[Paddlewise] Bad back

Doug wrote:
<SNIP>
Has anyone else out in PW land dealt with lower back pain (the kind where
it hurts to stand, and you need to sit down every few minutes)? Any other
ideas for recovery?
<SNIP>

Good back support in your car, kayak, and computer chair. Stomach exercises,
deep massage (one of the real benefits of having a partner--to try to break
up the tension in the tight muscles--hurts so good), deep relaxation
(concentrate on relaxing one muscle group at a time while laying down--start
from your head and work down--works best in the morning--I'm likely to fall
asleep before I get to my lower back at night). If you can get the muscles
all around them to relax totally the problem ones may start twitching and
finally relax themselves too.
Feel the pain. Concentrate on it, get into it. This should be easy for a
masochist like yourself. I don't know why this works but using drugs to
deaden the pain just seems to prolong the agony for me. For pain relief try
auto-acupressure. Find the sensitive parts along the same nerve pathways (as
where the pain is). The tender spots that maybe tingle like your funny bone
is what you are looking for (if you poke at them with a fingernail you will
know when you have found one). For the lower back the ones I remember that
work for me are 1)the inside of your Achilles tendon, where your major calf
muscles cross and the muscle below them goes under (middle of your lower
calf), 2)inside of the knee, 3)sciatic? nerve near the top of the hip bone,
and 4)earlobes. When you find them take your thumbnail and press it strongly
into them so it really hurts. Try them all and use the ones that work best
for you when you are in pain. My theory is that this releases endorphins
along the nerve pathway and this helps kill the pain in your back as well.
My other theory is that this is why chiropractic works for some folks as
well. Crack that old spine and get a huge endorphin release, forget that
mumbo jumbo about subluxions, etc.
Lastly, get it off your chest! Is someone being a pain in the neck, or a
real burden to you? Maybe they are wanting you to do something you don't
want to do, like carry their workload. "Hey, poor me, I can't do anything
with this bad back, sorry". If you really do feel the pain too you can be so
much more convincing with this passive response. Might even be able to
convince yourself.
Then again, maybe there are some benefits to being the poor victim that
outweigh the pain.

Just some thoughts, hope one of them might help.

Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com


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