# Lower back pain



## robz (Apr 18, 2006)

Heya guys, i've always had a fairly achey lower back, but today its worse than ever and i havent done anything out of the ordinary...

I dont do heavy lifting anymore, but my last job involved lifting 25-45kg boxes/sacks and wonder if i've done damage.

If i lie on my back it gives some relief, but more-so if i lie on a rolled up towel or a cushion...

Its not "painful" as-such, but its a niggling ache that does knock my enthusiasm a bit and can kill off my mood when i want to go for a ride...

Any suggestions / ideas from what i've said ?

-Rob


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## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

feel for you Rob, had the same yesterday after walking around in london yesterday.
Got home and my back was killing me
took some ibupfofen and jumped in a hot Radox bath, got up this morning and all gone:thumb:, maybe try that.

Kev


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

Er, going to the doctors might be a good start mate :thumb:


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## robz (Apr 18, 2006)

ITHAQVA said:


> Er, going to the doctors might be a good start mate :thumb:


I plan to...monday week is the soonest i can see my doc.... But want to figure out if i can do something in the meantime.

I find i cant sleep on my side or front anymore either...starting to seriously annoy me.


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## DagenhamGeoff (Mar 20, 2011)

Try lying on your stomach and lift your shoulder and legs up at the same time, many back aches are caused by not arching the back often enough, doing this will stretch the spine and may ease the pain a little...at least until you see your doc :thumb:


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

robz said:


> I plan to...monday week is the soonest i can see my doc.... But want to figure out if i can do something in the meantime.
> 
> I find i cant sleep on my side or front anymore either...starting to seriously annoy me.


It must be bad 
You need to find the most comfortable position & keep the painful areas warm. Go steady on the painkillers.


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## TOGWT (Oct 26, 2005)

TOGWT® Blog article "Exercises to Minimize or Prevent Back Pain" (September) one in a series of in-depth technical articles that make up the i Art and Science of Detailing


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## robz (Apr 18, 2006)

Went off for a drive in the gti and cranked up the lumbar support, feels a lot better now. Think there might just be a weakness there.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

Suffering from a dodgy back for some forty years I can symphasise with your pain.Personally I wouldn't waste time going to a GP, head straight to a recommended Physio or osteopath, your problem may have arisen from a single incident or possibly years of incorrect posture, they will most likely spot your problem in a trice.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

robz said:


> Went off for a drive in the gti and cranked up the lumbar support, feels a lot better now. Think there might just be a weakness there.


A very important point, my Physio asked to see me sitting in my car, only took her a few minutes to work out the best position regarding back posture.


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

see a good chiropractor. don't waste your time with the GP.


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## Jace (Oct 26, 2005)

S63 said:


> Suffering from a dodgy back for some forty years I can symphasise with your pain.Personally I wouldn't waste time going to a GP, head straight to a recommended Physio or osteopath, your problem may have arisen from a single incident or possibly years of incorrect posture, they will most likely spot your problem in a trice.


What he said ^^^:thumb:


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## trhland (Sep 22, 2007)

ive tryd everything chiro is good if u can afford it but less then 3 times a week is a waste fir me si u take endocet every time im in aloto ofo pain an d cant ctand it anymore


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## kings.. (Aug 28, 2007)

ignoring your GP is a stupid recommendation. Low back pain can be an indicator of many other health issues including prostate enlargement BPH.
granted they may suggest referring you to an osteopath or physio therapist; however pharmacological intervention is also required to reduce site inflammation and allow blood and oxygen to circulate thus allowing rehabilitation.

my advice would be go to the doctor and discuss the most appropriate options.


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## JenJen (Jun 30, 2010)

S63 said:


> A very important point, my Physio asked to see me sitting in my car, only took her a few minutes to work out the best position regarding back posture.


Did you know driving with the heated seats on can affect your back and kidneys?! Again my doctor advised me of this... Turned off the heated seats and pain went away!


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## trhland (Sep 22, 2007)

when im home i always have the heating pad on is this ok? my ortho said it was ..


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

kings.. said:


> ignoring your GP is a stupid recommendation. Low back pain can be an indicator of many other health issues including prostate enlargement BPH.
> granted they may suggest referring you to an osteopath or physio therapist; however pharmacological intervention is also required to reduce site inflammation and allow blood and oxygen to circulate thus allowing rehabilitation.
> 
> my advice would be go to the doctor and discuss the most appropriate options.


i'm sorry, but a decent chiro/osteo/physio will be able to tell this far quicker than a GP. a GP instantly assumes it's simple mechanical low back pain to start with unless clear red flags are flying about, they then give you some pills and says come back if it doesn't get better. a GP's case history is generally poor. using BPH won't confuse me either  i know what benign prostatic hypertrophy is. besides, back pain is far from the only symptom of this, and OP hasn't mentioned any other symptoms which might suggest this (or other conditions) OP has not mentioned age, lifestyle, duration of symptoms, any known cause, any family history of similar conditions or known cancers, relieving/aggrevating factors etc etc.

you also mention inflammation. given the (small) case history we have, what is suggesting to you there is an inflammatory response???? none really.

these kind of things are almost impossible to diagnose over the internet, you can't perform a physical exam with observations, palpation, orthopaedic tests online, so no way to tell. i'd still recommend seeing someone else other than the GP first. if, in the rare chance there are any red flags said party with refer you to GP and things will get sorted. if, in the most likely scenario, it is mechnical related, if you go to GP first it will take much longer to get sorted.

Ross.


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## JenJen (Jun 30, 2010)

trhland said:


> when im home i always have the heating pad on is this ok? my ortho said it was ..


I only know about the heat because i was getting serious pain in my lower back/kidney area.

Went to the docs and they advised me excessive heat to that area can irritate it even more. But you can use heat and cold for treating back pain, it just depends what type you have.

Ive had back problems since 98 when i was in a car accident so i try to use this way of treating instead of popping pills.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

abz001 said:


> Did you know driving with the heated seats on can affect your back and kidneys?! Again my doctor advised me of this... Turned off the heated seats and pain went away!


I know heat affects the body and I guess for some conditions it's good and some not so good. What I did do was to get the heating element disconnected for the bottom of the seat and just have it working for the back section which over many years of chauffeuring spending thousands of hours behind the wheel worked a treat. I also learnt much to my surprise that driving an automatic isn't healthy for your spine (one leg redundant) so on a long drive was advised to get movement in my left leg. Above all else getting your seat in the correct position is vital, sadly it's not always the most comfortable position but you grow use to it in no time.


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## kings.. (Aug 28, 2007)

e21_ross... 

Clearly you have had experience thus providing an opinion... however unless you are indeed a clinician yourself advising against consultation with a GP is maybe not the best course of action. A GP within this individuals practice may have a special interest in orthopaedics therefore be extremely well placed to make a informed clinical decision with regards to appropriate treatment pathway. 

Your point correlating to BPH is technically incorrect... it is actually benign prostatic hyperplasia.

The term benign prostatic hypertrophy is also used but technically it is incorrect. Hypertrophy means enlargement of the components without an increase in their numbers as happens with muscle fibres. Hyperplasia is an increase in the number of the components and this is typical of glandular enlargement.

The point am steering towards is self diagnosis can be in many cases inappropriate; men historically don't visit GP's! which is of course counter-productive... 

Anyway good luck with getting it sorted...


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

kings.. said:


> e21_ross...
> 
> Clearly you have had experience thus providing an opinion... however unless you are indeed a clinician yourself advising against consultation with a GP is maybe not the best course of action. A GP within this individuals practice may have a special interest in orthopaedics therefore be extremely well placed to make a informed clinical decision with regards to appropriate treatment pathway.
> 
> ...


yes, i meant hyperplasia, my mistake! been 2 years since pathology classes  i'm a 4th year student of chiro and treat members of the public at the outpatient clinic here at university as part of our clinic experience, i'll be graduating shortly. i still maintain that given the current signs and symptoms there is no apparent need for a GP visit, and that could probably delay a proper diagnosis. the only worrying thing is he gets pain when in bed, however, the OP hasn't stated whether it's purely positional (i.e. he would get the pain during the day in the same position, or that it's worse at night) and doesn't mention any other red flags, he has no neuro signs, no (apparent) bowel/bladder changes, no weight loss etc etc. doesn't sound particularly serious and hopefully some treatment should sort him out. if he goes to GP he may get a physio referral, but may have to wait a long time for this!

i suspect some treatment followed with some well constructed self-exercise programme will help OP out. one episode of past back pain means atrophy of any key spinal muscles (especially multifidus), don't train them back means you're far more prone to further episodes.

but, as already said, impossible to really say without taking a detailed and thorough case history which isn't really possible online unfortunately.

cheers


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## webrey227 (May 31, 2011)

E21_ross said:


> see a good chiropractor. don't waste your time with the GP.


This is true and I agreed with this because I am also experienced and suffered before a lower back pain because I am an athlete. My friend took me to his chiropractor Chandlers Ford and after 2 weeks I can get back running.


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Try laying on your back,pull your knees up and swing them from side to side which should loosen you back up:thumb:


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## Bod42 (Jun 4, 2009)

I serious hurt my back a few years ago while playing rugby and spent a number of months in hospital so I have reserched this topic quite alot.

Due to the modern way we go about life with alot of sitting, i.e behind a computer be it at work or home, in the car and on the sofa this causes the tendons in the front of the hip to shorten. As the tendons are shorter this puts constant stress on the lower back muscles while we are standing and even laying as your lower back muscle are pulling constatly. Some believe this is the cause of 90% of back pain within the population and I would say from what you have discrived and the fact that you get relief when you put a towel under your back that this is the case. You can try Warrior Lunges to stretch your hip flexors a few times a day for a few days and see if that helps.

Also a number of studies habe shown that it isnt your overall and maximum back strength that contributes to a healthy lower back it is actually your muscle endurance. You can do back extention holds to impove your back endurance. A 2 min hold is a sign of reasonable back endurance. 

From personnal experience I agree about skipping the GP and going straight to a Osty or Chiro. I would get one of these to look at you before doing the back extentions as you dont want to work a muscle if things are out of line but the stretching I would recommend straight away


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