study and perfect correct technique. Alot of people think they are doing them correct but not. Your back should not be hurting, height doesnt matter.

For a tall guy to do deads with perfect form, you'll have bloody shins every time. I would rather do isolation exercises. Most tall body builders do rack pulls so the bottom portion of the lift is eliminated.

 

[MMatt]

So you havent had any insult to the spine? No sort of nerve blocks or anything? How did this all come on initially? Was it a injury that occurred?

What kind of pain is it? Nerve pain, muscle pain? Scale of 1 to 10 how bad is it most of the time? How bad at its worst?

Id be curious to hear your answers.

One thing Id say is to try DDP Yoga. Not try as in a couple stretches or a couple times. Try it for at least a month.

O, and never ever go back to the Chiropractor. Hopefully not to much damage has been done there.

I have had no spinal injuries or nerve issues as far as I know. The back pain always had flare ups but came with fury after a day of bending over for hours, and has been bad ever since. I'm pretty confident it is spinal pain. The pain is a constant 2 but sitting for any period of time or bending over make it much worse, more like a 6.

 

[biophase]

Google structural bodywork or structural integration in your area and maybe make an appointment to see one. If you think you know alot about your body, wait until one of them examines you! They will tell you if you have any muscle imbalances, if your hips aren't aligned, or your feet are jacked. Then they'll go through and fix you a little at a time. Yes, it's expensive and it will take many sessions.

 

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[FastlaneTiger]

Anyone deal with chronic back pain or have found a cure for it?

I have had lower back pain for I'd say about 5 years now, but in the past year it has gotten to the point where it is always uncomfortable. I can't even put my socks on in the morning without pain.

I tried a series of yoga stretches for a while with no result, and finally decided maybe there is a spinal issue and went to a chiropractor. This is costing me a fortune and so far no relief.

Of course, I examine the chiropractor from a business standpoint and It is hard for me to believe the sales pitches they are feeding their customers. Is it really true that a few cracks of my back are going to solve all my issues in 6-8 weeks?

I have had x-rays taken and there is no significant spinal issues, so it is simply an issue of improper joint function or alignment.

I have also tried just about every joint health supplement on the market, with no noticeable benefits.

Sitting down for long periods, especially working on the computer alot, make the pain worse, but I have found nothing that provides any sort of relief, temporary or long term

So, has anyone experimented with back exercises and stretches to see what actually works? There's thousands of articles and youtube videos on the subject, so it's tough to pick a routine that is likely to work. A couple routines I have tried from youtube have failed to provide relief. Has anyone cured their lower back pain and if so, how?

I just recently had chronic lower back pain.

4 months ago I pulled my back because of my bad sprint form.
It took me a while to fix the issue.

I tried many supplement but nothing helped. I went to a doctor and she told me theories about the pain. She almost said that I will die next week so I decided to do a little research on my own.

How did I healed it?
-Rest - It can be months
-Proper sitting form
-Proper sleeping form (don't sleep on your stomach)
-When the pain calmed down a little you can try Yoga
-Balance and strengthen back muscles with a professional


I hope I helped

 

[Nicoknowsbest]

@MMatt!

I was in a similar situation a while ago, only that I wasn't suffering for so long. I had serious back pain, like you describe it, despite my relatively young age. Two things that fixed this problem for me:

1. As mentioned a couple of times already, proper deadlifting had a huge benefit on my back in general. Since deadlifting regularly (it's been about 2,5 years now), I got rid of my regular pain and I am not affected by sitting for long hours anymore. During these last 2,5 years, I only had severe problems once, because I was wearing the wrong... SHOES.

2. Check your shoes. I had brutal pain and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Thought I did something wrong in the gym. The weird thing was that deadlifting actually made the pain go away (so no gym mistake). In the second week of pain I realised that the pain was connected to the shoes I was wearing back then. I threw them, got some foot orthotics and I am without pain since then.

I hope that helps and you get rid of the pain soon!