Best cure for severe back pain?

[AAlmeter]

Originally Posted by Golfman

I am probably in the best shape of my life, I can run a 7 minute mile, and bench 60 pounds over my own body weight. I exercise at least 4 times a week, this back pain is definitly only temporary but severely debilitating none the less. Just looking for some suggestions not life time adjustments. I am 21 and about 180 pounds.

I was a year or two younger than you when I started having back problems. I too was in good shape, I carried more weight than you (235) but I was also 6'4" and running around 5-6% body fat, benching craploads, etc etc etc.

Anyway, my NUMBER 1 recommendation for you is to see an MD. If you're sore after a workout or if you can find nice little blond chiro, they are great for a rubdown.

I went to a highly recommended chiro in my area, and they failed to see (they did take X-Rays) the fact that I had a severely herniated disk. To illustrate their lack of medical knowledge, the surgeon I went to is an editor for several medical journals relating to the spine...mine was one of the worst he has seen for a non-trauma patient.

See a real doctor and see what they say...your girlfriend can give just as good a massage and is a hell of a lot cheaper than a chiro.

Also, I've found that for muscle pain, 500-1000mgs of tylenol helps immensely. Depending on all sorts of variables that I don't know and am nowhere near qualified to comment on, you may be better off with different medication/treatment/etc.

I just highly suggest that you see a REAL doctor.

[BigVito]

I would see a spine specialist. get an MRI and hope its nothing to serious.
for drugs what worked for me was a combo of Avinza and Norco.

[Infin1ty]

Originally Posted by Golfman

Its definitly muscle pain in the lower middle back. I started getting it toward the end of my vacation to Greece, and now its just really bad. I'm thinking about calling a doctor or chiropractor, but if anyone knows an easier less expensive way to cure this im all ears. Ive tried the icy hot patches and Bengay but to no avail. Ibuprofen wont work either, my girlfriend tried massaging it but it always comes back. Any suggestions?

If you live in a state where its legalized, Medical Marijuana. If not, the thing that helps my back most is my chiropractor.

[bigman]

Naproxen 500mg
Alive is the OTC version, but I don’t get the same form it, possibly because they have had me on the real thing for so long. Indecently I am on it because of injured muscles in my back from a motorcycle meets car wreak, guess which one I was on…little hint, the cheapest way to fix the damage to my vehicle was to glue on felt fabric…whish that would fix my back.
If it doesn’t get better in a few days, go to the doctors, I so not believe in them much, but they will hopefully recommend you to someone to fix the problem before it gets worse…i.e. see my back.

[Twill413]

Just get checked out. I was checked out by a good chiropractor first, who discovered a medical problem. He then referred me back to an MD to make sure it wasn't very dangerous. I ended up having two fused cerivcal vertibrae which caused my low back pain. I was in great shape at the time as well. I still work out, and I have learned to manage my back pain. It was just something that I got used to, although standing for an eight hour shift is very painful by the 5 or 6 hour. Just please get checked out to eliminate all serious medical concerns.

[screwbag]

I crushed a couple of discs in a bad landing from a skydive in 2001....I find that Accupressure makes me feel right as rain...



things that hurt my back:

sitting for long periods on my wallet...it's only about 1/2" but it makes a big difference...
sitting crooked or unnaturally for more than a few minutes...

[bigman]

Originally Posted by Twill413

Just get checked out. I was checked out by a good chiropractor first, who discovered a medical problem. He then referred me back to an MD to make sure it wasn't very dangerous. I ended up having two fused cerivcal vertibrae which caused my low back pain. I was in great shape at the time as well. I still work out, and I have learned to manage my back pain. It was just something that I got used to, although standing for an eight hour shift is very painful by the 5 or 6 hour. Just please get checked out to eliminate all serious medical concerns.

Yep, October will mark my 4yr anniversary of my life with sever back pain, After the physical thereby (electrodes on back with heating pad for 30min three times a week) and building some muscles around the area, I almost don’t notice the pain anymore, except first thing in the morning (especially if I sleep on my stomach, by the way they told me not to sleep on my stomach for that reason), and after work (8-16hours usually walking on concrete factory floor).

[Hoodere]

Sportscream works for me. Good luck.

[Wang Lung]

Originally Posted by Hoodere

Sportscream works for me. Good luck.

Be careful with that stuff:

Muscle cream blamed in teen athlete’s death

High levels of chemical found in body

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated: 06/10/07 6:41 AM


NEW YORK — A medical examiner blamed a 17-year-old track star’s death on the use of too much anti-inflammatory muscle cream, the kind used to soothe aching legs after exercise.
Arielle Newman, a crosscountry runner at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island, died after her body absorbed high levels of methyl salicylate, an anti-inflammatory found in sports creams such as Bengay and Icy Hot, the New York City medical examiner said Friday.
The medical examiner’s spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said the teenager used “topical medication to excess.” She said it was the first time that her office had reported a death from using a sports cream.
In addition to spreading the muscle cream on her legs between track meets, Newman was using adhesive pads containing the anti-inflammatory, plus an unspecified third product containing the chemical, Borakove said. The products were used and the chemical absorbed over time, rather than from a single instance of overuse, she said.
Newman, who garnered numerous track awards, died April 3. She had gone to a party the night before, then returned home and spent hours talking with her mother.
Methyl salicylate poisoning is unusual, and deaths from high levels of the chemical are rare.
“Chronic use is more dangerous than one-time use,” Edward Arsura, chairman of medicine at Richmond University Medical Center, told the Staten Island Advance newspaper on Friday. “Exercise and heat can accentuate absorption.”
Dr. Ronald Grelsamer, of Mount Sinai Medical Center, said Newman had a very abnormal amount of methyl salicylate in her body.
“She either lathered herself with it, or used way too much, or she used a normal amount and an abnormal percentage was absorbed into her body,” he said.
Her mother, Alice Newman, said she still couldn’t believe her daughter’s death was caused by a sports cream.

[Commander Quan]

I had severe back pain for a couple years I tried everything from an inversion table to seeing the chiropractor a couple times a month the chiro helped some but the thing that eliminated my pain was changing my mattress. I was using a hand-me-down that had to be 20 years old I've had this new mattress for a year and feel amazing, you would be surprised.

[Wang Lung]

Originally Posted by Commander Quan

I had severe back pain for a couple years I tried everything from an inversion table to seeing the chiropractor a couple times a month the chiro helped some but the thing that eliminated my pain was changing my mattress. I was using a hand-me-down that had to be 20 years old I've had this new mattress for a year and feel amazing, you would be surprised.

I agree with that. If you have chronic back pain, sleeping on a mattress that raises your legs is a big help.