Pain in the backache - your remedy?

[PhysAssist]

A couple of weeks ago did 45 miles of hiking in far eastern TN. A couple of days after I got home was catching up on weeding in the garden and pulled a muscle (or something) in my lower back. I have had back problems before, but this one doesn't seem to want to go away. In the past, a week of taking it easy seems to have done the trick. Not this time. I need to get back to chores.

Have gone to the doc in the past and have a supply of muscle relaxers. Along with taking it easy, have tried heating pad and ice pack. Used different types of OTC pain relievers and the prescribed muscle relaxers. Don't seem to have found the right combination. How do you treat a sore back?

Thanks,

Hi Barry,

My screen name is my actual profession, and not the nuclear kind.

I not only work in urgent care, but I have had many back aches, unfortunately.

Please understand that without seeing you, I cannot diagnose, nor offer specific treatment for your problem, but I can offer some general advice that helps me and most, if not all of the patients I see with acute (not chronic and persistent = lasting weeks to years) back pain caused by some combination of activities.

First, if there are any signs of infection like fever/chills or feeling ill, go to the ER ASAP, because infections can affect any joint and can come on suddenly. Second, if there is any radiation of pain from your back or neck to a limb, especially if it is along with numbness, tingling, or weakness in the affected limb (arm or leg), it could be a disk injury, or pinched nerve, which could (notice I did not say NEEDS) need surgical treatment.

Otherwise for a strained or pulled muscle, general muscular or other back pain and/or spasm, the best treatments are ice packs for 20-30 minutes at a time at least 4-5 times a day, avoidance of lifting or bending that causes pain, and no new activities, like back exercises.

If you have no ulcer or other diseases that can be worsened by aspirin-like medicines, the best one to take is actually naproxen sodium (generic for Aleve) 2-3 tabs (220 mg each) twice daily (= every 12 hours), which may provide some pain relief, but is really to help reduce inflammation, along with the ice and relative rest.

I also find that laying on a hard flat lightly padded surface with my feet up on a chair seat or foot stool helps to relieve spasm.

In addition, studies have found that while most MD's and DO's feel that they do not know enough about treating back pain, Chiropractors have received a 50% higher satisfaction rating from patients in relieving back pain.

I have found that regardless of how I injure my back, going to see my chiropractor...

(whom I have seen up to a few times per year for at least 30 years but ironically less for at least the past 3-4 years as I have become less quick to recover and therefore more careful, and in addition, as another member said, buying a tractor and finding ways to use it to prevent my overdoing it has also helped)

...ALWAYS shortens my recovery period. This has also been true for any neck spasms or aches.

A single adjustment may or may not make you feel much better initially, but you should see some improvement shortly after the second or third one unless something else is wrong, in which case you should seek another opinion.

Finally, there should be no mention of maintenance adjustment visits by the DC (Doctor of Chiropractic) as this is not necessary and may be harmful in creating increased risk for injury or arthritis.

Bedrest and severe activity restrictions cause more harm by deconditioning muscles and increasing stiffness.

On the other hand, no stretching or other exercise has ever been proven to reliably TREAT or RELIEVE back or neck pain, although the MacKenzie exercises have been shown to reduce or prevent back injury and pain, if performed when you are not yet injured.

I had a lumbar (low back) disk injury in late 1990, just as I was applying to PA school, it resolved after weeks of going to PT for traction. As a result, and because I knew I could not afford to miss even a day of classes, I did the above exercises religiously while in PA school, and had NO episodes of back pain or disk symptoms for the 24 months I was in PA school.

Of course, eventually I got complacent and stopped being regular and a portion of my symptoms eventually came back.

YMMV, and this is only IMHO!
Be well,
Thomas

 

[PhysAssist]

Hi all,
Sorry, I know I am long winded, but I forgot two things:

1) Take the aleve routinely for at least 5-7 days, even if the pain starts to resolve, and keep taking it for at least a day or two after it all seems to be gone, and if it is NOT getting significantly better after a week or so, then go see a health professional (MD, DO, PA, NP, or DC) ASAP!

BTW, it is best to take any aspirin-like drug with some food, even just a few crackers or such to reduce the risk of stomach problems like ulcers or bleeding.

2) If at all possible avoid using any back or neck brace or other apparatus unless it is prescribed or recommended by a health professional who treats back or neck problems regularly. Any of these can weaken or injure your muscles or cause injury to ligaments or disks.

 

[stuckmotor]

I quit having pain in one part of my back when I quit sleeping on my stomach, in my recliner. Now, I have pain in and a different part of my back.

 

[MossRoad]

Man! I can r e l a t e.

I had a blow out checking a tire while on my hands and knees. I crawled to the house and then went to the ER. My muscles were so tight, the doc called others over to look at them.

Nothing like showing everyone.

:laughing:
Yeah, I had that once, too. Looking at me from the front, my belly button was almost directly vertically over one of my legs but my shoulders were still square with my hips. They took pictures. I felt like a circus freak..... as opposed to only a regular freak on normal days.

 

[MossRoad]

Think the Chiropractor can replace the degenerated diisk's in my back? It would be nice?

Chiropractor, no.
Surgeon, probably.

 

[EE_Bota]

A heating pad most times, but my inversion machine sometimes.

 

[MossRoad]

Newbury, you nailed it perfectly. I am only 52 but this year the back pain became chronic. Now every morning is a struggle. The worst is a cough which I get because of post nasal drip or whatever. Each morning, a cough attack **** near paralyzes me. I want to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes. :thumbdown:

I feel for you. I know that drop-to-the-ground feeling. Ever see a magician put someone in a box and then shove those steel plates all the way through their torso? It feels like that looks, right? Just a plain of pain going right through you horizontally? Then if feels like your whole body weight is balancing on a verticle needle right in center of your spine. One little move in any direction drives that needle right up your spine. You try to flinch up away from the pain but you drop right back down on that needle...... Yikes! Sorry for the graphic description, but that's the best I can describe it. Fortunatly, its not too often anymore for me. The core strengthening really paid off. So does walking. Hope you can find a resolution and get some help.

 

[MossRoad]

Speaking of walking, when I was in therapy, they strapped me tightly into a corset looking thing with a swiss seat type harness and hung me from a loop behind my neck. The loop cable went over serveral pulleys to a contraption that would pull the cable, lifting me by my torso. Then I'd walk on a treadmill while the contraption took most of the weight off of me for what seemed like 30-40 minutes but I can't remember. Did that several times a week for many weeks. That was among other forms of physical therapy I went through. It really didn't seem like it was helping, but the therapist told me to hang in there (pun intended) and it would pay off. Sure enough, after many weeks, I woke up one day and was comfortable. Just a couple more sessions of physical therapy and follow through with the home excercises they gave me has really worked well for me. So I believe that if you are given a physical therapy routine to do, you need to follow through with it completely, not just until the pain stops. Then keep excercising. Don't wait until it happens again.

 

[lhfarm]

Hi all,
Sorry, I know I am long winded, but I forgot two things:

1) Take the aleve routinely for at least 5-7 days, even if the pain starts to resolve, and keep taking it for at least a day or two after it all seems to be gone, and if it is NOT getting significantly better after a week or so, then go see a health professional (MD, DO, PA, NP, or DC) ASAP!

BTW, it is best to take any aspirin-like drug with some food, even just a few crackers or such to reduce the risk of stomach problems like ulcers or bleeding.

2) If at all possible avoid using any back or neck brace or other apparatus unless it is prescribed or recommended by a health professional who treats back or neck problems regularly. Any of these can weaken or injure your muscles or cause injury to ligaments or disks.

Thanks for the great info. Got up this morning and the back is better, only a little discomfort. I walked my normal 3 miles through the woods this morning and no issues. I will continue with the Aleve. Going to do some tractor work, but no lifting today. I'll wait a few days too before starting some different exercises.

Again, I want to think everyone for responding. Just the kind of help I needed.

 

[MossRoad]

As an excercise program, I suggest 12 oz curls while seated in a lawn chair. :drink: