As David and Derek can testify from their visit to Firebase Blue during their Boomershoot trip, I have a tendency to not think before I lift. Two hands on, bend at the knees and let’s see how heavy it is.
It worked for my nearly 40 years, so why change?
Apparently, my body is considering that age to be “getting on in years” since, more often than not, I now wake up having a bit of trouble standing up at first. So, after getting a referral from a trusted co-worker, I’m off for my initial visit to the Chiropractor this morning.
The Wife thinks they’re quacks, so she is coming along to observe (and make fun of any odd noises I may make). We’ll see if it actually is my former “invulnerability” or if I get to go mattress shopping.
The good ones are just that, good. When I do stupid things like bend over and try to lift my 70 pound tool box the wrong way, mine repairs the damage.
Just like with MD’s, there are several different schools of Chiropractice.
Chiropractic will give you immediate relief from pain with the “adjustments”. You will NOT, repeat NOT, get any long term back pain solution out of chiropractic.
The “mis-alignment” chiropractic seeks to improve is caused by two factors, one changeable and one not. The not-changeable one is ageing. As we age, our spinal discs become less than the perfect bearing/cushioning/spacing surfaces Ma Nature designed them to be. They shrink (or get blown out by traumatic overuse), and the spinal segments (vertebrae) get close enough together so that nerve bundles which lead between the vertebrae are clamped on, creating pain and lack of proper muscle response.
With this age-related condition comes muscle cramping, which is what you are experiencing in the morning. The chiropractor can “adjust” (stretch out) those muscles (supposedly in a manner which doesn’t permanently damage them), OR, you can get yourself a $20 inflatable exercise ball, start on a program of daily stretching exercises (they take about 15 minutes to do), and never visit the chiropractor again. You will notice relief after about a week of exercise, which you must follow EXACTLY as to form so as not to do further damage.
Your choice.
BTW, when your spinal discs deteriorate enough, exercise doesn’t work anymore, and surgery is the answer. The Europeans have a disc replacement surgery which replaces a bad disc with a metal appliance that is actually a universal joint. US health-care insurers won’t pay for it, for some administrative reason (probably because the stupid FDA refuses to approve mechanical backs). You can save your bucks up and fly over there and have it done for about $33,000.
I haven’t tried one, but the equipment known as “gravity boots” is said to work as well as either chiropractic OR exercise for immediate pain relief. Basically, you hang upside-down in a harness in a large contraption that will allow you to flip inverted. Your weight does the stretching with the aid of gravity.
Best of luck. These back issues can REALLY cramp your style.
PS: If the medical wallah or ANY persuasion tells you that your problem is weight on your midsection, that person may possibly be partially correct, but only a little. Removing the weight will realign the spine towards a more ideal alignment, but if the discs/muscles are damaged, weight loss does little to improve your situation.
Once the damage is done, little healing occurs.
You CAN protect it from futher damage and improve the pain with weight loss and, more importantly, proper exercising of the abdominial muscles.
The abdominals are the “strength” muscles of the your core, and they need to be in good shape if your back is to have any chance of return to normalcy.
I agree with all three comments thus far, and also recommend mattress shopping if yours is more than about 10 years old.
Lisa and I got a Sleep Number bed last year (the old mattress was about 15 years old), and it made a noticeable improvement for both of us.
I used to do that.
Then one day, my knees told me they weren’t going to tolerate it anymore. They sent this subtle hint, by refusing to support my weight when I stood up.
Rivrdog is partially right. As are others. Here is what my personal experience is.
I have spinal stenosis in the lumbar region. L5-S is naturally fused possibly due to injury when young. L4-L5 & L3-L4 are herniated and surgically treated by removing the bone spurs on the vertebrae, removing the herniation and opening the nerve channels. Chiropractic will help but it is an ongoing need. Find a good one and keep going. Weekly is enough. Sleep number beds did not do it for me as my back is so deteriorated. A Tempurpedic did. They are expensive but the best. They mold to your body and support the spine properly.
More surgery is in my future, I am sure.
BTW, I am 57 yo and in fair shape.
I used to go to a chiropractor who actually was a quack – he used a Toftness Device! But, he also knew how to work on the muscles that I had screwed up and was really inexpensive.
Every other chiropractor I had seen took X-rays on the first visit then just went through the same routine each time. The old quack actually checked my posture each time I went to see him.
I might have gotten the same benefit from either a swedish masseuse, or having a asian woman with talented toes walk on my back, but there’s no way I could afford either of those.
Character in one of David Drake’s books said, as I recall, “Boy, in about 20 years you’re going to start paying for some of the things you do now.”
Getting old sucks, don’t it?