Back/neck pain

i had this over christmas, it was horrible

a friend of mine back home is a masseuse and she said she won't massage anyone with severe pain; she said the best thing is hot and cold, hot and cold - get a heating pad or get in a sauna, keep it on for as long as you can take it (probably about 10 minutes) then alternate with an ice pack for as long as you can take it (about five minutes)

long-term, you are not sitting properly. both feet flat in the floor and sit up straight.

you can also try (gentle) neck and shoulder exercises right after getting up in the morning

i know, it is my posture... i'm trying to address this big time now. hot and cold is a good idea.

yes -- i'm always doing the gentle neck rolls and stuff, self-massaging. i need to do more though. i've also been told lifting light weights helps.

my disk is all herniated :(

oh no! i'm so sorry -- are you bed-ridden or something?

it's weird, when i got glasses, my neck pain improved a LOT

bummer. you really shouldn't have been walking upright all this time, you know.

NO, i am not bed ridden. it's probably been herniated for months and months but they just now did an mri. they gave me a bunch of trigger point injections (injections of lidocaine into the muscles) and it is really sore though.

glasses? really?

awww. it's my big fear, to herniate. i'm sure i will one day.

yah! i found i was straining forward a lot less, when sitting at my desk. which makes perfect sense, i can see the damn screen now...

yeah the doctor kept going "you're not that OLD, we usually see this in OLDER people blah blah blah"

haha that's sweet of him i guess?

i get that about my teeth -- "you're too YOUNG to have this problem"

ok thx how does that help me now

well my teeth seem to be ok now. but my neck feels like i've been sleeping in the backseat of a pickup for a week.

i think i'm gonna suck it up and go to the nail place for one of those 10min massages finally.

i've been trying acupuncture...it seems to be helping a little, i guess? i've only done 2 sessions but i'm going to try to go every week now, since my insurance won't cover anymore PT til next year and there is a place that will acupuncture me for $25 a session with my student id.

my body feels like shit after work every day from sitting in this damn chair

i want to start doing yoga or something

max, try to get up and stretch every 15 minutes

i almost wish i had a smoking habit to remind me to get up from my desk and walk around more

tell me more of this herniated disc. I have a nagging sensation that seems to sit right on my spine and extend about an 1.5" to the right in my lower back. It's fairly constant, but seems especially agitated after doing crunches or basic stretching that involves anything below my shoulders :/

I suppose I should go to the doctor, but it's inconvenient and theyt always want me to come back for more tests. Hey, dude, let's just do all the tests today. Every single one. Then we can get to the business of fixing it pronto. I have like work & life and stuff.

i don't know if it sounds like a herniated disk if it is just a "nagging sensation" - an herniated disk usually involves sharp pain and numbness since the vertebrae is bearing down on a nerve. if you dont want to go to a doctor, i would say you should try a course of anti-inflammatories, heat & ice, and avoid the excersizes that are causing the pain.

So I was brushing my teeth on Friday morning when I felt a weird twinge below my shoulder blades. I was late for work and thought nothing of it. Got on my bike, cycled to the station, locked my bike up and felt it again. Managed to stagger onto the train but once it arrived at Kings X, I physically couldn't get up without wincing in pain. Someone noticed and helped me off, gave me some ibuprofen.

I somehow managed to hobble into work but couldn't even explain what the matter was as I couldn't breathe without it hurting. Lay down on the sick bay floor for about an hour but still couldn't get up. Eventually had to be carted out the building in a wheelchair and driven home. I now can't get around without crawling or sort of holding onto my knees. A sharp pain going from right to left across my back in the area beneath the shoulderblades.

I don't know if it's a pulled muscle or a trapped nerve or something else, all I know is it's getting frustrating not being able to move about. Cocodamol and ibuprofen have done little to nothing unfortunately.

Anyone got any tips? Should I be attempting to move about or stay absolutely still? Should I treat it with a hot or cold pack? Should I see an osteo/chairo/physio or just a doctor?

dude... see a doctor

Why the holy fuck did you not get a lift to A&E rather than a lift home?

It sounds like a pulled muscle, btw, I do that from time to time and find heat works (I lie down flat and put a hot water bottle underneath me), but it usually sorts itself out after a day or so, and ibuprofen helps.

I had it a few years ago and it cleared up after a couple of days, after which I thought nothing of it. It's been three days and it hasn't gotten any better now.

My husband had the same. They gave him a cortisone shot (after we went to the emergency room duh).

fuck this - feels like something wants to escape through my shoulder blades

I need to improve my posture

evolution needs to work faster imo everybody sits in front of a computer these days nature get with the program

I want my head in my belly NOW not in ten thousand years

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f387/Woundsofruin/Krang.jpg

I hurt my back on Sunday. the lower part just seized up, was bloody sore. Its getting better (slowly) though.

my lower back has been in agony for a month

what fucking ever is my attitude toward all new pains now, the last two years have sucked so bad health-wise that I'm like "oh yeah? fucking bring it on, I laugh at you & listen to house music"

these two stretches have changed my life, seriously: http://www.drbookspan.com/NeckPainArticle.html

i felt it through the bottom of my neck, underneath my shoulder blade, and then down my arm. it was fucking awful

xp
yeah lower pack. Same thing i did last year. Im turning into my dad.

it's tuff, you gotta do it everyday throughout the day but it's soo much better than just living with the pain

yeah I remember that link LOLK! should do those more often though the page seems really fussy about how to do them :\

yeah, essentially what you need to take from it is that you need to stretch your pecs so that your shoulders can relax in the right position. the second one just helps with the flexibility of your neck

it also helps to just start noticing when you are holding your head forward or craning your neck so you can correct it

I sit at this computer from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. almost every day, and after 9 years it's starting to wear me down. I'm thinking about wearing a neck brace all day so I can relax my neck/shoulders without my head falling off my body.

STRRETCH YOUR PECS :P

god i need this shit so badly

did yall stretch yr necks/pecs today? it's not gonna get better unless you do something about it!!!!

i stretched!!!!

Argh.

This is my first encounter with the searing lower back pain and it's fucking painful. Weirdly I didn't do anything particular to bring it on, it just slowly came on on Monday evening as I was walking round town and got worse as the evening wore on. Slept flat on my back on Monday night and could barely move the next morning. Yesterday I slept on my side and it's better and I'm at work and mobile but it still kinda hurts.

What do you guys recommend - have been only on Ibuprofen so far but might try some Ibuprofen gel or some of the really good stuff with codiene in it.

Obviously this has hit me a matter of days before I go on holiday. I suspect my work chair isn't exactly helping matters.

i heard a rumour that feminax cures all known ills

more seriously, all i tend to do with back pain is stretching - i don't know that it makes it necessary feel less painful but it is satisfying and i feel like i'm doing something about it. but that's all upper-back stuff caused mostly by my terrible posture. (how do people sit with feet flat on the floor? it's impossible)

feminax is ridiculously effective, alix brought some round for whatever i had 3 weeks ago (and have again now) and it knocked me out basically.

is it muscle pain? icing it should alleviate pain, have heard good things about ibuprofen gel but when i bought it for my knee i managed to lose it before getting a chance to test it out.

anyway make an appointment with a physio asap basically, that's most important.

i always mean to look into good back stretches/exercises to do given how much time i spend hunched at a desk, and i don't really do any atm, and i'm vaguely paranoid it's gonna bite me at some point.

I think it's a muscle pain, yeah, either that or a trapped nerve but I think the former. Feminax is basically paracetamol and codiene right, so unless it's in mad quantities then straight ibu/codiene should do the same trick? Also by knocked you out do mean like actually sent you to sleep because I think I should avoid that.

I would totally see a physio but I've got like 48hrs left in London and I'm not sure I can get in in that time?

feminax made me zone out slightly but i was kind of zoned out already?

dunno whether you'd be seeing the physio on the NHS or otherwise but if the former the process will take a while so best set it in motion now - if you can see a doctor before you go they'll refer you to a physio, and then you make another appt with them, o bureaucracy. even if it's cleared up by the time you get round to seeing them, the stretches and such they'll give you to do will probably be useful in some sort of strengthening/preventative way.

lower left back, all of a sudden last 2-3 days. as if i dont feel old enough.

Sorry, dude. :( Has your apartment been cold? Sometimes being cold can make people tense a lot of muscles they don't realize they're using.

neck locked on tues, compensating for it hurt my lower back all wed, three hours of football straightened everythin out last night phew

pick up some muscle relaxants amirite

not cold, no. it goes away when i slouch in front of my laptop.

could you describe the pain, morbs?

obama is still president

just somewhat knifey when my left leg is moving, particularly

in one spot, or does it "shoot" up your leg? what have you taken for it? does it help?

I've had chronic back and neck pain on and off now for the last 10 years. It just showed up and never went away.

haven't taken anything yet. The pain actually isn't IN my leg at all, but that's the motion that seems to make the back of my left lovehandle hurt.

Any trips/stumbles recently? Sounds like spasming from a sudden jerk/fall/stumble.

Had a minor sidewalk fall over a week ago, but that was easily 4-5 days before any pain started. Also hurts like fuck whenever I cough.

It can't be appendicitis bcz it's not in my abdomen, riiiiight?

back spasms imo

heating pad, detrius, you'll be fine

p sure i dont have a heating pad... more middle-aged expense, feh

WDYHDLL (your herniated disc) @ April of last year:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2lkqwpu.jpg

Had quite a bit of pain in the right leg for a couple of months, no lasting help from the epidural injections, but now the pain's been subdued and under control following first weekly, now monthly osteopathy sessions. *stands up, bends backwards & hopes this will keep it from coming back*

Dr. Morbs, possibly sacroiliac joint inflammation? I've had this since mid-December, worse in the morning, getting better as the day goes on.
Finally went to urgent card Dec 26, where I got prescription ibuprofen and a muscle relaxant. My problem was that I was using a heating pad, which was not good for an inflammation (duh), should have used cold first. Over the counter ibuprofen was 200mg, the prescription is 600. It's been helping. I have to start doing exercises and follow up with my regular doctor soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacroiliac_joint

Heating pad substitute: Pour dry rice or beans into a sock (or the cut off sleeve of a discarded cotton shirt/wool sweater) and tie off the open end. Heat in the oven on the lowest heat setting for 15 minutes or try microwaving for a few minutes.

Pain deteriorated some today w/ no treatment other than a post-holiday party w/ lots white wine last night.

Ibuprofen is great because it reduces inflammation, which is nearly always a factor in back/neck/joint pain and this fact alone means it aids healing. It also reduces pain, so that's peachy, too. Icing (cold packs) are also very helpful with inflammation, but icing an area isn't always very convenient.

The OTC bottles of ibuprofen will tell you to limit the doseage to 400 mg, but for max effectiveness for inflammation, 600 mg is better. BUT... ibuprofen is HARSH on your liver and kidneys, so drink PLENTY of water when you take it, and if you are taking megadoses, limit yourself to 2 or maybe 3 days of that, and stop if you're experiencing any weird effects.

The weakness of ibuprofen is that it will not remove the root cause of the pain, if the cause is ongoing, like a pinched nerve. It's an aid, but not a cure.

ime, M.D.s are not well versed in or even very interested in minor musculo-skeletal problems, so they aren't very adept at solving them. I've had good success with a local chiropractor who specializes in sports injuries. She doesn't really tout any of the theory that chiropractic was founded on (which theory is quackery, imo), but she is excellent at diagnosing musculo-skeletal interactions and seeing where the problem is. For the small, but painful, stuff she is my go-to doctor and she hasn't steered me wrong, yet.

oh yeah, i took ibuprofen.

oh shit. Something has happened just above my lower back on the right hand side. I've had twinges from my shitty chair before but this one won't go away. Stabbing pain at really odd moments, like when I'm not even using (I guess) anything there. It's also making me feel quite sick. Do I lie on a flat surface or whatever? Do I stretch? Desperate to not do any more damage as I've got a long day of travelling on trains and buses tomorrow. I did just order a better chair though. Dear lord why didn't I before.

Anti-inflammatories, ice pack, and lie on your back on the floor with knees bent. If it doesn't feel better in a couple of days, doctor.

Are you sure it's your back and not your kidneys?

I've had kidney trouble before so I'm pretty sure it's not that. I did what you said and also slept minus pillows. Pains are slightly less bad this morning but as frequent as yesterday. Think I might hit the doctors on monday if tomorrow isn't any better. This couldn't have come at a worse time. Thanks for the advice quincie.

not very exciting advice, and IANAD, but I do feel your pain. lying on the floor right now myself.

my boyfriend has been suffering chronic neck pain & muscle tension for years. the past week has been really bad and has been affecting his sleep and mood. i don't know what to do, but i feel like i need to try to help him because it's really difficult to see him in so much pain.

it's not like he's passivey suffering, either: he sees a clinical massage therapist pretty regularly, has been taking a stretch class, even sleeps with a dental guard to stop grinding his teeth at night. i've been massaging his back daily and applying liberal doses of tiger balm. all these things help a little, but the pain never really goes away completely and i just want him to get a good night's sleep. i don't know.

i have heard about exactly one good reference to this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_technique

sounds like it might be quackery but then again i don't mind acupuncture or cupping and hey if it works it works.

you know, i've heard of that before, actually. but oddly enough, only as a form of training among my friends who were theatre majors in college, not as therapy. i'll look into it!

oh and he has been to the a osteopath too.

Alexanders is very good. I've only read about it really and never been to a session (more because of money). I heard pilates is good too. Otherwise I recommend a good osteopath, not a chiropractor.

but no, Alexanders was invented by an actor but can be excellent for long term posture correction and pain. It's largely based on retraining the brain to recognise situations where one might be moving in ways that do damage to your body. It's a very long-term thing though, not an instant cure. The idea is that when we try to correct our postures by making a conscious effort to sit or stand up straight, it throws other parts of the body into equally unnatural positions. By training the brain to recognise when we are (for example) slouching or slumping into a chair or squeezing into a car seat or flopping into bed, you're asked to take a few moments to make yourself aware of your surroundings and how your body is placed in it. Eventually you get used to moving in a more careful way, thus minimising tension and stress in the back and shoulders etc.

have been a long term neck pain sufferer, which has also given me quite bad pain in my right shoulder and arm. recently had a new course of physio for it, and was introduced to retraction exercises (google 'retraction exercises for neck pain' and you'll find lots of youtubes etc for examples.) anyway, a month or so of doing the exercise seems to have really worked for me, fwiw (only side effect - you look like a total gurning loon while doing it, so it's not something you can really do while sat at your desk etc.)

My solution to years of neck/back pain was by dealing with that 1/3 of my life I spend in bed: a thicker pillow (actually a thin 2nd pillow) to straighten my neck and a pillow between my legs to straighten my spine.

it looks like there are a few alexander teachers locally, so i'll recommend that to him

honestly he does have some bad sleeping habits -- he moves around a lot during the night and ends up in positions that exacerbate the pain -- but those aren't things he can easily control.

pillow between legs is excellent. get one of those long tubular pillows that he can put between his legs and kind of hug and lie on at the time - it totally supports your back in each position and hopefully stop him moving about.

i started lifting heavy weights about a year ago. deadlifts, squats, bench presses. i have not had any back pain whatsoever since then. fwiw.

i mean, it could be a coincidence but my poor pathetic back is now way stronger which must be helping.

that's another good idea. he tends to avoid strength training at the gym, which probably doesn't help matters

Heavy weights (as Tracer described) were fantastic for alleviating my lower back pain. Quitting desk job, moving to the beach, and daily swimming/paddleboarding also did the trick. Snorkeling bothers my neck, sadly.

And yoga can be either great or terrible for necl/back, ime.

ugh. sitting in a fixed (bad posture) position for an hour or so at a shitty Amway meeting (see other thread, ugh) gave me what I think is a pinched nerve in my upper back/neck. been over a week and a half. finally seems to be starting to heal, but sends flares down my left side including my hip and arms.

didn't help that I stupidly did high intensity weight exercises that aggravated it before it had a chance to heal, but now that I've avoided those seem to be getting closer. how long does it take to go away generally? puttin gIcy Hot on it and staying active.

Where is your Amway meeting story? I love a good Amway meeting story.

Amway and other multi-level marketing cults

It was kind of boring (Spottie's is way better). My bestie isn't one of those crazed Amway cult guys who wears the spinny-glasses and says "you willlll selll Amwayyyy", he's kind of skeptical and understood my reasons.

Everybody around me had much fancier suits/clothing than I did, like they had bought them specifically for this meeting. They even try to sell you on the exclusivity of the whole thing as if it's a virtue, by making you sign in and giving you a special card to gain access (you have to be a friend of a member, wow, the power!).

It was in some 3-star hotel, the conference room. the speaker was literally 4 feet tall with a lazy eye, probably my age. He lives in Maitland, FL, meaning he clearly doesn't have much baller status cos it's a nothing city. He had two Mr Bigg gold rings on that he purposefully kept positioning his hands to show off to the crowd like "ALL THIS CAN BE YOUUUURS". despite being a guy that supposedly does this speaking for a living, he said "uh" every 5 seconds, and kept losing focus and going off on tangents, telling really shitty jokes ("some people out there say they're happy, I reply 'have you notified your face?'. *explosive herd laughter*), then saying "we have fun here!" after every one of them as if to illustrate that, yes, he just told a joke, and people liked it.

you'd also think a guy that does public speaking frequently would have been prepared and had a clicker handy to advance slides rather than sashaying over to the touchscreen to manualy advance it each time. or a presentation not written entirely in Comic Sans and containing graphics that seemed straight out of Microsoft clipart circa 1997. Why would you have a pic of a hamburger on a slide about the different types of cash flow (with no metaphor to connect the two)?

He also started describing the third-tier knockoff apps they had (their ITunes ripoff had something LOL-worthy generic like "IListen" or something), and peddling the Nutrilite stuff, telling us how we could peddle these to our loved ones ("you all take vitamins and stuff right? Here let me give you some samples, I can get ya a good rate!").

At the end they offer us the exclusive opportunity to meet this *amazing* man as if we will be honored to bask in the glow of his aura. I shook his hand, and after talking to him part of me had to ask myself "is this a dude that they propped up to pretend to be worth 250k, cos he looks like the guy you see in a cubicle complaining that the supply closet is out of staples". On the way out, they immediately hand me a gift basket of Nutrilite shit and try to schedule a follow-up w/ me and I made some excuse like "well I'm uhh kinda busy let me check my 'schedule'", ate all the Nutrilite crap by the next afternoon, and then told my friend "yeah fuck this".

I've had some left shoulder/neck/upper back pain that has coalesced over the last week into the world's worst crick. The way it's going, I think it'll work itself out in the next 3-4 days, but this is really miserable right now. Can't find a comfortable position for my left arm.

I've been on trains these last three days and my tailbone is super fucking sore. Aggravating it is the fact that I lost a bunch of weight in my butt and the extra padding's gone.

argh woken up with neck pain is the worst

I've got it like between my shoulder blades, it really hurts when I look upwards.

bulging disc at c5, was just given a course of steroids, oxycodone/acetaminophen and muscle relaxers
feeling a little loopy right now tbh

huh well i appear to be dying right now

dying of pain or dying of muscle relaxation bodymeld to furniture?

if you're on the couch, be on the couch
if you're in the couch, be in the couch

I herniated 2 discs in my neck like 10 years ago. Excruciating. There are great exercises you can do to relieve the pain your neck, like pushing your chin with your pointer finger to your chest, holding it there

been doing that. the medication is not agreeing with me and the bulging disc is impinging my shoulder. shoulder and neck pain are keeping me from sleeping, medication is roiling my stomach and the migraine from lack of sleep is making me light/sound sensitive and in pain from crown to hip. oxycodone is not impacting the pain and the steroids aren't hitting the neck yet. spent three hours balled up and moaning. it's a bad time.

Forks that's horrible. Herniated discs are incredibly painful and I'm sorry you're not getting relief from the meds.

thx. i'm having a bit of a rough time insofar as my gf just went home to her mother for a week right as this is hitting an apex and i'm pretty frustrated. gotta get some sleep here.

ouch! no idea why but the last few days I've had increasing pain right at the base of my spine. it started off as what I thought was a bit of healthy muscle tenderness from going to the gym, but each morning i've woken up and it's felt worse to the point where I'm having trouble walking or sitting properly.

man, pain fucking sucks.

I was having a rough time of it until I reassessed my pillow situation and added more support there. Now if I could just get the dog to shut the fuck up at 5 a.m. I could get some sleep.

But that's nothing compared to a bulging disc. GL forks

Had a backache for a couple days, took a hot bath last night hoping to ease it. Within a half hour of getting out my back seized up so bad I could barely move without groaning or cussing.

Never had back pain that bad. I was like pale from the pain. I felt like I needed a leather strap to bite down on while trying to go to bed. Even considered going to the hospital (as if this were a back-pain version of appendicitis and my spin was about to explode or something) but I didn't even know how I'd get there.

Better but still delicate this morning. But holy shit.

sounds to me like muscle spasms in your back. when that happened to me it was some of the worst pain I've yet experienced. a doctor would probably prescribe muscle relaxants and rest. too bad you can't get muscle relaxant meds over the counter. even getting yourself to a doctor's office when your back is spasming becomes a problem in itself, bcz of the intense pain.

Never got the appeal of relaxing in a tub. If bathtubs were actually comfortable there'd be an epidemic of accidental drownings.

I like the heat from a hot bath and I feel like it's good for the circulation and maybe even the immune system, but I'll think twice about taking a bath specifically for back pain ever again.

Crazy how much better I'm doing this afternoon. Went from crippling pain to just a modest ache in 12 hours. Very odd.

btw if back pain persists, see a damn doctor. mine noted above in 2012 turned out to be myeloma.

Yikes! Are you OK? How did that play out?

I considered it could be something else, but for now I'm gonna trust Occam's Razor on this one. I slept on my back weird and probably exacerbated it through some strenuous exercise and yard work

It played out that i kept getting new cancer treatments over the last 3-1/2 years until each stops working, and there's more to come! (ie, no, i'm not OK)

Oh man, I am so sorry. I had no idea. I'm wishing you the best. We've all lost people we've loved to cancer, but I've also seen people I love overcome improbable odds with some treatments (my grandma overcame cancer that was supposed to be terminal), so I always hold out a lot of hope.

Holy fuck I literally cannot move

I took three ibuprofen an hour ago (on an empty stomach) and no relief from the excruciating spasms every few seconds. Am flat on my back and cannot get up to take any more pain relief (also, have none). I'm like crying out with pain.

Also I have music playing fairly loudly but can't turn it off. It was Annette peacock and I have it arranged alphabetically by artist so my neighbors will be treated to my entire music collection over the next day or so if my situation doesn't improve

after all three hours of your adolf hitler compilations they will probably be too traumatized to care

wouldn't adolf come before Annette? Mine alphabetizes by first name for some stupid reason

Lol Adolf comes before Annette fortunately

Also perhaps fortuNately, spotify doesn't play flac so no autechre
Xp

Hitler comes before peacock too

Christ this is bad

I always figured hitler for a premature ejaculator tbh

wouldn't adolf come before Annette? Mine alphabetizes by first name for some stupid reason

― sarahell, Saturday, 18 June 2016 22:03 (3 minutes ago)

that's why they will be too traumatized now!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r7-5Ct4eQho/hqdefault.jpg

neighbour irl rn

Wince

feel bad for moaning about a wee gum infection now

You need more than ibuprofen for bad back pain. I'm lucky that the partner gets some pretty strong codeine based painkillers on prescription. If you take 3 or 4 of them it would be recommended to turn the music off first! The spasms are the worst. They usually hit me unexpectedly when I'm out and about and it's like getting shot by a sniper's rifle.

No way toothache rivals this in terms of blocking out all thought of anything other than pain ime. At least you can move I guess

Xp ibuprofen was the only thing to hand, and a walk to the pharmacy doesn't feel on the cards just yet

Update: I managed to pull out the aux cord and now I may vomit

:(

http://www.imgion.com/images/02/Wishing-you-speedy-recovery.jpg

Thanks, I'll be fine. I sent for help as the spasms got worse after my attempt to sit up, mum & sister bringing painkillers

maria got a traction device from her doctor. it's pretty cool. i'm gonna try it soon for my neck. she had serious neck surgery a year or two back.

Solpadeine has saved the day, still the occasional agonising spasm but way fewer & farther between as long as I remain immobile.

Question: do I want pillows or should I be flat? My mum seemed to think my head should be elevated but my neck is getting kinda sore (using phone prob not helping)

dunno what is up, back pain for the past 10 days after returning from traveling...thought maybe just tied to that of 3 hrs in plane then 3 hrs in car but didn't expect it to endure this long?

I did see my doctor who just gave me some muscle relaxers and who said to follow up back w her in a few wks

it feels too persistent idk, not excruciating but I have tried stretching a lot and no dice. its lower back area and left flank soreness. along my lower back there was even some bruising? that is fading but its still stiff/painful

ibuprofen doesn't seem to help a lot tho using like those icyhot patches does temporarily feel ok

I have had a disgustingly huge abscess on the back of my neck that is the most painful thing I've ever felt. It was lanced yesterday but it's so big that in the coming hours they're gonna put me under a general and lance again, so that they can push hard enough to get it all out (it was just a local yesterday). But seriously it's huge: bigger than the span of my hand. Immensely painful. Happily they hospitalized me (that's more normal in France than the USA I think).

yikes

And out of general. This thing was (!) horrible and disgusting and painful. Necks are sensitive it turns out.

managed to back pain myself again last week, just now improving; was worse this time i think where if id of had to leave the house or w/e i prob could not have..

idk glad to have perspective from my above post remembering that time
i guess just getting old but prob should stretch more or something? i feel in general my core is prob decent, is there anything preventative one can do or nah

Can you afford to see a physiotherapist? My husband’s knee (and in this last year, knees) was kinda fucked, drs only offered a shot of steroids(?) to reduce pain. It would occasionally feel like it was giving out. He was convinced it was only matter of time before surgery.

A couple months ago he started seeing a physio. The first session the guy tested range of motion relative to pain, then had him do a bunch of exercises, then repeated range of motion test - he noticed instant improvement. It’s costing a small fortune to see this guy but the difference husb has noticed has been amazing.

yea i think i can possibly; its odd that, and maybe this is just a back-thing, it isnt really a chronic issue, but rather i have a tweak/episode once every year-ish?

i'd not say it feels like it'll give out or elevate to more of an everyday maladay, but idk who knows

good advice tho & glad to hear re: your husbands knees

His knee thing came and went too. Drs were honestly pretty useless. He met this physio when the guy came to his gym to offer a class on back issues, actually, and when my husband asked him about the knee issues he immediately understood the problem (something to do with the supporting muscles in his thighs I think).

I think physiotherapists are underrated by a lot of ppl because you won’t see long term results unless you put in the work on your own time too

Yep. I did a lot of core strengthening for my back injury (planks, side planks, stretching, etc) and it helped. And after resisting joining the yoga crew for many years, I've started doing Youtube yoga since working from home, and it's been hugely helpful all aroud.

Just1n3 otm

About two years ago I started having pain in my right thigh which then morphed into shooting pains in my lower right back. Would have trouble raising my right leg properly when walking and was eventually reduced to a walking motion where I would keep my right leg straight and wheel it around in a semi circle in order to walk. Was shuffling around like this for weeks ( some days less extreme some days really unpleasant) until GP referred me to a physiotherapist. Was ready for some p brutal hands on therapy and at home exercise regimen or smthg but the therapist totally Mr Miyagi'd me!

First session she barely touched me, watched me walk up and down then said I probably had something out of line after missing a step somewhere at some point in time. Had me come back the next week, was a bit more hands on but again v gently manipulated my leg and neck. I thought the whole approach was v bullshit new age hippy and one step removed from healing crystals tbh. Pain got worse for a couple of days then eased off. The 3rd session more of the same and 2 days later I was completely pain free and have been ever since. Would totally think the whole thing was psychosomatic except I was really unconvinced of her methods the whole time. Amazing.

Justine OTM ... PTs can do amazing things, including teaching you how to keep yourself together after your treatment ends.

Some back pain is normal for aging humans. At 59, I'm concentrating on maintaining functional movements (bending, stretching, twisting, lifting) rather than on trying to be pain-free. Exercising generally makes my back feel better, and I've learned to vary exercises to address particular problems, but I expect a little soreness, stiffness, or twinging and try not to worry about it unless it's really unusual or persistent.

Are "physiotherapy" and "physical therapy" the same? I googled a little but there doesn't seem to be a simple answer. I'm familiar with US-style physical therapy, which is usually done on an out-patient basis, often after a referral from a GP or specialist. The physical therapy I did involved a bit of electrical stimulation, little or no soft-tissue work, and a whole lot of exercises. After a certain number of sessions I was sent away with exercises to do on my own.

Some of the sources I glanced at suggest physiotherapy is more of a UK/Canada/Europe thing, often associated with hospitals, and maybe emphasizing more soft-tissue work. Academic qualifications are different, too. Are there larger differences, or is it more a matter of regional usage and emphasis?

I did the bird dog exercise today, it seems to be helping.

Preventative: weight lifting helps. If you have a gym, you could schedule a session with a personal trainer. The guys you see in the weight room are intimidating but a trainer can make you feel more comfortable lifting lighter weights. I use planet fitness, trainer sessions are free.

I think it might be a regional thing. We call it physiotherapy in NZ

how 'regular' does one's back pain need to be before you can feasibly ascertain that it's chronic and should maybe be looked at?

asking for ME. second or third time in the last week that I've mildly hurt it.

today was more understandable, I picked my dad's 190 pounds of dead weight up off of the curb. but I got spasms just sitting ina chair the other day

see a doc. no harm in it.

my current PCP is still not seeing people in person, but I imagine I should go to a specialist for this anyway...I don't have an HMO/EPO so I don't need a referral.

*adds to list*

do a telehealth with your gp and get a referral now; that way you can set it up when you're ready and/or if it gets worse. you don't want to be in a position where you're just starting the process in extreme pain as you'll have two weeks where no one will see you.

i speak from sad experience

thanks for tip. I think I finally have a clear schedule for the first time in two months, so I think I'll do that.

already have degenerative disc in the neck (which I"ve had forever) so don't wanna play with it.

i never go to doctors for anything (maybe i will change that in 2021 but idk) but i did telehealth for what turned out to be a minor knee injury a month ago and it was so much easier than going irl, but i did have to go get the x-ray first in person so it was like 2 separate appointments. but it was fine. i don't need a referral either so i just went straight to an orthopedist's office. totally worth it.

Sorry to hear you’re going through that, N. I strained my lower back in the autumn lugging around bags of soil and mulch. For weeks it was a chore just sitting down, standing up, getting out of bed, etc. It was a good 8-10 weeks ago at least and I’m still dealing with it. The one thing that has really helped me was getting one of those cylindrical foam roller things and just rolling it out every morning and every time it stiffened up during the day. After about 3 weeks of that I’m probably back to 95% finally.

If you normally sleep on your stomach or side, the first easiest thing to try to is force yourself to sleep on your back for a few nights, and you can also put a pillow under your knees in this position.
Mayo Clinic link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/multimedia/sleeping-positions/sls-20076452?s=2

I had lower back pain a few years ago, immediately changed my sleeping habits after doing a little reading on the subject (I was a stomach sleeper and forced myself to be a back sleeper) and I swear I have not had any back pain since then. Your results may vary of course. I see so many people on social media tell friends, at the first sign of unexpected back pain to either 1) get drugs or 2) see a chiropractor, and I'm like noooooo try changing your sleeping habits first.

a teleheath visit is a good precaution

it sounds like maybe you strained some muscles while moving and/or lifting your dad ... it's not unusual for strained muscles to spasm later (especially after you've been working on a computer for a few hours) ... if it's a strain, it will probably return to normal with some rest and hydration ... give it time to heal before stressing it again with heavy lifting or forceful flexion/rotation

I'm so grateful this is not part of my life. Because the couple of times a year I go through it for a couple of days, like at the moment, I'm miserable.

A month ago, someone rear-ended me at an intersection (I was at a full stop on a red light). It wasn't all that bad--$450 damage to the car--and I was totally fine.

A couple of weeks later, though, my neck was really sore after some tennis. I've done some reading, and I think there's a decent chance I'm dealing with some delayed whiplash. I've seen my own doctor and another doctor at the hospital since then, and had one massage. I've got another one scheduled in a week or so. Meanwhile, using a heating pad at home, an ice-pack occasionally, and Tylenol. It's not going away--at times the stiffness/soreness makes me miserable, other times it's more or less okay. I have been playing tennis through it.

Is this going to subside? We handled the accident outside of insurance--the woman who hit me has paid me in full--and I'm not interested in launching any kind of legal action anyway; I'm very able to afford massage/physio and maybe chiropractor costs. I just want it to go away; I shudder to think I'm going to live the rest of my life with this as an issue.

maybe a physical therapy referral? a few weeks of treatment & an exercise schedule that you can use at home afterwards might help to correct whatever muscular issues are going on

Thanks. That's my next step, after the next massage; some physio. Online tells me that this kind of thing will go away with treatment and a few weeks, although the two complicating factors--arthritis (I've got a bit in my hip) and age (63)--apply to me.

a good physio will make all the difference imo

Until the past two weeks, whiplash just meant Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie to me.