Lower back issues

[Wahine]

I would also encourage you to look into someone who does the McKenzie approach.

McKenzie doesn't work for everyone, but it does sound like it would be a good one for you.

Ultimately, everyone moves differently and we all have movement/muscle imbalances because of our habits. But treating them comes down to figuring out what movements ease your signs and symptoms and what movements make them worse and working with those to increase strength and function. Honestly, I never want my patients to be in more pain after their treatments, tired and fatigued sure, but not more pain. If the exercises are aggravating your back pain, you will move incorrectly to try to protect your back or compensate and that won't help you recover. So even if your PT is on the right track, it would be highly recommended that they find exercises for you that achieve the goals in terms of strengthening and regaining motion, without causing you pain.

[nscrbug]

I can sympathize with anyone suffering with lower back pain. I have spondylolisthesis of my L5/S1 (grade 2). There isn't a day that goes by in the last, oh say...15-20 years, that I haven't experienced low back pain to some degree. I wake up each and every morning with a very stiff, tight lower back. I do stretches while still in my bed (knee to chest, hamstring, child's pose) just so that I can stand up straight. Then I head straight to my inversion table and hang for 6-8 minutes to decompress my spine, before finally making my way downstairs (stairs are very tough on me first thing in the morning) to start my day. After my gym workouts, I literally spend about 30-40 minutes just on stretching alone...otherwise, my back and hamstrings will get all tight and spastic for the rest of the day. During longer rides, I have to take frequent rest breaks to get off the bike and stretch my back and legs. It sucks to live with back pain everyday.

Linda

[tulip]

I just wanted to chime in and say that I have (had) very similar conditions to what you describe. There were times 6-7 years ago at its worst that I could not sit down, hobbled down the street, and nearly cried in bed because I was so uncomfortable. In fact, the only time I was pain-free was when I was on my bike.

I was going through a very stressful time in my life during that period. My work also had horrible office furniture, to the point that I threatened a workers' comp claim, and lo and behold, everyone in the office got ergo chairs and computer trays.

The thing that really helped me, however, was going to a chiropractor (who is also a PT) and beginning classical Pilates at a reputable and serious studio. The chiro work addressed immediate problems and my Pilates instructor provided me with modifications to accommodate my back issues while I gained strength. This was extremely important; I would never go to a "pilates"-type class at a regular gym. Only classical Pilates studios have properly and extensively trained staff in my experience.

The combination of directly addressing the stressors in my life and making huge changes accordingly (in my case), working with my chiro/PT, and dedicating myself to strengthening my entire core and body (not just "back muscles") has gotten back to pain-free, strong, and flexible. I'm in my mid-40s now and feel much younger than I did 7 or 8 years ago.

I no longer go to the chiro/PT, but i have continued with Pilates. If I stop doing Pilates for a time, I will experience twinges of pain after a while. That is my reminder that i need to refocus on my core strength. I am careful in the garden, and I always need to make sure that I sit properly at work and get up and move every 30 minutes (I use a timer).

I am now investigating the Alexander technique so that I can continue improving my posture. I will continue with Pilates; it has helped significantly in so many ways.

Best wishes to you. I would encourage you to seek out treatment (McKenzie is recommended by others with more knowledge than me) as opposed to doing things on your own. My PT is the one who recommended Pilates to me.

[OakLeaf]

I've talked a good bit about my latest in the running thread, but wanted to add it in here ...

I fell hard, square on my side, in March, and sent my whole spine sideways. I've had little to no pain, but a lot of radiating numbness and some slight weakness from discs in my neck, middle and low back - side of my face and neck, portions of my arm and fingers, ribcage area, buttock, down into my leg.

Moving and having to find a new chiropractor delayed everything, but I'm back now working with the same PT I worked with last year, and I've had huge improvements since we started really targeting the upper back/thoracic area. Turns out three hard falls on my right shoulder (40 years since the first one!) created a whole lot of muscle imbalances there, and it's actually the thoracic area - the one place I wasn't having any symptoms - that's pulling the upper and lower spine out and squeezing the discs sideways. Just in the last week and a half or so, we've made huge progress on the arm and leg numbness, by adding in rotator cuff, rear delt and serratus work, plus doing upper spine mobilization on the foam roller.

Something to think about anyway.

[BodhiTree]

I am now investigating the Alexander technique so that I can continue improving my posture. I will continue with Pilates; it has helped significantly in so many ways.

I've found the Alexander technique to be very helpful for posture.

[Roxosette]

my buddy slipped a disc and really messed his back up at BJJ. Negligence on his part but he hasn't been back since. I'll have to find out how he's doing, haven't heard from him recently.

[Melalvai]

Glad to find this thread. I tweaked my back again this week. I got up Tuesday morning, had had trouble finding comfortable sleeping position. I got on my bike and I was astonished at how hard it was to pedal. It hurt. Damn it, I'd gone & tweaked my back again.

It's improved a lot in a short time, but I'm terrified of re-injuring it because I did a number on myself a couple years ago. That time, I shoveled snow. It was just getting better when I reinjured it. (Too much standing too soon.) It was just getting better again when I reinjured it. (Too much walking too soon.) It was so bad the 3rd time that I couldn't get out of bed without help. And it took a long time to get better. Since then, I've been focusing on core strength. Over the winter I went to the gym once or even twice a day. Since my bicycle tour (40 Missouri State Parks -- 6 weeks- with my dad!) this spring, I've been going to the gym less often, once daily but not twice. The classes are body conditioning which includes core at the end, but all of them also do balance. I can tell my core strength has improved dramatically and I can tell it's still my weak area. I took it so carefully at first, modifying everything --legs not held as low, or hands under my lower back, that sort of thing. I'm able to modify less now, though I still modify sometimes.

I hadn't made a connection from my back to bicycling. I thought it was just because I'm too enthusiastic about things. This time, what tweaked it was putting some tiles in. We had water in our basement and we have these tiles that aren't glued down. They fit together like puzzle pieces. So when water comes in, you can pull up the tiles, let it all dry, and put them back. But the one in the middle fits really tight and is hard to get in. I pushed it so hard-- it didn't feel at the time like I was doing anything dangerous. I'm pretty sure though, that that is what did it.

Today I was talking to a friend about it. He said he'd gone to a PT and was amazed at how the guy could tell he was a cyclist and that he drank a lot of water, and a bunch of other stuff, by the way it was tight over here and the way things felt there. Bingo! I suddenly made the connection to my back.

My hamstrings have been very tight this summer. They probably always are but they've been noticeably tight since my bike trip. So tight that people can feel it (if I let them put their hands there.) I'm absolutely certain that is the underlying cause of my back problems, is tight muscles etc. The hamstrings yes but probably other bits as well.

While I'm waiting for my back to heal, I'll research the things that have been mentioned in this thread:
Foundation Training
McKenzie therapists
Pilates
Alexander technique
Hab-it

I will start doing these, either in addition to or instead of some of my other gym workouts!