Dog Community

back problems (dumdog)

Posted : 11/27/2007 3:22:58 AM

so who all has the pleasure of suffering from this and what do you do to help ease the pain? I remember Callie mentioning peppermint oil? how much does that usually cost and how well does it work? am i going to smell like a candy cane after using it? (not something i'm fond of either)

History*skip if you want Big Smile i wont be offended*

i'm only 25 and have had back problems since fifth grade... i THINK it all started when i fell of my sister's top bunk... bent my tail bone.. could NOT sit down without excruciating breath taking pain .. had to see a chiropractor for a while.. got better... then had a riding accident (was thrown into a tree, as in.. the trunk of the tree met with my shoulder thus stopping my forward motion) injured my shoulder but no real damage except for a while it hurt like the dickens to take deep breaths or walk up hill. that went away eventually only to have something else pop up.... on top of carrying about fifty pounds of books to and from school every day (yes i used them all, no we did not have lockers and no i did wear my backpack on one shoulder like all the cool kids.. i was a reclusive dork always reading) plus i worked on a horse ranch where i worked as hard as most of the men there, carrying fifty pounds of horse feed every day.. Then i had another couple of riding accidents... horse ran out from under me when i didnt except it.. landed on my rear in the middle of the road.. and a year after that was thrown and nearly broke my neck... none of that SEEMED like a big deal... everything healed and never bothered me unless i slept in on weekends. then i would wake up with a killer back ache that wouldnt go away until around noon..

Fast forward to about five years ago... went to another chiro for the back pains. just sitting at the computer or in my college class was horribly painful for my back and i couldnt stand it. So he adjusted my.. RIBS. yep, apparently they can move and will pop out of place which causes back and breathing pain. who knew? of course i couldnt follow his advice of no heavy lifting because if i wanted to keep my horse.. i HAD to work..

Fast forward some more.. all through my second pregnancy i was back to square one... driving was something i hated because it hurt so much. waking up was painful, everything was painful. but i was pregnant! But when i was in the delivery room getting the epidural the anesthesiologist told me my spine was curved to the left... aka scoliosis... which comes from carrying too much weight on one side - that would be from my first son.. carrying him on my left hip because i am right handed.. i guess? anyway he was mostly guessing because he was having a hard time getting the needle in... because my spine was not where it was supposed to be.

After the baby was born much of the pain went away.. it doesnt hurt so much to drive but i still have a constant minor ache.

So fast forward to tonight... my husband and i were goofing off, wrestling around with the kids and dogs - and DH is and always will be stronger than me... and rougher... without meaning to he managed to further hurt my back. feels like a pinched nerve really - and i dont plan on telling him because he'll feel bad about it -

So i'm sitting here dreading lying down because i know its gonna hurt more.. and i KNOW tomorrow morning is going to suck... i also feel like a bad mom because i avoid picking my kids up unless i absolutely have to. mostly i just go down to their level.. and its all because of my fricken 25 yr old back!

i dont normally complain about hurting... my horse ranch boss kinda trained me not to.. "Suck it up!" "what u complaining about??" "Yur not wimping out on me are ya?" ... and saying stuff like that to me is just a challenge.. stupid as it may be..
Also, my mom always complains about every little twinge and its rather annoying to me.. not that i'm not sympathetic to it.... but i have my own hurts... plus the one time i said to her that my back hurt too she thought i was trying to one-up her. she said "So what! yours doesnt hurt as bad as MINE does!!" ... 'scuse me? how would you know that? how COULD you know that?

i know i'm going to break down and go back to the chiro, i dont see many choices in the matter, but i'm still wondering about that scoliosis thing..... i knew a couple of kids in highschool with it. their backs were curved... i always thought they just had bad posture.. no, it was a real problem. I dont slouch, i stand up straight, and have great posture if i do say so myself.... but i have a feeling i've ruined my back good and proper for trying to keep up with a bunch of ranch workers - they all probably have back aches too... - but oh boy do i feel like a first class idiot, and i'm FEELING like one too right now!

i'm severely limited with pain killers too. I'm starting to ween Shane but he still nurses so i dont want to take a chance with pills..

marty_ga

Posted : 11/27/2007 6:55:42 AM

I've got back problems...different ones, though. First off, I would suggest seeing an orthopedic surgeon rather than a chiro. They will do an Xray and maybe send you for an MRI, but will find out if there is a medical reason for what is going on.

You could try using a heating pad, an ice pack, or alternating them every couple hours. One or both may give some relief. Don't do heavy lifting...sorry! Sitting is actually harder on your back than anything else, so don't do it for long periods. Take frequent breaks to walk around and stretch.

A session of physical therapy will give you some exercises to do and teach you how to use your back with less stress on it. An ortho can prescribe that. I have found that orthos and chiros have different ideas on what is best, so I guess it is up to you to decide which one feels better. I know my chiro had me doing things that the ortho said not to, so it was a bit confusing.

I feel for you, back pain is the pits!

Jewlieee

Posted : 11/27/2007 6:56:31 AM

I have been there, done that. Skip the chiro and go see a regular doc to get an xray and/or MRI. You could have a ruptured disk and just keep irritating your nerves because of it. Do you have pain shooting down your leg at all?

If your general doc thinks it's necessary they will refer you to a back specialist (neurologist, something like that)

janetmichel3009

Posted : 11/27/2007 6:57:52 AM

i'm no expert so i dunno if there's a difference in treating back pains that are related to bone problems.. what i do when i get a bad back pain, i will go get a professional massage. not in a massage parlour mind you, but in one of those small chinese doctor's places. these people give KILLER massages and other treatments for back pain. it's not too expensive either. now i realize you dont live over here, but it might be worth checking out, if you can find something related to chinese medicine over there. i dont usually buy into their medical advice much, but i have found they really know how to deal with this kind of thing well. otherwise, just suck it up, tell your husband and have him give you a good massage. also i know there are some topical treatments. could be worth a try. anyways, dunno if any of this stuff is any good to you. hope you find something that works!

Jewlieee

Posted : 11/27/2007 7:04:35 AM

A physical therapist will teach you stretches and back strengthening exercises to help get rid of your weak back and resulting pain while a chiro will just adjust you forever and never cure you.

Maxs Mom

Posted : 11/27/2007 7:36:40 AM

Sorry about the back pain. I can sympathize. I have a sore back, not like yours. Mine is from a severe ankle injury when I was 15 and spending decades protecting my ankle. My spine actually twists as it passes through my hip. I hate annoying back pain. I have taken Naproxen as needed for pain with success, and recently I started taking glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM and my back pain is gone. I too ride horses, and before the supplement I could not sit the trot or canter and I would be quite sore after riding. That is GONE!!!! YIPPEE!!! I don't believe in chiropractors, so I would go with the advice of having a doctor look at your back. When I finally brought it up with my doctor (that took years too) he sent me for physical therapy. That helped A LOT!!! It was bad at first, but after a couple visits I didn't want to leavve.

Liesje

Posted : 11/27/2007 8:18:32 AM

Sophomore year of high school I pinched a nerve in my lower back doing gymnastics. Instead of having to quit outright, I switched to a two-event gymnast (bars and beam). No more tumbling for me :( For the first few months, it hurt to breath. It hurt to even touch the outside of my back. The worst pain was first getting into bed and night and lying down, like my back had to decompress for a while. Ouch.

Basically, I just gave it time to heal. I was always a two event gymnast from that point on and never tumbled on "hard" surfaces, just the trampoline. It took about a year and a half before the pain slowly went away. I took normal NSAIDS on a bad day and paid attention to my posture. I think gymnastics helped a great deal because we already do hours of stretching and conditioning exercising, including ones for the lower back (lie flat on your stomach, tuck your heels under a couch or have someone hold them, put a few of the biggest text books you can find on the back of your head and hold them there, do reverse crunch-ups until you die).

I've always passed on cortisone injections (for my back and arthritis in my foot). I prefer to do exercises and stretches and take OTC meds on bad days. As a gymnast, I needed to know when it was too much. If the pain got bad again, I knew I was pushing it and needed to lay off it for a while. If it came back now, I might be more open to injections, but at that point I needed to have the pain in order to not injure myself even further.

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/27/2007 8:41:37 AM

You definitely need to see what's going on -- however, if you will email me I will send you my little article that talks about all the things I do for pain management for me and the dogs. I can't take ANY of the big guns nsaids -- they make me violently ill. And I've had arthritis since I was a child. Same type of problems you have had.

Peppmint oil and wintergreen both work really well. Health store item -- should be under $10. The more oil you use the more heat you get, the more you rub the more heat you get.

I get a couple of oil blends I get online -- man they work great. Yes, there is a lingering mint scent -- but it's better than Ben Gay. But there's a pretty wide choice of which one helps you the most.

But I actually need an EMAIL from you -- cos I can't attach the article to a PM.

DumDog

Posted : 11/27/2007 12:12:45 PM

thanks everyone for the advice :D i'm lucky that my sister inlaw is a physical therapist.. but yes i'm going to have to go to my doctor see what she thinks or recommends.

Liesje, the reverse crunch sounds interesting lol i might try that just for the heck of it..

and no, dont have pains in my leg, but.. my mom does... all the time.. she'll be walking along and suddenly start limping, quite dramatically but i know what that can be like as i was kicked in the leg by a horse once - limped for almost a week -

this being a college town (FSU Noles town) there is no shortage of pain and back specialists.. all different types and opinions so i'm lucky again that i have a selection lol

and yep i think i'm gonna get my husband to try to rub it out. it feels better when i do it, but its in a hard to reach place between my shoulder blades....