Back Pain

Poor U Ams i also get Lower Back Pain due 2 getting in2 my car 2 fast 14yr ago :( Hurts like Hell i know :( Im waiting 2 hear From Hospital myself 2 be asseced 4 Lower Back Treatment !Been 2Months so Far ,All iv been told is to take some Pain Killers that the Dr perscribed me " Nothing More"

Mmmmm Ams I really do sympathise - this is definitely not pleasant and I speak from experience, as I had two operations on my back over 30 years ago in my early 20s - one for a slipped disc and the other for arachnoiditis. I subsequently had two children, with hardly any problem and I now feel relatively OK. Of course, over the years I've learnt that there are certain things I can and cannot do and thus you have to accept your limitations. Doing weight lifting and extremely heavy gardening will not do your back any good - but that's not much help if you've got pain now.

I'm no doctor and I speak only from experience - but I find being nice and warm helps, also lying down as often as is possible and of course taking something anti-inflammatory that your doctor should prescribe and not just fob you with being "old" - bah.

All the best

Sorry to hear about your back problems Terry and Jacque, you have been suffering in silence all this time. I will take your advice and just be sensible from now.

Yes do be Sensible Ams & other GOY Members2,I cant Blow Dry My Hair without Putting my back Out these days :( I really feel for U Terry& Good Luck for your Treatment Ams ,Be firm & tell Your Dr IT HURTS :) When i was away In Eygpt this Year even Swimming Made my back Hurt so we had 2 buy some Anti-Inflammatorys over there as i had no tabs with me :/ They Cost £15 along with some great Pain Releaf which was Better than the Stuff id been taking for my Back Pain In UK?

ooo Jacque, you make me feel ashamed of moaning now, you need professional help alright and serve as a warning to dohnuts like me.
I am gradually investing in long handled garden tools, if I kneel down and bend over too long I cant get up.

LOL dont be silly Ams pain is pain & im sure other Goy Members will try 2 help u if they can :) U may be able 2 get the Pain releaf i got over the Counter :) Those Anti-Flam tabs were Fab :) Worked in a day ! How Great is that ?

It might help other gardeners who suffer with back problems if members posted photos or wrote blogs about the tools they find helpful?

I have put my back out doing tasks for TOO LONG at a time! I am sure that it helps to vary what you are doing in the garden, for example, rake leaves for a while, then do some weeding, then pot up your Lilies(!) then more raking etc.

Painful backs are just awful. Let's see if we can help each other.

Back pain can be one of the very few down sides to gardening. This is particularly true for the heavy landscaping variety practiced by the macho male as mentioned by AMS. Many years ago I had terrible back trouble after walking around with 3` x 2` flags under my arm before laying them. I understood that breathing deeply as described is a relaxation technique and probably unrelated to the initial cause of pain

The things I did to help were as follows:
Bought a new bed – pocket sprung as many springs as you can afford – test well that is not too hard or too soft.
New British three piece suite – no sagging, good posture, watch knees/tops of legs are horizontal not pointing up or down. Good support provided to lower back but you do not slide forward.
New computer chair – cheap varieties are lethal for bad backs. Check the weight the chair can handle. The more adjustable it is the better. Get someone to look at your posture when setting it up and check periodically.
Good boots for gardening and walking. Rockport were a personal favourite and prices have fallen dramatically recently.
Good lifting technique is essential. Bend your knees if they still can!
Try to avoid lifting above head if possible for heart reasons as well as back. (knees?)
Lose weight if necessary – easier said than done.
Last but not least ask for help lifting instead of putting yourself under excessive strain.

GPs are now days more like pen pushers – no prescription will solve the problem. Do not trust the diagnosis of Physiotherapists. If you have tried everything else and cannot cope ask to be referred to a specialist orthopaedic surgeon – at least then you will be fobbed off by an expert or receive practical help and appropriate physiotherapy.

I've got spondalousis(if i spelt it right) in my lower back & neck,some times i'm in agony with it, but if it get to bad & my pain killers dont help, when i go to the doctor's i know exactly what he's going to say to me & its. What you been doing this time to agrovate it, its like if i sit to long it kills me, if i stand to long it kills me, if you have to pick anything up then do it te correct way, although i'm not suppose to lift or carry anything, which if you like gardening, & live on your own then yu dont have much choice.

I've got a Wheat bag that goes in the microwave for a minute, then across my lower back. Won't cure anything but it is a comfort!

Ams - I'm sure you're not old, just mature-ish (like most of us on here?). I think spritz hit the nail on the head - don't do too much of the same job for a long stretch. I have four veg beds about four metres by 1.5 and reckon only to dig a maximum of two of them in any one day

I also suffer with back pain and shoulder and neck pain. I find a wheat bag like Shirleypoppy very helpful. It eases it.

I have a kneeling pad with handles so that I can get up easier. I'll put a photo of it tomorrow. As Spritz suggests it might be an idea for us to share info about what helps us.

Years ago I moved 8 railway sleepers up my steep garden all on my own. I'd never do it now. lol
This year I moved several tons of topsoil. I had help for most of it but thought I could do some on my own. Well I went to the doctor last week and he said I have a hernia - probably I think by shovelling too much soil at once.

It pays to be careful and admitt our bodies are not as fit as they were. It's better to accept it I think.

I see you're already doing Pilates...does that help you? I find that the deep stretching from practicing yoga helps my back. Good luck with the doctor, hope that they can help relieve your pain :)

Ams, I put my back out 22 years ago and have had much treatment. My Dr told me I could not have done much as I could still touch my toes! Eventually, an MRI scan proved otherwise!
In addition to what other members have said I find acupressure treatment, which is kinder than osteopathic treatment as you are not pulled/pushed around, helps me no end.I also find when I am in pain acupuncture provides relief. I don't like any form of conventional medicine, all those chemicals going in your body just gives it something else to deal with. Pain killers only mask the problem not get to the cause and treat it.
I try to remember to avoid any twisting movements. Since buying a memory foam mattress I wake up with no aches and pains, still takes a while to get the joints loose and mobile but at least they don't hurt!
Good luck, and think about exploring alternative treatments.

I also find alternative treatments good. I regularly have aromatherapy with a good practitioner. It helps with back pain and also with anxiety. I also go to Tai-chi classes and find the gentle movements very soothing to my back and for anxiety aswell. I don't like the thought of drugs with their side effects circulating through my body unless it's absolutely essential.

I think my treatment is probably similar Hywel, in that it is a good ol' massage with pressure applied to the 'hot spots' there-by dispelling the pain.

I agree and sympathise with you all.

For years, I tried all sorts of treaments from osteopaths, massages, pain killers to being told I had growing pains - this was all over 30 years ago from being a teenager to a 20+ year old. I was in constant excruciating pain and often immobile. In the end, when I moved over here, the neurosurgeon got quite concerned that I was losing sensitivity in my nerve and had to resort to surgery - only to need further surgery almost a year later for arachnoiditis (still not sure what that was). But 30+ years later I can honestly say that although they were not easy, those operations were the best thing I ever did.

Anyway all this is to show that you all shouldn't suffer in silence, especially as these days there are miracles like MRI scans etc (there were only horrendous lumbar punctures and lumbar mylograms all those moons ago).

A friend suffering from a hernia recently went into hospital in Rome and was "bathed" in cortisone for 3 days, via an epidural, and he's now walking around almost as right as rain.

There is no point in being a hero/heroine, suffering in silence as sometimes, the pain will not go away on its own. Insist on tests and treatment, as sometimes and only sometimes, subsequent nerve damage can be quite serious and irremediable.

Terry, arachnoiditis sounds like something to do with spiders, doesn't it! I am so curious about the word's origins that I shall have to use this as my 'learn something new every day' item! I can't imagine why a medical condition should have this name...

Later... well, I googled it and found that it is inflammation of the membrane of the arachnoid...however, that doesn't explain the link with spiders, does it.

Wow, well none of us are going to make it to the 2012 Olympics. Thank you all for your fantastic advice, I feel better just for sharing our thoughts on this subject. Learning how badly some of you are suffering I realise I am a minor case and should be careful in future.

Hey Spritz it certainly does sound as if I had a spider lurking in my spine !!!!! Now you've got me interested and I'm going to find out if there's a connection, unless that is, you get there first!!! Perhaps the membrane has lots of little legs - hang on, I shall look now

Well, I never Spritz, guess what I found!!

Arachnoid Gr. arachne = spider, and eidos = resemblance. From this root came a Latin term arachnoides = spider-like, and from this came the name arachnoid for the cobweb-like membrane covering the brain and spinal cord ......

Those medics are a bit creepy how they name ailments and diseases; the origin of Cancer to name a tumour is interesting too.

Tastyg - The Pilates is very good, I am experiencing some good pain today after yesterdays exercises.

Well done Terry60, this got me thinking and I did some research but turned up nothing!
So good job, :) We have all learnt something new today.

Oh Ams I really sympathise with you I have had years of experience with a back problem starting in my 20s I have had every conceivable thing done ,seen so many people in the past , tried it done it ,only time seems to heal ,I have had so many sleepless nights not daring to move or even breath because of the pain, eventually the disc burst , I can,t bare to think about it now ...... still they only gave me pain killers and an epidural in the spine ,

We had a lovely house built , I had a bad session then we realized we couldn,t stay there because of the stairs we were getting older to so had to be practical ,
The house sold the very next day ,
My husband had to look for a bungalow quickly , I remember the day we moved in , I lay on a bed in the garden while our furniture was being moved in Ha Ha wasn,t funny at the time .
The worse thing is that my son was also rushed to hospital when his back gave way and was in for several days , my daughter also has problems and is on painkillers at the moment ,I feel very guilty as though it,s
my fault that there is a weakness there .
I can,t give you any advice Ams , only time seems to help i,ve not been to bad lately , I do hope you quickly recover and that you are soon strong again .
Walking I find is very good when you are up and able to do it ,not to much at once .
Take care , let us know how you are !

Accually i've got of them tencs machine from loyds chemist the other day, they where on offer, wish i'd had one years ago, they really are good.

What is Tencs Clarice, this is new to me.