I've heard a few people say chiropractors are bad, and osteopaths are better trained. I have little evidence to back that up, though the dude I saw was pretty on the money. He recommended yoga.The majority of back pain (or at least mine) comes from the muscles at the knee, which go up around the hips and into the lower to mid back. When I sit for long periods it's always those.I found yoga focuses on those and the improvement is startling, even within short periods.

EmpireStateTroopers wrote:I can't not be afraid of chiropractors. I have this idea that I'll go to one and they'll paralyze me.there are different "schools" of chiropractic. not all of them will try to break your back. they can actually do wonders for your back, as well as osteopaths and manual therapists can help you if they are good at what they're doing. the best thing would be if someone could recommend you a good therapist, it took me some time to find a good one around here.you should definitely get some sort of treatment, might even need some sort of anti-inflammatory drugs. I totally agree on the stretching. be it yoga, pilates, qigong or any form of stretching that you could learn from a physical therapist. that will help to prevent you from back pain once you're doing better. right now I would be rather careful with any kind of self treatment/stretching.good luck and get well!

Jeff, go see Dr. Castelino, a physiatrist MD. He'll examine you and give you the referral to in-house physical therapy.He has an office near you on North Sheridan.Direct Access TherapyI think you might like Siva Menon as a PT.I've had a ton of PT, but it wasn't until Castelino that we figured out the source of my pain. I've been 18,000 times better ever since.

Jodi S. wrote:Has anyone tried Active Release Technique?One of the team doctors where my mom works is an A.R.T. specialist, and she helped my mom a lot.It's not chiropractic, it's something different (though some chiropractors also use A.R.T.)I'm having this right now, J -- it's pretty g.d. effective.

I'm lucky enough to have a painless back, but once in a while there's like a glitch in the matrix or something and I have a split second "twinge" of back pain, so I know it sucks. But it's usually on days I slept in a weird position all night... Anyway, try not to sleep contorted like a goon. It can probably add up.

I smoke a Doan's everyday.http://japmn.bandcamp.com/track/i-smoke-dones

yard barf wrote:EmpireStateTroopers wrote::evil: FUCKSHITCUNT!It's getting worse all the time. Weirdly, the worst days are my days off from work when I'm NOT on my feet all day. WTF??? It's 90% lower back and it fucking sucks. I can't not be afraid of chiropractors. I have this idea that I'll go to one and they'll paralyze me.yeah, I'm not interested in going the chiropractor route with my back pain either. Maybe consider physical therapy instead. Finding the right stretches can make an incredible difference, but it can take quite a while to find just what works. You're kind of tall, right? My doc says the L5 vertebrae is stressed in tall people. Youtube has exercises for L5 stretches. Sit-ups also help a lot. They build up strength in the front to hold up what your back is otherwise doing all by itself. I'd been stretching my back for years and it had helped considerably, but not enough. Then, last year I was doing some basic stretches and I kind of moved a certain way and it hit the spot. Now I can end a ton of back pain by getting at that tortured nerve or muscle or whatever by doing that very specific gesture. But it took a long time to find. Good luck, you have my sympathy.Thanks!yeah, I'm 6'-2. the worst activities are things like washing dishes, brushing my teeth- that moment when I lean over to spit is TERRIBLE twss.I will look into this L5 thing. I've been trying to stretch. I know for a fact my hamstrings are super tight. Standing on a hill for 2 hours watching Sabbath did not help anything.

Has anyone tried Active Release Technique?One of the team doctors where my mom works is an A.R.T. specialist, and she helped my mom a lot.It's not chiropractic, it's something different (though some chiropractors also use A.R.T.)

Just my observations from trial and error, but if you're on your feet all day, or a runner, the right pair of shoes can make a great difference, as well as the surface you stand/run on - softer surfaces are obviously better. A former boss of mine built what I can best describe as a long wooden stage just a couple of inches off the ground that had floorboards with a bit of give to stand on behind the counter. Made a huge difference. I have also found that swimming does a great job of stretching everything out and prevents/alleviates sore muscles from work/workouts and joint pain.

Mine is more of a shoulder neck thing. Trapped nerve from some wonky neck vertebrae that I've been dealing with for about 20yrs now. From what I've read it's a similar thing to what Peyton Manning dealt with. If I move my right arm just right it's like being hit by a bolt of lightning and I can't properly hold my head up without sharp pain for a few days. A chiropractor can relieve the pain usually but sometimes it can be a few days before I can get in. I've always got some 'just in case' pills around. The best medication I've found is Gabapentin, think it's specifically for nerve pain though. Works like magic. It's quite easy to build up a tolerance even after a couple days of taking it and the larger doses can give you a kind of out of body experience. At some point I would like to pursue the surgery option but it's pretty delicate and I can't imagine the cost of something like that.