Down and out for a while....Prayers please

[shooter]

Got hurt at work last Tuesday and have hardly been able to walk since. Several visits to the chiropractor and not much improvement. Probably going to have to have an MRI this week to confirm a herniated disk in the lower lumbar region, plus a pinched sciatic nerve. I've never been in this much pain before. I refuse to take pain meds because #1. I'm stubborn, and #2. I don't like drugs, and I'm afraid of hurting myself worse if they actually help with the pain. I have a bad habit of trying to overdo it when I feel good.

Good thing is that workman's comp is picking up the tab, although this complicates things some. I would actually get back to work faster if they weren't involved, according to the doc. My manager made me report the incident and I had no control over them getting involved.

I really wasn't even doing anything strenuous. I just picked up a 5 gallon jug and sat it down over to the side of the machine I was installing. Must have just twisted something the wrong way. Oh well. I'm just hoping the pain gets better soon. I can't do anything but lay in bed without it hurting.

Prayers for a speedy recovery would be greatly appreciated.

[gamekeeper]

You've got 'em.

[stretch]

Feel better soon!

Only 40 lbs. or so?! Hopefully no serious damage then.
A good wake up call for you to get your core in shape, no?

I hope your recover quickly. Neither pain nor workman's comp
are any fun at all.

-Stretch

[Pitchy]

About once every few years i`ll pick something up and twist just right and my lower back will go out bad, pain so bad it`ll put me on my back and i can`t get up by myself. Usually takes a week in bed before i can sit up or turn over by myself, eventually it will go away.
Feel for ya and prayers sent for a recovery soon.

[shooter]

Feel better soon!

Only 40 lbs. or so?! Hopefully no serious damage then.
A good wake up call for you to get your core in shape, no?

I hope your recover quickly. Neither pain nor workman's comp
are any fun at all.

-Stretch

You ain't kidding about the core strength. I haven't had a decent workout in a couple years, mainly because of my back. I'm going to keep seeing the chiropractor after this ordeal to keep everything in line so i don't get so tight and out of alignment when I work out. My back doesn't usually bother me unless I do a workout, run, or something like that, and then it tightens up pretty bad. I suppose it was already partially gone and when I moved the jug it just finished the job. I did set it down at kind of an awkward angle, but nothing I haven't done a thousand times before.

[Nath]

Been there done that, was off work for months, feel for you friend.

Course you got prayer!

The more you can relax the sooner it fix's, blessings.

Nath.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I know how you feel. Been there done that. Prayers sent.

[20cows]

Prayers for healing!

[octagon]

Shooter, A person with good pain control will heal faster. Reconsider the meds.

[Blaine]

I don't care for drugs, either, but pain/spasms/tightness almost halts the healing process. At least use a decent muscle relaxer

[madman4570]

Hate drugs too, but if you are really taking it easy an Advil once in a while(providing not allergic etc.)might not hurt (short term)????????

Anyhow--------heal quick friend!

[Griff]

Prayers up. "Pain is my friend, it tells me when to quit doin' that which will hurt me!" Anonymous

[rjohns94]

Prayers up for sure. Had a back and knee operation about 5-6 years ago. Sympathy pains for you too. Blessings

[shooter]

Hate drugs too, but if you are really taking it easy an Advil once in a while(providing not allergic etc.)might not hurt (short term)????????

Anyhow--------heal quick friend!

After talking with my chiropractor and my grandpa, I've come to the same conclusion. The doc isn't a proponent of strong painkillers, and doesn't prescribe meds, but he did say to take a couple of Aleve/Ibuprofin/aspirin, whichever one I have, every few hours. Keeping down the inflammation will speed up the healing.

I just don't want to become dependent on anything. My grandpa has to take Aleve everyday or he can't hardly function, and his liver is damaged from prolonged use of it. I would rather take nothing and heal slower than become dependent if they can't fix the problem.

[Dave]

Hate to hear that! Hopefully just some chiro and rest will be enough to get you healed up. Go ahead and take the pain meds. No shame in it.

[Mossyoak1957]

About once every few years i`ll pick something up and twist just right and my lower back will go out bad, pain so bad it`ll put me on my back and i can`t get up by myself. Usually takes a week in bed before i can sit up or turn over by myself, eventually it will go away.
Feel for ya and prayers sent for a recovery soon.

Same thing with me,last hit was this past summer couldn't move for a week and a half.

[.45colt]

Prayers Sent. Back pain is a big fear of mine. after several bouts with it I do try to keep it strong, but it's pretty hard with My job that dictates lifting all day long. One thing I have found is that when I feel the first sign of pain I have to get to the Chiropractor to get it put back in before it gets really bad. by stayeing on top of it I have gone as long as five years with no problems. Good Luck.

[AJMD429]

Unless you are ACTUALLY addiction-prone, 'pain' medication will do you more good than harm, as relieving pain relieves spasm, which reduces intramuscular pressure, which increases intramuscular circulation, which speeds healing. In addition, it improves function in the meantime, and may reduce risk of other mishaps if your pain is enough that it is distracting you. The MAIN damage of 'pain' medications is DUE TO OUR STUPID 'WAR ON DRUGS', because the drug-warriors forced addition of acetaminophen to narcotics, if a company wants to distribute them as 'schedule-III' substances vs. 'shedule-II' ones. The idea is to make the products poisonous if abused in ultra-high doses, but it results in a milder but potentially lethal risk to ordinary non-abusive users of those medications.

We have five 'treatments' available in modern medicine:

• Prayer and Meditation - always useful
  Diet - not always a specifically helpful thing, but promotes good health overall
  Surgery - a wonderful fix when applicable, but not always appropriate
  Medication - most convenient, and often helpful
  Therapies (physical or 'mental') - almost always of potential help.

In particular, there are endless TYPES of physical therapy, whereas there are only a few basic types of medication applicable to most situations, and fewer, if any, surgeries. Therefore, for long-term benefit (alone or combined with others of the five modalities), ALWAYS include physical therapy, and NEVER give up just because one particular type of therapy "didn't work". Chiropractic treatment is often the most flexible, as you don't need a physician to 'authorize' every step of the way, but there are all sorts of variations of physical therapies, from standard and concrete 'sports medicine' work, to more spiritual 'cranio-sacral' stuff.

Never give up.

[Batman1939]

Hope that you recover fully soon!

[GonnePhishin]

Prayers offered up.....

[olyinaz]

You got it!! I have a bad back too and I know others here do also so you've got lots of company in misery.

Hang in there.

Oly

[Rusty]

Prayers up!

[Ysabel Kid]

Shooter -

Prayers up for sure. Anything with the back can be pure misery; so much is tied into one's core. I'm 2+ years from my back surgery, and sometimes it is still a struggle. My advice would be to take the pain meds as prescribed. I was stubborn, like you. For me I know my father was addicted to them and alcohol after his back injury and the following surgeries. It led to his death and the idea scared me to death. So I didn't take them and paid the price.

I by no means abused the drugs when I did take them. One problem though is now no over the counter pain meds do a thing for me. Even the pains meds the doctor prescribed no longer really do anything. Stinks when I am in pain.

[1894c]

You've got 'em.

same here..

[DixieBoy]

Shooter - Prayers up for you. Hope you're on your feet and feeling good soon. - DixieBoy

[adirondakjack]

Good luck to ya. I've had back/neck pain about 15 years off and on, starting with a work injury that ended with two spinal fusions on my neck. The lower back is iffy, but I have NEVER treated with anything worse than ibuprofen and rest. The key, at least if you can do it before total disk deterioration and bone spurs develop, is KEEP MOVING as much as possible, and if yer carrying a cement block or two behind yer belt buckle, GET IT GONE NOW! I am 5'11" and weigh no more than 175, often 165. Three of my age mate friends all have had lower back surgery with mixed results and another is headed there. All of em are 50lbs or more overweight. The weight in front pulls the spine into an S curve and pharks the lower back totally. Get light or fight.....

[Tycer]

Not much worse than SI outage. Some good advice above.

This vid helped me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkltzrva ... plpp_video

I'm not a fan of Aleve. I feel like I have more control with Ibuprophin. For me, and I got this from the PDR, 600 mg acts the fastest, 800 reduces swelling the best and if I am just maintaining swelling reduction 200-400 is plenty.

I can't get my SI fixed until I get the swelling down, and the swelling is deep, I can't feel it with my fingers really. No amount of chiropractic work will fix me until the swelling is down. I don't even go to the chiro until the swelling is down. So for me it's 800 mg three times the first day, 400 four times the second and 400 twice a day until the day after I feel great again. Somewhere in there I visit the chiro, usually not until the fourth day or later. For me, I know it's just a painful, expensive trip until that swelling is down.

I also ice for ten minutes every two hours the first day and sometimes the second, rotate ice and heat ten minutes each every two hours the second day - the heat immediately follows the ice. The third day I spend 30 minutes every three hours doing the cold/heat ten minute rotation. I've been told the cold, heat rotation creates a pumping action in the capillary and lymphatic systems, bringing more blood and removing damaged cells.

Oh, go for a walk after the chiro before you get back in the car. 20 minutes or so so that your back does not set back into misalignment on the ride home.

I'll also add that there are great hurt-back-centric yoga classes that are amazing. It seems to me that the whole purpose of yoga is to lengthen the spine and strengthen the core muscles. One of my buddies and I took a back class together when we were both recouping from back outages and he made the comment that he literally grew 2.5" back to the same height he was in high school and that he had not been that height since he got back from Viet Nam.

[C. Cash]

You got it!

[86er]

Best Wishes for a speedy recovery!

[w30wcf]

shooter,
Very sorry to hear of your situation. Prayers up.
I would suggest that you might try a Gonstead Chiropractor if there is one in your area.
Awhile back I injured my neck and went to 2 different chiropractors with no relief. Thought I would have to live with the pain.

A year or so later I found that there was a new chiropractor in the area and decided to visit him. Long story short he adjusted my neck in a completely different way than the other two did. 2 more appointments and I had complete relief.

I asked him about what method he used and he said "Gonstead". Gonstead was a mechanical engineer that learned chiropractic and developed his own adjustment techniques based on his engineering experience.

http://www.gonstead.com/

Gonstead Chiropractors in TX
http://www.gonstead.com/members/doctors ... p?state=TX

Sincerely,
w30wcf

[O.S.O.K.]

Prayers up. Wishes for a speedy recovery.

[shooter]

[quote="Tycer"]Not much worse than SI outage. Some good advice above.

This vid helped me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkltzrva ... plpp_video

That's exactly what he said is wrong with me. SI joint out of place plus a possible (probable) herniated disk. Thanks for the link to that vid. I may try those exercises, but right now I don't know if I would be able to get back up if I got all the way down on the ground.

Today the doc hinted at possible surgery depending on MRI results. If he can't get me better by the end of the week he's going to refer me to an orthopedic surgeon. Not the route I want to go, and I may check out one of the chiropractors listed in the link in the other post before going ahead with a surgery. My pain gets better if I lay in bed for a while. I can almost walk regular then, but no bending over and not much range of motion. Every time I get in the car I can pretty much kiss the rest of the day goodbye, though. It is an absolute killer to ride in the car, which is unfortunate because the doc doesn't make house calls .

[jeepnik]

Prayers up. A number of us on the forum have been where you are.

[Last Gunfighter]

Prayer sent!!!

[Thump]

Shooter: Take care and you are on my list.

[rodeo kid]

I had a herniated disk about ten years ago also. I'm with you on taking heavy meds, but try taking 800 mg of Motrin(ibruprofrin) 3 times a day and it will do wonders for you. Take it with milk or food. No sense sufffering. God Bless.

[Booger Bill]

You described about a year of my past life. Good luck!

[JReed]

Prayers up.