On Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:49:40 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:16:51 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:34:44 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

On 04/17/2011 07:35 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:


Sitting can agravate some kinds of back problems, and the pain can be
there or lower (like in the legs or hips).

YEAH! When I screwed up my back some years ago, I had a Toyota Corolla.
Normally, the seat didn't bother me any, but when my back was in bad
shape, that seat could leave me practically crippled after driving
to/from work. I rolled up a jacket and set it in the angle between
seat- and back-part of the car seat, and it helped immensely. It just
changed the tilt of my pelvis when sitting there, and made a big difference.

Anyway, I hope Iggy's back is starting to clear up, it was NO FUN when I
had that problem. I just lived with it, and it got essentially
completely better, but I have to watch out to not overstress whatever it
is there that is now a weak spot.

I HOPE he went to see a chiro. Most back problems don't just clear up
on their own.
Actually, many do. With rest, anti-inflamitories, and heat.
Depends what's wrong, and how bad.

Those which do are usually minor muscle sprains and/or spasms.
Vertebrae can also pop back into alignment on their own, but that
happens much, much less often.

I had three orthopedic surgeons give me varying diagnoses on my
throacic problem. One wanted to operate (foraminal laminectomy) on
the wrong side, one wanted to fuse bone, and the last offered me a
burnout. Dr. Obenchain was the most noted surgeon in San Diego County
at the time and I was happy to be handed to him. His suggested method
was lauded in Germany, where it originated. Unfortunately, he had
never tried it, so I'd be his guinea pig. He was honest about it and
also gave me his best estimate of my outcome: I had a 50/50 chance of
getting either worse or better, but no chance of remaining the same.
The process was guiding a nice little RF probe down into my spinal
area and blasting it with energy.

Imagine, my very own internal microwave, cooking out nerve fiber for a
few milliseconds. Eek! I thought about it and asked him "If it
works, what happens when I attempt to turn too far and don't feel it?
Couldn't some of my muscles overcome others and I tweak the spine too
far and end up a paraplegic? He agreed that was a possibility,
however slim. I finally told him "Thanks, but no thanks."

A few years later, the pain was considerably better (the katana
stabbing into my shoulder and down into my back had turned to a mere
hatpin), though I had given myself tinnitus from overuse of aspirin.
Having just sobered up, I stayed away from prescription pain meds,
sticking with aspirin. I finally found other NSAIDS, then ibuprofen,
and I take it to this day. (Costco has 2 bottles of 500 bupes each
paired for $9, so I keep Kirkland Pharmaceutical in business.) The
chronic pain is much diminished from what it was, but time and care
have given me a life back. Lying around for a year was agonizing, both
from the pain and boredom.

Tossing around a sheet of 3/4" plywood earlier this week has left me
worse for wear, but I'll get over it. When something goes out and my
narrow bathroom door jamb (or legovers) can't put it right, I go to
the chiro. That's only once or twice a year now, thankfully.

Having gone through all that and having talked to metric gazillions of
back pain sufferers in the past 26 years, I still say that _most_ back
pain doesn't go away by itself, and that which does is usually just
from overwork.

--
Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air...
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson