Anyone here an expert on back pain?
 

I was getting ready to wash my car yesterday evening and without lifting anything or any sudden moves, my back went out. I couldn't move for a couple minutes, then finally made my way to the couch. It feels like someone stuck a knife in my back around 3" up from the bottom of my spine on my left side, just over the hip bone. Every time I move, lean, step, anything, it feels like the knife is twisting and I lose my breath. What the hell happened to me?! I've never had back problems before. I had to have my wife help dress me and put my socks and shoes on this morning. HELP! It hurts just to sit here and type.

Anyone have any experience with something like this? I'm thinking maybe I pulled a muscle or something but don't know how I did it. Should I go to a doctor or just take Advil (which doesn't seem to be helping) until it goes away?

Back Pain
 

It sound to me like your pelvis shifted, what I mean is your Pelvis Bone is out of alignment with your spine and you are now pinching nerves in your spinal column. I have that problem with my back and if I get as bad as you sound I go to a Chiropractor and get a Massage and get my back adjusted, then I am OK. Hope this helps.

Good Luck

64 muscl

Two things come to mind. I've had similar problems. I was sitting on the floor putting a computer desk together one time. Twisted the wrong way and WHAM ! I couldn't move for a couple of days. It is probably inflammed and you need to put an ice pack on it. NOT HEAT ! Ice reduces inflamation.

Kidney stone...I've had a few of them.
Its when pain turns professional !

I do seem to be a bit crooked. My wife is calling her chiropractor this morning but I'm a sceptic and figure any chiropractor will tell you that you need their services. At this point I'll try anything though.

Been there done that. You either stained a muscle or have a herniated disk. If the pain goes away within three days or so it's probably just a muscle strain. If not it might be a herniated disk in which case you should be evaluated by the best orthopaedic clinic in your area.

Based on your report my suspicion is you have a disk problem.

I had back problems starting in my early twenties and had a couple of severe episodes in my mid-forties. I finally went to the Kerlan-Jobe clinic in LA and wanted them to operate - whatever it took to get my life back.

The docs explained the problem to me (herniated disk) and referred me to a physical therapist who got my back in shape and taught me how to maintain my back, and I have had nothing but minor back pain ever since with less as the years pass.

Prior to going to Kerlan-Jobe I saw a chiropractor for awhile, but when I kept asking him how we could get me to the point where I could maintain my back on my own, he basically said you just keep coming back to see me. TILT! I had no interest in becoming an annuity for a chiropractor.

The orthopaedic docs an PTs will get you back in shape and teach you how to take care of your back. Their objective is to "cure" you, not turn you into a steady income stream. They have plenty of work and consider surgery only as a last resort if everything else fails. They are not "knife happy" - just the opposite, in fact.

Also of note is that my doc said the "forties is the decade of back pain. I have patients in their sixties whose backs are in worse shape than yours, but they have less pain".

In the morning I do a couple of minutes of stretching exercises to "wake my back up" as it's always a little stiff in the moring, which is normal, and I also do some stretching before I do any lifting or work that involves bending and twisting - like washing the car!

Duke

My intuition is telling me it isn't a disk problem because the pain is more on my left above the hip joint bone with searing pain at certain movements which tells me it's more of a pinched nerve thing. I don't know... I think I'm going to go to a doctor today so I don't have to suffer over the weekend. Maybe at least I'll get some serious pain killers to tide me over.

Like Duke I suffer from a herniated disc since my early twenties. And as always, Duke is right:thumbs:

But I have to add that it's good to have a gifted chiropractor handy. From time to time he can straighten me out after I have suffered one of those sudden 'attacks' (usually originating from a sudden move, draft or cold weather) .

What a forum, great Vette info and answers and even medical advice!!!!

3 or 4 Advil a couple of times a day and a few days of rest works for me everytime.

Good luck, hope it's nothing more serious than a strain.

Been there a few times myself! Try this: lay on the floor on your back with your knees bent and feet as flat as you can to the floor. Hands behind your head. Take deep breaths and force the small of your back as far downward to the floor as you can and hold there for the count of ten (or more). Relax and continue this for awhile. I'm no doctor but this helps to give me some relief for a time. See a good chiropractor if you don't improve in a day or so and ice it. (I've walked into the chiropractor's office the crooked little man with a cane and exited walking normally!!) Even went to Carlisle once with an icepack and needing help getting in and out of car but hobbled around for two days anyway. :thumbs: :cheers:

Back pain,lol..
Here is one of my x rays.
How about 30 years of back pain.Pain to the point your leg falls asleep on you.Pain to the point you walk hinged.And you look like something is very wrong with you...Thats when I new I needed help...Could not put it off any longer..
They said (and I went to 5 diff,doctors because I trusted none!!)if you do not get cut on you will have a bladder bag strapped to your side for the rest of your life, because you are fixen to loose all bladder control if you do not get your back fixed..Pain to the point you are almost at putting a gun to your head.I know abit about back pain I hate to say.
Could not even touch my right foot for half a year or more.I could not put freaking socks on as you.My wife helped dressme like a little kid at one point befor I had surgery.God bless her!!She is what kept me going.Well kids to..
This was all cause by 2 blown disc,and disc degenitive?and other fun crap.Disc was to far gone to just get them trimmed.

I have done construction for years.Build my own home.Have just out did what my body was made to do.Well now I paid the price.
You need to bend not lean to pick items up.

I was so use to my back befor this surgery I hand a handle on it some what.Good days and bad.Tell almost 2 years ago.I had no way what so ever any handle on anything..Now it hurts like hell 100% of the time.Hips feels like the doc took a chunk of bone off it still.He did for the graph.My scar is about 10" long and a perfect straight little thin line.I found the best doctor in the state of Florida.I was in the hospital for a week.Had this cool drain pump hooked up to my back to drain I guess not need blood and fluids.Had a morphine? pump I hit the button ever 15 minutes? I forget how often they had said to hit it??I guess I was to messed up on the drug to remember.Also they rap your legs in this blow up bag looking pair of pants.I guess it makes the blood go to your legs?It is all kinda a big bluuurr because of the meds while in the hospital.



I would NEVER go to a chiropractor!! Never!! If the disc is bulging you need a MRI to see it.They can fix that in about a hour surgery and home the same day.They just trim the disc.If you put if off for years as I did ,it can and will block the nereves and then after a point in time with no blood flow,,they die..You do not want that..

Befor my surgery when it was hurtng I would take it easy,bed rest for 2 days and it felt alot better.I would do that if I was you.You may have just pulled something?

My doc is mad at me because I told him for the 110,000.00 in surgery/doc./hosp. bills I feel like hell! He said I will not know the out come for a year.That it will not just go away overnight.. Its been about 4 months?Still hurts like hell!http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...par/RossRR.jpg

Good luck!

Ross
Mild2Wild
heminitro

Lay flat and do a leg lift.One leg at a time real slow..If you can lift your leg without pain in lower back,I would say lower back is fine.The doc will have you stand straight up and lean forward as far as you can to touch you feet,without bending your knees.If you lean to one side that tells them the side that has troubles in your lower back.And so on.

Some here have had good luck with a chiropractor,that is great.That means they do not have blown disc. or it would not help the pain..

You had said it felt like a knife sticking in your back.I always said it felt like a standard screw driver in my back and some one was twisting it and spreading the verts apart..Thats how it felt early on..
Fun stuff,lol...kidding of course!!

Go see a doctor. Today. I'll take my chances with Advil and ice packs for headaches, pulled hamstrings, and things like that. Severe back pain warrants an immediate trip to the doctor.

Good grief, Ross - YIKES :eek: !

Been threre.
 

Been there- Done that.
Go to a Chiropractor.

An inversion table helps me sometimes.

VG

Call your GP and have him give you a script of (Bextra/Baxtra).

It does wonders for me, take it at night and after one night my back is tollerable, and after 2 nights, it is almost gone.

I think it is an anti-inflametory, helps you relax your back.

Mark

Okay. Thanks everyone.

I'm off to the doctor now. I'll report later. :ack:

My story would be too long to go into here, with much detail, so I'll try and summarize.

First back pain was 30 years ago, affecting the Sciatic Nerve (which doesn't sound like your problem). On the recommendation of one of my employees, I reluctantly went to a Chiropractor who got rid of my Sciatica in 3 visits, and it hasn't bothered me much at all since.

But I have been bothered by Lumbar pain (which could be your problem) as well as occasional severe lower back spasms. My DC could solve the lumbar with an adjustment and eliminate the spasms with a combination of ultrasound treatment and Interferential Stimulation, which is when they place electric pads in proximity to the painful area and send a low-level current into the deep tissue.

Before I ever visited a Chiropractor I was a real skeptic, but have been a firm believer ever since. But I also discovered there are many different methods of Chiropractic treatment, often determined by where the DC studied.

The method that works for me is called the Diversified Method, as taught at the Palmer Institute, and others.

A method that is a total waste of time and money, IMO, is the Activator Method which uses a percussion-type tool to deliver a high impact blow to a specific area.

At the present time I'm visiting a DC because of Plantar Faciitis in my left foot and he's getting that very painful problem under control.

The various back pains can be caused by any number of things, but the march of time is usually the common denominator. Even when you think you're in "great shape", ol' Mother Nature & Father Time can slam you hard.

I'm just getting over being out of commission from the same problem myself and know exactly the pain you feel. I agree with Duke too and wouldn't bother with chiropractic. Had gone that route many years ago for a neck problem and finally came to the conclusion that not only was it not helping over the long term, but there was potential to worsen the problem. Not saying there's not times or people it can't help, but it won't be me.

Your problem sounds like a pinched nerve and resulting muscles spasms, and unfortunately that's often the result of a ruptured or bulging disc or similar issue. Best wishes to you for relief from the pain.

You're kidding yourself! "Pinched nerves" are caused by a herniated disk (mine was L4/L5). The disk develops a bulge on the inside surface, which impinges on the nerves in the spinal cord. This can cause numbness and shooting pains in the legs, but not always.

Don't know what kind of medical plan you have, but your objective should be to be evaluated by the best spinal orthopaedic doc within your reach.

Kerlan-Jobe is a world renowned orthopeadic clinic. Pro athetic teams send their injured guys there from all over the country and world, and luckily for me they are ten miles from my house.

My initial evaluation was done by two docs including the head back "guru" and took about 45 minutes. The charge was only about $150!

What really ends up costing is the PT - about 2-3 grand in my case, but PT is a lot less risky and cheaper than surgury, and it's cheaper than going to a chiropractor for the rest of your life, because the PTs actually fix the problem and train you to better care for your back on your own.

My dad always admonished me "lift with your legs, not your back", but did I listen... NO!... and paid the price.

Kerlan-Jobe also put me back together from a couple of other injuries - tennis elbow (I used to play a lot of tennis.) and a knee blowout playing football. I'm now officially retired from tennis and football.

The only thing that hasn't hurt me is racing cars and riding motorcycles. :)

Duke

The same thing happened to me at the meet at Old Town in January. I popped three 800 mg advil at 9 am, it knocked me out for a couple of hours sitting upright in my truck and at 4 pm I was walking around the show field. Just dumb luck I know but my Doctor was with me and said the advil would not hurt me. He was right.

I recently was diagnosed with a L4/L5 herniated disc that was pinching my sciatic nerve. I went to a nuerosurgeon, who gave me the option of surgery or a computerized machine called the "DRX 9000" which decompresses the spine by actually stretching the back until the herniated disc pops back in, away from the sciatic nerve. I had twenty sessions on the machine, each one being a little stronger of a stretch. Now I am completely without pain. IT WORKED!!!:cheers: