I’m not looking for medical advice, but more understanding. I have chronic back pain. I can alleviate it completely with only 2 things - alcohol and a heating pad. Ibuprofen lessens it but it’s still present. Muscle relaxers do nothing (which makes sense because it’s not muscle related, it’s spinal disk degeneration).
A tall glass of whiskey makes my back relax and I can move normally. Once it wears off tho, it’s right back to tense and painful.
To piggyback on another comment. Massage. I’m a massage therapist who sees clients with disk issues all the time.
99% of the time it’s because of shortened hip flexors (your psoas attached to your bottom vertebrae and as it shortens, is too tight to let your spine stretch which then just crushes your disks) due to both extended time in a seated position as well as a weak core. Stretch, get a massage, find a PT to help with chronic back pain. Start doing crunches before bed.
Also drink more water. Only kinda related but basically everyone should be drinking more water.
Piggyback?! Bro, people are in enough pain in this thread!
Oh, take my damn upvote you punny bastard. 😂
Hip hooks are also great for getting at those muscles, which are otherwise very difficult to stretch.
Strengthening my core literally straightened my spine significantly and improved my lordosis. It’s like putting on a corset.
But also, if you can’t really do crunches, leg raises and planks are good too.
Idk what happened but over the weekend my back went to hell in a hand basket. I’m usually in pretty good shape but this went from 0-100 immediately. I’ve heard some good things about the GIBoard for core strength and stability so I’m looking to see if that helps. It’ll help me with stretching too so hopefully that’ll do something…
Ok, that giboard actually looks kind of awesome…does it easily someone like 140-250lbs?
The only minor detail for me might be that my balance is totally shit.
If alcohol works it might be neuropathic pain and then this could work on it as well, using some of the same mechanisms of action as alcohol
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabapentin
But I dislike giving medical advice as am not a doctor. Something to research at least.
Maybe it has to do with its effects on GABA receptors? Have you ever tried something like gabapentin or pregabalin?
Might be neuropathic.
If so, they give gabapentin out like candy, it is addictive tho so you may want to consider it “as needed” even tho they’ll want you to take it on a schedule.
Gabapentin isn’t addictive as far as I’m aware, but pregabalin aka lyrica is. Both do similar things
I have neuropathic pain and acupuncture has helped manage it so I can stay away from these kinds of medicine. Might be worth giving a shot (if nothing else you get a nap, which I always welcome).
alcohol is a muscle relaxer. Go to chiro or massage.
Go to chiro
If OP does do that, please, please, please get informed on what the history is around chiropractic adjustment, and then determine which practitioner (not doctor since they aren’t medically licensed) fits your needs and acceptable methodology.
Chiropractic practice originated around spiritualism, and to some it’s a con man’s version of osteopathic treatment.
Chiropractic adjustment reportedly works for some people, but there are many practitioners out there that may do more harm than good.
While I do agree to an extent. This isn’t true across the board. My chiro is also a license doctor for example. Definitely do some homework. But Chiro, generally, works great for back\spine issues. I would be a complete mess with out my chiropractor.
But they’re a doctor. They get the title Dr from being a doctor and not a chiro. Chiros are allowed to call themselves doctors in many places for some damn reason.
No, he is an MD\Physician and a Chiro (in my case)
But Chiro, generally, works great for back\spine issues
citation needed, because as far as I know, no efficacy from ‘chrio’ has ever been demonstrated, this is not surprising since its not science based.
Well, I know people like to say this, but I’ve been going to Chiro for over 12 years and I would say the “not based in science” thing feels false largely. I’ve had slipped discs, nerve compression, and a misaligned vertebra that I get treated for. The adjustments bring me great results time and time again.
Even the Mayo clinic agrees that chiro has benefits. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/chiropractic-adjustment/about/pac-20393513
Don’t just believe whatever you hear about health stuff. Too much misinformation out there.
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At times, it’s like doing physical therapy. It helps but doesn’t cure things, usually you are doing it in conjunction with Physical Therapy. I only go when I need to personally. Sometimes I don’t go for over a year or two, then I’ll have short stint of treatment, then back to time off.
Neither options will solve the problem though
Solve is kind of a strange word to use, because it certainly CAN solve it. For instance, relieving compressed nerves for sciatica for example, something I have treated on and off in my life, chiro has helped me with this more than ANYTHING else I’ve tried.
I’ve got a degerative disease called Anklyosing Spondylitis, bit of a tongue twister but also my pelvis is splintering due to arthritus associated with the condition so very painful. I find dicofenac works pretty well for flare ups but sometimes I’ll switch over to booze if I’m going out since that works better. NB: I don’t mix booze with the NSAID if I can avoid it, might just intersect at the tail end.
Opiates work better for the pain too but that’s a whole other can of worms I try to avoid opening.
I’ve read a lot of comments.
My personal experience is very different than what people are saying, maybe it applies to you, maybe it doesn’t.
I have the same thing over my life with different types of pain. I would be given different pain relievers from surgeons, dentists, doctors, etc. For the most part it did fuck all.
Now that I am decades older and I’ve gone through all this bullshit, I basically learned that I’m immune to most painkillers. I metabolize caffeine very quickly and codeine and morphine are in the same family - so they’re useless on me!
Freezing at the dentist always took double or triple. And very often the dentist would have to stop mid procedure and reapply freezing.
These are just a few, but certainly not all of my experiences, being completely baffled at the ineffectiveness of painkillers.
My friends could never understand why I was so blasé when I was prescribed heavy duty medications. And I could never understand why they were doing flying cartwheels to get them off me. It makes a lot more sense now that I figured shit out.
And like you, I turned to alcohol, actually at the advice of one of my oral surgeons who finally just said “look go home drink a 6 pack you won’t feel any pain”.
Let’s leave all the completely unethical recommendations out of the discussion for now, and accept the fact that we now have more knowledge about painkillers than we did back in the day.
All of this to say, you may be just simply immune to painkillers. There’s a variety of reasons for that, and it’s no sense trying to explore those in the comments with laypeople like myself.
But on to any advice that I might give you? Perhaps not advice per se… but to tell you that what I did which helped me and perhaps it will help you.
I finally got over all my chronic pain by stretching and strengthening. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, certain parts of it were hell. I went to an athletic therapist who made me cry, but made me stand up straight. And I devoted myself to doing all the exercises and stretches… yes… 45 minutes every 2nd day for like 10 weeks. But damn did it pay off. That initial investment (not trying to half-ass it or go through the motions) got me to a certain plateau where I barely have to stretch anymore, my body is pretty happy.
I sincerely hope any of this applies to you and can be used but if not oh well maybe it will help someone else!
because alcohol relaxes muscles and all the medications doctors give as muscle relaxants in the past 20 years are placebos
In your face, nondrinkers! 😂
What you’re really asking is “why do some drugs work for me, while others don’t?”
I’d bet there are some prescriptions that would work for you and probably a number of other “recreational” drugs too
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