Back hurts

[Cloud]

I injured myself a few weeks ago. I was boating and my back started to ache just a bit afterwards. Ached the whole way home and needed to feed animals. Decided to grab a new 50lb bag of chicken feed and take it out back. Threw down the bag had a really really bad muscle spasm in back. Went and got xrays done. Doctor told me I have medium arthritis in my back and spurs on bottome 3 vertebrae. I'm only 33 so that really sucks.

Gonna have to change whole grow setup it doesn't kill my back. Only have 7ft available in my grow space. My poor wife had to do all chores and work her job 60hrs or more a week.

[SoOrbudgal]

Man Cloud and so it begins........just be grateful you did'nt pop an tear a ligiment/muscle #1 reason we don't grow giants outdoors anymore nor lift 50# without helping eachother. Take it easy an when that back even starts to feel abit tight stop right then.

[PeterMatanzas]

I can no longer lift a 5 gal fabric pot during flower to test 'should it be watered'. That's new this year.

[SoOrbudgal]

Lemme tell ya PeterMatanzas me not working and being retired since Dec. 2019 I've lost much muscle mass i mean it's night and day. So yes i totally understand not being able to lift 5lbs it's awful difficult once you've been so active. No sir we don't do nothing that big anymore. I'm using 10 & 15 gal. pots for my outdoor grows now. And i use a garden cart. 3gal for autos indoor or outdoor is my max. Let them roots grow out the bag LOL save your back. I try and walk as much as i can.

[OldManGrower]

You have both my sympathy and empathy. Over the last 18 months had both lower back and neck surgery for disc and bone issues. Go to physical therapy and learn the exercises. It will help a lot.

[Cloud]

Ouch any surgery is a bitch. I've had 2 lung surgeries not fun.

[Cloud]

And yes I plan on taking physical therapy very seriously.

[MuskieMan]

Hey Cloud, get a taller seat for your boat... Keep your ass above your knees, it helps a lot. I also have arthritis in the lower back, when I raised my boat seat I don't get so stiff...

[Cloud]

I usually have a pretty good seat but we took the kids and wanted them in the safest spot possible but I will remember your advice next time.

[DeadlyFruit]

Having a boat seat instead of the benches is great advice, and some assistance getting in and out so you are stable. Whatever it takes not to strain it again.

[DeadlyFruit]

I’ve had spinal surgery - it’s a real b*tch to deal with. Like someone said above, physio and smart exercising can really help. Won’t solve arthritis obviously but it will help with anything muscular and the inflammation/aggravation of non-muscular problems. When I was rock climbing there was a good saying about tendon problems that probably applies just as well to your situation (not that you have tendon problems but it does apply to backs) - be extremely careful and don’t strain it at all for as long as it takes to feel 100%.... and then keep babying it for another month or two. If you don’t you will go right back to the start.

Good luck and take care. I feel your pain.

[Puglover1]

Tomorrow it will be the 42nd anniversary of a life-changing accident, rear-ended at a stop light by an uninsured driver. I was 23 years old, I've suffered with my back ever since. Took 3 drs and 3 months to get a dang back x-ray to show 3 fractured vertebrae. Chronic migraines to this day, my cervical and lumbar spine are competing for who's worse. I won't have surgery now, too many people get one level fixed then the next one goes bad. It's why I have to adapt and need help with raising lights, etc. P-T, muscle relaxers, and pain meds if you can get them, the sooner it's treated the better the outcome. Then exercises. Beware of offers of epidural steroid injections, not FDA approved and can cause permanent issues. Warm moist heat helps. I'm sorry this happened to you.

[DeadlyFruit]

I feel for you. It’s not why I had spinal surgery (or at least not completely) but I had something similar. When I was 26 I was rear ended so hard it totalled my car. Snapped my seat back and accordioned my trunk and back seat into about a quarter the size. No fractured vertebrae but I still have problems to this day. At the time I couldn’t lift my head up off the pillow, I had to pick it up with my hands if I needed to get up or adjust the pillow because the muscles on the front of my neck were so shot my head would flip back like a pez dispenser. The doctors procrastinate doing anything medically at the time because they say most people get better on their own... but those of us that don’t are screwed.

[Puglover1]

DeadlyFruit Dang. I was in my Datsun 240Z sports car, I went forward and back so hard it broke the seat. When he hit me it sounded like a bomb went off, I looked over at a bank to my right before I knew what hit me. Surprised you didn't have a hard collar or something for stability while hoping to heal. The dr at the ER's wife had come in, 9 months preggers, with a big pizza in hand. I guess he was too busy to follow the radiologist's advice on my neck x-ray. He used to drink at a local restaurant's lounge while on-call for the ER, and cheat on his wife. I saw somewhere online last year that he is no longer allowed to work in the ER at that hospital. That move took decades too long to happen.

[DeadlyFruit]

It’s funny the things you remember. I was in the first car I ever owned - a dodge shadow. My wife had just gotten out of the car. She was in the back seat 5 mins before the accident. It likely would have broken her legs, or worse. I looked up to the rear view mirror and had time to say ‘oh sh*t’ to my passenger and then wham. The guy never even touched his brakes. Broke my seat as well. Snapped it into full recline. No collar - I didn’t go to the hospital. I don’t think anyone even called an ambulance (it’s a little fuzzy), which is surprising given the force of the crash pushed mine and 3 more cars into each other. I had just gone back to school again so I didn’t even get lost wages, I had to get back in class as soon as I could move. Chronic pain is a pretty crappy way to go through life.

[newbutoldgrower75]

I got hospitalised last year for ongoing neck and lower back problems. Ended up having three operations, two on my back one on neck. I had spinal fusion done on my lower back, had a really bad slipped disc on my sciatica nerve, was losing feeling in my left leg. The first op they stuffed up, had to have a second op to rectify their mistake. The day I was hospitalised I found out I also have a flatten spinal chord in my neck, it was causing me to not be able to grip things properly with my left hand, always dropping things. So have had an op to relieve the pressure on my spinal chord, which has helped a bit. I was in hospital for a few months, even had to rehabilitation to be able to walk properly, will be doing rehab for the next 12-24 months. Physio, exercise are great to strengthen your back etc, but don't overdo it when recovering from a back injury. I learnt the hard way and ended up back in hospital the other week, was pushing myself too hard, you need to heal properly. Thanks to MeEasy for reminding me of that..

[Puglover1]

A friend had neck surgery, titanium. She was going to rehab when COVID shut things down in 2020. Because she had adapted to her limitations she's having to do therapy for everything to get back how it should work properly.

I have vacuum space lumbar discs, desiccated cervical discs, bulging discs at every level including thoracic, and sacroiliitis. Multiple spurs, encroachments, and mass effect on my central spinal cord. My hands are bad, fingers losing feeling, left leg is shorter now but I won't have multiple back surgeries in this ridiculous, pain management-less country. And it would be hard to go to bounce back rehab with three pets here. A friend, 6 months older than me, had his legs go out from under him, couldn't get up. He needed neck and lumbar surgery. Went to therapy for a year but he still uses a walker. Hasn't been anywhere but dr appts or P-T for over two years now.

[Rwise]

I had my surgery in 95, I broke my back in the low area (anyone want to see a pic of the metal implants?), all 3 those disks are fused together and to the pelvis, which does give those above them motion problems with future surgeries to come. Then a few years ago I was in an auto accident, and the results from that, the Dr said no going up or down stairs (so I am not supposed to leave the house), no getting in or out of autos, and dont lift a fork! I ask him "how I am supposed to eat", he replied "I said nothing about food on it". This has been very hard for me to accept, and I simply cannot live within those limits, so I hurt, pass me that there Bruce Banner 3!
Young folks take care of that back, if you dont you'll be in my (our) boat full of pain, and obviously there are many others already on board. Walking helps, I never got up to the 5 miles they wanted from me, I did get up to a mile before that crash, now not so much.

[PaganRich]

I have compression problems on lower back and according to the knee specialist last Monday in fact, the knee joints of a 20 yr old (Not bad-I`m 58) and knee caps of an 80 yr old (bugger!)...told them I do slow tai chi and they said that helps keep mobility and flexibility within obvious limitations...might be worth looking at folks just to see....wishing you guys all the very best and hope things get better if possible

[BaccaRacca]

I was born with a bad back. Hasn't slowed me down much, but I've also learned to adapt.

This is a 4X2X6 grow cabinet that I built, as you can see, with comfort in mind. Made from 2 sheets of plywood, 30 feet of poplar face frame, a few lengths of 2'x10" melamine shelving, a few latches and hinges, plus some foil-faced bubble-wrap insulation.



To help make things light and easy, I use a 80% perlite/20% peat mix. Those are two 10-gallon pots, which are very easy to lift and move. I also use 3-gallon pots, which are obviously lighter, and I don't have much of a watering or size issue with the size of space and wattage of lights I'm using.

To ease your mind a bit, I had surgery for a much worse problem in my lower back when I was in my 30s. If I didn't have it I would not be able to walk today. I worked out regularly, and it only gives me problems on rare occasions now.

Get some dumbbells and a weight bench. Cheapest, most effective home gym you can buy. Do what your rehab people say, but find and easy dumbbell workout program you can follow.

As for those bone spurs, if your docs have a way of removing them and suggest you look at that, I'd do it. They'll only get worse.

Spasms happen. You can't plan them. Spasms are your body's way of isolating pain. Your muscles get irritated and they tighten up, and will tighten up more and more as you fight them. So don't.You can talk to your doctor about Flexeril, a muscle relaxant. At the very first sign of a spasm, take your pain med and the Flexeril and REST. One day of this can save you weeks of misery.

I hope this helps.

BR