I'm very sorry to read that. I've had 14 surgeries in the last 5-1/2 years. Without being loaded up on meds, I don't think I could have taken the pain of half of them.
Dick
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15 years ago
I strained my back - OUCH
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15 years ago
On July 4, this year, I flipped a 496# atv over backwards on me as we both went barrel rolling down a steep hill. It folded me over, and the hard case on the back of the atv saved me from being killed or paralyzed.
I had a 1 cm crush fracture to the L1. That's like putting a beer can on end, and stomping it half an inch shorter. Two weeks later, I could bend at the waist and pick up my car keys from the doctor's office floor when he asked me how I was doing. I asked my chiropractor right after the accident about coming in and that spinal decompression thing. He said come on down. I don't do anything without checking first with my treating MD, and he said don't let the chiropractor touch me for six months. He said as long as I was doing so well, he would suggest NOT going to the chiropractor. We decided not to have the cement balloon thing, as there were more risks than benefits, as I was progressing so well.
I've had no chiropractic, and no physical therapy. I get around good, and except for the pain, not a lot of symptoms. Chiropractors are not the answer to everything, and I can see why MDs talk about them as quacks. Some of them are. And everyone does recover at a different rate, some of it physical, some mental, and some of it is dumb luck.
Steve
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15 years ago
Most of the anti drug crusaders haven't experienced the 12 level of pain on a scale of 1 to 10.
Ask anyone in the kidney stone club. Or someone who has had a major major injury or surgery.
I take about 400 doses of meds per month, about 100 of those are pain meds. Some days I take none, and some days, I take four or five.
I'm not going to suffer when there is relief. I don't take them to alter my mood or get goofy.
Steve
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15 years ago
Any Smart Chiropractor will tell you up front he might make it worse, dont do this.
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15 years ago
Damage often cant be seen by xray, mine couldnt even by the best, and the chiropractor told my he might make it worse and he did.
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15 years ago
Ive had back problems all my life at points so serious I could not move for 7-10 days, dont go see a chiropractor first. Every injury is different, so there is no one right thing but if you can get on with everyday stuff that is best, sitting can make it worse. Muscles are the only thing protecting your lower spine and neck, that is why it got injured. Muscle relaxents can help if used early, pain meds can allow you to use it and hurt it more. If you can walk, go out and walk swimming helps many. Remember things heal, it may take years, or only weeks if its a muscle. You are not bedridden hating the pain of just getting up, so just dont do anything that hurts, but sitting all day can make it worse. Get a pros advise but dont rush anything. My back could go out so moving at all was near impossible, but the injury was such that rowing across the lake made it all better. But without knowing your issue it could most likely put you in the hospital as could a chiropractor, xrays cant see muscle damage or all injuries, other scans can. Go for a swim it usualy helps
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15 years ago
And either one is capable of "curing" a back strain in 6-8 weeks, which coincides with the normal time for tissue to heal :o)
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15 years ago
Good reason for having a family physician who doesn't proceed without a fairly certain diagnosis. I've known all kinds of chiro's, and there are some real loonies.........worked on an insurance issue for six year old girl treated for over a year by chiro for a bladder infection. He was doing spinal adjustments. The mother was a regular, too, and they both went for chiro adjustments three times a week, costing thousands (20 years ago). The mom wrote a multi-page letter of appeal to the insurance company, and it was like a textbook description of clinical depression.
Of course, every specialty is capable of having loonie practitioners and some who make pretty bad mistakaes. I took my son to the MD for hives once......doc said he was allergic to pseudoephedrine and prescribed something for the hives. Took the script to the drug store and I was fairly sure the new med. had pseudoephedrine, so I asked the pharmacist. It did. Didn't fill it. Didn't go back tothat MD.
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15 years ago
Good advice for a chronic problem that is being treated. When the problem is acute and from overuse, then rest is best. If pain doesn't improve significantly in
2-3 days, I'd see an MD for sure. Also, if pain radiates one should see MD ASAP.- Vote on answer
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15 years ago
Back problems not not unusual. Usually it will heal slowly, maybe a month. You can use moist heating pads to help reduce the muscle tension. Do back exercises, but stop when it hurts. You range of motion will get better with each day of stretching. Doctors will only take your money. Good Luck.
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15 years ago
I've had back problems literally all my life but nothing compared to your agony. Good luck with that dude.
Chiropractors seem to be getting better and more doctors are accepting the benefits of manipulation. My HMO in NM used to cover chiropractor visits in their clinics. But you had to have a MD's referral/
Your accident is a good example of the need to get good x-rays examined by a competent Osteopath before letting a Chiropractor do his thing. IMHO
Olddog
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15 years ago
Health 101:
The back is a strong machine when it comes to carrying weight - a stack of bone that is braced by (hopefully) strong muscle, front (abdomen) and back. It works best for carrying weight when it is straight, which is why the stoop-and-lift technique is recommended. When force is applied to the muscles (cough, sneeze, lift) with the back flexed or twisted, then the force is transferred to the muscle. Ouch! This is where the leverage can pop a disc. If abdominal muscles are supporting 30# of fat (sorry, we all get a little too much out there at some time), then there is less support for the back and the lumbar muscles carry that much more of the load. By middle age, something like 40-50% of adults have "protruding" discs, although many don't know it. It is not pathological, in and of itself....normal part of change that comes with age. Improper activity at that age increases chance of further protrusion or rupture of the sac around the disc. There is a lot less surgery done for this than in the past because it can often heal as well without surgery, and often was not improved at all with surgery. But, sometimes surgery is absolutely necessary.
Busting sod and digging is rough work, esp. with implement that requires bending. I've gotten bad signals (a little pain down my leg) while digging long ago. Never lasted, thank heaven. The worst back pain I've had was when my daughter was about 2....sitting on the bed dressing her. When we were done, I lifted her and twisted while sitting to take her off the bed. Bang! I couldn't move and my back hurt intensely. Took about 10 minutes before I could stand, all the while thinking I might have to send a small child next door to get help.
Sometimes position is the problem, with not a lot of weight being involved. Even just a minimal strain, repeated often enough, can cause pretty severe pain........strain leads to swelling, which can cause other problems. have managed lots of back and repetitive motion problems in nursing. The best treatments, over all, are ice (heat later), rest, physical therapy, anti-inflammatory meds, and getting back in shape. A lot of industries in Japan have, for a long time, had warm-up exercises at the beginning of the work shift, just as athletes warm up before events. American companies have been slow to adopt good ergonomic function in the workplace, but many have......
Miami sounds like the pain is pretty severe.......from the posts he has made, it sounds like he does a lot of work. Call the doc when in doubt. Call the doc for sure if there is pain or numbness below the injury, or if the pain seems to be internal. I would not do stretching or bending or any other activity while it is very painful. Stretching is much better as a warm-up to activity and should be gradual, never extreme.
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15 years ago
I've known MD's who did chiropractic adjustments, and a few others who often referred to certain chiropractors. Chiro seems to have changed a lot over the years, with a lot fewer who treat everything under the sun according to the original philosophy.
Best docs I have known for treating/managing chronic pain (backs, amputees, etc.) were physiatrists.
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15 years ago
stretch
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15 years ago
for my lower back,i do slow touch my toes from a standing up straight position. helps me alot, but every injury is different i guess.
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15 years ago
That's why you should see a DO instead. (Doctor of osteopathy)
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15 years ago
They are just legal quacks.
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15 years ago
I agree..some are. I've been to a few. The last one I went to didn't want to treat me unless I started treating my condition seriously. He wasn't interested in doing a few manipulations. He took serious x-rays and gave me a long term treatment plan. He was pretty straight forward. I couldn't afford it but I have no doubt he would of helped me.
I been to some that just wanted to pop my back and neck. Took horrible xray that could of been anybody for all I knew.
But I think the same is true in almost any profession. Funny how almost all doctors think their specialty is the one you need.
Olddog
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15 years ago
LOL. If I could touch my toes I wouldn't have back problems. ;-)
Olddog
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15 years ago
"Norminn" wrote Olddog wrote
Agreed on both. There are quacks and half-trained ones out there still, but there is also a growing base of true professionals.
Grin, mines a military Doc who 2 days a week is assigned to chiro. Got his chiro license then went MD an is now in school upgrading 3 days a week with classes to add some sort of osteopath specialty. I gather there are several and not sure which one. Works every other weekend at the acute care facility. Something about 6 year commitment after the schooling is done or he has to pay it all back.
Really? Thats a new one on me! Then again, chronic depression is not uncommon for people with chronic pain, so it's not that far off the ballpark.