Threw out my back

[Bradford]

As if being unemployed and waiting to hear if I've been accepted to graduate school wasn't enought, I completely threw my back out on Monday night.

I think I wrenched it on Sunday evening when I was coming in the door of the house and had to drop the papers I was carrying one direction and then lunge the other way to grab one of the the cats who was trying to escape. It started hurting pretty bad on Monday afternoon, but I still went out to help a friend put up some campaign signs that evening. About 7 signs into it, and with me pounding in about half of the rebar pieces with the stakepounder, it completely seized up and I couldn't bend over or move.

Made it home and lay down but was in a tremendous amount of pain that night. Couldn't rollover, couldn't stand, could barely walk once I got up.

Went to the doctor yesterday who took one look and said, "yep, you've got a nice 's' shape going here." Got a shot of a painkiller and am now on Vicodin, Flexoril (muscle relaxant) and Ibuprofen. I am icing my back and have been told I can't do anything strenuous, lift anything, reach for anything or bend over. I have to go back to the Doctor on Thursday or Friday for a follow-up. He's going to work more on it after I quit having spasms and I've been on the medicine for a few days.

I've had bits of lower back pain here and there over the past 20-years, but never anything that couldn't be resolved with a couple of Doan's and a small bit of rest. This was by far the most painful thing I've ever done to myself.

Anyone else have any experiences? Just curious.

 

[gamelan]

There are different types of back pain of course and each will respond differently to the various treatment options out there.

I've had a pinched nerve in my lumbar/sacral area since January. Without going into the gory details since I'm not an MD and I don't know your specific details, I can give you some general thoughts that at the very least won't make your problem worse.

Where is the pain? If it's in the middle low back, that sounds like the standard generic low back pain. But if it starts localizing to one side, you may have a pinched nerve. If the pain starts going down the leg, you can definitely suspect a pinched nerve. Go see your doctor, ASAP.

Make sure you're lying on a flat but comfortable bed. If your bed doesn't give you support in the natural curvature of your back, you can place a rolled up towel in that area. For myself I've been sleeping on a memory foam pad on top of a Thermarest sleeping pad on the floor for about the past month. I lie flat on my back and I have two pillows under my knees. If you can lie on your side without any pain, place a pillow between your knees.

Even though it hurts, try and stand at least once a day. The general thought behind back pain is that lying in bed is OK initially, but eventually, you should start doing light exercise to increase blood flow to the area. I walk around the house a lot (on disability right now). Otherwise I'm lying down since sitting hurts like a mofo.

If you do have to sit, sit straight up emphasizing the natural curvature of your back. No slouching. Same with standing. Shoulders back, chin down, ears in alignment with the shoulders. Otherwise, avoid sitting and driving especially.

When you go back to your doctor, ask him about stretching exercises that you can do. And once you get better, continue doing those exercises. They may very well prevent any recurrences of the back pain.

I hope this clears up in a few days. But if you need any other info, just let me know.

Oh yeah, if you're a reader, buy light books. You'll see what I mean.

-Jeff

 

[Kent Wang]

Well, you better go catch it then.

 

[Renault78law]

Happened to me once too. I was out jogging on day and coughed the wrong way, and bam, my back got all fucked up. Over the next day, the pain steadily got worse until I couldn't move. Couldn't get comfortable in any position. It was debilitating. I could not sit up, couldn't walk, couldn't do anything. I finally went to the ER, and no dose of pain medication alieviated it. The found traces of blood in my urine, but never got to the source of the problem. It just slowly got better by itself over time. Best of luck, Bradford, I feel your pain.

 

[Matt]

no wonder youre so irritable over in the dead dog thread Brad dont fret too much, its just proof that you are getting old...oh wait...uh...ill shut up now

 

[Bradford]

Originally Posted by m@T

no wonder youre so irritable over in the dead dog thread Brad

dont fret too much, its just proof that you are getting old...oh wait...uh...ill shut up now

Hey - I'm not old yet! Still have one year and three weeks before I hit 40

I really think I just twisted something the wrong way - but these painkillers really help. Hope I don't end up addicted like Rush Limbaugh or Brett Favre

 

[skalogre]

Urk. Sorry to hear that Brad. Make sure you get some rest.

 

[Tck13]

I don't think it's any coincidence that it happened with all of the things you posted which are going on in your life. Stress = **** happens. Can't do anything about it now but were you excercising at all? Maybe some excercise or hobby would help (after you're healed) to get some of the stress out of your system until things settle down again?

That is until you're 40. Then you're f^ck#d.

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by Tck13

I don't think it's any coincidence that it happened with all of the things you posted which are going on in your life. Stress = **** happens. Can't do anything about it now but were you excercising at all? Maybe some excercise or hobby would help (after you're healed) to get some of the stress out of your system until things settle down again?

That is until you're 40. Then you're f^ck#d.

Almost time for us to send you the crab shorts, leather sandals and calf-height white socks

 

[EL72]

Originally Posted by Bradford

... but these painkillers really help. Hope I don't end up addicted like Rush Limbaugh or Brett Favre

Beware! Those things are extremely addictive. I remember taking some after dental surgery and I loved the buzz they give you. I can see why addiction to painkillers is the most common form of narcotic dependence.

 

[Tck13]

Originally Posted by skalogre

Almost time for us to send you the crab shorts, leather sandals and calf-height white socks

I was just reading into that on this great website I found!!!

 

[Bradford]

Originally Posted by Tck13

I don't think it's any coincidence that it happened with all of the things you posted which are going on in your life. Stress = **** happens. Can't do anything about it now but were you excercising at all? Maybe some excercise or hobby would help (after you're healed) to get some of the stress out of your system until things settle down again?

That is until you're 40. Then you're f^ck#d.

Um - I actually lift 3-days a week and do cardio. Now that I'm not working, I was planning to go to a 5-day split this week before this happened.

But I completely agree about the stress being a contributing factor.

And yes, both my mother and my wife have warned me about the addictive properties of Vicodin. Definitely something to be careful with.

 

[j]

To paraphrase a guy in some movie: it's a shame when people be throwin' out a perfectly good back like that.

I've had this happen a heck of a lot of times, though not usually for more than a day or two. Wish I could give more advice than "alcohol is a good muscle relaxer"...

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[faustian bargain]

massage therapy might help, ask your doctor first though.

i threw my back out a couple years ago. i ended up going to the chiropractor, and it helped somewhat. i kept feeling like it was a racket though, like the 'treatments' would never end.

things that contributed to my back's demise: stress, weight gain, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, carrying kids around, and flat feet. not surprisingly, i only started having back pain after we started having kids:

1. kids are stressful
2. didn't have time for the gym
3. got out of shape and shifted to crappy eating habits
4. didn't get as much sleep as i used to, and not many uninterrupted nights
5. kids are heavy and strain the back a lot, especially if you carry them on your hip
6. already flat feet got even flatter, straining the support my legs gave to my back
7. not to mention, my bones, tendons, and ligaments ain't getting any younger.

so one day i leaned over to do something mundane like put some clothes in the hamper, and TING! holy **** i was down for the count.

i still have some minor back and leg pain, but hardly ever have to take a tylenol. plus i'm getting back into shape and not carrying kids around quite as much (they being of the ambulatory age and all). stress is lower.

here's to feeling younger...good luck. having bad back pain is ****** for morale, so take care of yourself any way you can.

/andrew

 

[johnapril]

I threw out my back because I was picking up my son, just an infant, incorrectly, much like when you're lifting boxes, even lightweight ones, the wrong way and overextend yourself. I took a week off work, went to a chiropractor for 2 weeks and took ibuprofen 1600 mg TID along with Axid to mitigate the GI effects of the pain reliever. I was back to normal in 2 weeks.