Should have listened

[747mopar]

I can't tell you how many times I heard "son don't pick that up you'll regret it later". I'm hear to tell you I should have listened. I raced motorcross for years, sometimes hitting jumps tapped out in fifth gear and flying 115 feet threw the air, built my house using ALLOT of natural sand stone for the walls "all set in place by hand", and loading firewood "well it's not all fun and games anymore". I messed it up pretty bad about 10 yrs ago building the house then boogered it up on a jump while riding and now picking up a chunk of firewood I had no business lifting. I've had two miserable months of agony with no let up so Wed is D Day, going to a specialist "wish me luck". Ironically the only thing that gives me relief is working on my car, I think it's because I'm up, down, under, over and always changing positions. Whatever the reason my wife has her doubts "it does sound fishy" like a good excuse to go to the garage, but it's true.

 

[tallhair]

man i feel for you and wish you well i know the back pain all to well. when i was young and strong i abused my body way to hard ... and fell off a ladder but anyway good luck with the specialist and be very "picky" about back surgery and specialists.

 

[Budnicks]

I feel your pain

get well soon.... :iamwithstupid: Kind of pretty fishey...LOL...sounds like a good reason to work on the car, instead of the dreaded, every married mans, "honey do list" to me...too

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I have two severely compressed disks, 3 kind of bad vertebrae, in my upper back, from a car wreck 20+ years ago now, I literally feel your pain... Go to a couple of specialist, don't just take the 1st opinion... My high dollar back/spine specialist/surgeon actually told me, I would probably suffer more discomfort for life, from scare tissue & effects of the fusion or from surgery, than the actual original injury, unless the disks actually do rupture, then it will have to be done... So I just deal with it, the pain comes & goes, especially if I over do it sometimes, I can't sit for too long, in any one spot or position, stretch allot & walk allot, seems to help, it's better now than 10 years ago, if it keeps going that way I'll be a happy camper... I'm sure back surgery or other medical procedures are much better & less evasive now... I'm about 1-3/4" shorter, than in my prime, was 6'2" now I'm just over 6'...LOL... good luck

 

[67 coronet]

i power lifted semipro for about 6 years,stupidest thing i could have ever done to my body.the muscle cramps and back pain i get now a days would make many people throw up.DO NOT GET BACK SURGERY UNLESS YOU THINK YOU ARE GONNA DIE OTHERWISE!looked into that a couple times and finally had a nurse from a back pain institute tell me people end up with more pain rather then less about 75% of the time!i go to a cyropractor pretty regular now and that has solved alot of my pain problems.if you go that rout,make sure he adjusts stuff by twisting rather then pulling.makes a big difference in how effective the treatments are.(i did a ton of research to find that out the hard way)

 

[roadrunnerman]

Good luck on the visit, I feel your pain. Haven't done anything brutal to my back but if I stay in 1 position for too long, it takes me awhile to get mobile.

 

[747mopar]

Thanks guys, I've been hearing the same things "no surgery". The main reason I want to see a specialist is to find out once and for all what the problem is. I feel like if I know what the problem is I should be able to deal with it better. I've had so many mixed diagnoses from the chiropractor and family Doc I just want to know what it is. I'm not sold on the chiropractor and I've heard they can really mess you up. I went to my chiropractor when my back was all jacked up and he really helped it, on the other hand when he popped it back in that's when the other problems started like sore ***, leg tingling, sensitive nuts "yeah that sucks" and the constant discomfort. I went a few more times but got concerned when nothing ever got better. Sorry to hear Budniks, you sound allot like me, can't sit for long "hell I can't remember the last time I ate at the table", have to stay on the move and stretch. It really sucks because I've always been really active with my kids "playing and goofing off" now I feel like **** because they don't understand why I can't. I can guarantee you that I'll be allot more responsible about things after this. Anybody ever use a teeter hang up? I often wondered if taking the weight off for periods of time would help things straighten out or maybe even help with pinched nerves. Thanks for the tips 67 Coronet, I'm not against chiropractors and they have helped "just getting a second opinion". I'm fairly confident that it's a compressed disc. The worst incident was when I took a hard hit on a jump (hard landing) 4 hours later the ambulance had to come and get me because the pain was so bad I couldn't move and I was about to piss myself. The hospital did nothing but dope me up to the point my wife said I was pissing in parking lot LOL, the chiropractor was the one who finally fixed it. Oh yeah and my insurance sucks $5000 deductible. Anyways, I sold the bike and used the money to start the Charger project "if do another" Love those 67's. Thanks guys

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[Moparsmitty]

Remember the old saying " A little hard work never hurt anybody"? I'm here to call Bullsh*t on that.
A lot of us old guys have bad backs from years of abusing our bodies. I agree with these guys that surgery is a last resort, it's risky and only helps about half the time. I've had back trouble for more than 30 years now and I just have to be careful to not do anything stupid to get it acting up again. Seems like it goes sh*thouse about 2 or 3 times a year but I've found out that I'm better off to just keep going rather than laying around waiting to get better. Resting doesn't seem to make any difference and I don't like to take painkillers for more than a few days because they burn up my stomach.
I saw an old orthopedic surgeon years ago and he told me not to let anybody operate on my back unless I got to where I couldn't walk, then we could talk about it. Sounds like good advice to me. Good luck to you and I hope that you can have a total recovery.

 

[ws27]

I feel you pain too, maybe not as much, but I've had back trouble for about 12 years and I'm only 42. Can't sleep for more that 5 hours, and it goes in and out when ever it wants. One suggestion is to try accupuncture. It can work mircles.

good luck on the visit.

 

[Dennis H]

I too have disc problems. Wake up and walk like a pretzel for the first hour. Epidurel shots around once every two years on a bad flare up help. Can still work as I have a somewhat easy job when it comes to the physical aspect. Good luck. Go easy on the pain pills. I only take an Aleve when it is really bad maybe once a week half dose.

 

[kb67mopar]

My father uses an inversion table (not teter hang ups but same thing) and says it helps him quite a bit. My grandfather has had back trouble for around 35-40 years now and his saving graces are stretching and walking. the more he does of the two the better he feels.

As for working on the car making you feel better...I think I understand that. The activities we contort ourselves with are basically stretching exercises. Talk to your specialist and ask for exercises to help with your particular issue and DO THEM. I've seen the results with my eyes but you have to discipline yourself.

 

[Dennis H]

I do the inversion table every morning after being up an hour or so. Works wonders. It helps.

 

[747mopar]

I think I'll check into the inversion table, can't hurt. Thanks again