Help with back pain?
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I know this sounds strange, but I sometimes use tennis balls. I had a chiropractor and massage therapist who told me about this. What you want to do is get a tennis ball and lay on your side. (Whatever side hurts the most.) Put the tennis ball under your body on the side of your hip. It should be kinda in the "ball" of the hip. Lay on the ball for fifteen minutes and then change sides. Using the ball is a pressure point technique that will loosen up the muscles that are pressing on the nerve. Trust me, it works! It will give you enough relief so you can at least sleep. Sometimes when I hurt really bad I'll sleep on them. When you use the balls on the bed the softness of the bed keeps the ball from really pressing too hard on the muscle. If you need more pressure lay on the floor. Hope this helps! At least try it!
they can fuse the area
When I had a ruptured disc (L4-L5) I asked everyone before I went the surgery route to see what I could do for the pain. A nurse suggested traction as an option. If your disc is only bulging, talk to your doctor about physical therapy. The physical therapist will work on your back to reduce the pain, and also teach you exercises to build compensatory muscles and reduce the stress you put on your back. Even something simple like walking can be done in a way to reduce stress (and pain) in your back.
When I had a herniated disc in my lumbar spine, they were going to do surgery. A friend of mine, a physical therapist, said I would be recovering for at least 6 months, and that if they ended up fusing discs, I might have some pain for the rest of my life.
She said she knew a chiropractor who was excellent. I was skeptical because I always heard negative things about them. But I didn't want to be laid up for 6 months, so I gave it a try.
It turned out to be the best thing I could have done. He was better than most of the regular doctors I had seen. I went 3 times a week for treatment (painless), and after 2 weeks, I noticed a decrease in the pain. All in all, after 2 months, I was in perfect shape, no pain whatsoever. He checked with an x-ray, and pronounced me cured. I was.
So, before going the extreme route of surgery, give going to a chiropractor a try. It can't hurt :)
At night, sleep with a folded bath towel and put it under your waist curvature. It helped me a lot. Do stretchings avery day. There are special stretchings. If the pain does not go after a month, then think about surgery.
The following is one of the stretching sites:
http://www.sports-db.com/strength/stretc...
I went through the same thing, and tried to manage the pain best I could, unfortunately trying to control the pain to heal backfired on me and the disc did permanent damage to my sciatic nerve.
So, because I avoided the surgery that I eventually had to have anyway, I now have severe neuropathy with my sciatic nerve. Maybe permanent.
So, my suggestion to you is to look into the surgery. It really isn't bad at all, it took me a very short time to recover.
Good Luck, I hope you find what ever works for you to relieve your pain.
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