Low Back Pain - Anything worked for you?

dawnylou

My dad always has problems like this. Suffered with his back for years but at some times it will flare up so badly he can barely stand up!
Last week he was really bad so he went to docs who told him he would have to wait a week for an appointment so he struggled for another week just popping pills. When his week was up he went to docs and was promptly written a prescription for painkillers!
It maddens me that docs sometimes seem to think everything can be cured by popping some sort of pill!

vyvyan_2

frivolous_fay wrote: »

I find if I pull a muscle in my back, I have to be super careful at night not to aggravate it. Usually it's my left or right lower back. I quite often have to lie flat on my back... essentially, if I lie in bed and it hurts, I move until it doesn't, and try to sleep that way.

If I shift in the night and end up putting tension on the bad muscle, I *really* know about it in the morning. I take ibuprofen for the bad days... and eventually the cycle breaks.

The above mainly works for my relatively minor (or at least, shorter duration than yours) pain, but do see a specialist if there's really no sign of improvement.

This advice works for me too. Also, I often sleep with a pillow or a cushion to put under my knees if I'm on my back or between my knees when I'm on my side - seems to ease some of the pain. Basically, if you're still hurting find a comfortable position to suit you.

Lord_Lardington

Thanks again all. I'll get down to the GP and also try a TENS (sounds intriguing).

smileypigface

I've had lower back pain, on my left side, since I was 17 ...

The best, long-term solution I have found is my Chiropractor - an Osteopath helped me in the sort term about 12 years ago but then I tried a Chiropractor and haven't looked back.

My understanding is that the Osteopath looks at the problem area .. whereas the Chiropractor looks at the whole skeleton and looks to re-establish total balance ...

I have a bad spell about once every 2 years - and it's always the result of me doing something daft (heavy lifting etc).

My chiropractor looks for long term solutions not just constant treatment - he devised a course of rehab exercises for me to do, under supervision, 26 sessions over 13 weeks doing strengthening exercises to build up the muscles around my weak spot (I have a disk that slips out of place) - I did this about 2 and a half years ago and that bought me all this time with no problems - however I was too stupid to keep up the simple exercises and then slept in a tent for most of last year (as part of my job) so I wasn't entirely surprised when I started to get problems again this year - so I've just done the rehab sessions again and am making more of an effort to stick to the maintenance this time!!!

Oh, and cold packs on my problem area do better than heat .. because heat encourages blood flow to the inflamed area and 'feeds' the inflamation - cold constricts the blood vessels and therefore reduces the inflamation.

I definitely don't go for things that mask the pain .. tens machines and pain killers - as I prefer to address the problem rather than mask it.

Each to their own - I know other people who have done the same route as me and swear by it ... but also people for who the Chiropractor has not helped at all. It's just a case of finding what treatment suits you best as an individual.

Good luck in getting it sorted - you have my heartfelt sympathy!

Last thing ... I have a vibrating (battery powered) wedge-shaped cushion (got it from Boots) that I use in the car on long journeys and find it invaluable to stop me seizing up when driving! (My hibernating cushion as my small son named it!!!!!)

Savvy_Sue

dawnylou wrote: »

My dad always has problems like this. Suffered with his back for years but at some times it will flare up so badly he can barely stand up!
Last week he was really bad so he went to docs who told him he would have to wait a week for an appointment so he struggled for another week just popping pills. When his week was up he went to docs and was promptly written a prescription for painkillers!
It maddens me that docs sometimes seem to think everything can be cured by popping some sort of pill!

But in the doctor's defence, a large percentage of back pain problems will resolve themselves in a certain length of time, and an equal percentage of those that haven't will resolve themselves in another length of time, and the doctor doesn't know at the start which sort is which unless there's something obviously wrong on examination!

Plus in some cases easing the pain will help resolve it, because of course if we're in pain we hold ourselves awkwardly and pain starts flaring up in other places. And it may need stronger painkillers than you can buy OTC initially.

If the doctor COULD do something which would sort it out instantly, I'm sure they'd be happy to do it!

mjr600

If you see a GP try for diclofenac it is an anti-inflammatory and works very well, don't let him put you on paracetomol/codeine it's a cheap option and may make you feel ill. You need to control the pain before you can work on the problem, constant pain has side effects like irritability and depression.

Drinks lots of fluids, loose a bit of weight, sleep on your side or back, lay on your back with your legs crossed and a few cushions under your legs lifting them up it will make your spine curve away from the nerve and relieve the pain.

~daisy~_2

often lower back pain is symptomatic of a tight piriformis which is a muscle deep in the buttocks and the sciatic nerves runs through or very close to this

if this muscle therefore becomes tight and contractedthen you will experience lower back pain and any decent massage therapist could release this for you quite quickly

as a remedial massage therapist i would advise a stretching and strengthening rehab programme but to take some decent anti inflammatory initially also

Errata

In your shoes I would see my GP so they could rule out what wasn't causing my backache and then ask for a physio referral and if the wait was longer than I was prepared to accept ask my GP to suggest a good local private physio practice.
I have a couple of upper vertebrae and a disc that are degenerating due to age and giving me some discomfort. The problem was diagnosed by my GP supported by x-rays and I initially had private physio until my NHS physio appointments started, about 6 weeks. The private physio treatment was a good start and as well as exercises to do and manipulation, I was given lots of sensible advice on bed, sleeping position, chairs, sitting position, and the physio adjusted my car seat and steering wheel so I was in the optimum position for comfortable driving.

Aurans

Had a similar problem earlier this year, except the pain was in my right lumbar region. It turned out to be as a result of a sports shoulder injury that I'd sustained a couple of years previously. The NHS physiotherapy I'd had wasn't anywhere near enough to deal with it, so over time the muscles in my shoulders and back tried to compensate, and eventually it all led to really nasty lower back pain. I didn't hang around, went straight to a chiropractor and have had it sorted. Not the cheapest route but certainly more effective for me than physio.

If you can afford it I'd say head for the chiropractor, typical cost around £45 for the first session (an hour) followed by about £30-35 per 20-30 minute sessions thereafter.

fabwitch_2

Get it checked out by your GP, you can ask to be referred to the Pain Clinic for long term pain. I had the nerve endings burnt away in my left lumber region as I had been in pain for many years.This worked brilliantly for me.