Seriously Mad Rant

Been dealing with that since '87. Bilateral fracture between L5 S1. Plus a split disc there too.
It's a tough road and all you can do is make things easier on yourself.
The less bending you can do the better. There is enough in daily life so eliminate what you can.
All my electrical outlets in my shop are overhead. No bending to plug and unplug and I don't have to move anything against a wall to get to them.
The clothes drier is on a homemade stand. No bending there.
Hullavator for my kayak rack so a lot less lifting there. I made a stand for the kayak on wheels. It rolls out to the driveway and the kayak is the same height as the Hullavotor. It slides right into the cradles. No lifting there.
When other malodies strike, shoulders, knees, etc it makes it that much tougher.
Again, do what you can and know you are not alone.
What helps me the most is to think of how hard Mooch fought. Enough said. 

I am over in the valley today and saw a segment on tv about back issues and this doctor says he can often correct issues without surgery with special equipment that will reduce disc bulges and nerve pinching.  Maybe they stretch you.

My neck has been acting up so I may check to see if he works on necks also or just backs. I saw it on sac and company and they usually charge a few hundred dollars for evaluation but said they will do it for free if you said you saw it on the news show and call within 5 days. 

Might be worth a drive for a second opinion for those of you with back problems. 

I took a screen shot on tv.  Hope you will be able to see the info in the picture.   

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Like the rest of you I've had my share of back issues. It seems that the human spine never forgets an injury and from time to time, lets you know retribution is coming. I will go for months with everything in good function mode and then it happens. It as if the lower back muscles get together and siphon some beer off the kidneys and get drunk. Then comes the conversation. " Hey man, how long has it been since we've had a really good spasm? Ages dude! Yeah, lets do it!" The result? Takes a couple weeks to get back on tract again.

One thing that has helped me is either hanging on a chin up bar and let lower body weight decompress the vertebra or using an inverter where the feet hook into straps and the machine pivots to where the body is upside down. This also decompresses compressed areas of the back. Big Five often has very workable inverters for 100 bucks.

ouch, bummer!  hope ya get better soon!

Well I sure hope everyone feels better soon. Bad back sucks.

I'm hip and yes all too frustrating…

They wanted to solder my back and punch in nerve blocks and the same thing to my neck.  Talking to other Firefighters that had those surgeries, especially with the job we do, it has to be redone every two years or so.  The worse was the F#@#!# headaches,  that would just slay me and 'light duty" in the Chiefs office… kill me…

So it came down to surgery or out to pasture…  I know I did the right thing and went out to pasture,  miss the job though,  that was a surprise…


  Anyway VK,  your doing the right thing,  but it's definitely a 3 step forward, 2 steps back…  Yoga is great, I like Bigram yoga,,  the Hot one,,, if nothing else your in a  room with a bunch of sweaty women…   

  Hang in there bro,  sounds like your on the right tract…  with those flare ups,  ice and "moist heat"  bag of frozen peas or corn what ever to the area…  then microwave a wet dish rag,  put a pillow case in between you and the hot towel as not to burn your self, and follow with ice  and if your so diligent… repeat…

  Think of a dirty kitchen sponge full of crumbs from your morning toast…  That represents all the cellular waste the inflammation cells brought to the party that is your injured area, and I think we all know what house looks like after a raging party,  it's a mess….

The ice chases the blood out of the area,  the moist heat brings new blood to the area,  kind of like holding a crumb fill sponge under the kitchen facet,  then following with ice chases that blood out the area, the same as squeezing that kitchen sponge full of water freeing the crumbs from it's surface…

  so there ya have it,,,  the children's book of Sports Medicine…  and Yes, it cost more with the term Sports Medicine attached…

  Good Luck Bro and don't be afraid of Ibuprofen, it actually does reduce inflammation,  just watch your stomach lining…  it will tear you up over time….

Sorry VK that I didn't let the thread die.  Every time I hear of some new treatment or something others due to relieve pain I either try it or at least share the info with others in case they haven't.

And Danglin, when you talk about the headaches.  I completely understand and don't wish that pain on anyone, but wish my doctors could understand how debilitating it really is. 

I am still new to kayaking,  but understand why HOW works.  Its is mental health therapy.  My wife thinks I am nuts paddling around but I love it. 

Sorry VK that I didn't let the thread die.  Every time I hear of some new treatment or something others due to relieve pain I either try it or at least share the info with others in case they haven't.

And Danglin, when you talk about the headaches.  I completely understand and don't wish that pain on anyone, but wish my doctors could understand how debilitating it really is. 

I am still new to kayaking,  but understand why HOW works.  Its is mental health therapy.  My wife thinks I am nuts paddling around but I love it.

  Amen Bro,  Amen….  I will say that since I don't get beat up or injured anymore on a daily basis,  the headaches have subsided a lot, and for that I am thankful...

Sorry about that. I broke my neck wrestling in high school. Luckily it wasn't bad enough to put me in a wheel chair for the rest of my life. But I still get aches and pains from it

For those dealing with similar issues, is it heat and then ice or other way around.  I am in physical therapy for my shoulder because of surgery and it has aggravated my neck and back.   They told me heat to loosen and then ice to reduce inflammation.  I hope that's right.  Been doing it a lot and it is not helping. 

Had to stop all anti inflammatory meds due to stomach problems.    I do remember those navy corpsman when in the Marines, they issued Motrin and said to drink more water for every injury. 

Wife even became a yoga instructor so she could help me and her (she has multiple knee surgeries and replacement) , but that's to much for me right now. 

I am going to hook up to my TENS Unit and shock it in to submission for awhile. 

For those dealing with similar issues, is it heat and then ice or other way around

you are correct sir if it is a chronic issue,  but if it is a new issue, or even a severe re-issue,  cold only for the first 48hours, then the alternating of ice and heat always followed by ice…

at least that's my unprofessional opinion of what I've experience, been told and have read,  but I know that moist heat always feels good!  Basically, all your doing is speeding up the recovery,  it's not magic,  just simple physiology, but the most effective thing one can do, besides Steroids...

  Good luck with all that suffer with these pains that get worse as we get older….