Thread: The frail human body, how easily it's hurt......

Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

Yes Bugger.

So that's what they reckon about the time you will be out of action??
.

3 to 8 weeks was the verdict. Some chunks of bone have to be taken out, but the severity of the removal will dictate how much daytime TV I will have to endure.

Just caught up on this.
I buggered my back about 6 yrs ago. My wife drove me to physios , hospital, chiros etc for years. had this pain down the front of right leg.
Turns out that is L3 L4. Booked in for spinal fusion. Best thing I did. Practically OK now but just have to watch what I lift.

Didiman

That's not great news, though if that's all that's involved and you're in great shape later this year, you'll have gotten off pretty lightly compared to some. Hopefully it should pay off in the end.

I've been reading this thread with a lot of interest because, (you guessed it), I stuffed my back years ago working on a Land-Rover and ever since, just once-in-a-while, it will go boing. But if I'm careful it will get better and go away until the next time I do something stupid.

This time I hurt it lower down while leaning over at 90 degrees moving a welder like a human crane. This was incredibly stupid and and of course nothing hurt until the next day. Now it's been hurting on-and-off for the last several months. And the pain has moved over to one side and down a leg at times. Then it goes away until - usually - I'm sitting down for too long, like now.

So reading this thread it would seem that many a back is a time-bomb and the stories here have been very educational. And I'll go to the hospital next week. In the meantime I'll avoid picking up any pencils.

Davo, like I said in my first post, and many other posters have said the same thing, the number of backs that are hurt by just ridiculous things is nuts. Picking up an envelope, tying a shoelace, sitting in a chair.....

Not a single story of "I was abseiling down the side of the Matterhorn when.....", or "it was my third attempt at lifting 250kg in the World Championships....", or "my parachute failed to open fully at 5000ft......"

But hey, that's 100,000 years of evolution for you

And Davo, without wanting to sound like your wife, make sure you get your back checked.

Originally Posted by DeeJay

Dave,
Backs can be bad news !!
I hope ( but not pray ) that yours gets better quickly !!
As others have said, do your research, I have lived with a bad back for over 40 years & I'm reliably told that once you have surgery the Chiro's etc can't be as effective.
Took me about 6 Chiropractors, b4 I found a good one... or perhaps they were all good - but not for me..

Originally Posted by sheerluck

Physios are much the same - the first one I had was mediocre, and that's being kind. The second one has been phenomenal. The first one I chose because the practice was close by, the second was a glowing recommendation.

Herniated discs, torn ligaments and muscle off the pelvis 14-15 years ago.

Everyone said I'd suffer from sciatica and pain forever.
I couldn't lay down and definitely couldn't sit.
Walking (or more correctly shuffling) more than about twenty paces left me totally exhausted with trying to shut out the pain.
Car trips to the chiro were excruciating (and a waste of time)

It took 18 months of I don't know how many therapists and modalities, but I ended up working with a brilliant sports physio (works for an NRL club and Olympic/National cyclists, rowers, etc) and a good acupuncturist + lots of work from me as well as lots of $ as I was uninsured and self employed (or no employment with the dodgy back)
I eventually got past it all and proved everyone wrong.

I refused the laminectomy (sp?) but obviously with my recovery it wasn't as bad as some (although as anyone that's had bad sciatica will attest, it's debilitating)

I'm now well on the wrong side of 40 and my back is great, to the point I now teach yoga (part time)

A dodgy back isn't always a life sentence.

Originally Posted by sheerluck

3 to 8 weeks was the verdict. Some chunks of bone have to be taken out, but the severity of the removal will dictate how much daytime TV I will have to endure.

Mate, daytime TV? during the election year? You deserve a huge compensation for that kind of torture alone.
Best wishes mate

Originally Posted by Chucaro

......during the election year?...........

Noooooooooooooooo!! Kill me now! I would rather watch endless episodes of "The Bold and the Beautiful" than even so much as a minute of Tony Abbott, or Julia Gillard on the TV.

[Not intended as a political statement, just a comment on my hatred of endless party political broadcasts in the run up to election time]

Originally Posted by rick130

Herniated discs, torn ligaments and muscle off the pelvis 14-15 years ago.

Everyone said I'd suffer from sciatica and pain forever.
I couldn't lay down and definitely couldn't sit.
Walking (or more correctly shuffling) more than about twenty paces left me totally exhausted with trying to shut out the pain.
Car trips to the chiro were excruciating (and a waste of time)

It took 18 months of I don't know how many therapists and modalities, but I ended up working with a brilliant sports physio (works for an NRL club and Olympic/National cyclists, rowers, etc) and a good acupuncturist + lots of work from me as well as lots of $ as I was uninsured and self employed (or no employment with the dodgy back)
I eventually got past it all and proved everyone wrong.

I refused the laminectomy (sp?) but obviously with my recovery it wasn't as bad as some (although as anyone that's had bad sciatica will attest, it's debilitating)

I'm now well on the wrong side of 40 and my back is great, to the point I now teach yoga (part time)

A dodgy back isn't always a life sentence.

It's always good to hear the positive stories Rick, particularly as we're of the same era (I'm the wrong side of 40 too).

I worked with a superb physio where I lived before and I busted my knee 3 years ago (it's now an hours drive away, that is not something I can handle). He worked with the Brisbane Broncos part time, and when he was finished with me, I had not only regained the lost 2.5inches of muscle at the thigh, but I was back up to being able to comfortably run 5kms on the treadmill. He was good.