Hey man, some real good advice in this thread already:thumb: I herniated a disk (L3 I believe) when I was 20. Back when I raced motocross competivetly I came up short on a double and cased hard. Anyways After Physical therapy, chiropracters, anti-anflamitory's, pain killers, etc.. etc.. I pretty much accepted my back was never going to feel good again. Now 11 years later I went back to the spine specialist and now have 3 herniated disks and arthritis
The doctor recomended surgery but no gaurantee's it would help
I told him I have to think about it, but if I choose to get surgery it would have to be during my down season (Jan/FEB) As the owner/operator of a residential tree service I cant afford to be laid up for 2 months. Alright I will stop boring you with my back issues and give you my best advice, #1 The most important thing you can do is stay positive, your mind is the most powerfull tool in your whole body. If you do not keep a positive outlook on life and consume your day with negative thoughts you will never feel good again. The first doctor I went to 10 years ago said, your mind can keep you healthy or it can kill you. That did not mean a whole lot when he said it to me, but if you put some thought into it, he's right on!! # 2 stay healthy, I can't preach eating healthy, because I don't, but regular exercise and stretching is a must!! Thats really the only benefit I see with physical therapy, you go and they make you stretch and exercise when typically you would put it off because you are already in pain. #3 get off the pain meds, The anti-inflamatory's do help, but the OXY's and such just mask the pain and do nothing to rectify the situation. Also going back to the mental aspect, your brain tells your body you need these pills to function and you develope a dependency, then your back will start to hurt because your brain is telling your body you need these pills. (Hope that made sense?) Do yourself a favor and try stretching for atleast 10min twice a day, more if possible. I stretch when I wake up, before bed, and occasionally during the day if I have time. I would bet money if you used proper stretching techniques and did this for 2 weeks you will notice an improvement. Leaning over a car hood with a bad back is really harsh on your back (AS I KNOW YOU ARE AWARE OF), your muscles are tight and you are often yanking and pulling at wierd angles its a perfect scenario to pull muscles and agrevate nerves near you disks. If you stretch and use the anti-inflamatory's you will be alot less prone to injury and discomfort. Last thing I will suggest is a good nights sleep, even if you need sleep aids, and or a pain killer make sure you get atleast 6hrs of continues sleep, preferably 8hrs but I can't sleep that long. Hope that made sense and help's perhaps, good luck man.
P.S. I still ride motocross, wake board, climb trees, etc, etc, it just takes time and effort to keep myself in shape, mentally and physically even though the pain never goes away I still do the things I love, and enjoy, hopefully you will be able to soon aswell:hug:
