Can You Help? Chronic Lower Back Pain. Muscle Spasms, Maybe A Strain. Looking For Any Nonmedical, Noninvasive Treatments To Help Either Reduce Or Eliminate Pain. Any Help Out There Fellow Blurters?
Hi. I suffered a broken back in a horse accident years ago and had extensive soft tissue damage to boot. For nearly 10 years after "healing" I experienced severe intermittent lower back pain and spasms which were unresponsive to therapy and only temporarily responsive to OTC pain meds. The trauma to your soft tissue be of different origin or perhaps aggravated by other things, but one day at the bookstore in search of some answers, I came across a book that changed my life that may be helpful to you. The book is by Peter Egoscue, and was originally published with the title "Pain Free". Dr. Pete worked for years as sports medicine doc, and his medical position centers logically on a premise that the human body is designed to maintain its health through a LONG lifetime. The doc's clinic in San Diego, CA is very well known and celebrated by many for its successes. He advocates eliminating chronic pain without drugs, surgery or expensive physical therapy. His method of therapy to treat musculoskeletal pain involves engaging in what he terms E-sizes, which are not so much exercises as positions that strengthen and align the underlying musculoskeletal functions and structures that have been compromised for one reason or another.
I swear by the book and the doc because I'm the living testimony of his recommendations. I've been pain free for 12 years, and I've bought at least 6 more copies of the book and given it to others. It's retail price is $15.00. I hope you will have the same success as I have with it should you decide this holds promise for you. Good luck.
I recently injured my back while lifting a box that weighed about 100 lbs. Stupid huh? I didn't think it weighed that much. Anyway, immediately I felt a crunch and was in horrible pain. I almost fell over since it affected my middle back to my right hip. Anyway, after the shock and waiting for a few minutes, I was able to slowly and carefully walk, although not a normal gait. All was "OK" until the morning when I could not move. I was in excruciating pain and had to use my hands to try and lift my hips to move bit by bit just to get to the side of the bed. That took 20 minutes. Then when I tried to stand up the most excruciating pain ever, a pulled muscle in my back on the right side above my hip. It was like a massive "charlie horse". I cried out in pain but forced myself to stand up anyway. EVERY movement no matter how seemingly insignificant, was wrought with excruciating pain. I also had numbness of all organs in my abdomen including my bowels. That lasted for about 2 weeks off and on, mostly on at the onset of the injury and lessening as time went on. However, the more I walked, the numbness would return. For 3 days I could not sit at all because it compressed my back and hip causing pain. On the 3rd day I decided to try something. It took over 30 minutes to get down on the floor in a sitting position and another 30 minutes to get prone, with the help of my daughter who had to put pillows behind me and gradually remove them so I could finally lay flat on the floor. Then she took my legs, lifted them like the Chiropractor does a few times and then lay them down. From there I would take one knee and using my hands, would clasp my knee and cautiously pull it to my opposite shoulder. It hurt and yet felt good. It was gently stretching the pulled muscle and starting to realign my spine. I did this for 30 minutes or more and rested for two hours. Then I tried to get up. That pulled muscle screamed at me to leave it alone. My daughter tried to help lift me up by taking my hands and pulling me up but that pulled on the muscle again. She had to take a blanket and wrap it around my back and under my arms and hoist me up. We did this once or twice a day for a week. The second time I was able to get up and down myself although it took forever each way up and down. I am strong willed, stubborn and determined. I did not take muscle relaxers, pain killers, or anti inflammatory drugs. Except the third day when I first started the stretch exercises. I took about 500mg ibuprofen, which did nothing. I would also take HOT showers first thing in the morning and let the water beat down on my back especially on the pulled muscle. The doctors will tell you NOT to use heat, but for me cold made the muscle spasm so I used heat for the first week. After that, it was HOT, warm, cold, and repeat for 30 minutes, and slowly and gently stretching in the shower to stretch those muscles. It has now been 5 weeks and I still have back and hip pain. On a scale from 1-10 when I was first injured I would rate my pain a 100. I know, but it was THAT bad! Now the pain varies from 0-6 usually hovering around a 3. What I have done that made it possible to heal without drugs or medical intervention (though I still do have a slipped disc or a herniated disc) first and foremost was PRAYER. Secondly I took a regimen of vitamins, minerals and ate pineapple every day. 1 One 'n' Only multi vitamin 1 Carlson cod liver oil 1 Futurebiotics Selenium 1 Source Naturals Vanadium with Chromium 2 Nature's Way Magnesium Complex 2 Nature's Way Siberian Eleuthero Root 3 Vitamin C 2 Iodoral (Potassium Iodide) 1 can of Dole pineapple including the 100% fruit juice
Recently online I learned that pineapple is an anti inflammatory because it contains bromelain.
The absolute best you can do is to rest, rest, rest. And do that lying down on a firm mattress. The docs will tell you a specific position and if it works for you great, but as usual, my body doesn't follow the norm, always demanding to do things differently. Anyway, I just rested in whatever position was comfortable at the time. At first it was flat on my back (a big no-no) and later I could lay on one side more comfortably than the other.
I hope this bit of info helps or at least gives you data for you quest.
I will keep you in my prayers for healing. God bless,
