OT Back Problems
- Thread starter sw1211
- Start date
Michael Kellough
Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2007
- Messages
- 7,096
Tinker said:
Damn Tinker, my neck and back got all tensed up just reading your story!
And then you go out with an O. Henry ending. Well done.
Michael Kellough
Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2007
- Messages
- 7,096
Eli said:
While I was having problems I got a little assist from nature. I went picking wild blackberries and after a couple of hours of reaching and kneeling and such I really felt better. I like dogwood trees but blackberries taste a lot better.
Eli, Key word is "surprise" I would not be particular what kind of wood. I do like Michael's idea of eating the berries first. don't you have some sort of tree down under that has hard wood and supplies tasty berries? :
i just like the idea of getting comfortable before going to work. 8) : ;D
Tinker
PS I'm working on a reply for sw1211 who started all of this. i have some pain this morning and suddenly find myself reverting to my own brand of relief. Not the headbanging type, but a little more ral world. So, for sw1211 , I' shall return.
wht
i just like the idea of getting comfortable before going to work. 8) : ;DTinker
PS I'm working on a reply for sw1211 who started all of this. i have some pain this morning and suddenly find myself reverting to my own brand of relief. Not the headbanging type, but a little more ral world. So, for sw1211 , I' shall return.
wht
Kidding aside and getting back to sw1211 who started this all.
After all of this talk about back problems, I woke up this morning barely able to stand up. I had expected this as early as yesterday morning. I had installed a new replacement part on the vac system of my mower. The part is a large flexible (not) tube that needs to be removed and put back in place each time i emptied the baskets on back for removal of leaves. I don't want to get into all of the particulars of what, exactly I was doing, as it pertains to only an operation of interest to somebody in my biz. What was happening was that the old part is very flexible but also nearly warn out. It was/is very flexible and easy to work with. The new part is very inflexible and takes considerable strength to bend as I take on and off. I found i was putting a lot of strain on my lower back, and so I decided that during breakin period, i would only use the new part for (in this case) about an hour and then go back to the old part. That worked fine yesterday and day before. I hoped the precautions would help prevent a problem and that with today being a (forecasted) rainy day, and a Sunday, I could relax without pain.
The pain is here. I suddenly found myself doing some things, very automatically, that have helped me over the years of returning off and on, pain. I will try to explain some of what works for me. However, as they say on a certain TV program, ?Do not try this anywhere, or any time.? Each problem presents its own set of causes along with its own set of solutions. What follows are the solutions that have helped me. In some way, I hope they will help somebody else. If, in anyway, I could be of more help, either substantive, or imaginary, I would be glad to discuss by E ??any time any where??
1 With my very first bout, I went to an orthopedic surgeon who had been recommended. I was 24 and full of what adds go and spice to the world. But, I was in agony. The good (and as you will suspect, I use the term ?good? with a very large dose of salt-----Which I would not be too averse to applying in his eyes) He advised that I quit work for a year and come to him twice a week for treatment. He took several X-rays. I am not too retarded, and at the time, I may well have been thinking I was somewhat the reverse of that,---- in rather large doses. All of the X-rays he took were with me lieing down in various positions. He did not take any with me standing. When I suggested that to be a sensible addon to his research, he looked at me as if I were from a different planet and suggested that I should basically mind my own business. Funny, but I had thought that to be why I had visited him.
2 At about the same time, I had been to the Vets hospital for a knee operation. I had injured it while on paid vacation in the orient (18 months in Korea playing with gunpowder and medical supplies >>> I had been a medic.) I had been operated on about two months before seeing the above OS and when I went back to the VA for a scheduled checkup, I asked about my back pains. The good (and this time, I mean ?good? good) Dr. took the same X-rays the OS had taken, plus two more with me standing, facing camera and back to camera. It was those two pics that indicated the discrepancy of leg length. A 1/4? lift in the heel of my right shoe made the world right for a few more years. In the meantime, the above mentioned OS had threatened a law suit if I did not pay my bills to him. I have always valued my credit rating as being of utmost importance in my life and finally sent off a letter to him and his collection agency telling them that I would just love to go in to court with a counter suit. And that was in the days before such action became so common place. Just sending that letter made my back feel soooooo much better.
3 Fast forward to my 50?s I had been going to various chiropractors, depending on where I was working at the time, since the age of 24 when I was first confronted with the problems mentioned above. Some were a lot of help. Others were so-so. The last one I had been to scared hell out of me and I swore I would never go to another one of those guys. My back had just gone on a real tear and I was getting steadily more and more incapacitated. I had been recommended by several good friends to go to a Dr. Jim who they felt to be THE BEST. Finally, when I found it impossible to walk, I gave the man a call. It was after hours and he had just benn leaving his office, but he asked me some questions, gave me some advice and said to come right away. If I could not get to him, he would be glad to come to me. And that was the beginnig of a long and very helpful relationship. Now, 28 yrs and counting. I have sent every member of my family, my brother and all of his family, uncountable friends and even some who I may have been mad at.
4 This Dr., not only gave me back the capacity to walk, but, even tho he told me I might never go back to work. His skill and our mutual understandings (he and I grew up together on the farm. Me in the Berkshires and him in the hills of South Carolina where he never wore a pair of shoes til he was in HS.), and some things I worked out on my own, I not only went back to work, but continues as a hands on mason for another nearly 20 years.
5 Fast forward again.
a. aThis morning, with the old pains returning, I found myself using some of my old tricks. I did my usual (prescribed by Dr. Jim so many years ago) morning exercises.
b. With everything I had to do to prepare breakfast, I leaned on the counter, leaned on the stove (hey, not the hot part), leaned on my kees as I reached for something, leaned my knees against the cupboard to reach for something further back. An important part of SOP was to walk, or otherwise, move around the house with my knees bent. One of the first things Dr. J told me was that when my knees are bent, my back is out of gear, or words to that effect. He, of all the chiropractors I have ever been to since I was 3 or 4 years old, was the first to tell me the best exercises and to explain anything of the mechanics of my problem and the mechanics for relief.
c. I have now been up and moving for 3 hours and in a few minutes, THE BOSS and I will be taking our walk aroud the block. The pain is now nearly gone and in another hour, my son will be here to help me move a workbench my father gave to me some 69 years (I?m only 39, thankyou) ago when I was 9 years old. My GS was 9 yesterday. I am cleaning up the bench for a B-day present and GS will help me.
With all of this long winded report, I am really trying to emphasise, and Bill-E has basically said the same thing in his way, that you should go to a doctor of some sort. If you do not like what that doctor tells you, or you get not results, find another doctor. Keep searching. Somewhere out there is the man, or woman, who can help you to get back to living your life the way you would like to expect. I should not be able to stand up, let alone walk around and even go to work every day; but I have, when the necessity arose, been fortunate to find the right help so I could continue to live my life the way I chose to live it. A few setbacks here and there, but it is doable. Hang in there. For me, the best word of advice I have given my own mind is to ?keep my sense of humor.? That is possibly the best, even if difficult at times, advice of all.
Keep the faith, my friend
Tinker
PS If further help possible, i would be glad to reply off line. My E is listed
After all of this talk about back problems, I woke up this morning barely able to stand up. I had expected this as early as yesterday morning. I had installed a new replacement part on the vac system of my mower. The part is a large flexible (not) tube that needs to be removed and put back in place each time i emptied the baskets on back for removal of leaves. I don't want to get into all of the particulars of what, exactly I was doing, as it pertains to only an operation of interest to somebody in my biz. What was happening was that the old part is very flexible but also nearly warn out. It was/is very flexible and easy to work with. The new part is very inflexible and takes considerable strength to bend as I take on and off. I found i was putting a lot of strain on my lower back, and so I decided that during breakin period, i would only use the new part for (in this case) about an hour and then go back to the old part. That worked fine yesterday and day before. I hoped the precautions would help prevent a problem and that with today being a (forecasted) rainy day, and a Sunday, I could relax without pain.
The pain is here. I suddenly found myself doing some things, very automatically, that have helped me over the years of returning off and on, pain. I will try to explain some of what works for me. However, as they say on a certain TV program, ?Do not try this anywhere, or any time.? Each problem presents its own set of causes along with its own set of solutions. What follows are the solutions that have helped me. In some way, I hope they will help somebody else. If, in anyway, I could be of more help, either substantive, or imaginary, I would be glad to discuss by E ??any time any where??
1 With my very first bout, I went to an orthopedic surgeon who had been recommended. I was 24 and full of what adds go and spice to the world. But, I was in agony. The good (and as you will suspect, I use the term ?good? with a very large dose of salt-----Which I would not be too averse to applying in his eyes) He advised that I quit work for a year and come to him twice a week for treatment. He took several X-rays. I am not too retarded, and at the time, I may well have been thinking I was somewhat the reverse of that,---- in rather large doses. All of the X-rays he took were with me lieing down in various positions. He did not take any with me standing. When I suggested that to be a sensible addon to his research, he looked at me as if I were from a different planet and suggested that I should basically mind my own business. Funny, but I had thought that to be why I had visited him.
2 At about the same time, I had been to the Vets hospital for a knee operation. I had injured it while on paid vacation in the orient (18 months in Korea playing with gunpowder and medical supplies >>> I had been a medic.) I had been operated on about two months before seeing the above OS and when I went back to the VA for a scheduled checkup, I asked about my back pains. The good (and this time, I mean ?good? good) Dr. took the same X-rays the OS had taken, plus two more with me standing, facing camera and back to camera. It was those two pics that indicated the discrepancy of leg length. A 1/4? lift in the heel of my right shoe made the world right for a few more years. In the meantime, the above mentioned OS had threatened a law suit if I did not pay my bills to him. I have always valued my credit rating as being of utmost importance in my life and finally sent off a letter to him and his collection agency telling them that I would just love to go in to court with a counter suit. And that was in the days before such action became so common place. Just sending that letter made my back feel soooooo much better.
3 Fast forward to my 50?s I had been going to various chiropractors, depending on where I was working at the time, since the age of 24 when I was first confronted with the problems mentioned above. Some were a lot of help. Others were so-so. The last one I had been to scared hell out of me and I swore I would never go to another one of those guys. My back had just gone on a real tear and I was getting steadily more and more incapacitated. I had been recommended by several good friends to go to a Dr. Jim who they felt to be THE BEST. Finally, when I found it impossible to walk, I gave the man a call. It was after hours and he had just benn leaving his office, but he asked me some questions, gave me some advice and said to come right away. If I could not get to him, he would be glad to come to me. And that was the beginnig of a long and very helpful relationship. Now, 28 yrs and counting. I have sent every member of my family, my brother and all of his family, uncountable friends and even some who I may have been mad at.
4 This Dr., not only gave me back the capacity to walk, but, even tho he told me I might never go back to work. His skill and our mutual understandings (he and I grew up together on the farm. Me in the Berkshires and him in the hills of South Carolina where he never wore a pair of shoes til he was in HS.), and some things I worked out on my own, I not only went back to work, but continues as a hands on mason for another nearly 20 years.
5 Fast forward again.
a. aThis morning, with the old pains returning, I found myself using some of my old tricks. I did my usual (prescribed by Dr. Jim so many years ago) morning exercises.
b. With everything I had to do to prepare breakfast, I leaned on the counter, leaned on the stove (hey, not the hot part), leaned on my kees as I reached for something, leaned my knees against the cupboard to reach for something further back. An important part of SOP was to walk, or otherwise, move around the house with my knees bent. One of the first things Dr. J told me was that when my knees are bent, my back is out of gear, or words to that effect. He, of all the chiropractors I have ever been to since I was 3 or 4 years old, was the first to tell me the best exercises and to explain anything of the mechanics of my problem and the mechanics for relief.
c. I have now been up and moving for 3 hours and in a few minutes, THE BOSS and I will be taking our walk aroud the block. The pain is now nearly gone and in another hour, my son will be here to help me move a workbench my father gave to me some 69 years (I?m only 39, thankyou) ago when I was 9 years old. My GS was 9 yesterday. I am cleaning up the bench for a B-day present and GS will help me.
With all of this long winded report, I am really trying to emphasise, and Bill-E has basically said the same thing in his way, that you should go to a doctor of some sort. If you do not like what that doctor tells you, or you get not results, find another doctor. Keep searching. Somewhere out there is the man, or woman, who can help you to get back to living your life the way you would like to expect. I should not be able to stand up, let alone walk around and even go to work every day; but I have, when the necessity arose, been fortunate to find the right help so I could continue to live my life the way I chose to live it. A few setbacks here and there, but it is doable. Hang in there. For me, the best word of advice I have given my own mind is to ?keep my sense of humor.? That is possibly the best, even if difficult at times, advice of all.
Keep the faith, my friend
Tinker
PS If further help possible, i would be glad to reply off line. My E is listed
Hi. As I wrote above, I've had back and joint problems for years. Not fun. That's the bad news.
The good news is that I've learned a lot of ways to take care of the problems. Now, I'm in better shape than I've been in years! Everyone's body and body problems are different. With that in mind, here's what has worked for me:
- A good Chiropractor and Massage Therapist. Your joints and muscles go hand in hand. If your back goes into spasm, it can pull the joints out of alignment. When the muscles quiet down, your joints can remain out of alignment causing pain or making the muscles more susceptable to spasm (and repeating the cycle). The opposite is also true - joint alignment problems can cause muscles to shorten, twist, or otherwise lock into unnatural positions. A good Chiropractor can loosen and straighten out the joints. A good massage therapist can loosen the muscles. My Chiropractor is Dr. Lew Estabrook in Kirkland, WA. My massage therapist is Luke Stambaugh in Bellevue, WA. It hurts like hell going through the process, but the result is better health.
- Cold packs. If you've strained your back or another muscle, or if you see swelling start in a joint, a series of cold pack treatments does wonders. Get several cold packs and keep them in the freezer. Apply for 20 minutes, remove for a while (maybe 30-60 minutes), and repeat with a fresh (cold) pack once or twice. Inflamation goes way down!
- Glucosomine. In 1995, I had a 3 hour operation on my right knee. My surgeon said the right knee was pretty much shredded. After four months of recovery and therapy, the pain went down and swelling faded, but it kept both came back with even moderate excercise. About four years ago, I started taking Glucosomine. In a few weeks, my knee pain went WAY down and swelling pretty much disappeared. It turns out that Glucosomine actually builds soft tissue. It doesn't work for everyone, but it's helped tremendously. Try it for a month. If your pain and swelling go down, it's working. If not, then it won't help you. (Get it at Costco; it's much cheaper.)
- Walking and light exercise. If you sit too much, your joints can lock up in a fixed position. Even 15 minutes a day of walking and light exercise can loosen things up and strengthen mid body muscles.
- Hanging from a chinning bar. For people with disk or back problems, hanging from a chinning bar or a convenient door a couple times a day goes a long way toward stretching back muscles and loosening joints. Find a convenient place where you can just hang from your hands. Let your lower back drop loosely as far as possible. Hang for 10-20 seconds. Caution: The idea is to move slowly; do NOT drop quickly!
This is what has worked for me. I hope it helps others.
Regards,
Dan.
The good news is that I've learned a lot of ways to take care of the problems. Now, I'm in better shape than I've been in years! Everyone's body and body problems are different. With that in mind, here's what has worked for me:
- A good Chiropractor and Massage Therapist. Your joints and muscles go hand in hand. If your back goes into spasm, it can pull the joints out of alignment. When the muscles quiet down, your joints can remain out of alignment causing pain or making the muscles more susceptable to spasm (and repeating the cycle). The opposite is also true - joint alignment problems can cause muscles to shorten, twist, or otherwise lock into unnatural positions. A good Chiropractor can loosen and straighten out the joints. A good massage therapist can loosen the muscles. My Chiropractor is Dr. Lew Estabrook in Kirkland, WA. My massage therapist is Luke Stambaugh in Bellevue, WA. It hurts like hell going through the process, but the result is better health.
- Cold packs. If you've strained your back or another muscle, or if you see swelling start in a joint, a series of cold pack treatments does wonders. Get several cold packs and keep them in the freezer. Apply for 20 minutes, remove for a while (maybe 30-60 minutes), and repeat with a fresh (cold) pack once or twice. Inflamation goes way down!
- Glucosomine. In 1995, I had a 3 hour operation on my right knee. My surgeon said the right knee was pretty much shredded. After four months of recovery and therapy, the pain went down and swelling faded, but it kept both came back with even moderate excercise. About four years ago, I started taking Glucosomine. In a few weeks, my knee pain went WAY down and swelling pretty much disappeared. It turns out that Glucosomine actually builds soft tissue. It doesn't work for everyone, but it's helped tremendously. Try it for a month. If your pain and swelling go down, it's working. If not, then it won't help you. (Get it at Costco; it's much cheaper.)
- Walking and light exercise. If you sit too much, your joints can lock up in a fixed position. Even 15 minutes a day of walking and light exercise can loosen things up and strengthen mid body muscles.
- Hanging from a chinning bar. For people with disk or back problems, hanging from a chinning bar or a convenient door a couple times a day goes a long way toward stretching back muscles and loosening joints. Find a convenient place where you can just hang from your hands. Let your lower back drop loosely as far as possible. Hang for 10-20 seconds. Caution: The idea is to move slowly; do NOT drop quickly!
This is what has worked for me. I hope it helps others.
Regards,
Dan.
a simple cold pac does not really cost anything. A package of frozen peas, frozen corn, frozen diced carrots or any other frozen food that can conform to the body part. I've used them many times.
I have chinned myself on truck doors, high tractor fenders, porch rails, house doors, chicken coop doors, any solid to semi solid object that is high enough for you to get your feet off the ground.
When my back is sore, I lean. i lean on the kitchen counter and stove when fixing food. i lean on the MFT while picking up my ATF or OF 1000. I lean my elbows on the work bench while measuring. When i was doing masonry and laying (setting into place) concrete blocks, I leaned my hand, with elwow acting as shock absorber, on my knees as I picked up and placed an 35 to 85 lb block (8" to 12") with the other hand. I leaned on the wall while pointing (smoothing) the joints. And so on. You learn how to rest while working hard.
Such tricks are learned as a matter of necessity as well as cussed orneriness that you are not going to be defeated by a little item that is barely thicker than a steel washer that you might use between a nut and a board. In my case, the nut was/is at top of my shoulders. But that's a whole new topic.
In my case, I am fortunate that i have been able to listen to my body and sometimes ward off serious problems. Sometimes, it does take the help of my chiropractor and being able to take his advice as followup. No matter what advice given, and what treatment is forthcoming, or has been received, one should not give up hope. Things have a way of working out somehow. It just takes a different route for each person.
Tinker
I have chinned myself on truck doors, high tractor fenders, porch rails, house doors, chicken coop doors, any solid to semi solid object that is high enough for you to get your feet off the ground.
When my back is sore, I lean. i lean on the kitchen counter and stove when fixing food. i lean on the MFT while picking up my ATF or OF 1000. I lean my elbows on the work bench while measuring. When i was doing masonry and laying (setting into place) concrete blocks, I leaned my hand, with elwow acting as shock absorber, on my knees as I picked up and placed an 35 to 85 lb block (8" to 12") with the other hand. I leaned on the wall while pointing (smoothing) the joints. And so on. You learn how to rest while working hard.
Such tricks are learned as a matter of necessity as well as cussed orneriness that you are not going to be defeated by a little item that is barely thicker than a steel washer that you might use between a nut and a board. In my case, the nut was/is at top of my shoulders. But that's a whole new topic.
In my case, I am fortunate that i have been able to listen to my body and sometimes ward off serious problems. Sometimes, it does take the help of my chiropractor and being able to take his advice as followup. No matter what advice given, and what treatment is forthcoming, or has been received, one should not give up hope. Things have a way of working out somehow. It just takes a different route for each person.
Tinker
Thanks Tinker for all the suggestions. I'm taking Glucosomine, not real sure of the benefit, I'll stay on them for a while. I also started mixing in some anti-inflamatory the past few days, that might be helping. I use the ice packs on a regular basis, any time I feel something coming on I slap a pack on it. I also use one of those velcro back braces, when I know I'll be doing something semi-strenuous. Probably some combination of these things helps the most. Made it through my son's basketball practice (I'm the coach) today and a fair amount of yard work, so that means tomorrow will suck. ??? I have a chiro I really like, the Dr really wanted me to focus on PT so I haven't been to a chiro in a while. Next big pain episode I think I'll give him a try. Hope everyone has a healthy and pain free Turkey day.
OK/here comes another story.
When i first started going to my present chiropractor, i was coaching two soccer teams. Both my son's house team and his travel team. He was in the 11-12 year old groups. When i finally succombed to my back problems and was in the situation of having to crawl into the Dr's office on my hands & knees, i had told Dr. Jim that i was coaching kids in soccer, a sport for which i had no experience other than the joy and enthusiasm of coaching kids and maybe somehow making a difference in their lives. Atleast giving them a good time. An experience that has afforded me many a fond memory (especially good stories) and made many friends in the bargain. A very dear friend who also had no experience at the game, but found great joy in coaching used to say, "having no experience or knowledge of a subject is no excuse for not teaching it to somebody else." Well, i was guilty on both counts.
I had gone to Dr. Jim on a late Friday afternoon as he was about to close up shop for the day. Along with his skillful treatment, after which i was able to manage to walk back out to my truck, he managed to dig out of me the fact that i was working with children. He found that i was not only interrested in coaching, but I liked to impliment my lack of experience in the game by actually getting out and running with the kids.
Before i left him on Friday evening, he told me to come back on Sunday morning. when i got back to him, he asked me what i had done on saturday. "well, i ran two practices and coached a game. This afternoon, i have another game to coach out of town."
"I think you should really take a break from coaching until you can atleast walk better."
"Listen, Doc, right now you are treating me for two feet that don't want to work. Two legs that are killing me with pain and refuse to cooperate. A back that is pure agony and makes me want to crawl into a hole and die. If you make me quit playing with those kids, you will be treating my head also."
He allowed that I actually understood the mechanics of my problems and so long as i was careful, he guessed i would be ok.
I think I ended up having as much fun that saeson as at any other time. I was, for about five weeks, on crutches and another five with a cane. that was the entire season.
I am sometimes quite exuberent and noisy. When coaching, i was always a "yeller." i never put any of the kids down in a way to embarrase any of them, but i did make a lot of noise. the kids seemed to enjoy the enthusiasm. I would go to practices taking my son and one of his teammates (still a best friend to all of our family) in my truck. When i parked the truck, several players would come out to help me out of the truck and to take my canvas lawn chair out on to the field. once settled into my chair, i would proceed to lecture about the practice and what i expected of the group. Once i completed my lecturing, they would help me out of the chair and escort me and the chair to the side of the field and help me to get seated again. sooner or later, something would go wrong on the field and i would start to yell. As soon as i would start yelling, the kids would come over to help me out of the chair, escort me and chair out to the middle of the field. Once they had me seated, i would get back to yelling. Finished yelling and I would be escorted back to the sidelines. I think the kids enjoyed (from their point of view it was probably more like "put up with ...") my yelling because they were a part of the whole operation and we all gained a whole new respect for each other. AND, we had a whole lot of fun in the bargain.
My big problem with coaching kids was that at one time, i was assisting coaching a mixed house team, a boys travel team, a girls travel team assisting with the girls highschool varsity and doing all of the fields lining and taking care of all of the goals for all of the fields in town. i think with all of that, i could forget about my back problems and was able to survive working at my trade as a mason contractor. maybe i really should have allowed for Dr Jim to work on my head :
Tinker
When i first started going to my present chiropractor, i was coaching two soccer teams. Both my son's house team and his travel team. He was in the 11-12 year old groups. When i finally succombed to my back problems and was in the situation of having to crawl into the Dr's office on my hands & knees, i had told Dr. Jim that i was coaching kids in soccer, a sport for which i had no experience other than the joy and enthusiasm of coaching kids and maybe somehow making a difference in their lives. Atleast giving them a good time. An experience that has afforded me many a fond memory (especially good stories) and made many friends in the bargain. A very dear friend who also had no experience at the game, but found great joy in coaching used to say, "having no experience or knowledge of a subject is no excuse for not teaching it to somebody else." Well, i was guilty on both counts.
I had gone to Dr. Jim on a late Friday afternoon as he was about to close up shop for the day. Along with his skillful treatment, after which i was able to manage to walk back out to my truck, he managed to dig out of me the fact that i was working with children. He found that i was not only interrested in coaching, but I liked to impliment my lack of experience in the game by actually getting out and running with the kids.
Before i left him on Friday evening, he told me to come back on Sunday morning. when i got back to him, he asked me what i had done on saturday. "well, i ran two practices and coached a game. This afternoon, i have another game to coach out of town."
"I think you should really take a break from coaching until you can atleast walk better."
"Listen, Doc, right now you are treating me for two feet that don't want to work. Two legs that are killing me with pain and refuse to cooperate. A back that is pure agony and makes me want to crawl into a hole and die. If you make me quit playing with those kids, you will be treating my head also."
He allowed that I actually understood the mechanics of my problems and so long as i was careful, he guessed i would be ok.
I think I ended up having as much fun that saeson as at any other time. I was, for about five weeks, on crutches and another five with a cane. that was the entire season.
I am sometimes quite exuberent and noisy. When coaching, i was always a "yeller." i never put any of the kids down in a way to embarrase any of them, but i did make a lot of noise. the kids seemed to enjoy the enthusiasm. I would go to practices taking my son and one of his teammates (still a best friend to all of our family) in my truck. When i parked the truck, several players would come out to help me out of the truck and to take my canvas lawn chair out on to the field. once settled into my chair, i would proceed to lecture about the practice and what i expected of the group. Once i completed my lecturing, they would help me out of the chair and escort me and the chair to the side of the field and help me to get seated again. sooner or later, something would go wrong on the field and i would start to yell. As soon as i would start yelling, the kids would come over to help me out of the chair, escort me and chair out to the middle of the field. Once they had me seated, i would get back to yelling. Finished yelling and I would be escorted back to the sidelines. I think the kids enjoyed (from their point of view it was probably more like "put up with ...") my yelling because they were a part of the whole operation and we all gained a whole new respect for each other. AND, we had a whole lot of fun in the bargain.
My big problem with coaching kids was that at one time, i was assisting coaching a mixed house team, a boys travel team, a girls travel team assisting with the girls highschool varsity and doing all of the fields lining and taking care of all of the goals for all of the fields in town. i think with all of that, i could forget about my back problems and was able to survive working at my trade as a mason contractor. maybe i really should have allowed for Dr Jim to work on my head :
Tinker
Well...I didn't get to read through all the posts here but I will add my experience. Along with my woodworking disease I am also addicted to weight training. As I age I am using the two together...finding new ergonomic ways to work and lift. I have been weight training for over 30 years....and yes...I have had some back problems that I have dealt with. What I have found is that the body has amazing ability to repair itself. I would NEVER let anybody cut on my back...and that is just me. I have been in a situation where I swore up and down that I had damaged a disc or tore something severely...which rendered me to the point where I couldn't THINK about tieing my shoes and I learned what worked for me...
First thing I will mention is.....your matress...is it worth its weight in gold? If not get rid of it..it will set you up for injury.
What about the vehicle you drive?? Does it offer good back support?
I mention these things because you are "in them" over a third of your life....and they DO affect your back.
Next is the Glucosamine which was mentioned...be sure to include chondroitin sulfate as well...up to 2000mg of glu and 800 of chond daily.
OK...anti-inflamitories??...sure...they reduce swelling....but they also tear down muscle and connective tissue as well...stay away from them!
So what do you use to remove inflamation? Proteolytic enzymes. They need to be in proper blend adn I use Inflazyme Forte from American Biologics...lots of nutrition places sell this. Free radicals course through the body and at a larger pace as we get older....they cannot be filtered out of the body because they are an incomplete chemical structure...they are like water passing through a net...so they collect in small capillaries...and you guessed it...in joints and problematic areas...which causes abrasion when joints are moved...which leads to more inflamation. Enzymes aid in digestion...but taken in between meals in large amounts....they do something entirely differrent....they bond with the free radicals....making them a complete chemical compound which enables them to be filtered out through the blood. Without the enzmes...the glucosamine doesn't stand a chance of making the repairs to connective tissue in joints. You need to prevent further damage and this is what the enzymes will aid in.
Other things?? Apple cider vinegar daily...some are suggesting black cherry juice although I have not tried that ...stretching is vital daily...a good protien drink....and some sort of weight resistance training for the back to keep it strong...doesn't have to be much...you don't need to be arnold but doing nothing does not help the situation.
First thing I will mention is.....your matress...is it worth its weight in gold? If not get rid of it..it will set you up for injury.
What about the vehicle you drive?? Does it offer good back support?
I mention these things because you are "in them" over a third of your life....and they DO affect your back.
Next is the Glucosamine which was mentioned...be sure to include chondroitin sulfate as well...up to 2000mg of glu and 800 of chond daily.
OK...anti-inflamitories??...sure...they reduce swelling....but they also tear down muscle and connective tissue as well...stay away from them!
So what do you use to remove inflamation? Proteolytic enzymes. They need to be in proper blend adn I use Inflazyme Forte from American Biologics...lots of nutrition places sell this. Free radicals course through the body and at a larger pace as we get older....they cannot be filtered out of the body because they are an incomplete chemical structure...they are like water passing through a net...so they collect in small capillaries...and you guessed it...in joints and problematic areas...which causes abrasion when joints are moved...which leads to more inflamation. Enzymes aid in digestion...but taken in between meals in large amounts....they do something entirely differrent....they bond with the free radicals....making them a complete chemical compound which enables them to be filtered out through the blood. Without the enzmes...the glucosamine doesn't stand a chance of making the repairs to connective tissue in joints. You need to prevent further damage and this is what the enzymes will aid in.
Other things?? Apple cider vinegar daily...some are suggesting black cherry juice although I have not tried that ...stretching is vital daily...a good protien drink....and some sort of weight resistance training for the back to keep it strong...doesn't have to be much...you don't need to be arnold but doing nothing does not help the situation.
Lou Miller
Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
- Messages
- 480
In case anyone is interested... I had my back surgery yesterday (12/06). They removed about 60% of the disc in order to take pressure off the nerve. The Surgeon told me that he doesn't understand how I could have walked at all with the condition I had, let alone done carpentry and other physical work for a living. He said the nerve was pinched so bad that I should have been crippled entirely.
It was a very painful procedure. I currently have about a 4 inch long incision in my back that is currently held together with staples. The surgeon didn't say if they were narrow or wide crown though. I meant to ask, but forgot. He said they had to cut through a good bit of muscle to gain access to everything. They also had to move the nerve quite a bit. Both of those things have me in considerable pain at the moment.
The cool thing is the pain that was going down my leg is 100% gone though. The pain I have right now is about the same intensity as I had in my back before, but its a very different kind of pain and its also in a different location too. I was on my feet and walking about 2 hours after coming out of the anesthesia. They made me spend the entire night last night in the hospital and I spent the whole time walking around the hospital floor. The hospital floors are concrete slabs and it would have been impossible for me to walk on them prior to the surgery. I had zero problems dealing with the concrete after the surgery though. That alone has me about as optimistic as can be that this was all worth it.
I'm not typing this with the intent of giving anyone advice or talking them into the surgery. However, I had a surgeon that is widely considered as one of the best in world (Dr. Steven Dante at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia) perform this on me. So far, I can't find any negatives to having it done. Yeah, I'm in intense pain at the moment, but I can tell that pain will go away given enough time. They initially told me that I was looking at 4 weeks of recovery, and then 4 weeks of physical therapy before I could go back to work. Now they are saying that it might be a lot less based on how well I'm walking around at the moment. I haven't walked this well in over 3 years.
So this is just simply one positive view of the surgery. There are tons of negative views out there and rightfully so. Based on my experience, if your back is bad enough, find a really good doctor and at least discuss having this done. Time will ultimately tell with me, but the initial returns are excellent.
Just felt like ranting a little, hope most of you made it this far... I also hope my typing is fairly good too. I'm a little out of it at the moment to say the least.
It was a very painful procedure. I currently have about a 4 inch long incision in my back that is currently held together with staples. The surgeon didn't say if they were narrow or wide crown though. I meant to ask, but forgot.
He said they had to cut through a good bit of muscle to gain access to everything. They also had to move the nerve quite a bit. Both of those things have me in considerable pain at the moment.The cool thing is the pain that was going down my leg is 100% gone though. The pain I have right now is about the same intensity as I had in my back before, but its a very different kind of pain and its also in a different location too. I was on my feet and walking about 2 hours after coming out of the anesthesia. They made me spend the entire night last night in the hospital and I spent the whole time walking around the hospital floor. The hospital floors are concrete slabs and it would have been impossible for me to walk on them prior to the surgery. I had zero problems dealing with the concrete after the surgery though. That alone has me about as optimistic as can be that this was all worth it.
I'm not typing this with the intent of giving anyone advice or talking them into the surgery. However, I had a surgeon that is widely considered as one of the best in world (Dr. Steven Dante at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia) perform this on me. So far, I can't find any negatives to having it done. Yeah, I'm in intense pain at the moment, but I can tell that pain will go away given enough time. They initially told me that I was looking at 4 weeks of recovery, and then 4 weeks of physical therapy before I could go back to work. Now they are saying that it might be a lot less based on how well I'm walking around at the moment. I haven't walked this well in over 3 years.
So this is just simply one positive view of the surgery. There are tons of negative views out there and rightfully so. Based on my experience, if your back is bad enough, find a really good doctor and at least discuss having this done. Time will ultimately tell with me, but the initial returns are excellent.
Just felt like ranting a little, hope most of you made it this far... I also hope my typing is fairly good too. I'm a little out of it at the moment to say the least.
Lou, hope you have a speedy recovery, good to hear you're seeing some benefits already. I'm scheduled for facet injections in a couple of weeks, nothing near what you had to have done. They haven't mentioned the "s" (surgery) word yet, I hope I'm a ways from that. I know of 4 others who had various forms of back surgery and everyone of them is very happy they did it and now all have a much improved quality of life.
Lou Miller
Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
- Messages
- 480
sw1211 said:
Apparently, back surgery has come a very long way from just a few years ago. I put my surgery off for so many years because I was literally terrified by all the negative stories I'd heard over the years. I've heard nothing but very positive things lately though. Hopefully, my situation remains positive too. Thanks for wishing me a speedy recovery, its appreciated.
Yay! Congratulations Lou. Hope you have a quick recovery. Thanks for being the guinea pig and keep us updated. I love the staples. I've had them for a head wound, and no it wasn't a frontal lobotomy. They come out much easier than stitches. Take a squizz at the little staple extractor they use when you get them out, it's a cool gadget.
Lou,
I've had back and knee problems for over 30 years, so I can relate a little. For people who haven't experienced nerve pain, there's nothing like it. It can vary from a mild skin irritation in your leg to a blinding pain that doesn't go away. Some days you're fine; other days, it's difficult to even think.
As bad as my back problems have been over the years, they've never been bad enough to have an operation. I hate to think about what you've gone through.
I hope you have a speedy and painfree recovery!
Best of luck,
Dan.
I've had back and knee problems for over 30 years, so I can relate a little. For people who haven't experienced nerve pain, there's nothing like it. It can vary from a mild skin irritation in your leg to a blinding pain that doesn't go away. Some days you're fine; other days, it's difficult to even think.
As bad as my back problems have been over the years, they've never been bad enough to have an operation. I hate to think about what you've gone through.
I hope you have a speedy and painfree recovery!
Best of luck,
Dan.
Lou Miller
Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
- Messages
- 480
Thanks Dan.
