How to Deal With Your Sore Back

spinal stenosis

About a year ago I was working on a ladder, painting, and fell, landing on my back. I felt something give in my back, and immediately I had severe pain in a small patch of my back. I had no numbness or weakness.

I got up, wiped most of the paint off, and hobbled into the house all bent over. My wife suggested taking me to the emergency room at the hospital. I decided to see a chiropractor instead. Boy, am I ever glad I did! He was very pleasant and kind. He prescribed some back exercises for me, and sent me home. Over the next week I repeated the exercises daily, and rapidly got better!

There's a lesson here! Back injuries with no NEW weakness or numbness don't need a hospital workup or surgery. That just wastes money and time. Chiropractors can help with this very well, and do a better job than most MDs. I've earned the right to say that. I have the education, training, and experience to know about this.

If you've fallen, or been slammed in an accident, back pain is common, and mostly not serious. While you're still shaking from the injury ask yourself this question. Do I have any weakness or numbness that wasn't there before this accident?

If the answer is "no," be happy and go see your chiropractor. I've followed this advice, and been better off because I did.

Sneaky Back Problems

The commonest back problems sneak up on you. One day you realize you're all bent over, and can't straighten up without pain. You have no clue how long this nasty condition has been going on. You just can't ignore it any longer. Now what?

Most people with this back pain get a fancy workup with an MRI of the spine and get told they have Spinal Stenosis. That means a narrowing of the spine from bulging disks and bones out of alignment. Unfortunately, we can't put you on an alignment rack like a car and straighten everything up.

Usually this gets a referral to an intervention pain specialist who will suggest Epidural Steroid Injections. This needs explaining. But first, let me mention what will probably help more than anything else.

What you really need is back exercises. I'm preparing a video of back exercises to help you really see what you need to do. I've got back pain, and the exercises really do help a lot! When I do them faithfully, I have no pain. When I get lax, and just try to get by, pretty soon I'm not getting by at all, and repenting of my foolishness.

You can go onto the web and look up back exercises. They are simple to do, and can really get your pain to go down a lot, or even go Away.