What's funny, the doctor says surgery can make things better in a few days.  One of the most interesting things I heard speaking with a Doctor friend of mine. 

"Regardless of all the technology for treating back pain, the success rates today are NO better than they were 10 years ago."

My take:  The doctors really don't know what causes the pain, but as long as they have MRI's that they can point to to say there's a physical "problem" – they can justify the surgery.  That's just my opinion but be sure to ask your doctor who's suggesting surgery for his success rates LONG term.

Regardless, this is a pretty good video to give you an overview of many of the mainstream theories on back pain.

Give it a watch:

Did you learn anything useful in helping your pain?  Or lots of jargon and terms to just frighten you more? 

Let me know.

Dan

Now here's where me and the doctor may differ in opinion.  I totally agree that the hip flexibility will cause a forward tipped pelvis.  But are we sure that's the cause of pain?  Perhaps it is.  For me, I know that I have this forward tipped pelvis going on.  I also have tight hamstrings and poor overall flexibility. 

Is that the cause of my back pain?  Sometimes I hurt, other times I don't.  My flexibility levels haven't changed a bit.  For me, my pain fluctuates in direct proportion to stress and anger. 

Watch the videos and decide for yourself.  The first one talks about various muscle imbalances.  The second video actually shows some stretches you can work on.  Give the stretches a try and let me know if they worked for you.

Talk to you soon…

Dan

Once again, I'm not sure how these will help the cause of pain, but in the end, if Yoga allows you to be stronger and more flexible, that's a good thing.

Here's a series of videos I found for you:

Let me know what you think.  Comment here.

Dan

In my own experience, I have a crooked spine caused by some muscle imbalances.  Which means I tilt to the left.  In and of itself, it shouldn't be painful.  Kind of like a guy who has short hamstrings because he never stretches them out.  They don't hurt, he just can't bend far.  So why would different flexibility in the right and left side of back muscles HURT?

Ok, back to the physical therapist.  After 6 weeks of "therapy", elbows digging into my back, working on the deep tissues, I was worse than I had ever been.  I went into physical therapy with a slight tilt and low to moderate pain levels.  By the end of my 6 weeks of treatment, I was truly in chronic pain.  I couldn't sit, I couldn't get up, I couldn't get in or out of a car without that "grabbing" pain.  The pain was always present in my mind.  I missed out on fun parts of my vacation because I couldn't even get into a taxi.  Yikes.

So what happened?  In my opinion, a minor problem was turned into a MAJOR problem by a negative thought pattern.  This feeling that I'm broken creates a downward spiral that – in my humble opinion – leads to chronic pain.  That's why someone with a very minor problem one day can be considered "chronic" months later.  All with no trauma.  The pervasive fear from being told by the "expert" doctors that they are broken and shouldn't do "this" or "that" leads to a continuation and worsening of pain. 

Fear prevails every waking moment.  Have you felt that your pain is a constant but unwelcomed companion?  That it's hard to think of anything else EXCEPT the pain?

In my experience, my physical therapist did nothing but feed that fear.  For an hour a day three times a week, I heard how "whacked out" my back was.  The day I fired my physical therapist and started convincing myself that I wasn't broken was the day that I started to feel better.

Tell me your experience with physical therapy?  Did it work?  How long did you go?  How much did you spend?     Tell me here.

Talk soon.

Dan

Watch the movie to see what I mean:

 Personally I've been to two different chiropractors.  I could barely get in the car after visiting one.  The other provided some temporary relief, but never seemed to FIX anything.  And with my brother seeing a chiropractor for the past 20 years, and still encountering back pain – the only thing that appears to have gotten better is the chiropractors wallet.

What's your experience with Chiropractic care? Tell me your story here.

Talk soon.

Dan

Tell me YOUR back surgery story.   Why did you have it?  How did it go? 

Tell me your story here.

Talk soon.

Dan

10 Tips for Preventing Back Pain:

1. Sleep comfortably on your side with your knees bent or on your back with pillows to elevate legs.
2. Select a medium firm mattress.
3. If you're getting lucky, let your partner be the more active participant.  Lay on your back or side until you feel better. 
4. Select a comfortable desk chair.
5. Proper posture at your desk.  Sit up straight with your shoulders aligned and look straight to your computer monitor
6. Get up every 30 minutes and walk around.
7. While you are up, also do some basic stretches.  Arch your back with your hands on your hips.  Or reach for the ceiling and feel your back arch and your hip flexors stretch out.
8. Choose shoes with good heel and arch support.
9. Practice Safe Lifting.  Bend at your knees and keep your body aligned.  (feet, legs, shoulders)
10. Exercise and stretch your overworked or tight muscles.

My thoughts:

I'm not convinced any of this is breaking new ground.  Sleep comfortably, get a good bed and chair.  Wear supportive shoes.  Stay active and don't sit idle for too long.  No medical breakthroughs here, but common sense that should help you feel better. 

For office workers, I'm a BIG fan of the get up and move around.  it's good for your circlulation, it helps keep you mobile and prevents your muscles from tightening up too much.  And my aiding your circulation, you will be able to focus better when you return back to work.

Your thoughts?

Leave me a comment here.

Talk soon…

Dan

 The doctor suggests two different ways to "treat' your back pain. 

1. Mindful breathing.  In this approach, we are to focus on our breating. Breath in slowly, hold, then exhale.  By doing this for a full three minutes, it will take your mind off of your pain. 
2. Ice and Heat – The doctor suggests using a combination of ice and heat to deal with an injury. 

My thoughts:

1. I like the breathing idea a lot.  Regardless of how you came to have back pain, what you focus on expands.  Meaning – if you focus on your pain, it will tend to get worse.  If you can force yourself to focus on breathing or other things besides your pain, your tolerance and even the amount of pain you feel will diminish. 
2. As for the ice and heat – I have mixed feelings.  If you have pain due to some trauma or acute injury – ice and heat can be effective in reducing your symptoms.  However, if you are dealing with chronic pain (more than a few weeks, months, years or longer) it is very unlikely that you have an injury.   Our body has an incredible ability to heal.  Even the largest bone in our body the femur can heal within 6 weeks – and pain only lasts for the first week or two.  How is it then that an "injury" from 2 years ago is still causing pain?  Maybe there are other things at work here. 

To wrap it up, I'm not sure either of these methods will actually help you get to the real cause of the pain.  But since neither of these suggestions are invasive in any way, give it a whirl and let me know if it helps you.  For me, the breathing can help.  Ice and heat have provide limited results.  But that's just my 2 cents.

Tell me what works for you.  Leave a comment here.

Talk soon…

Dan

A few of the points the doctor made were:

• Your pain is because you sit in a chair and not cross legged on the floor. 
• He then states that the natural aging of our spines is the other reason.
• Next he says that the pain comes from poor posture caused by ignoring balance signals from our brain.

My thoughts:

• The chair isn't the problem.  It's the amount of time we spend in our sedentary lifestyles.  You can remedy this by getting up and stretching a bit every 30-45 minutes.  Walk around a bit.  Stretch to the ceiling, get a good arch in your back.  Your hip muscles do shorten.  Doing the overhead stretch to the ceiling will help lengthen these muscles.  You'll feel it. 
• There are proven studies where imaging studies were done on a group of people WITHOUT back pain.  Half of this pain free group had degenerative issues shown, yet they had no pain.  If aging was really the problem, everyone would hurt.  I know plenty of really old people who don't have back pain.  I'm not sure this claim holds "water".

So what do YOU think about this video?  Does it make sense to you?  Or do you disagree.  Leave a comment here.

Talk to you soon.

Dan Buglio
Fellow Back Pain Sufferer