Tweaked back advice?

[William]

I've always wanted a grape vine in the front of my house..

So I bought one. But where I was going to plant it, I had placed some large rocks, about 12" round, and grass and some weeds had started growing in between. So after a day of lifting those to place a weed block under them, I was pretty sore. So yesterday I stop by the garden center on the way home, and buy two bags of small rocks to fill in the are between the larger rocks. I had two 40 lbs bags on my shoulder which should have been fine until the lady behind me asked if they were heavy. Sure enough when I turned around to say "why no, they aren't that bad"..

@$*@#*$@@#$*@#$*#&$%&#$)^.


So last night I'm walking like a question mark, and on 1000mg of motrin. Now, I could go to the doctor today, but if I miss 4 hours or more of class, I'm disenrolled, and I'm in week 4 of a 4 week class... that I get out of on thursday. I've taken motrin this morning and soaked it in a warm bath.. but man don't I feel like someone has kicked me with steel toes..

Anyone have any advice?

[RobOBX]

yeah, grow a pair!!!!

maybe this will make you feel a little better...

A little more than 5 years ago I went to NC correction officer basic training, also 4 weeks. At the time my wife was 7.5 months pregnant So I get to Monday night of the last week and my lung collapses (4th time in 3 years) So I go to the hospital and tell them my lung collapsed and I need a chest tube. They say they have to do x-rays and blah, blah, blah. But then I told them I need to leave first thing in the morning and take the water chamber with me to class. (It normally takes 3-5 days to get the air out of the chest cavity) they laugh at me and say I can't do that, gotta stay until it's done. I explained that I'm in the last week of school and if I miss now, I'll have to take the first three weeks all over again I won't do that, my wife is very pregnant.
So long story short(too late) they talked me into staying overnight. I left at 6:30 the next morning to go to class. I finished the last four days of classes INCLUDING unarmed self defense and long baton training with a 45% deflated lung.


SO suck it up buddy get one of those microwave heat pack for it

[Allen]

Whenever I hurt and that's just not possible.....

I double or triple the dosage.

Not that that's my advice.....

I don't need a medical malpractice suit at this point in my life.....

But that's what I do.....

Take pills every 1/2 hour to hour until the pain is gone. This happens maybe once or twice a year give or take.....

I'm not a junkie or anything, but I occasionally suffer crippeling migraines. I have prescriptions and such, but sometimes they're at home and I'm at work, or running around town, or at a relatives, and so on.

I'd honestly rather overmedicate on occasion than deal with the pain. But only with things like asprin, Tylenol, Motrin.....nothing perscription. My migraine medicine in usually effective, but not always.....and only if I catch it early enough.

Lopping my head off sometimes seems to be the only way to get relief. I haven't resorted to that just yet.....but I have been tempted. That's serious pain.....wishing for death from a headache.

Although do see the doctor. Turns out one of my migraines was actually a stroke. Not good at age 29. But that all seems to be behind me.....hopefully.

*EDIT*.....This advice is just to get you through today so you don't miss class.....this is not how I'm recommending how you deal with backpain, short term or long.

Allen

[Hellbender]

I have some herniated discs and have lived with it for 20+ years.

First, don't drive your Jeep right now.

Next, you have to get healed up enough to function, stretch it gently several times a day, and when you sleep, lay on your side in a comfortable fetal position w/ a pillow between your knees, or if on your back, keep your knees up (big double rolled up pillow or something)

Several things to keep it better after healing, most important first (IMO)

Get your tailpipe fixed on your Jeep, this will keep you and your family alive long enough for you to get better.

Never sleep flat on your back with legs extended flat, bend at least one knee up on a large pillow (I stick 2 pillows in 1 pillow case)

Mild stretching and exercise 3+ times a week (I stretch, then walk briskly for 45 min,)

Some recco a GOOD multi-vitamin.

HTH, it keeps me mobile.

HB

[bitman]

I wouldn't double-up on the Motrin. At all.

Max prescription dose is 2400 mg a day, taken 800 mg three times a day. Any more than that, and you are seriously risking ulcers. Not good.

I HAVE taken max doses of Motrin AND tylenol at the same time, though. (Motrin adversely effects stomach, tylenol in large doses effects liver).

HTH

Dave

[Darrell C]

William,

Where specifically is your back pain? Lumbar region? Upper back?

Does it radiate anywhere (travel down your leg, maybe)??

What makes it feel better??

Does lying on the floor, on your back, with your legs elevated over a chair help?

Do you have any numbness in your toes, feet, etc.??


I'm trying to get a better idea as to what might be wrong.

Also, the advice about not increasing the dose of Motrin (Ibuprofen) above 800mg TID (three time a day) is correct. Heed it or complications could develop.

Let me know...

Darrell

[Jeff Weston]

William,

I'd take this very seriously if I were you. As a matter of fact, I was you. On January 19th this year (the date is now permanently stuck in my mind) I blew out my back pulling weeds on the slope in my backyard. Within hours the pain was so intense I could hardly breathe. After suffering on painkillers, muscle relaxers and cortosteroids (sp?) for a few weeks I got an MRI which revealed two "obliterated" discs. To make a long story short, I was home for 3 months. Fortunately, I was able to work part time from home during that time.

Anyway, I had 6 weeks of physical therapy which is what finally got me back into shape. The first step is to stop the irritation. Find a position which relieves you of pain. Like HB said, try lying on your back with pillows under your knees. I used to lay on the floor and put my legs on the couch. Also, try laying on your stomach and push up on your elbows (this is kind of a manual traction). Above all else, take it easy. Don't try to stretch your way out of it. If you're feeling more pain then you're doing more harm than good.

One thing that I learned in PT is that you are most vulnerable early in the morning (your discs swell while you sleep). Set everything you need in the morning on top of the counter the night before so that you don't have to bend over. Also, avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time (get up and walk around every 20 min. or so) and don't sit in bucket seats. Try to keep your hips level or above your knees if possible. I have a special seat wedge (geriatric pillow ) that I sit on while I drive which is a godsend.

Good luck and stop working in the garden 'til it blows over.

[Dan-H]

I'll echo the advice on the Motrin over dosage.

what you can do is inter mix tylenol with the Ibu.

I would do 4 times a day, 600 Mg Ibuprofin, and 4 times a day tylenol, but at a 3 hour offset.

take the Ibu with milk or food. a slice of bread and a glass of milk works well for me.

try not to sit for long periods of time. ask the instructor if you can stand in the back for 1/2 hour periods.

swim.

as far as avoiding it in the future, California has alot of "cheap labor" that works for cash?? Comprendo?

[Paradiddle]

William - as another sufferer of a degenerative disk I learned that ice is my friend.

Depending on your injury iceing it for no more then 20 minutes at a time can make a difference. I know it helped me. You can also alternate ice and heat, but again, this all depends on what exactly is wrong with you.

Learn to lift right - with your legs - all the time.

Back pain sucks to live with - hopefully you pulled a muscle or something that will heal up.

Jeff

[speaceman]

Horrible back pain aside, I find it absolutely hilarious that you are actually planting a grape vine when I have been trying everything in my power to get rid of the ones that were planted in my back yard by the people who lived at the house before me.

I hope you really really really like grape vines, because once they are in, they are they to stay. Trust me.

I hope your back gets better. I have back problems once a year or so, but never as bad as what you have described. Definitely follow the sleeping advice. Fetal position always helps to reset things for me. Lying flat on my back only makes things worse.

The ibu/tylenol mix works fairly well too, just take care not to go so overboard you risk damaging you liver and such.

[Dan-H]

not sure if you are a drinker, but tylenol and alcohol are bad for the liver...

[William]

Originally posted by speaceman
Horrible back pain aside, I find it absolutely hilarious that you are actually planting a grape vine when I have been trying everything in my power to get rid of the ones that were planted in my back yard by the people who lived at the house before me.

I hope you really really really like grape vines, because once they are in, they are they to stay. Trust me.

Laughing hurts. Actually I planted just one (feed me Seymore). And I should be able to contain it here with the DG soil.

Speaking of houses, the house on the corner is up for sale. 120 k more than we paid two years ago. That's ridiculous?!?!?. And I don't get to see a dime of that money. But now we are getting more serious about buying a warehouse to convert if we can get that much cash out of this place.

And I've got yard work to do, a Jeep to work on, and bike that I just got finished and I can't ride it. In fact, the inagural ride was supposed to be monday, but I wanted to spruce up the front so it'd be closer to done. It's all on hold. I didn't even water the lawn tonight.

I took motrin, and I'm doing the ice/heat thing. More over, I'm laying still alot.

I think it's a muscle pull because it's on one side of the spine, a few fingers away. Motrin seems to dull it considerably, (since it set in) and as of tonight, moving around doesn't feel as bad as last night. I'm just tired from being up all night last night, and up late the night before (working on the yard).

I'm hoping it's a muscle pull. I fell down an weapons elevator a long time ago, and that was pretty bad for my back. I'm just about off to sea time, and this would disqaulify me. I'm going to go to the doc on friday, as class ends Thursday.

Dan, thanks for the advice, but I'll not be hiring any cheap-waiting-at-Home-Depot labor folks... I'd end up paying for thier backs out of conscience.

Hey Jeff (W), where did you get the old man pillow?

William:
This may seem a little antidotal but my MD laid this on me today. Try thinking before you do it. Ya you bet.
Garry

[Jerry Bransford]

The best thing you can do, aside from following the good pain killer advice, is to be flat on your back the time you don't have to be in class. Your back needs to time to recuperate and trying to 'tough it out' is only going to make the healing process take longer. My own back problems give me some empathy for you William, it's too bad you can't miss those classes because I know the kind of pain you're probably experiencing.

[Jeff Weston]

Originally posted by ghall
William:
This may seem a little antidotal but my MD laid this on me today. Try thinking before you do it. Ya you bet.
Garry

My physical therapist gave it to me. I also have an adjustable lumbar pillow that my dad got for me from a store called Relax The Back.

Here's a LINK for seat cushions.

Here's a LINK for lumbar supports (I have the self-inflating rectangular).

Both these products help immensely when it is necessary to sit long periods of time.

Hopefully, you're back pain will stay isolated to the back. I had a terrible case of Sciatica and felt it all the way down to the tip of my toe (that's bad). Part of my recovery was to bring the pain back up into my back and deal with it from there. In hindsight, all the warning signs were there before I finally did it in but I didn't heed them.

Take care of yourself and you'll probably be fine. My thoughts are with you, back pain sufferers are a miserable fraternity.

[Paradiddle]

Originally posted by ghall
William:
This may seem a little antidotal but my MD laid this on me today. Try thinking before you do it. Ya you bet.
Garry

Classic. Are you going to follow your doctors advice Mr. Hall????

Originally posted by Paradiddle
Classic. Are you going to follow your doctors advice Mr. Hall????

Aahh no. One of the best lines ever was by a tack announcer at Indian Dunes MX track - - I don't know how old he is but he is defiantly terminally adolescent. I will hang on to that with no regrets until they finally say WTF was he thinking.
Garry

[Hellbender]

Garry,
My dad had a movie of me from a MX back in 1976, it looked halarious (reminds me of your doc's saying)........

There was one of those big jumps with a straight vertical dropoff about 15 ft tall and it was totally blind, had only one good line, & you could see nothing of your landing area.

The lead guy crashed at the bottom, the next landed square on top of him, I was 3rd, etc., etc., there was 10 or 12 bikes in a tangle, anyway, it looked like a bunch of lemmings going over the cliffs into the sea. My Dad made a comment (on the movie) something like your doc's comment.

HB

[TJRON]

" I don't know how old he is but he's definitely terminally adolescent. "

That's a good one.