amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

tracey · 11-06-2009, 08:15 AM

i'll start by saying CHIROPRACTIC, which is my preferred option, is NOT an option. at all.

secondly, going to an allopathic doctor for muscle relaxers or pain medication is also NOT financially an option.

so.

i have had lower-back or low-mid-back pain for 3 weeks. stinging/burning typically. i can bend over fine but hurts worst when i then stand up...so the motion a reverse-sit-up would create is what hurts the most.

there was no moment of injury. no "oh my i just yanked my back" instant of pain. just...owe. gradual and then i started noticing and it has gotten worse. it started to get better last week with advil (massive doses...bad for my stomach) and heat packs...but then i fell twice during pride and hurt it again. (that was the only day i can recall an instant of "OH I JUST HURT MY BACK" but it was already hurt, yk? it just made it worse.)

my thought is that i lost a lot of weight this past year but have not given enough attention to core strengthening...or really, strengthening overall. i'm fairly strongish for bursts but not sustained things...meaning i can carry a hefty thing for a short distance (furniture, for example) but not long distance much at all. my gut feeling is that i need to work on core strength to resolve this...but i can't do ANYTHING until the pain is gone...so catch 22.

i did take a lortab last night and it helped me rest well...took the pain right away but i woke up with a burning lower back. lovely, that. i have no more and really, can't get more...and do not want more. not happy about narcotics. i'd rather use advil and benedryl if i have to get rest.

i have been stretching across my birth ball, gently rolling and letting my spine relax entirely. doing that typically makes my back pop in a few places that makes my breath catch...but then it feels a little better for a while.

what do you suggest? i have no access to a pool so swimming is out. is it a bad idea to run? thinking core strength here...probably nothing until this wave of pain is gone though. i can walk fine, no limping or hitching over...i'm walking straight up and tall...it's just getting up or bending over that hurts a ton.

ideas???

no shooting pains at all. no sciatica. just localized burning.

mamabear · 11-06-2009, 08:25 AM

I'm a nationally certified massage therapist, but this is off the cuff w/o seeing you of course.

IMO It is a bad idea to run right now. In fact running without good core strength can hurt your back more. To develop core strength right now, I would push your belly out as you inhale, then tighten your belly muscles as you exhale - think belly button to spine. When the back is better maybe some crunches - but be really careful and stop if it hurts at all, experiment w/a few different positions for crunches and really really don't do it if it hurts even the tiniest bit, go back to the breathing "crunches." (They really do help if done often enough.) If walking doesn't aggravate it, walk to keep active and focus on breathing like that while you walk.

To relax the muscles right now I would take chelated magnesium glycinate (Solgar makes a good brand) - start at 200mg a day and work up to 600mg to bowel tolerance. (ie if you start having diarrhea back off) Also Epsom salt baths - go buy one of those half-gallon "milk" containers or a big bag, whatever's cheapest, and use literally HALF the bag or container in a hot bath. Sit and sip ice water while you're in the bath to stay hydrated.

Then, get Arnica 30c pellets and arnica cream or oil. Rub the entire area w/the cream/oil up to 3x a day and take the 30c pellets, just one at a time is all you need, but take them up to every 15 minutes or every hour - dose repeatedly until you feel improvement. Once it's improving, don't dose again - but if it plateaus or feels worse, take another dose until you get improvement again (every 15 min is fine).

If in a day or two you can get someone to massage you that would probably help. I mean just a friend or relative.

If you can tell me exactly where in your low back you're having the pain (is it across the back just above the pelvic bone? your sacrum itself? piriformis area?), I can tell you some specific moves/work your friend can do. Wish I was there; I'd have you fixed up in a jiffy.

tracey · 11-06-2009, 08:33 AM

lauren...excellent.

forgot about arnica (i have 30x pellets here as well as the gel stuff.) check.

epsom. used the last of it last night in my bath (i think it fixed the aspartame headache, actually.) need more. check.

where on my back? starting just below my belly button, it's about a 5 inch span to the top of my sacrum. (thought it was bigger than that but i just felt...and i'm pretty sure it's only 3-5" of stinging.)that's why i think it's better to call it mid-to-low back.

and i agree about running...too jarring...but i was thinking something to strengthen core and that will do it.

tracey · 11-06-2009, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamabear

To relax the muscles right now I would take chelated magnesium glycinate (Solgar makes a good brand) - start at 200mg a day and work up to 600mg to bowel tolerance. (ie if you start having diarrhea back off)

where to get this? HFS?

tracey · 11-06-2009, 08:36 AM

the image on this page (illustration) is the location. exactly.

Google Image Result for http://www.orthofix.com/intl/images/content/center_pics/patient/lo_bk_pain.jpg

tracey · 11-06-2009, 08:39 AM

oh and massage...i had charlie (middle child) work on my upper back/shoulders last night...that seemed to release it a little bit. he uses his elbows and really gets in to the muscle deeply...but that was waaay too much for my mid/lower back. he isn't strong enough to work my lower back appropriately otherwise, but the elbows were enough to just about send me off the bed so he stayed at my shoulder blades.

charles has worked it a couple of times in recent weeks for me. not the last couple days though...but he has really large, strong hands and they were helpful. i'll see if he'd mind. it's hit or miss with him, given things as they are. i slept in his bed last night though, it's a better mattress and i was willing to try anything to relieve myself of either the headache or the backache. he was ok with that so maybe he'll work it for me. i can ask before he leaves for work today. so...i did the lortab, epsom bath, sprite, advil and slept on a good mattress for once. i woke with no headache...so something worked

mamabear · 11-06-2009, 08:42 AM

I know, but I have chronic low back issues and when I started running it seemed to exacerbate it. I think crunches and such strengthen core more than running, and definitely walking w/focus on breathing like that will do it.

Ok that is QLs - quadratus lumborum. I am also betting if someone gets in there and massages your gluts, you will find a very burny, ouchy spot deep in the middle of each glut - your piriformis. They often go together.

For QLs the person can massage - gently! it will burn! - the insertion points. These are all along the sides of your spine. You can self massage too. Basically your QLs insert on the lumbar vertebrae, then attach to the top of the pelvis. So gently rubbing these spots can help. Ow, mine are tender atm, LOL. You can google quadratus lumborum images to see what muscle I'm talking about (I would but I'm still on this stupid half-assed connection). Then rolling on a tennis ball - put it under your gluts and roll, not sure I would do it under the low back - will likely help the piriformis and see? You don't even need anyone else then.

Roll around on the ball working spots that feel burny or painful. You can do it on your sacrum too but where the QLs are I'm not sure - it seems like it would hurt too much, and you have organs under there without any bony protection. You can always gently experiment - but honestly getting fingers pressing on the sides of the vertebrae in the lumbar area, and on the tops of your hips, should help. Warning, it will burn like crazy with very light pressure.

eta - we cross posted - about the diet soda and the epsom salts relieving that headache. It could definitely be some kind of Magnesium thing then. You should be able to find the Solgar magnesium at the HFS, yes. Any brand is fine as long as it is chelated magnesium glycinate - the most absorbable kind. Magnesium oxide is really hard on the gut (diarrhea) and the chelated kind is best absorbed.

tracey · 11-06-2009, 08:47 AM

yes...any touch back there, gentle or not, is EXTREMELY burny.

gluts, eh? so i need to ask my ex to massage my ass? hrm. that gets a little grey

(but i'd probably rather him do it than a friend. hrm...think on that one

)

tennis balls...i'm trying to visualize this...i'll google.

wish you were here!!! gah.

mamabear · 11-06-2009, 08:49 AM

Yeah - pushing into the gluts with a fist, then kind of moving back and forth to find the spot. Yes - in massage school everyone's like "we're going to massage people's asses?" Yes folks, you are.

But if you imagine it, you can essentially lay on a tennis ball and do the same thing.

Working the gluts will definitely help the QLs release.

tracey · 11-06-2009, 08:56 AM

i've had glut massage...i was just

at him doing it for me. hrm. he'll do it, i'm sure. i'll just have to be very clear that that is ALL i'm asking for

snicker. poor guy isn't getting any these days

so laying on my back on a tennis ball? or sitting on one?

tracey · 11-06-2009, 09:03 AM

so lauren...(sorry if i'm bugging you...you ROCK!) if it's the QLs, would it make sense that pelvic rocks hurt? like the pelvic tilts we do in pregnancy? i can't do those...they are agonizing right now.

golden · 11-06-2009, 09:35 AM

Oh dear. I was hoping you'd be in the clear this morning. Glad your head is at least feeling better. I have dealt with chronic low back pain for 20 years. I was happiest of course when I was in massage school. Nothing like a massage 2-3 times a week. Ah, those were the days. My recent forays into a gym has had near miraculous effect. I have been doing a combo pilates/yoga class twice a week. Unbelievable.

That said, QL is hard to stretch. Regular extension (back bending) and flexion (forward bending) aren't effective.
Here are some links to photos with different things to try.

Quadratus Lumborum Stretch

here is a good one if you can find someone to help.
Quadratus Lumborum Stretch

Quadratus Lumborum Self-Stretch-Seated

Google Image Result for https://www46.safesecureweb.com/positivehealth/permit/Articles/Bodywork/young52d.jpg

I know you've been trying heat. I am a heat lover myself, but one thing that is helpful especially with something with a sudden, acute onset and is severe like this is, is ice. Even alternating ice with heat if that gives you something to look forward to.

And yes, arnica tablets and gel in between.

I hope something here works for you!

mamabear · 11-06-2009, 09:58 AM

s'ok - got a phone call from an editor, just back now.

yes, that makes sense that pelvic rocks hurt. the QLs control pelvic movement esp in that plane.

Laying on back with a tennis ball under your butt.

tracey · 11-06-2009, 01:48 PM

gotcha. i'll see if the boys have a tennis ball. i'm headed out now to get advantage for the dogs/cats so i'll stop at the herb shop and grab some of that stuff you mentioned above (i'll write it down

)

laid down for a little while bc sitting was too intense and it seems to have locked up. got up with it worse. THIS IS NOT COOL. hrm.

had charles rub my lower back for a few minutes...agonizing but it loosened up enough to walk. he tried to find the spots lower but got distracted. i knew he would. stopped him. sent him into a fit of man-giggles. sent him to work. he's really the only person in my life locally that i could have do that so i'm not sure right now what i'll do about that

golden...thank you for those. i'll try.

hell. i'll try anything. i just had my ex massaging my ass. i will most assuredly try anything at this point

~Heidi~ · 11-06-2009, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracey

gotcha. i'll see if the boys have a tennis ball. i'm headed out now to get advantage for the dogs/cats so i'll stop at the herb shop and grab some of that stuff you mentioned above (i'll write it down

)

laid down for a little while bc sitting was too intense and it seems to have locked up. got up with it worse. THIS IS NOT COOL. hrm.

had charles rub my lower back for a few minutes...agonizing but it loosened up enough to walk. he tried to find the spots lower but got distracted. i knew he would. stopped him. sent him into a fit of man-giggles. sent him to work. he's really the only person in my life locally that i could have do that so i'm not sure right now what i'll do about that

golden...thank you for those. i'll try.

hell. i'll try anything. i just had my ex massaging my ass. i will most assuredly try anything at this point

"man-giggles"

10% menthol rub/roll-on is what I swear by (it doesn't take away all of the pain, but sure makes life easier).

I'll have to try the tennis ball.

Emu Cream rocks too, but I haven't bought that in a few years...it is pricey, but lasts forever.

Editing to add this link (it's not the same thing I used, can't remember the brand) Raymac * Medic-moist Emu-oil Cream 4oz | Cache Beauty Supply, Inc.