Back Pain Sucks!

[M. Sage]

I won't get into my long back injury story (right now), but I know that back pain sucks! I've been through that hell.

Find a good chiropractor. I've had results similar to Sig_Fiend's. I've been to two chiropractors (need to find one in San Antonio eventually) and both helped my back problems a bunch. I saw the first one at the same time I was seeing a "real" doctor. The "real" doc was useless. "Take it easy for a week and pop these painkillers and muscle relaxers and you'll be good as new". Dumbass didn't even get me x-rayed (which showed nothing when I demanded I get some tests) and if he'd had an MRI done sooner, he'd have known that taking it easy for a week wouldn't help: my L5-S1 disc got a bulge and was pinching a nerve. Yeah... "take a week off work and you'll be fine... do you need a wheelchair to get back to your car?" Those might not be his exact words, but they're close enough.

Some quick tips to avoid back pain:

• Work on "core" strength: sit-ups, pull ups, anything that works your stomach area.
• Take the crap out of your back pocket when you drive!! This is a big one; stuff like your wallet will tilt your hips, pushing your back out of whack.
• Stand up straight! It sounds stupid, but posture makes a big difference. If you don't know what "right" is, relax and imagine a string coming out of the top of your head, and then imagine someone pulling up on it. Relax your shoulders and let them come back on their own (kind of like standing at attention.)
• Lift with your legs, lift with your legs, lift with your legs! This is the hardest one to follow. And I mean lift everything with your legs. Don't just bend at the waist to pick up even small objects.

The human back is just a piss-poor "design". The spine isn't built to bear the loads we want it to; it's meant for four-legged creatures. Keeping your back straight as much as possible, especially when lifting or carrying, will help you avoid injury, since the spine is just a stack of discs. Keep 'em balanced one on the other and you're fine. Tilt it one way or the other and put weight on it, and it will try falling apart.

[Thor]

I've had chronic back pain for over a decade. I've also have had three spine surgeries, two of them lower back. I read an article in a VFW magazine (last Jan or Feb), discussing that the VA is using Vitamin D for chronic pain management. I decided to try it. I take some 10,000 - 15,000 IUs of liquid Vitamin D. It sure has helped me. I will caution that there is a toxic level of vitamin D, that's anything from 20,000 IUs and upwards.