8 Simple Steps to Healing Back Pain

Sorry to hear all of the suffering people are experiencing above. I've had several terrible bouts with back pain involving the sciatic nerve and my lower back. the first lasted 9 mo the second 6mo the third 6mo and I've had 2 acute attacks (unbelievably painful and scary). I have herniated discs between my L4,L5 and C5 and C6 and the worst arthritis in neck my orthopedic doc has ever seen in someone my age, according to him (funny I've never ever had any neck pain)
I tried everything, don't sit in that chair, drive with a pillow behind my back, don't run, accupuncture, drugs. My wife almost left me and I can't blame her I was miserable to be around, always lying on the floor, always in terrible pain 24-7.
My brother and fellow back pain sufferer (btw our father died the day after a disc laminectomy) turned me on to Dr. John Sarno. I was skeptical at first and even after reading and accepting his book, Healing Back Pain it took quite some time for me to grasp the concept. The pain is real but it is psycosomatic. For me each pain experience has been a repression of deep dark subconsious emotions.
My 3rd chronic episode started around Christmas when my son was 4 years old, My father died Christmas day when I was four years old. It took me 6mo but the minute I realized that I resented my son for having what I didn't have the pain disappeared almost instantly. The pain was created by my brain to distract me from the childish primitive feelings my subconsious was having, it was trying to keep those incredibly painful feelings from reaching the surface. I've never met Dr. Sarno, but his book saved my life and my relationship with my wife. If you are open minded you may want to try his book Healing Back Pain. Again I have no connection with Dr. Sarno or his practice or his book (I am for real). I am just so grateful that I'm totally active physically again, I run, I hike and I'm an avid sea kayaker, I take long sea kayak trips over

I am 32 years old and have had back pain (lower and upper)for half my life, The first thing I did was to loose some excess weight, (Its not hard if you eat 6 small meals a day and nothing 4 hours before bedtime, the hardest part is telling people where to get off when they insist that you eat everything that they offer! you may e-mail me at Richied26@aol.com for advice and support. I will be happy to help )secondly I still have to stretch everyday,inversion tables work well if used properly, I also stretch my lower back and releive mt sciatic nerve by grabing a horizontal pole or the bed side of my pickup truck (something chest high)and with my legs together I squat down as far I can go for 30 seconds relaxing my back muscles only useing my arms to hold myself and then repeat 5 or 6 times utill I feel beter>

I'm a massage therapist, and i do trigger point massage. My mentors say that about 70% of chronic pain comes from trigger points. Trigger points are also known as 'painful points', or 'yipe points'. They small tension knots that can form at more or less specific places on muscle fibers in every muscle of the body. There are potentially a bit over 620 potential trigger points of which only a few may be active.

Trigger points are notable in that a trigger point in one place causes pain in another. One of the best examples of this is arthritic knuckles and fingers. These are caused by trigger points in the extensor muscles of the forearm. So, if you have painful knuckles, back of hand, and/or back of fingers, extent you hand with the palm down and resting on something (your leg, a table, etc). Feel the muscles about 1 - 2 inches below your elbow joint with the tip of a finger or your thumb tip. Don't be afraid to press hard. If it is painful, you have trigger points there. To work them out, press on them like ;you were trying to stick a stamp onto a piece of paper and the glue doesn't work. Work the point for 15 to 30 seconds and if it doesn't go away, then work it (or them) 4 or 5 times a day for as long as it takes ...which may be 4 or 5 months.

In the back pain you're talking about (lower back, mostly), trigger points in the Quadratus lumborum muscle, trigger points cause a generalized pain across the back along the top of the hips. There are also trigger points in the Gluteus muscles which do the same thing.

The book to get is a self-help book called "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" by Clair Davies. It is a book that is easy to use, easy to read, has good diagrams and real-world explanations. It costs $15 (+ shipping) from Amazon.com

Given that 70% of all chronic pain is caused by trigger points, it is important to see if they are indeed the cause, cuz the other 30% can be a sight more seri

Further to Robert Johnson's helpful comments and advice, I also would like to recommend some good preventative courses of action, i.e., If you have a back injury, lying flat on the floor with knees bent is a good way to start out each day, and it will help the muscles to relax and will help adjust the spine.

Knowing how to get to the floor position is important.

First, get down on your knees and lower yourself to the floor on either your left or right side, then, roll over gently onto your back. Breathe deeply, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. (focus on oxygen and 'light' bathing the sore area and bringing healing -- physician, heal thyself). After 3 or 4 minutes lying flat on your back with knees bent, try lifting first one leg, then the other, one at a time. Place both feet on the floor (still keeping knees bent) and raise the hips up slowly and then lower yourself back down again three or four times.

Often you will get some adjustment in your back and neck by just doing a few simple moves while relaxed. You can then try gently pulling your knees up to the chest, wrap your arms around your knees and roll gently from side to side. focusing on your lumbar area of the back. (This always gives me great relief from back pain, especially if I get the adjustment going on -- I mean, who needs a chiropractor when that happens)?

Finally, and this is important, when coming to your feet afterwards, you want to roll back onto one or the other side of your body, and then get in a kneeling position again using your arms and legs for support and lift. Now you can get to your feet without doing your back an injury. Once you're on your feet again, focus on an object somewhere straight ahead of you in the distance and walk towards it keeping your ear holes lined up with your shoulders and hips. (A good thing to remember to do when walking, which as the article says, is very good for you).

Someone shared the above with me t

I have had back problems for about 18 years, mild scoliosis and moderate to severe degenerative disease with an intradural lipoma pressing on the nerve root canal. I was in the military until about 3 years ago, they wanted to do surgery and fuse the discs. I refused since this would limit my activities in the garden and taking care of my critters. I have discovered that one thing that triggers extreme pain is pressure on my back. Lumbar support in a chair can cause enough pain that I can't walk. Ironically, I have found that the belt that I had to wear as part of my uniform was a large part of my problem, it pressed on my back in a bad place. Since I retired and no longer have to wear the belt, I have very few bad days. I have been out moving wheelbarrows of compost and double digging beds in the garden, and it doesn't bother me. Good advice in the article... stay as active as possible, though I would add that if it's a recurring problem, see if you can pinpoint what triggers it. Sometimes the 'cure' is as easy as taking off your belt. I have since talked to other people who also say that wearing a belt makes thier back hurt.

I have had a herniated disc for about 35 years. The advice in this article is good. I have managed to live with it pretty good. A good chiropractor helped me get on the road to recovery. After I first hurt my back I listed to the right about 15 degrees. I couldn't stand straight. I am a truck driver. Had to get off freight and pull a tanker for a year or so until I got things under control. One thing that really helps me if hip gets to hurting from the sciatic nerve, is to lie on my back and draw my knees up to my chest for a few minutes. Also if you sleep on your back, put a pillow under your knees. If you sleep on your side a pillow between you knees helps. I am 69 now and still drive truck part time and do some farming. I am just finishing up building a 40'X 50' workshop. So there is life after back injury.

WARNING!!!! If you have incontinence or numbing down your legs .... get to your doctor or emergency room immediately. You have a three hour window before irreperable paralysis!!! I herniated my disk with a slight tear this summer and experienced both symptoms above. Turns out that the nucleus inside the disk seeped out of a minor tear and pressed against one of the equinus nerves. I was lucky I had great doctors; had I not gotten in when I was supposed to, I was told I faced partial paralysis in my right leg.