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Back pain

cowgoo
cowgoo Posts: 58 Member
Any suggestions on how to alleviate back pain after exercise or just from being overweight in general?
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Replies

  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
    @cowgoo one's bed is often a good place to start. Do you see health care professionals of any type?
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    Please see a health care professional. There are many causes of back pain. Without knowing the cause, random treatments could make thing worse.

    Best of luck.
  • cowgoo
    cowgoo Posts: 58 Member
    Thank you. I see an acupuncturist. Used to see a chiro but haven't for a few months
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    I would consider a physiotherapist.

    I ignored my back injury with just some accupuncture. Eventually I ended up with some permanent damage and paralysis. I wish I'd taken better care of it and not powered through.
  • jnord8729
    jnord8729 Posts: 234 Member
    I'm with @nvmomketo. Assume physiotherapist is British for physical therapist, that's who I would see. They'll figure out the flexibility and strength issues that can at least reduce some of the pain. In fact, a chiropractor is just a band-aid unless it's done in conjunction with PT (which is why you need to keep going back).
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    CipherZero wrote: »
    I've found if I sit too long or too much my back acts up.

    My (not a doctor) opinion is that the overwhelming majority of people don't have a "bad back" - they have a weak back, which can only be solved with proper resistance training.

    I've gone to the gym with my back aching, done my low bar squat warm up sets, and had pain totally disappear so often that if I have any back pain I'll do warm up sets even if it's not my day for squats.

    I would agree the sitting and weak core are major contributions to back pain.

    Would still suggest getting a medical opinion on the root cause of an individual's problem
  • kaizaku
    kaizaku Posts: 1,039 Member
    Have ibuprofen and co-codomol. Pain still there go to the doctor.
  • yayamom3
    yayamom3 Posts: 939 Member
    This was an instruction given me by a chiropractor whom I thank profusely and for the rest of my life.

    Lay flat on your back on the floor.
    Press the small of your back to the floor for 20 seconds.
    Relax.
    Lift your left leg, bringing the knee toward your body. Using your right hand, grasp your left knee and pull the knee toward your right shoulder for 20 seconds.
    Relax.
    Repeat that with your right leg and left hand.

    Do two sets of that.

    Do that as many days as you have pain.

    In the case of me, 1 day is enough.

    At the time, I was 300+ lb. I had parked on the top level of a parking garage and was walking down stairs. My spine suddenly dislocated between two of the vertebrae in the middle of my torso, and the top half of my torso was leaning right 30 degrees while the bottom half of my torso was normally upright. That my spinal chord did not snap is a wonder. The pain was intense. I returned to my car, drove home, walked in to the chiropractor's office and walked out upright and much improved. That stretching exercise has kept me from ever needing to visit a doctor of any kind for any back problem at all in 30 years since.

    And all the stuff above this message is also true.

    I was also taught this exercise by my chiro. It's a life-changer.
  • Annabobanna1985
    Annabobanna1985 Posts: 11 Member
    I made a switch in my focus on most of my work outs to always include at least one or two (or five lol) booty and lower back building moves. I've had back pain all my life and after this focus switch im really experiencing a lot less :) It also protects your knees because hips etc.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,427 Member
    kaizaku wrote: »
    Have ibuprofen and co-codomol. Pain still there go to the doctor.

    I disagree with the first sentence. If pain is chronic see a doctor, don't mask it with vitamin I.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    CipherZero wrote: »
    I've found if I sit too long or too much my back acts up.

    My (not a doctor) opinion is that the overwhelming majority of people don't have a "bad back" - they have a weak back, which can only be solved with proper resistance training.

    I've gone to the gym with my back aching, done my low bar squat warm up sets, and had pain totally disappear so often that if I have any back pain I'll do warm up sets even if it's not my day for squats.

    I would agree the sitting and weak core are major contributions to back pain.

    Would still suggest getting a medical opinion on the root cause of an individual's problem

    Not unless you experienced trama that caused the pain previously or current. Or you plan to have surgery on the results.

    Current evidence shows most people in their 40s have something that would show up on a MRI, but not necessarily experience pain though.

    Their was a very huge study a not long ago showing I believe 700+ people. About half complained of pain in at least one knee, the other half complained of no pain. MRI showed each had the simuliar damage or tears in their knees.

    Pain comes from the brain first. A good example is the amputees that have pain in a limb they no longer have.

    If you experienced trama, then yes of course going to doctor is useful and recommended. If you experience pain, it is common knowledge it almost always subsides quickly in a matter of days to a couple weeks if you continue to resistance train.

    Example, I had more than likely a herniated disc a couple months ago. I couldn't walk at most a couple hundred feet at a time. I continued to train squats and deadlifts with intensity and/or range of motion that I could tolerate and didn't experience worse pain. Each day I felt better and within a two weeks I was no longer experiencing any pain and a few weeks after that strength is back to near normal.

    Resistance training is well proven to have many benefits.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
    cowgoo wrote: »
    Any suggestions on how to alleviate back pain after exercise or just from being overweight in general?

    Within the last week I read sometimes back pain may be a symptom of low levels of Vitamin D . I did not drill down on it since my level is high the doctor said last week.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,958 Member
    cowgoo wrote: »
    Any suggestions on how to alleviate back pain after exercise or just from being overweight in general?

    Being overweight and having a weak core is usually the lowest hanging fruit with regards to back pain. Check with your Doc first though. Always good to know you are not making the problem worse...
  • jules8203
    jules8203 Posts: 12 Member
    There could be different reasons for the back pain, which is why everyone is telling you to check with your doctor. I had consistent back pain for awhile. I complained to a doctor at a clinic I was going to, only to be completly ignored. I switched doctors offices to a doctor that limited how many patients they saw, rather than the clinic, where they don't turn anyone away. Having a doctor that listens and isn't rushed helps. After 8 years of chronic back pain, which was interferring with my legs to the point where it hurt to walk, I finally managed to have an MRI and an X-ray. I had a herniated disc that was messing up with my syatic(not sure of the spelling) nerve as well as a curved spine. I've had three shots in my back as well as a couple years of physical therapy, where they go over excercises that pin point to where the pain was and it also helps with core muscles. That was my situation, yours might be different. You want to know what's going on, so that you don't wind up hurting yourself even more by doing something that might not be helping you.
  • MizzMizzou71
    MizzMizzou71 Posts: 1 Member
    Back pain is horrible, like everyone said ask your doctor and just go slow.
  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 479 Member
    jules8203 wrote: »
    There could be different reasons for the back pain, which is why everyone is telling you to check with your doctor. I had consistent back pain for awhile. I complained to a doctor at a clinic I was going to, only to be completly ignored. I switched doctors offices to a doctor that limited how many patients they saw, rather than the clinic, where they don't turn anyone away. Having a doctor that listens and isn't rushed helps. After 8 years of chronic back pain, which was interferring with my legs to the point where it hurt to walk, I finally managed to have an MRI and an X-ray. I had a herniated disc that was messing up with my syatic(not sure of the spelling) nerve as well as a curved spine. I've had three shots in my back as well as a couple years of physical therapy, where they go over excercises that pin point to where the pain was and it also helps with core muscles. That was my situation, yours might be different. You want to know what's going on, so that you don't wind up hurting yourself even more by doing something that might not be helping you.

    I agree. For me it turned out to be levoscoliosis plus a stenosis. Weight training exercises that loaded my spine had been making it worse- that's actually what led me to seek help. I'm only a month into physical therapy, and I'm almost pain-free already. The exercises they've shown me have strengthened my core, hips, and everything around them to stabilize my back.

    Seek medical help- you will not regret rehabilitating your back and learning the tools to keep it strong.
  • Derpes
    Derpes Posts: 2,033 Member
    How is your posture? If it persists or if you experience numbness, tingling, or leg pain, see your doctor right away.