Back injuries...

[scubadds]

I had similar issues earlier this year. While training for a marathon I went on a nice easy 18 mile run one day, a few days later I went back out and couldn't run 2 miles without knee pain. I had been having soreness deep in my butt area for months but thought it was from biking alot. Turns out all the problems were from a back issue.
Anyway, I went to a good Physical therapist that works within a orthopedic doctors office. No MRI or x-rays, he was able to diagnose based on the symptoms. He said, we are going to start with therapy first, once I realized it was a bulging disc in the L5 area, I now avoid stretches like touching my toes as that pushes the disc into the nerve area.
Point is, it wasn't that expensive. A few hundred bucks to start out and if I recall it was a hundred or so for follow up visits.

I would think as a small business owner you can't afford not to get it checked. If it gets alot worse it may cause you to start missing time at work...

[Mjolnir]

It "sounds" like an issue with your sacral joint. Do you sleep on your stomach by any chance?

[Magsz]

It "sounds" like an issue with your sacral joint. Do you sleep on your stomach by any chance?

Negatory!

There is some good news here. Ive taken it easy for a few weeks now and the pain in my lower back is gone unless i really twist and turn. At drills night the other night i reloaded from my rearmost pouch and twisted a bit more than normal and felt a twinge.

What really sucks about this whole situation is that the pain has migrated to the very center of my back on both sides of my spine. Im starting to think that being overweight for so many years and sitting in front of a computer has caused issues that are going to bite me in the ass for the rest of my life. :/

Im going to get the name of that doctor from Rob_S and see what he has to say.

Anyone have any suggestions for overall back health that i can do on my own such as proper way to sleep, stretches, exercises etc? I have fairly crappy posture and its something ive always wanted to correct. I slouch and my shoulders roll forward and a female friend of mine asked me if i had scoliosis (awesome). lol.

[Mjolnir]

Well, you should try to sleep on your back and/or side - never your stomach as when you turn your head it puts undue stress on your sacral joint as the spine twists with the head.

Sounds like you need to strengthen (and increase the flexibility) of your core.

A great book is Stretch to Win but it's not devoted to back issues.

[Magsz]

Well, you should try to sleep on your back and/or side - never your stomach as when you turn your head it puts undue stress on your sacral joint as the spine twists with the head.

Sounds like you need to strengthen (and increase the flexibility) of your core.

A great book is Stretch to Win but it's not devoted to back issues.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I have almost no core strength, its quite sad. Ive spent the past 10 months significantly increasing my strength with a large amount of lean muscle added to my back. My core however is lagging behind due to a bilaterial hernia surgery i had when i was 19 that has never quite healed right. I have alot of discomfort down there and working out that region tends to be painful.

I will check out that book, thank you very much for the suggestion!

[cbyrd556]

I think you hit the nail on the head. I have almost no core strength, its quite sad. Ive spent the past 10 months significantly increasing my strength with a large amount of lean muscle added to my back. My core however is lagging behind due to a bilaterial hernia surgery i had when i was 19 that has never quite healed right. I have alot of discomfort down there and working out that region tends to be painful.

I will check out that book, thank you very much for the suggestion!

Glad to hear you have gained some improvement. I swapped out my chair for a exercise ball at my desk and it has made a world of difference in regards to my back pain. And inadvertently I have lost some pounds and a pant size just from doing that and eating better. I haven't kicked up the exercise really at all.

[Tuukka]

I thought this might be a good place to link this;

http://www.niqama.com/index.php?85

It is a product made locally here and is in use by the Finnish Army, Finnish Air Force Hornet squadrons, Finnish Police, Finnish Borderguard ( also their boat crews )

[dookie1481]

Perhaps Son of Vlad Tepes can shed some more light on this (don't know your specialty) but my understanding is that in many, many cases imaging shows some sort of pathology even in people with no pain, or it shows pathology that is inconsistent with pain (e.g. left side bulge with pain on the right side).

Jay

[Derek_Connor]

Perhaps Son of Vlad Tepes can shed some more light on this (don't know your specialty) but my understanding is that in many, many cases imaging shows some sort of pathology even in people with no pain, or it shows pathology that is inconsistent with pain (e.g. left side bulge with pain on the right side).

Jay

Jay - that is the right path. Imaging studies only show evidence of disease/pathologies/trauma. I've heard multiple neurosurgeons say that they do not treat the MRIs, they treat the symptoms being presented.

Pathologies can mask each other, hell different types of scans (MRI vs CT) can show different pathologies that could have been missed.

And then you start discussing the psychosomatic component of back pain in general, and we can throw ourselves off the deep end in theory.

[DacoRoman]

Perhaps Son of Vlad Tepes can shed some more light on this (don't know your specialty) but my understanding is that in many, many cases imaging shows some sort of pathology even in people with no pain, or it shows pathology that is inconsistent with pain (e.g. left side bulge with pain on the right side).

Jay

Dookie, I'm sorry, I am only now seeing this. My specialty is Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with fellowships in Sports Medicine and Interventional Spine/Pain medicine. Up to 1/3 of the population may have bulging disks with no neural impingement or associated pain whatsoever. And yes, one never treats the films, it is all about the clinical findings. The imaging should merely confirm the diagnosis.