Argh, I hate back injuries

[Gary Herrmann]

Pulled or tore something in my lower back yesterday. I'm off today and tomorrow anyway, but I had shop time planned.

It hurts just sitting here, so I probably won't be going downstairs. I'll see if it gets better. If not, I'll call the doc and see what she says. Hopefully, I at least won't make it worse.

I kinda doubt I'm gonna be attaching my new lathe stand top (3 3/4 pieces of MDF thick) to the carcase today...

ARGH

[Joe Pelonio]

Ouch! I have that happen once or twice a year it seems. I have found that if you lay on your back the floor and bring your knees toward your head it stretches your back and helps. I also found that sleeping in a recliner rather than a bed helps, and usually within 3-4 days it's back to normal. I now do that stretching bit prior to any heavy lifting. I am not a doctor of any kind, so take this as just what is is, something suggested to my wife by her doctor once that seems to help my back.

Hope it gets better soon.

[Gary Herrmann]

Thanks Joe. I did something like this a couple years ago. You're right stretching does help, I just need to wait a day or so for the muscles to relax a bit. Don't want to get them any more aggravated than they already are.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

If I don't tend to it, mine will do this a couple times a year. It won't get better until I go get 'aligned' by the chiropractor. Still hurts for a day or two because of the strain, but it's back where it should be. I can usually tell when I'm getting close to having a problem because one foot and the opposite hip will start hurting as I compensate. I've been lucky the past maybe 18 months by getting it 'fixed' before I actually pull it all the way and can't move. Much easier to do the maintenance than the 'repair'.

Chiropractors get a bad rap sometimes, but finding and knowing a good one is a happy thing.

KC

[Frank Fusco]

I get lower back muscle strains occasionally. The pain can be debilitating. As said, lay flat, relax, do easy stretching. Ibuprofen works for me. Pay close attention to good body mechanics when you do start lifting again.

[Wes Bischel]

Gary,
I'm really sorry to hear about your back. I've done that a few times as well. Just take it easy and let things heal.

Wes

[Jerry Olexa]

And use Advil or Aleve (both anti imflamatories). It'll help you heal...

[Tom Hintz]

Gary,
I've felt your pain - literally.
I herniated a disk in my lower back many years ago with a bit of driver error in a dirt track car....
Since then I have had sporadic episodes where the back just checked out and I was laid up for about week each time, followed by a few weeks of getting back to normal completely.
About five years ago I bought BowFlex machine (with the doctors approval) and have done wonders for my back and me in general. Lost 60 lbs and at the same time strengthened all the important muscles that support the back. I still get small glitches at the disc but they are nothing like before and go away quickly.
Seeing the doctor is a good idea to find out just what you did and what ou can safely do about it. It's easy to make things worse with the wrong kind of stretching or exercise.
Just keep thinking about how good it will feel when its gone!

[Chris Padilla]

Yeah, nothing worse than a sore back. Seems that you can't do anything while it is sore...it hurts every time you move or bend.

The worse part is that when my back hurts, I usually cannot figure out how I hurt it. Suddenly I turn or do something I've done forever and *boink*, I feel a little something in my back and there ya go, it hurts!

Thankfully, my back has been pretty good for many, many months now. I started doing what they call a Good Morning exercise with my back. I dunno if it is the exercise but ever since I've been doing it, my back has not hurt.

You put weight on your shoulders (not on your neck...more on your trapezius)...stand with your legs shoulder-width apart...and simply bend at the waist. Keeping your knees slightly bent helps with balance while doing this and use your hands as well to help balance the bar on your shoulders. Start iwth very, very light weight and sowly build it up. I started with a 12 lb bar and moved up to a barbell with 5 lb weights on either side. Going bigger didn't feel good to me so I've stuck with the weight of the barbell (~25 lbs.) and the two 5s.

Like I said, I can't say for sure the weight lifting is the reason I've been backpain free but I feel it has helped.

Good luck to you and try some weight lifting.

[Lori Kleinberg]

Sorry for your back injury. Hope you get well soon. I have suffered for almost twenty years with a bad back. Had 3 operations, metal rods inserted, but that is a long story.
Anyway you should never lay completely flat. Put a pillow under your lower thighs, knee area. This will help relieve the straining back muscles.
Good luck

[Jim Becker]

'Hope you're feeling better soon, Gary.

[Jim Dunn]

Hey Gary if your not using you table saw you can "store" it in my shop till you heal I never did get that invite for coffee either by the way, hmm??

Take care of you back been there done that. BOTH of my son's are having back trouble right now and both are looking at surgery. One is 28 the other is 30.

[Gary Herrmann]

Thanks for all the sympathy. I think I come by my back problems honestly. I was in a car accident when I was a freshman in college and broke a couple vertebrae.

I haven't been exercising very regularly lately, so that probably didn't help.

I'm pretty sure I did it removing some sod for a bed, dumping the sod in a garbage can and then (heres the dumb part) picking the can up and carrying it around the house.

Its mostly better, but sitting in 4 hours worth of meetings today was not a lot of fun.

Jim, you're welcome to come by any time. I think my wife even has some coffee around here somewhere from the last BIL visit.

Have family stuff tonight. Hopefully I can work on the lathe stand tomorrow.