My poor back....

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The muscles in the core work much like the mesh in a chain link fence. If you know much about chain link fences you know that the way they stay up is by maintaining tension. If you have part of the fence that is not stretched tight it is easy to push it over or flatten it. It is not uncommon to see a fence with good corner posts standing even though some of the line posts are dented or missing.

In saying that remember your body works the same way. A weight in your left hand pulls on the right side of your core. It works visa versa for both sides as well as front and back. Doing simple things everyday will pay in spades. You do not have to go to the gym and attack the weights with me and my meathead friends.. You do not have to go to Yoga class and pretend to be one with the world while someone teaches you to contort in slow motion. Honestly stretches at your desk and on the floor will do wonders. Your bodyweight is all the resistance you need. Your core is more than ample to support it provided you just train it a bit. Also be conscious of how you relax when you sit. I make a point to try and pull my belly button in towards my spine when I am sitting. I obviously cannot do it non stop, but I do it repeatedly throughout the day. Never just let your stomach sag and hang. If you decide to do situps make sure you do something for your lowerback too. Just like that fence I mentioned earlier, works together by maintaining tension on all sides. Your body needs to maintain tone on all sides.

For those of you that read this and are still healthy enough or at least injury free enough to do it. I have a simple challenge for you. For the next month when you wake up to start the day, try something simple. Try doing 20 situps and 20 pushups first thing when you get up. I do not care if you have to cheat and do the pushups on your knees. It is ok if you have to hook your toes under the edge of the bed. Just try it for a month and see how you feel. I promise it will change your life.
 
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EquusAZ

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If you have part of the fence that is not stretched tight it is easy to push it over or flatten it.

True but in my case the fence post had rotted entirely and was in danger of taking the whole fence down.

As I heal I will say one thing. All of my doctors, and friends, have noticed that since my surgery my entire posture has improved entirely. I sit up straight, I have good posture, no more slumping of shoulders. The doctors think it may have been a few years of feedback that lead to that....that being said....

Doing simple things everyday will pay in spades. You do not have to go to the gym and attack the weights with me and my meathead friends.. You do not have to go to Yoga class and pretend to be one with the world while someone teaches you to contort in slow motion. Honestly stretches at your desk and on the floor will do wonders. Your bodyweight is all the resistance you need. Your core is more than ample to support it provided you just train it a bit. Also be conscious of how you relax when you sit.

For me the only reason I look for yoga (or anything low - impact) is I never made a good study of what good posture means, or good form. You're looking at someone who did no major sports in his life, and after 27 gave up on getting a better body and the gym. So I just ran at the gym to keep the weight off.

Now? I hear what you are saying but I do need some outside help (for a while at least) to find my physical center mass etc without overdoing it. While it may be something to know what your core is - and where it is - for me - it's elusive. I find myself trying bad habitual poses to ease some pain and find "natural ones" that make the pain go away.....but for me they are un-natural and I find myself pacing the office as it doesn't hurt as much. I just need a nudge in the right direction to find my core - and my center of balance. I don't think I've really had one....

I could be really wrong though - and I do ask for nicettech to rebute....any pointers - anything - class settings are not ideal....
 

PounceOnit

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.......For those of you that read this and are still healthy enough or at least injury free enough to do it. I have a simple challenge for you. For the next month when you wake up to start the day, try something simple. Try doing 20 situps and 20 pushups first thing when you get up. I do not care if you have to cheat and do the pushups on your knees. It is ok if you have to hook your toes under the edge of the bed. Just try it for a month and see how you feel. I promise it will change your life.

Thanks! Hate sit-ups more than anything. But, will do 20 planks and 20 push-ups first thing each morning for next thirty days and I'll report back to you. Inside I know you're right that it will be a positive change.
 

EquusAZ

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So a quick update....

If it isn't one thing it's another. This has been one hell of a roller coaster ride for me. The LONG story short, is that I developed an infection at the site of surgery. No big problem right? Well --- it was bad enough for me to go on IV antibiotics for three months. Then to add insult to injury, no pun intended, from those antibiotic treatments I developed an active C-Diff infection. If you have never heard of or had C-Diff, I hope you NEVER get it. I've been basically out of work since July of last year (minus a few one month interludes between issues).

I've now been told to expect to be on antibiotics for another 6 months or so to clear all infections out.

Only in the last week or so have I really felt normal to any real degree. The only REALLY good thing is that the C-Diff issues got me off of 90% of the paiin meds the docs had me on. I.e. I probably didn't need them and was being DRASTICALLY over-medicated. Coming off of those meds was REALLY hard, but now instead of two muscle relaxers, three pain meds, and two STRONG pain killers, I'm on one anti-inflammatory and one painkiller.

I am so tired of this and just want to get better - that's the hardest part.:mad:
 

paintergal

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Well, this past Thursday, I hurt my back at work. Nerve in my lower back is pinched, and I had to go to ER three times the last 3 days to get stronger meds or because new symptoms arose. Last night I went because I could not feel anything in my right thigh. I will be seeing a physio tomorrow night, and I'm hoping that acupuncture, TENS, massage, etc. will help alleviate my pain and maybe fix my back.

I'm on a combination of drugs to manage the pain and have been trying to go for walks just to keep moving as the worse thing anyone can do is do nothing.
 

twoton

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Stay away from the opioids. Please. They're very addictive, and they generally don't work for back pain. My family doc specializes in sports medicine--said they hardly prescribe them anymore for back pain because of the risk and they're ineffective. He said the most they'll prescribe is a two week 'script. If you're still in pain they find some other way to deal with it, but they won't give more opioids.
 

twoton

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So a quick update....

If it isn't one thing it's another. This has been one hell of a roller coaster ride for me. The LONG story short, is that I developed an infection at the site of surgery. No big problem right? Well --- it was bad enough for me to go on IV antibiotics for three months. Then to add insult to injury, no pun intended, from those antibiotic treatments I developed an active C-Diff infection. If you have never heard of or had C-Diff, I hope you NEVER get it. I've been basically out of work since July of last year (minus a few one month interludes between issues).

I've now been told to expect to be on antibiotics for another 6 months or so to clear all infections out.

Only in the last week or so have I really felt normal to any real degree. The only REALLY good thing is that the C-Diff issues got me off of 90% of the paiin meds the docs had me on. I.e. I probably didn't need them and was being DRASTICALLY over-medicated. Coming off of those meds was REALLY hard, but now instead of two muscle relaxers, three pain meds, and two STRONG pain killers, I'm on one anti-inflammatory and one painkiller.

I am so tired of this and just want to get better - that's the hardest part.:mad:

I know a woman who went through months of serious bacterial infection that nearly took her life. Good luck, man.
 

paintergal

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Stay away from the opioids. Please. They're very addictive, and they generally don't work for back pain. My family doc specializes in sports medicine--said they hardly prescribe them anymore for back pain because of the risk and they're ineffective. He said the most they'll prescribe is a two week 'script. If you're still in pain they find some other way to deal with it, but they won't give more opioids.
The shot of Toradol and morphine brought the pain down to a manageable level on the first night of back pain. On the second night, the Percecots and apo-cyclobezarine has done nothing for me. I'm hoping physiotherapy today will help.

A little worried at this moment, because when I tried to put pants on, my leg would not lift high enough to try slip the pants on. I basically had to drop the pants on the floor, step into my pants, then bend down to pull my pants up.
 

meningreentights

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I am sorry for all of you who suffer with back pain. I too have major issues that they cannot heal. It is worse then it goes down my abdomen into my testicles. It feels like someone has them in their hand, and are squeezing them.
 

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Wow - I didn't expect the respnonse level this post got!!! I feel for you my fell sufferers - man AND woman!

For the most part my story has made a turn for the better. My back / spinal infection is clearing slowly - which means the bone is healing so I'm feeling frisky again. I'm about off all of my pain meds minus the anti-infamitories. I look forward to getting my back into shape and getting muscles into positions that can support my back and help healing.

Take care all and just know through this thread we all have friends!
 

bar4doug

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I am sorry for all of you who suffer with back pain. I too have major issues that they cannot heal. It is worse then it goes down my abdomen into my testicles. It feels like someone has them in their hand, and are squeezing them.

When I was younger, I never understood how wicked back pain could be. One day, I was just trying to keep my laptop bag around my shoulder, a cup of coffee in the other hand, and put something in the back of my car, the stars must have aligned, and whammo -- wicked back pain.

I had to stand there for minutes in order for me to be able to move.

It was painful to sit. It was painful to get up. Forget about tying shoes and putting on or removing pants.. It was awful. Forget about getting in and out of a car. I felt like I was 90 years old...

It got better over time, but took almost six weeks to completely go away. Shit, I was driving a distance one day, and the pain got so bad that it was almost easier for me to not turn the steering wheel and crash than it was to endure the pain.

Needless to say, I understand back pain much better now, and feel the pain anytime someone says, "My aching back..."
 

paintergal

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When I was younger, I never understood how wicked back pain could be. One day, I was just trying to keep my laptop bag around my shoulder, a cup of coffee in the other hand, and put something in the back of my car, the stars must have aligned, and whammo -- wicked back pain.

I had to stand there for minutes in order for me to be able to move.

It was painful to sit. It was painful to get up. Forget about tying shoes and putting on or removing pants.. It was awful. Forget about getting in and out of a car. I felt like I was 90 years old...

It got better over time, but took almost six weeks to completely go away. Shit, I was driving a distance one day, and the pain got so bad that it was almost easier for me to not turn the steering wheel and crash than it was to endure the pain.

Needless to say, I understand back pain much better now, and feel the pain anytime someone says, "My aching back..."

I agree - I never understood my Dad's back pain he had when I was a kid. And now I do.

Sitting is painful for me, and standing is tolerable for a bit before I need to go lie down. I'm struggling with putting on any article of clothing that goes below my waist. Night time is a nightmare for me as thats when the pain is the worse, especially in the leg, which is accommodated with tingling and numbness.

It doesn't help that I live alone and I imagine if I was dating someone, they would be taking care of me (yes, I'm being a bit of a baby here). So at night, I have to come up with coping skills and things to distract me. I have friends checking in on me and offering to help with things, so that helps.

I found it helps to have a fan lightly blowing over my body because my body is paying attention to the air blowing across my body more than the symptoms in my back and leg.