Lower back pain

[palikona]

This week I’ve been continuing to put heat on the lower back with success. It had generally been feeling better except for a very small bit of tightness in one spot...until I woke up this morning to fairly painful pain in my right lower back. Decided to go see my chiropractor, who’s helped in the past. He adjusted me, told me to do some easy walking, and do some light stretching every 20-30 mins while working (I’m on the computer all day). Hoping it continues to heal.

 

[martyg]

This week I’ve been continuing to put heat on the lower back with success. It had generally been feeling better except for a very small bit of tightness in one spot...until I woke up this morning to fairly painful pain in my right lower back. Decided to go see my chiropractor, who’s helped in the past. He adjusted me, told me to do some easy walking, and do some light stretching every 20-30 mins while working (I’m on the computer all day). Hoping it continues to heal.

Suggestion... and not being a smartass....

I get the realities of having to be at a computer screen all day. My professional life was spent on CAD programs, and on flights to Asia. I can barely sign my signature, much less write a sentence. Too much keyboard time. Writing is a vestigial skill for me.

Really, really look into drills for hip and lumbar mobility. Sitting will just kill that aspect of mobility. You will thanks me when you are 60. Regardless if you are skiing, throwing a ball, a kick, or hoisting your SO over your shoulder in a caveman move, that power comes from hip mobility. The more mobility, the better you can move in dynamic situations, stay balanced, and exert power.

Chiropractors are great at temporary relief and alignment. I adore mine. They are not, however, addressing core drivers of conditions.

I think that you are in CO? Look up Michael at zither Howard Head Clinic in Vail.

Best to you.

 

[djetok]

This week I’ve been continuing to put heat on the lower back with success. It had generally been feeling better except for a very small bit of tightness in one spot...until I woke up this morning to fairly painful pain in my right lower back. Decided to go see my chiropractor, who’s helped in the past. He adjusted me, told me to do some easy walking, and do some light stretching every 20-30 mins while working (I’m on the computer all day). Hoping it continues to heal.

Look for some 315 extreme relief. It's made in Longmont. It has arnica in it as well as the cbd.

 

[palikona]

Suggestion... and not being a smartass....

I get the realities of having to be at a computer screen all day. My professional life was spent on CAD programs, and on flights to Asia. I can barely sign my signature, much less write a sentence. Too much keyboard time. Writing is a vestigial skill for me.

Really, really look into drills for hip and lumbar mobility. Sitting will just kill that aspect of mobility. You will thanks me when you are 60. Regardless if you are skiing, throwing a ball, a kick, or hoisting your SO over your shoulder in a caveman move, that power comes from hip mobility. The more mobility, the better you can move in dynamic situations, stay balanced, and exert power.

Chiropractors are great at temporary relief and alignment. I adore mine. They are not, however, addressing core drivers of conditions.

I think that you are in CO? Look up Michael at zither Howard Head Clinic in Vail.

Best to you.

Thank you!

 

[Scrundy]

I’ve had lower back pain for years. Chiropractor and anti inflammatory and stretching helps a lot. Chair lift rides also help, when on a double riding single I grab the left and right frames and twist. A lot of times it will do the same job as chiropractor and pop it back in. I can always tell when I need adjusting when my wife tells me I am standing crooked. When really acting up I wear a back brace for a couple of days, also helps. When skiing I also generally take one hit CBD in smoke form
( just a taste) and pain goes away. Just a note my back pain is deep spine and will always be there till I get cut open. Keep moving humans have been dealing with back pain since the beginning of time, I guess just a poor design flaw of us humans.

 

[Teppaz]

I got bad lower-back pain after a particularly intense (and long) game of tennis just before Christmas. Here's what worked for me — emphasis on "for me," but I think this will apply to quite a few people with lower-back pain. It took me weeks of gradual improvement but I'm getting there: I just went to Killington for 3 days and the first two and a half were pain-free; a bit of pain the last few hours so I stopped.

- deep-tissue massages with a guy who really knows what he's doing (he had helped me get rid of a bout of tennis elbow and even plantar fasciitis). You've got to work the entire body.
- stretching 3 times a day (when I wake up, middle of the day, before going to bed) with emphasis on glutes, quads, addutors and hamstrings. Using resistance bands helps.
- after stretching, I roll my legs with a massage stick. It hurts but it works. I even brought the stick to Killington.
- heat pad after the evening stretch.
- breaking stretches at the computer with pauses where I stand up and loosen up.
- better hydration. I tend to not drink enough water so I have to remind myself to improve. It also seems to help.
- Advil when needed, but I've been trying not to overdo it.

It seems like a lot but it doesn't take that much out of the day.

 

[palikona]

Lower back has been doing well while skiing since that episode back in January. However, what I’ve noticed recently is that when hiking or walking over a couple of miles, my lower back hurts and then the next day, it’s sore/stiff?
What stretches/strengthening should I been doing?

 

[djetok]

Lower back has been doing well while skiing since that episode back in January. However, what I’ve noticed recently is that when hiking or walking over a couple of miles, my lower back hurts and then the next day, it’s sore/stiff?
What stretches/strengthening should I been doing?

This worked only bulging disc and sciatica. of course I already owned a inversion table from other previous attempts. Most of the time i did not do the inversion step.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

Inversion table, cbd cream, heating pad, and specific stretches help my back - my problem is from a degenerate L5-S1 disc.

 

[Wilhelmson]

For me skiing actually fixes my back but the driving doesn't help at all. I'm in a tough spot right now though because after flipping on my bike in November I've had to lay off the core work and do yoga, which is good but doesn't get you that strong.

 

[karlo]

Yes

 

[Coach13]

I’m living the life of lower back pain myself these days. After a major plumbing issue that required me to pulled up and reset about 500 stone pavers in a 3 day span, it’s been hitting me hard on and off now for over a week now. It’s purely muscular imo, since it tends to cramp up or spasm when bending over or turning while bending and tends to mostly disappear once upright and moving around. I’ve been trying to do some light stretching which has helped some and have been pumping the Advil. Hopefully this will pass soon, but it gives me an appreciation for what folks with real back issues deal with.

 

[Wilhelmson]

I’m living the life of lower back pain myself these days. After a major plumbing issue that required me to pulled up and reset about 500 stone pavers in a 3 day span, it’s been hitting me hard on and off now for over a week now. It’s purely muscular imo, since it tends to cramp up or spasm when bending over or turning while bending and tends to mostly disappear once upright and moving around. I’ve been trying to do some light stretching which has helped some and have been pumping the Advil. Hopefully this will pass soon, but it gives me an appreciation for what folks with real back issues deal with.

Mine is muscular but it sure felt worse. One trip to the ortho/pt and I could touch my toes again. It's 2 miles from work so it took about an hour from checking, xray, then meet with the pt.

They gave me some specific exercises to do - about 400 back twist type stretches of different varieties. Get's a little boring. Been walking everyday too but only light mountain biking 1 or 2x a week.

So if it won't cost you too much just go get it fixed.

 

[Ksurby]

Has anyone ever used any sort of back brace/compression type wrap while skiing and do you think it was useful?

I strained my back a few days ago, not doing anything wild, just got more and more sore the last few runs of the day. I have herniated a disc a few times in the past and have a history of back pain while skiing. Some days I feel great, some days it just kind of flares up out of no where.

Just curious if these things can help at all.

 

[freeskier1961]

suffered lower back issues for years (over 40 years)
S1-L5 sacralization
L4-L5 herniation-resolved itself
L3-L4 herniations- 2 surgeries to resolve
osteoarthritis in lower back now

What works for me
-strengthen core
-stretch hamstrings, hip flexors regularly, apparently men have tight hamstrings which tends to tilt pelvis causing lower back issues
-CORRECT fore aft alignment with PROPER forward lean in ski boots
-socialized medical coverage

good luck!

 

[pchewn]

I suggest longer ski poles to avoid future back pain. Especially when skiing the bumps, I find longer poles help my back from getting sore.

 

[Henry]

If it lasts more than a few days do get a doctor's evaluation. I went to a pain clinic where the doc has three steps on the ladder...PT, if that doesn't work then steroid shots, if that doesn't work then deaden the nerve. I have arthritis plus likely some disc damage from the symptoms I have. So far the PT plus responsible weight exercises and yoga has made a huge difference for me.

This is the most responsible set of exercises I've found: https://thrive.kaiserpermanente.org...5/09/Low-Back-Pain-Exercises_tcm28-181043.pdf

About core exercises--you gott'a do the right ones or you'll make the back worse. You want to work the group of muscles that circles the trunk, a girdle of muscle. I think it's the transverse group, and these help support the back. There are others including back exercises that can either strengthen or irritate the area. If something doesn't feel good, don't do it. Do get professional advice.

 

[S.H.]

Has anyone ever used any sort of back brace/compression type wrap while skiing and do you think it was useful?

I strained my back a few days ago, not doing anything wild, just got more and more sore the last few runs of the day. I have herniated a disc a few times in the past and have a history of back pain while skiing. Some days I feel great, some days it just kind of flares up out of no where.

Just curious if these things can help at all.

On days when I'm not wearing a back protector with a wrap, I use something like this.

I find it helps me. Maybe just by keeping those muscles a bit warmer, or maybe placebo. Lots of racers or ex-racers use something like that.

 

[cragginshred]

My daily stretch routine -from a PT's clinical perspective:

And ice it!!

Step one -Manage pain
Step two -begin core work
Three -return to Skiing!! But, keep stretching

Being told to: just wear a brace, or do crunches does not stretch the hip flexors or piriformis musculature. They are addressing symptoms not the cause.

What do we do on the way to the resort, on the way home and when we get home?
Sit -this flexes the hips and those muscles get very tight. The origin of the muscles insert into the rear of top portion of the pelvis and the transverse process of the vertebral bodies.

Picture cables pulling on your low back. That's the effect of tight musculature. the older we get the less elasticity our muscles have to add insult to injury so to speak.

Also the piriformis muscle crosses over the sciatic nerve and can press on it causing radiculopathy or numbness tingling. Thus the figure 4 stretch I'm doing in the vid with my foot on the door jam for leverage and cross the other one over.

Best of luck!

 

[Aquila]

S1-L5 sacralization

Oh neat, i have this too. Apparently it's not wildly uncommon, but i haven't come across anyone else who has it - I suppose not everyone has had such enduring back pain that they've ended up with an xray of their spine!

My PT work echoes the same thing everyone else in this thread has said. Stretch the hip flexors, strengthen the core, also strengthen the glutes (to help stop the pelvis falling into APT) . I have some gentle mobility work as many of my lumbar vertebrae have such tight musculature surrounding them that they're effectively locked in place, causing my spine to "hinge" in certain spots when i bend it. (rather than the whole spine curving) These locked vertebrae should be fixed/relaxed in the long term as a result of the rest of the PT work I'm doing, hopefully.