back pain

[gene]

Something happened, that is not good, to by back. A lot of pain when I lay down or 'try' to get up after lying down. I've been to the chiropractor 4 times this week. He managed to cause a lot more pain, but the original pain is still there somewhere under his additional pain.

I was talking to a customer and she was telling me about her physical aliments and then I started to tell her all about my back.

At one point I stopped and said, "We sound like two old people complaining about our aches and pains."

She said, "We are old."

Has anyone else noticed that gravity seems to increase as we get older?

Be careful out there boys and girls. Lift with your knees, or even better, get someone else to lift with their knees.

gene

[sofadoc]

Up until about 10 years ago, I used to come home everyday bent over. My back hurt so much, I couldn't straighten up. I would have one of my daughters walk on my back every evening.
Then I moved into a new building with a concrete floor. Within a month, the arches in my feet were killing me. I started going to foot doctors, and tried every orthotic device known to man.
Over the years, I learned to cope with the foot problems, but one day I suddenly realized that my back didn't hurt anymore. The arch supports had corrected my walking posture to the point that my back was "good as new".

I know what you mean about doctors diverting your attention away from the original pain by causing some NEW pain. At some point, you're just happy to be back to where you were before you went to the doctor in the first place.

A chriropractor is just a guy that didn't finish medical school. One step below an osteopathic MD.

[SHHR]

I use to frequent a chiropractor. He did a great job, but within a week or less the pains were always back, so he set me up on a schedule of a one to two week appointments. I don't know what hurt more, my back or my wallet. Imagine if you had you performed repairs that only lasted a week or two and the customer had to return every two weeks to get that cusion re-adjusted? Anyway, he did sell this goop to me called Biofreeze and I have since found it at Walgreens. That stuff does work wonders on muscle and joint pains. Even though there's no lasting smell with it, just don't get it close to your nose or eyes, but I guess then you will forget all about the back pain! (insert bugging eye smiley face here) that's for you Gene!
Kyle

[bobbin]

I had a great experience with a chiropractor.  I was all "seized up" and couldn't bend over to pick up a cat (a very big deal for me) and they were able to tweak me enough to make me comfortable.  I went once a week for a month or so. 

But I think the most important thing I did was do the exercises they gave me!  I did them before I got out of bed in the morning.  I did them when I got home from work and again before I went to bed.  I still do them as part of the routine and I make sure I walk regularly.  My issue was mostly muscular and the exercises are lower back stretches. 

He was very clear that my back pain would return if I didn't make more of an effort to keep myself limber.  His "fixes" were basically temporary, but the ultimate responsibility for my back health lies with me. 

[Mojo]

My buddy was a DO ( Osteopathic Doctor ) and when I would screw my back up I would go in and see him and he would manipulate me and I would be as a good as new. One treatment and that was it. I had one time I had to go back but never needed a repeat performance. he had said that Chiropractors who want to put you on a schedule are doing it for the money.

Most medical Doctors will tell you if you need frequent adjustments that there is something else going on - like muscle tone, foot problems, etc. Of course the Chiropractors want you to keep coming back so wont refer you to a podiatrist. :)

In regards to DO's, my buddy was a family Doctor but also a brilliant general surgeon and OB doctor. You will find that in many cases DO's actually go to school longer then an MD. It was a DO who saved my life and diagnosed me quickly and I still go to DO's to this day. Though my two oncologists are MD's. But they refer a lot of their patients to DO's for family Doctors.

I included a few smilies in here for you Gene.  >:(   ;D

Chris

[Mojo]

Opp's forgot. two months ago my wife and I decided to toss our older mattress out and went with a 13 inch memory foam mattress. That cured a whole lot of my aches and pains. What a HUGE difference that made for us both.

Chris

[gene]

I'm going to try a new mattress, Mojo.

I've gotten really sick with this back thing - fever, chills, aches and pains all over. I was told that when the spine is out of alignment the body is weak and that's why getting sick with alignments is so common. It's more of a 'right timing' coincidence than a cause and effects.

gene

[JuneC]

Mojo beat me to it.  We got a new mattress about 2 weeks ago and I love it.  But then, everyone has to choose a mattress for themselves based on sleeping habits (side/stomach/back etc) and preference.  I did research for about 3 months before buying.  Be sure to read the reviews on www.sleeplikethedead.com.  There's an amazing amount of objective research and information there.   

June

[timtheboatguy]

I bought a foam roller at wal-mart, a cheap way to work the kinks out of the lower back.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/lower-back-smr

[Mojo]

I bought the 13 inch Nightsleeper from Sam's. Love it. And it actually stays fairly cool and doesn't heat up. Queen is around $ 500.

What a HUGE difference in my back and legs.

Chris

[Grebo]

I had a great experience with a chiropractor.  I was all "seized up" and couldn't bend over to pick up a cat (a very big deal for me) and they were able to tweak me enough to make me comfortable.  I went once a week for a month or so.  

But I think the most important thing I did was do the exercises they gave me!  I did them before I got out of bed in the morning.  I did them when I got home from work and again before I went to bed.  I still do them as part of the routine and I make sure I walk regularly.  My issue was mostly muscular and the exercises are lower back stretches.  

He was very clear that my back pain would return if I didn't make more of an effort to keep myself limber.  His "fixes" were basically temporary, but the ultimate responsibility for my back health lies with me.  

Me too  ;D
like lots of professions there are good & bad & some have different ideas to others.
After over 10 years of going to & from my GP with absolutely no good results I finally bit the bullet & paid the massive amount of £35 to see a private chiropractor. I was lucky to choose a good one  who found my problem straight away & also had the philosophy that they didn't want to see me again  ;D Like you bobbin they gave me exercises & made me understand what was going on with it.
Now after moving to Spain I had a 'relapse' & had to find a new one, the first I will call MR Hollywood. He was all show, his treatment room was full of tables & this clients where lined up ready for him so he could walk around the room doing those he choose. Man he was an arse & his idea was to have 'corrections' a few times a week for life.
And he was proud of it ! Introduced me to a lady who had been going to him for YEARS.  :o
I feel I am so lucky he was not the first I ever saw.
Needless to say I never went back.
Then I did a lot more asking around & found another angel  :D . He had the same ideas as the first chiro, resolved the problem again after a couple of visits & now I haven't seen him for a few years.
Like many things just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean it's no good.

Suzi

[sofadoc]

Reading these posts, I see that our opinions of doctors depends on our experiences.
Mine were similar to Kyle's. My chiropractor made me feel better, as long as I emptied my wallet to him on a weekly basis. But not once did he mention any type of exercise therapy that I could do myself. Then I got arch supports for my feet, and my back problems magically disappeared. Again, no thanks to my chiropractor.

We view physicians the same way we view an umpire at a little league game. For every call he makes, half the crowd thinks he made the right call. The other half thinks that he's blind as a bat, and obviously been paid off by the other team.
If a doctor makes us feel better, he's a genius. If he doesn't, he's a quack who ought to have his liscense revoked, and locked up.

When a church gets a new pastor, the members think he's the second coming of Christ.
A year later, he's the spawn of Satan.

[bobbin]

I always had a lot of respect for doctors.  But I never really had to see one for a chronic condition; just the usual stuff:  a check up, vaccination boosters, every woman's favorite exam, etc..  I've had one crummy experience with an OB/gyn that so offended me I wrote him a letter of complaint (he sent me a 5 page questionnaire to fill outbefore my appt., and even though I was the first app't.of the day I waited for 20 minutes in the lobby, and then he kept me waiting another 15 while I sat on the exam table! all that after he told me, "I see you're 35, if you're going to have children you should get moving on it"  I replied smoothly, "I'm not interested in children, does that make a difference to you?".  I should have walked out then an there).

But I developed a real contempt for doctors while caring for my elderly mother.  She was frail, in poor health, and to the majority of them she was a "cash cow".  Order this test, that test, reschedule a follow-up, more blood work, more tests... you name it, they ordered it.  And by golly they prescribed it, too!  Pay per service on the Medicare dime, baby.  I was so naive, so trusting, and they were so full  of hot air.  We finally found a bright young guy who was on the same page... he weaned her off several medications, and actually SPOKE to her, not me!  He was great and we still use him as our GP.  But he was the exception, not the rule. 

[sofadoc]

She was frail, in poor health, and to the majority of them she was a "cash cow".  Order this test, that test, reschedule a follow-up, more blood work, more tests... you name it, they ordered it.  And by golly they prescribed it, too!  Pay per service on the Medicare dime, baby.

There's no doubt that many Doctors have "gone retail".
I was in an office recently. There was a hot nurse pushing a cart from room to room offering Tetanus shots, and other "impulse buys". She reminded me of the old "Cigarette girls" that carried a display of smokes around a casino, or hotel lobby.
Most doctors now will have branch offices in surrounding towns that are staffed by PA's.
The patients usually have the perception that the PA is the only one who truly cares about them.

[gene]

The medical profession is money driven. That's why they treat symptoms.

I may have said this before, however, it bears repeating (at least in my mind): If the medical profession was 'healing' and 'helping' oriented, there would be no chiropractors and no acupuncturists, at least in the USA. The medical profession would have already been offering these types of remedies.

The basic idea of the USA medical profession is that our bodies are a slab of meat that is constantly being attacked by everything, both natural and man made, and we need to fight, fight, fight against this onslaught of ill health or we will die. I think this is a very sad way to live life, even though most people in the USA subscribe to it. This view is an extension of religions that teach that this life is for suffering, and in our suffering, we glorify God, and in glorifying God, we will have a better life in heaven. Instead of sin making life miserable, it's biology.

I had a fever for the last 4 days and today is my first day of feeling OK. If I am rambling on too much, or if I said anything that upset anyone, please don't blame me. Blame the idiot that started this thread.

gene