back pain

[bobbin]

No Gene, it was no idiot that started this thread, or encouraged the thoughtful replies.
   
The grim reality is that none of us going to escape life alive.  The key is to understand that our bodies are finely tuned machines and to take reasonable care of them (just like a sewing machine!). 

I still respect the medical profession, but now I approach it more as a "consumer"!  I'm buying a service and if I don't like the way I'm treated I'll move on, thank you.  I pretty much interview doctors now.  I will never see an ob/gyn again unless there is something seriously out of whack. I go to the local Family Planning clinic and see a very savvy, Nurse Practioner who knows enough to ask pertinent questions and how to LISTEN without interrupting. 

I now understand that the only person who really cares a fig about my health is ME.  Knowledge is power, and an informed consumer drives change.

[Kathy0701]

I've had episodes of backaches before, and sometimes they took a long time to clear up...but once I had what my doc called a spasm.  Never had such pain in my life!  I couldn't even dare to try straightening up, and we were at the cabin, so I had to ride home100+ miles curled up in the van.  I'd have gone to the emergency room, but didn't think I could get out of the car.

Got home and took hydrocodone I had from something else.  The next day I went to see a DO.  He gave me more hydrocodone, a muscle relaxant for at night, and Prednisone.  Wow.  I couldn't believe how that worked.  Within three days I was taking walks again. 

I did a bit of reading and it sounds like a spasm occurs to prevent you from doing any further damage to your back.  The funny thing is that I don't remember doing anything to hurt it in the first place...but we did move some furniture around, and slept two nights on the worst pull-out sofa ever.  I'm pretty sure that was what set me up for that spasm. 

I think next time I'll just sleep on the floor!  I'm pretty convinced your bed can have a profound effect on your back pain, or lack of it.  I hope I never have another one of those...

[Grebo]

No Gene, it was no idiot that started this thread, or encouraged the thoughtful replies.
   
The grim reality is that none of us going to escape life alive.  The key is to understand that our bodies are finely tuned machines and to take reasonable care of them (just like a sewing machine!).  

I still respect the medical profession, but now I approach it more as a "consumer"!  I'm buying a service and if I don't like the way I'm treated I'll move on, thank you.  I pretty much interview doctors now.  I will never see an ob/gyn again unless there is something seriously out of whack. I go to the local Family Planning clinic and see a very savvy, Nurse Practioner who knows enough to ask pertinent questions and how to LISTEN without interrupting.  

I now understand that the only person who really cares a fig about my health is ME.  Knowledge is power, and an informed consumer drives change.

:o  ???  I could have written that.

After my first child I told the doctor what he could & couldn't do to me  ;D
They 'might' know the drugs but you know your body best.

I am trying to educate my OH to think the same way, with the exception of me, no one is going to sort out his heath Issues.

Hope you are feeling better Gene.

Suzi

[sofadoc]

Get well, Gene. That couch ain't gonna cover itself, ya know.

[baileyuph]

Hang in there Gene, some improvement is good news.  You are going to make it man.

Doyle

[gene]

Thank you for the kind thoughts.

I got 3 hours of work in today. Felt great but wanted to make sure I can put in even longer hours tomorrow.

Sofadoc was right, again. No one broke into my studio and finished any of the many projects sitting there waiting to be attended to. And no one made any deposits into my bank account either!

Thanks again.

gene

[sofadoc]

Sofadoc was right, again.

What do you mean again?
Are you implying that I've been right before?

You really should save the "I hurt my back" excuses for times when you feel fine, but just don't want to work. When your back really does hurt, that's when you blame the UPS driver.

[sofadoc]

Another back pain issue occurred today. Not to me, but my helper. He was stripping some furniture. Next thing I knew, he was doubled over in back pain. He went home and took a couple of Hydrocodones. 2 hours later, he was back at the shop good as new
.
My question is:
Do pain killers and muscle relaxants (such as Hydrocodone) really work that miraculously on you guys?  I've been prescribed them many times for a variety of ailments. I never could tell if they were even working. Maybe if I had a more positive (gullible) attitude, those pills would have more effect on me.

I have a neighbor who swears by more than 20 herbal supplements. I'm convinced that they work for her simply because she thinks they do.

[gene]

These are the two songs that kept playing in my mind when my fever was doing it's best to get me better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCwDIC1O8lI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mynzbmrtp9I


People go to voodoo witches: some get better, some die.
People go to Christian faith healers: some get better, some die.
People go to New Age whoop dee doo whatever: some get better, some die.
People go to medical doctors: some get better, some die.
People go to chiropractors: some get better, some die.

Clearly, none of the above have a handle on how life works.

hey now,

gene

[Grebo]

Another back pain issue occurred today. Not to me, but my helper. He was stripping some furniture. Next thing I knew, he was doubled over in back pain. He went home and took a couple of Hydrocodones. 2 hours later, he was back at the shop good as new
.
My question is:
Do pain killers and muscle relaxants (such as Hydrocodone) really work that miraculously on you guys?  I've been prescribed them many times for a variety of ailments. I never could tell if they were even working. Maybe if I had a more positive (gullible) attitude, those pills would have more effect on me.

I have a neighbor who swears by more than 20 herbal supplements. I'm convinced that they work for her simply because she thinks they do.

First, the pain is there for a reason, Sorry but your guy is a fool to continue work while he can not feel what's going on. He could potentially, unknowingly do much more damage than the original problem.
& second, 99% of  then don't work on my old man, you will know if they don't work.  :(

Suzi

[DBR1957]

Gene, you know with that fever and such, your back pain could have actually been a symptom of
what was to come. Kind of like the flu. May not have been a back issue at all.

[sofadoc]

Gene, you know with that fever and such, your back pain could have actually been a symptom of
what was to come. Kind of like the flu. May not have been a back issue at all.

It's probably a "chicken or the egg" thing. His muscles may have been weak, and more easily strainable due to an oncoming flu.
Kinda like when you feel a brain freeze coming on while eating a snow cone. Even though you know it's coming, you still take one more bite.

your guy is a fool to continue work while he can not feel what's going on. He could potentially, unknowingly do much more damage than the original problem.

You're quite right. He is a fool. But for many, many reasons besides painkiller abuse.
I bought a large bottle (1000 pills) of aspirins and put them on the work bench. He plowed through the entire bottle in about 2 months.

[Mojo]

Speaking of back pain. I was shocked to see that my local WalMart pharmacy had a new computerized machine by the counter. You take off your shoes and stand on it and follow the orders given on the screen.

It asks you to stand at attention and then it analyzes the pressure points in your feet. It then ask you to raise one foot and it again measures the pressure points. You then put that foot down and raise the other. Then you stand at attention again and adjust your standing position
so the little ball lines up in the target.

It then reads everything, computes your pressure points and then displays what type of arch you have and what support you need by a corresponding number. Next to the machine is a rack of arch supports and you find your number and then buy what you need.

Pretty dang niffy and probably just as accurate as a foot doctor. Maybe more so. The arch supports are $ 49.99 BTW.

Chris

[sofadoc]

I've tried every arch support that's ever been invented. And a few that haven't been invented yet. That Wal-mart display is just a gimmick to sell generic pre-made arch supports. It works fine for people that don't really have a foot problem to begin with.
But you're right. It is about as accurate as a foot doctor (but that isn't saying much).

I cringe every time I see an overweight kid walking around in flip-flops. I want to grab them and shake them. And tell them that if they aren't going to put the cheeseburger down, at least wear some supportive shoes. But I was young once, and had that feeling of invincibility, so I know that it would fall on deaf ears.

[gene]

Years ago Kimberly Clark had a machine that made toilet paper. It had 3 sections:
1. a wet section where water and such was added to paper fibers to make a slurry. It was then transferred onto a felt conveyor belt.
2. Dry section where the paper was dried.
4. Cutting section where the paper was cut and rolled.

There used to be a 26 year learning curve to learn how to run that machine. Yes children, 26 years.

A worker would see something going off in the wet section and make an adjustment. This adjustment would affect the dry section and he would have to do an adjustment there. This would affect the cutting section and the wet section... over and over until 26 years go by and the worker finally has a handle on running that machine.

Along came statistical process control. This says that stuff goes off a bit all the time but it's only because of random chance. There is no need to do anything to the machine when something is going off by change. It's no big deal and it will not affect the entire process.

The learning curve to run that machine became 6 months.

I think our bodies are like that. I buy foot supports and a few weeks later my back begins to hurt. I don't make the connection so I do something else. Then I do something else and this affects something new... over and over until the day I die.

I have more aches and pains in my body than I did 35 years ago. I think this is 'normal'. I wonder how many maladies are nothing more than the result of random change.  It's no big deal and it will not affect the entire process.

And yet, we all support a multi, multi, multi billion dollar medical and drug business.

Just a thought.

gene