Lower Back Pain

[RealJimmyJames]

Greatest stretching and strengthening exercise for people with the classic "office body" pains and dysfunction is the Bulgarian Split Squat. I would suggest doing at with body weight only until you have the form perfect and stable, and have a decent range of motion. Good stretch of Hip Flexor, which is important.




T-Nation Article on Bulgarian Split Squats

Recommend getting front leg as far forward as possible, keep a wide stance, at least when you are doing this for mobility reasons. You may want a narrower stance if you are including notable weight. If you are doing it without weight, you can do this in your living room at home without any special equipment.

[theken]

sciatic pain is generally not in the lower back, it is generally in the legs, ie hamstring area, calf, even the foot. Your back muscles are probably strained, time to strengthen. Sciatic is THE WORST pain you will ever have, there is no other way to describe that, I still have limited feeling on the left side of my entire leg and my foot is numb and only have partial movement in the toes. That was a year and a half ago, so the recovery is a long and painful thing.
If your back hurts accompanied with leg pains (like a fully blown hamstring) and you literally cry like a small child, then you probably have a blown out disc causing the nerve to be compressed, if it is just lower back pain strengthening core and other muscle groups (legs, back) will help tremendously, as well as stretching. Posture plays the biggest role i have found, i stand, walk, sit, drive like the way black people make fun of white people, but i have noticed an impact on my pain. If while i am driving i slouch a bit, i will start to feel a tingle in my hamstring and i will immediately correct my posture, i do not want 10 seconds of that pain again ever.

[A790]

Originally posted by theken
i do not want 10 seconds of that pain again ever.

a-fucking-men to that.

[Seth1968]

God's love.

And again, no word from the religious crew.

[theken]

^ great add-on i was wondering if back pain had a face, i guess this is it?

[ercchry]

Foam roller and the tennis ball/lacrosse ball spine roller ftw... And core strengthening like mentioned above

[funkedelic2]

I'm on the same boat as you right now and feel your pain. I've also had back issues for about 10 years now with mostly just occasional pain that I feel in the moment and goes away. I've had a few stints where I've had my back be sore for a few days and it goes back to normal. I had a slipped disc 2 years ago and it took about a month before I could walk, stand and move with proper posture and without pain. My back would seize up after sitting for extended periods of time. After a few minutes, it would loosen up. I did physio and went to the chiropractor for treatment. I found that the adjustments that chiropractor made and electro acupuncture helped the most. I did stretches daily and tried to walk as much as possible even just inside the house.

This holiday break I ended up slipping and falling on my ass which brought on some pain while sitting. It went away the following day. A few days later I was working out and felt a tremendous amount of pain while doing dead lifts. I had proper form but something just didn't agree with my back. I had to go to the ER, couldn't walk, was in a lot of pain and long story short, I'm off work for a few weeks. My progress has been very slow and I'm sure my disc is out of whack again. I haven't had a chance to see professional help as everyone has been off until this week but my suggestion is to be patient. You can't work doing a physical job if you are injured. You'll do more harm in the long run. Instead of sitting, when you are resting your back, try to lay down. I find being in bed is way more beneficial for your back then sitting on a couch. Try to walk and stretch as much as you can. This will increase your mobility. A massage wouldn't hurt. My fiancé is a RMT and she has made my back feel much better with a massage and cupping therapy. Take care of your back (you only get one) and good luck!

[theken]

Also I may add, accupuncture helped me a too. I don't know how it works but I had a great deal of pain relief for a few days after

[RealJimmyJames]

Dry Neeling - Wiki Article

[chathamf]

Thanks for all the input guys. This has been a battle and started to feel a little better but worried I will not be able to go back to work when the call comes in to go back. This may sound kind of odd but has anyone experienced back pain due to constipation? I never really thought of this until a couple days ago but when I went to school I completely fell off the healthy wagon. Stopped working out, eating like crap, etc. I noticed I wasn't going to the bathroom quite as often as usual. Kind of forgot about it and just kept on eating like crap and doing my thing. Did a little googling and apparently this is a thing. Kind of thinking this may have contributed or been a major factor. Still waiting on my X-ray results.

[RealJimmyJames]

quick and easy way to fix the constipation issue to to hit the veggies for a day.
Or Benefibre

[BlueHaloGirl]

Same boat, I've had issues with my back for years since I threw it out at work years ago.
It goes out every now and then and the only thing I've found to make it better is acupuncture with electro stim
Sitting for a period then getting up is the most painful of all, but I always find once I get moving and walking it feels better. Also watch your posture standing, sitting and walking.
Believe it or not I found horseback riding helps when my back goes out as you have to keep really good posture when in the saddle.

[SKR]

Yoga will probably help.

[Swank]

My first bout with back pain was in my early 20's when I ruptured a disc which caused pressure on the sciatic nerve. Crippling agony, ambulance to the emergency room, off work for 2 weeks, hobbling with a numb leg for ~8 months. Fortunately I healed up and got fit so I was fine for at least a decade. Last year I started getting lower back pain that just kept getting worse, always worst in the morning, I could barely get out of bed. This was the same bed that I was laying in to heal up from my back injury ~15 years prior - time for a new bed! The bed didn't slouch or feel 'off' in any way, but somehow it was no longer suitable for me. Found myself sleeping on the couch a lot as I'd be pain free after 1-2 sleeps, and hotel beds were heavenly. The new bed had fixed me up like 95%, the other 5% was to stop using an exercise ball as a computer desk chair. Every time I'd sit on that for an extended period I be crippled up again for an hour or 2.

This may not be the case/cause for you, but if it helps anybody relieve the pain I went through then it's worth it.

[funkedelic2]

If you are on pain killers, that may be the reason you are constipated. I was taking percocets and they backed me up a few days on top of also making me drowsy, having dry mouth and overall feeling tired. Take some stool softener and drink lots of water and food high in fiber. I wouldn't be too surprised to find nothing wrong with your X-rays. It won't show anything but your bones and will only be useful if you broke your tail bone. It won't show anything like your discs in the spine, only the space in between them.

[theken]

xrays are a joke for back injuries, unless its broken or fractured.

[Sean7]

Acupuncture, Chiro and pain meds are only a temporary solution. They don't want to fix your pain, as you will stop giving them money every week.
For most people with back pain, it is as simple as doing lower back and core stretches\exercises everyday. One of my relatives lived with chronic back pain for over 15 years, he started doing Foundation Training exercises everyday and was pain free in a week. There are free tutorial videos on YouTube, and you can do the exercises almost anywhere. It just requires a bit of effort, there is no magical easy button....

[A790]

Originally posted by theken
xrays are a joke for back injuries, unless its broken or fractured.

MRI or bust.

Also, OP, if the pain is really bad look into medicinal marijuana. Seriously.

It changed my life after my injury

[chathamf]

Originally posted by A790

MRI or bust.

Also, OP, if the pain is really bad look into medicinal marijuana. Seriously.

It changed my life after my injury

Haha. The medical stuff pretty good, eh? Pain is okay. I got to keep at the stretching and start to strengthen up. Sucks though wonder how long it's going to have me out. I know as soon as I do any actual work it will flare up again pretty good. Seems to be more isolated and acting like normal back pain now though. Before it was debilitating and shooting down my legs and stuff.

As shitty as it is being without work, I'm hoping my company doesn't need me for another couple weeks so I can see if I can kick this issue.

[theken]

i asked for the weed, didnt get it