Anyone here mess up their spine?

[Mr. Burns]

My 1st real back injury.

I run a lot, and never really stretched before/after. Had mild a sciatica due to this.
Over the weekend I go to load a cherry picker I to the bed of a pickup, and I wrench my back hardcore. Hurt a bit for awhile , took some robax and went to bed.

Couldn't sleep every twist:turn was excruciating.

Go to dr's next morning, tell me I likely have a bulging disc, thankfully not herniated.

Now I'm going through physio to fix this.
This is a depressing downer. Went from running 4miles a day to barely walking/standing . Scary shit.

Anyone else bulge a disc? What's your recovery time? Everything get back to normal?

I now realize how much I never appreciated a pain free back.

[e30rapidic]

I've herniated three discs and any given day/time I have some degree of back pain. A few days of the year it gets so bad I can't walk. People that have never had a back injury like this don't realize how excruciating the pain can be. Been this way since 1988 when I got pushed off a trampoline.

I've had countless rounds of cortisone shots and strongly considered surgery as a last resort. I started Pilates about 2 years ago instead and it has helped tremendously. I do get sciatica from the nerve compression still but it's just something I live with. Some days my left leg is numb, other days it feels like it's on fire.

A good way to relieve the tension in your lower back is to lay flat on the floor with your rear end right against the bottom of the couch, the put your legs up on the seat cushions with your knees bent at 90 degrees and relax. It opens up some space between the discs. Also alternate heat and ice. And don't cough or sneeze!

[M-technik-3]

Been dealing with back pain for better part of two decades. It's stress and degenerative discs. Dr's wanted to fuse my L4 and L5 together and i said NO, I just learn to manage my stress better these day.

[Mr. Burns]

Big difference between a herniated disc/bulging disc no?

My heart goes out to you, I could never imagine.

I'm hopeful with the proper physio/stretches this bulge will dissipate.
I can't suddenly go from running/triathlons to well, this...
I'm typing this on the floor with my legs up, as the above poster mentionned...maybe I'm I'm denial...ugh

[Mr. Burns]

Been dealing with back pain for better part of two decades. It's stress and degenerative discs. Dr's wanted to fuse my L4 and L5 together and i said NO, I just learn to manage my stress better these day.

Stress? Like daily work/life/family stress?

[jbsjunk]

I had bulged discs that ended up pinching my sciatic nerve mirroring the pain you went thru. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I found a chiropractor that did spinal decompression. You lay on a table and have a strap hooked around your waist and it gets hooked to a winch of sorts and it pulls your back with a certain amount of weight. It took a few times with the weight pull being increased. My back has been much better. No pills or surgery either. It's been a year and move some heavy stuff, just have to be more smart about it now.

[Grand525]

Try NSA (Network Spinal Analysis).
Look it up and decide if it's good for your case.

[Mr. Burns]

I had bulged discs that ended up pinching my sciatic nerve mirroring the pain you went thru. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I found a chiropractor that did spinal decompression. You lay on a table and have a strap hooked around your waist and it gets hooked to a winch of sorts and it pulls your back with a certain amount of weight. It took a few times with the weight pull being increased. My back has been much better. No pills or surgery either. It's been a year and move some heavy stuff, just have to be more smart about it now.

That sounds absolutely like what I need.
To be honest, chiros and the though of them worsening/potentially damaging my spine terrifies me...

Also, can you run/be normal now? I want to be able to keep up to my 6year old...

[deutschman]

One of my friends pulled a chair out from under me in 6th grade, vertically compacting my spine. My back has had issues ever sins. waffleswaffleswaffleswafflesing sucks, but I take care of it and it doesnt act up to much.
My GF is a massage therapist so I get free back treatments, and I got to say it really helps. Not as aggressive as chiropractor.

[jbsjunk]

Worse case is that you should go under the knife but a good chiropractor and x-rays should give them a clear picture. Mine did. I seen the bulged disc. Find one that does spinal decompression. It does work. It feels odd at first, but it's worth it. It won't be a overnight thing either. Stuff takes time.

[M-technik-3]

Stress? Like daily work/life/family stress?

Yes, Body works in strange ways. I used to have a higher demanding job in my other Air Force career field. Now I have a stressful one when I put the stress on myself.

Had many issues between me and my now Ex wife. I am amazed at how little I deal with it now. I do have the issues when it gets bad where the material sticks out of between the the vertebra and it stays that way for a day or two but that is very uncommon these days.

When a dr says he wants to do something I say no for most part these days.

[mrsleeve]

Never had a disk issue, but I threw my back out last Winter (early 2012) at work on a rain day trying to help another crew out with something. I manged to get what I had to do done, Wrenching some bolts on my truck laying flat on my back in a parking lot. Got to the room and my back totally locked up (muscles) and I could hardly walk for the better part of 10 days the pain was so intense ( I have a pretty high pain tolerance) . It took nearly a month before I felt back to normal. I still had to work and hike my ass up and down the hills in N WV in the mud and snow 6 days a week. My assistant had to do way more than his fair share for those 10 days

[Stanley Rockafella]

Been dealing with back pain for better part of two decades. It's stress and degenerative discs. Dr's wanted to fuse my L4 and L5 together and i said NO, I just learn to manage my stress better these day.

it's amazing what stress can do to the physical body. myself, I'm glad I made the choice to not have kids, not get married etc. I look much younger and FEEL better than all my married friends who eat instant garbage foods and are 2-3 years younger than me. When we used to hang out, we all used to have so much energy, now they all seem so tired all the time, even on the weekends...one of them is even going bald...back and stress on the body from sedentary lifestyles seems to be quickly catching up with them. I see their choice in desk jobs as the main cause.

Also, none of them do anything remotely similar to what we used to do back in our university days. I mean heck, we used to all enjoy heading out and picking up chics and just goofing off, now they all seem too busy to even make themselves happy

Oh well, as long as they are happy I guess. They have huge houses and shiney cars. I have an apt and the same car I had in University. I'm surprisingly happier with less...evenif it means less income, it just gives me time to focus on the things I enjoy

[LJ851]

my back has been waffled for the last 20 years or so. There is a 13 degree chicane in my spine, been to chiros off and on and have learned to avoid injuring it on a regular basis like i used to.

Was hauling ass on a four wheeler over a blind hill, 3rd gear sideways, hit a ditch and Superman'd head first into a large tree. That event started the fun.

[Varinn]

As a person with scoliosis I can sympathize with dealing with daily back pains. Mine is not incredibly severe but a constant ache that varies from subtle to 8/10 pains and a permanently twisted posture are reminders that it's still there. My situation is a bit different so I can't offer much in the way of advice but I can say that of all the things I've tried, yoga made the most difference. Yes, yoga. I think it's because it pays such an extreme amount of attention to assuring you can strengthen muscle groups evenly and with minimal extra strain from something like weights that can potentially mess it up even worse. Either way, I haven't had severe back pains in almost 8 or 9 months since I started going once a week or so and that's a huge improvement after 7 years of weekly pains.