Back is killing me

My back problems are lower back, but what helps me is hanging from a chin-up bar and stretching the spine & muscles straighten. It's the same effect as hanging in an inversion table, but much cheaper & easier.

 

this. 100%.

 

I walked around with back pain for over 25 years, until a physical therapist looked at me and fixed me in five minutes.

Sometimes it's muscle strain, sometimes tendonitis, sometimes misalignment, sometimes disc problem. Problem is, you don't know which one you need, AND NEITHER DO THEY. Like I said, 25 years of annual physicals, and not a single doc even suggested it could be a simple mis-alignment. To someone with a hammer, everything looks like a nail......

If you go the doc route, start with the simplest, cheapest first. Chiro, PT, GP, then specialist.

 

Hip flexors. The hip flexors stay contracted because of the bad sitting posture...and this weakens the lower back. The hip flexors need to be stretched out and the lower back strengthened. Its the same scenario as a shin splint is to the lower legs.

Btw, those back belts help in that they give you stability and support do help you when the back pain there, BUT wearing them unnecessarily or for too long will eventually weaken all the little muscles that give the big muscles their stability. In other words, the muscles will weaken more. Meaning the back pain flare ups will increase and become more severe.

Use em or lose em.

 

@rpad139 ...

How about a quick simple fix...before all the above suggestions...

1.) Forget iboprufen....Use Aleve (best for inflamation)

2.) Perform Cat stretch and best if done in the shower tub, with HOT WATER spraying on the problem areas (this was recommended to me in my 20's when I strained my back, as a New Immigrant working the hard construction life in Canada. I literrally had lost ability to move my legs the next morning - almost became a paraplegic the day after the injury - SCARY)

 

The cat stretch is best performed in the driver's lounge.

 

NOOOOOOOO!!!!.......hahahaha

 

Are you stressed out?? The back is tough and rarely ever hurts on its own.
Odds are it's all in your head, I haven't read this book, but when my back hurts, I realize my brain is stressed and I change my mind set and my back feels fine. Or I drink more vodka and forget.
But I plan to read it too

 

Support belt won't help with upper back

 

....in your underwear while making purring sounds.