Originally Posted by
Erik Loza
I've had this type of conversation with both my GP and with my chiropractor, who does primarily sports rehab.
The GP told me that chondroitin/glucosamine (which I had been taking for years) may or may not really be of benefit in humans. According to him, animals for some reason seem to benefit more from it than people. I still take it, however.
My chiro tells me that no matter what, the biggest enemy is weight and then, lack of muscular development that supports the various joints. I don't have knee problems but do have lower back problems and have made two observations. First, it sometimes comes and goes for factors I either don't understand or am not fully aware of. Because of this, I hesitate to "attribute" feeling better to a particular additive or supplement, especially since low level additives like that sometimes take months to cause any meaningful changes in your physiology. Second, targeted exercises or movements designed to strengthen the surrounding muscle groups have a MUCH more immediate positive effect for me. For example, if my lower back is feeling tired or sore, I do sets of streteches, then back raises at the gym and feel relief within days, if not hours.
No expert on any of this, just what works for me.
Erik
What you're describing is exactly what I experienced, for years. Pelvic lifts, stretching, walking 2-4 miles a day, it was all maintenance. Vitamin D was the fix for me.
Abstract
Low back pain is very disabling and dispiriting because of the physical impediment it causes and its psychological effects. Innumerable factors have been implicated in its etiology. In spite of improvements in diagnostic modalities, a considerable number of such cases fall in the ambiguous zone of unknown etiology or 'idiopathic.'Early diagnosis of low back pain will allow effective prevention and treatment to be offered. This study was conducted to assess the contribution of vitamin D levels and other biochemical factors to chronic low back pain in such cases. All patients attending the orthopedics OPD for low back pain in whom a precise anatomical cause could not be localized, were prospectively enrolled in this study. We measured serum levels of glucose, calcium, phosphorus, uric acid, rheumatoid factor, C reactive protein, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, albumin and 25 (OH) D concentrations in 200 cases and 200 control samples. The patients showed significantly lower vitamin D levels compared to controls with p value < 0.0001. The maximum number of low back pain patients were in the age group of 31-50 years (42 %).The average BMI was 23.27 ± 5.17 kg/sq m, 73 % of total patient population were females and 27 % were known case of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Calcium, alkaline phosphatase, was positively correlated with vitamin D and glucose showed a negative correlation with vitamin D in the patient population. The problem of low back pain provides a challenge to health care providers. The problem in developing countries is compounded by ignorance to report for early treatment and occupational compulsions in rural areas and sedentary lifestyle in urban youth. The authors strongly recommend early frequent screening for vitamin D along with glucose, protein, albumin, calcium, phosphorus, CRP as part of general health checkup for non-specific body pain, especially low back pain.