Lower back pain

Lower back pain

Postby Heyoka » Sun Nov 06, 2005 8:45 am

I've had trouble with my lower back since I injured it framing houses in 1979. My right side gets real tight.

So I did the Chiro thing. For me, it just didn't help. My Chiro gave me some exercises to do, which as it turns out, weren't right for me. How did I find this out? I finally went to a Physical Therapist.

The PT told me that the exercises I was doing, primarily running type stretches, were not right for my problem. Maybe even making it worse. Instead, he has me doing stuff for my hip flexors. Also, doing this stomach thing that strengthens not my 6 pack abs, but some other muscule that's key to my spine. So far anyway, I'm feeling better.

So what's the point of the post? Right here right now, my point is that don't take some Chiro's opinion as gospel. If you're having back trouble, go see a PT, too.

I'll add more as I go along.

10-4
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A physiatrist worked for me

Postby John Mason » Sun Nov 06, 2005 3:04 pm

It took me going to a physiatrist to get my back pain fixed.

In my case it "started with my feet". Medically made footbeds fixed my back pain. (and at her request I also changed my car and my bed) My feet were rolling in which makes your tail bone bend excessively which in my case was causing a muscle right over my right kidney to spasm which triggered a nerve that goes from there to the right side of my leg down to my knee. She could press with her thumb and make the exact pain happen on a dime sized spot on my back. But that's that medical speciallies forte - where is the actual source of pain and thus what approaches can solve the problem.

I also do 12 strecthing and core exercises specifically for back pain from a now out of print book titled "Back in Shape - A Back Owner's Manual" by Shephen Hochschuler. You can still get it used on http://www.amazon.com.

A couple of these are hip flexor streches.

I'll bring my sheet up with me on the 16th. Mine used to be so severe I could not move my right leg ahead of my left leg without severe spasms that shot down from my back down the right side of my leg (not the underside as in a true disc problem).

Since making these changes fall 2004 my chronic back pain is that I had for years is gone. I wish I had gone sooner to the doc.

Back pain is a weird thing with tons of different causes. My experience probably won't match someone else and I'm just thankful I didn't have any actual spinal disc issues causing mine.

I know Hobbit has some of his own back pain stories too.
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Postby Hobbit » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:15 pm

I think my experience confirms what others are saying.
CP (a very good one) might be able to do a quick fix for the shifted disk, but that's about it.
Also I've noticed that CP's are really notorious on sending you a junk mail as soon as they got your address.
Did any real doctor ever send you a junk mail ?

PT's on the other hand are the real doctors! Of course, like with any doctor you've got to find a good one.
But my experience (and everyone else I know) is that physical therapy is the real help and chiroptactor is just a fake.
On the other hand it's kind of like a religious topic. Some people really believe in CP and it's impossible to argue with them since it's a metter of faith.
So I respect thier beliefs. Anyway if someone has a real issue with their back they end up in physical therapy anyway. :?

So as you see, I had only bad experience with the TTS instructors and chiropractors (dont'even start me on TTS). :lol:
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Postby jclayton » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:15 am

The gospel among the medical establishment appears to be "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance " by Stuart Mcgill PhD . At the moment out of print but he also has a more academic book which also has all the excercises evidently ( just bought one through Amazon ) .
I was sidelined with a Lumber hernia this year but am now ready to rock for the Copper Dec. 12 camp . all my old martial arts stretching and ab excercises with Physio stretching and microwave etc treatment and careful gymwork made the pain disappear .
What about you guys , are jumps out of the question ?
Also I still want to work on bumps ( my old bugbear ) do you have trouble with this ?
skinut ,among other things
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Dedication

Postby Harald » Mon Dec 26, 2005 5:06 pm

Lower back, very simple, reverse roman bench leg lifts. I do these every other day and my back is strong and lasts the whole season without problems. Strong back is not a joke in skiing especially if you pull big G?s and angles. I have been training and exercising my whole life and this is one of the best exercises ever.
"Maximum Skiing information, Minimum BS
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Postby john heath » Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:22 pm

reverse roman bench leg lifts

I've had a search for this and can't find any info on it - maybe there is a more common term for them and i know them already - an alternative name or a quick description would help.
thanks.
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Postby dewdman42 » Wed Feb 01, 2006 2:34 am

Is this exercise in the flexing book from HH somewhere? Because i want to use it. I can attest to HH's comments..that lower back can take a beating.

I will also add... a few years ago I hurt my lower back, just to the side...skiing. I didn't fall or anything..I was just in some powder bumps and just kind of having some fun pouncing around between them when all of a sudden my back went "ting". I was out for the rest of the week and had to fly home early from Utah. Went to back doctor. i said doc, my lower back hurts kind of to the right. He laid me on my back on a table and lifted my left leg straight up until I went "aaaaaaAAAAAA!!!!".

"yep", he says...your such and such that is connected to your hamstring is tightened up. He had me doing a variety of stretching, but the thing that really stuck in my mind is the point that I did not really stretch my hamstrings that morning. Now I religiously stretch my hamstrings much more perhaps than anything else because it is actually connected to your back in a cross (right to left). If your hamstring is tight and you, say, hit a bump which pushes your knees up into your chest..this pulls on your hamstring, which if its tight...pulls more than it should on your back.

Anyway, that was my experience. after a week of physio, I skied 100 days that year..had to stretch every morning for sure.....and now I keep stretching to avoid it happening again.

But what I need to work more on now is off-mountain strength training I think. Also, that will have very positive impacts on my skiing I'm sure.

cheers
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Postby dewdman42 » Sun Feb 26, 2006 10:00 pm

Harald, can you please tell us what those reverse Roman leg exercises are exactly? I can't seem to find any examples about this anywhere either.
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Postby violao » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:05 am

I think for any injury related pain you should seek professional (medical) help before you commit yourself to anything that might put the injured area under significant stress. What I believe Harald mentioned is an excercise for building back strenght and not for recovering after an injury.

I think the common excercise for back strength is "the back raise". When I started rowing as a junior none of us had sufficient back strenght to deal with the forces involved in rowing, that put the back under enourmous stress. We all had problems with lower back pain and our doctor prescribed back strength excercises. After we practiced the back raise regularily (every few days) for several months during the winter none of us ever felt pain in lower back again. We used angled bench (around 30 degrees if I remember correctly) with legs up and head down, hands behind the head and raised our backs in series of up to 50 repetitions (I think). My understanding is that the angle is supposed to make the excercise harder so that you can't raise too much, as you might when laying flat, that could potentially put the spine under significant compression and even promote the risk of an injury.

DISCLAIMER: This is just a report, not a recommendation, since I'm not in medical profession. Please note that none of us had any previous back injury and that we were very young and in a good shape. I think you should first ask for professional opinion.
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Postby dewdman42 » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:51 am

yes. Some of us would really like to know more details about the back strengthening exercise HH reccomended. Harald?
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Low Back Pain

Postby skidaddle » Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:28 pm

The key to solving low back pain is stretching and strengthening. It is important in the acute, painful stage to go about this gently and slowly. I tell my patients that they need to have a tai chi mindset, slow and gentle. You can move to a position of pain but at that point you need to ease your way and convince your muscle spasm to behave. As things progress, ab work, back extension, lateral stabilizer strengthening, rotation stretching and strengthening, and as mentioned doing leg work with both hamstring, groin, and quad stretching is all important.

Massage therapy can be wonderful especially if you are stuck in the acute phase and really want to get out. A good deep tissue massage will hurt, so be prepared, but it hurts so good. 1/3 of traditional Chinese medicine is massage.

Here are some good lateral stabilizer exercises that I nicked off a post from Harold on hip stretch and strength.
http://www.hope.edu/academic/kinesiolog ... sld050.htm
Slide 50-55 The front planks 43-49 are also helpful. This whole slide show is very helpful.

As a family physician I will admit my bias regarding chiropractors - buyer beware. There are some that can be quite helpful, you just have to be careful.

That said, Q -"How many chiropractors does it take to put in a light bulb?"

A - "Only one, but it takes 12 visits!" :lol: You get my point.

I can elaborate further on back pain if it would be helpful.

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Re: Lower back pain

Postby cheesehead » Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:57 pm

Is the reverse roman leg lift this exercise?

http://www.ab-core-and-stomach-exercise ... nches.html
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Re: Lower back pain- YOGA

Postby mvalbusa » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:36 pm

FInd yourself a good yoga place-invest some money in YOU!!.
I had a herniated disc from playing squash. Got into Yoga and swimming and now- really really good.
Yeah its still there but I am much stronger and have a GREATER degree of flexibility than ever before.
Check into Hatha Yoga- 3 to 4 times a week. Its great exercise without running the cardio through the roof.
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