back pain. Oh my dear lord the pain!

[reikizen]

I notice there are a few threads about back pain but I just wondered in your collective experience what was the most effective treatment for a re-occuring problem? I am hopefully going to see GP for analgesia (over the counter stuff doesn't even touch it) but I wondered who had tried chiro/osteo/alexander technique/bowen technique/acupuncture and what your experiences had been. I've had a couple of osteopathy appts which don't seem to have addressed the underlying problem (I've had 3 episodes in 6 months).

Diclofenac was my drug of choice, DH was prescribed ibuprofen and valium to relax the muscles. He also went to a chiro or osteopath but I can't remember which one, which he felt helped.
We bought a Tempur matress a while back and I can honestly say it gas been the best thing for my back. I haven't had a bad episode since we have had it!

Yoga when I fell and injured my lower back. In bed sleeping on my side with a pillow between my knees made a big difference.
Prob not relevant to you, so sorry if not what you need.

My DH found osteo sorted his lower back pain out when consultant with MRIs and then physio hadn't helped at all.

He gets occasional flare ups now (couple of times a year) but a trip to the osteo usually sorts him.

I think the problem with backs is that pain os often due to degenerative conditions, so you often can't do much bout the underlying problem so just have to find the treatment that helps relieve the pain the most or for the longest time.

Someone I know with ongoing severe pain was eventually given an epidural.
I believe she had more than one ,but that now ,couple of years on she is pain free .
From my point of view I found taking diclonfenac regularly rather than " just " when pain was most severe ,really helped .

Am pain free today after two awful, awful days of writhing around back pain (muscle spasm upper back, after I stuffed up my lower back carrying my nearly 4 yr old dd on my hip at a school function - silly, silly, silly). I took codydramol, nurofen, nothing helped much - osteopath was closed for the weekend.

In the end, dh massaged my back quite hard, several times, then I had a warm bath - amazingly pain free today. But I do think it depens a lot on where the pain is, what caused it, etc.

osteopath usually works for me, but not if its inflamed or too tense - then time, painkillers, massage, more appropriate. I think acupuncture would be good for muscle spasm type pain too, but don't have one locally

In my experience the best thing has been to strengthen core muscles with yoga and pilates. I also had an intensive 4 month physio treatment which made a heck of a difference - I went from walking like John Wayne to being able to move freely and do stuff like yoga and pilates again!

A good physio is a godsend.

Oh, and taking the anti-inflamatory drugs before the pain kicks in i.e. when you've done something you shouldn't have done like carry 19 kilo toddler around for several hours balanced on hip... That was a tip from my physio.

Have you had the underlying problem pinpointed?
You may need to take a combined approach to dealing with it:

Taking the anti-inflammatories quickly enough (as per Nightfury). Also specific drugs work better for some people than others so might be worth trying different ones.

Address core strength - yoga pilates etc

Consider trying a different osteopath/physio/chiropractor/Bowen practitioner. The exact type probably doesn't matter too much - the key thing is to find a GOOD one. Ask around and get recommendations locally. But you could well need more than just a couple of sessions with any one of these.

Good luck - it can be tough to live with.

I get muscle spasm on the right in the small of my back. The last time I had a really bad one I could barely walk. I had a sports massage from someone who I knew was good and, although it hurt like hell when he was doing it, it was almost miraculous how much better I felt. I find regular work on my core muscles helps to prevent the spasms from kicking in in the first place.

Children are the worst. Both of my most painful spasms have come from wriggly children in my arms.

Am clearly not alone with wriggly children/hips and spasms

I forgot to say, Pilates is brilliant. I did it for years pre-kids, and it still helps - I should practise it regularly again, though.

Actually, I did belly dancing classes for a few months last year and had almost no backache during that time either - so I guess anything that strengthens core muscles!

I think you need to find out what's causing it really, as dependent on the problem, you can make it worse with some forms of exercise. I vote for Pilates too though in terms of preventing recurrence as it realigns your posture and strengthens the core muscles so supports your spine better. Co-codamol are pretty strong pain killers and good. They're not anti-inflammatory but they helped me lots.

A friend of mine has suffered with debilitating back problems for years. She is currently the most pain-free she's been in a very long time, due to pilates and Alexander technique. She says the combination is excellent.

If you're experiencing back pain and need some help or advice I work with a team of chiropractors, osteopaths, massage therapists and physiotherapists at Freedom Back Clinics. You can have a free assessment which may give you the advice you need.