First, I am NOT a doctor, or physical therapist or SME on the topic. I did suffer lower back pain, a result of a series of causes. The pain was occasionaly severe, which was terrible as I am pretty active.
I tried very hard to educate myself as I would not accept limited mobility as an option.

One of the home treatments that worked very well was found at NISMAT.org. It is free - look for their "lower back program exercises." I now do a much more advanced program (much more physical, incorporating everything from yoga moves to kettle bells) as I have had a primary cause (IT Band and sever hip tightness) corrected.

I hope this may provide some help, and relief. Originally I took this to my MD (and later therapist) and he approved, suggesting I build upon it. I no longer have the pain, although I occasionally have tightness or discomfort - it does not seem to progress to level of pain.

Matta,
A supplement I have found useful is "Omega 3 fatty acid" supplement. Although, I take a supplement that has Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. I take 2 in the morning, and 2 in the afternoon. I personally use: Triple Omega 3-6-9 from Vitamin World. There has been alot of research and of course controversy surrounding the use of anything natural as a pain reliever but, I am a beleiver as it works for me without the side effects of NSAIDS. Do a google search for: "what are the benefits of omega fatty acids and back pain". Hope this helps you out.

Thanks for the input guys.

Will give it a go.

Superfeet Insoles.
 

Matta Mile,

I'll spare you the details, but I can't recommend the Green Superfeet insoles enough. Those, some solid running shoes (I've had both Brooks and NB) and a bit of yoga have helped me out immensely.

Good luck,
Books.

Matta Mile.

This is no attempt to prescribe, cure, treat or diagnose.

I'm 6"-4", 240 pounds and tried just about everything out there and was headed toward surgery. The inversion table works perfectly for me. Also, the surgeon and the Senator I work with both had bad backs (one had unsuccessful surgery) and are too heavy for their height.

The inversion table worked the same for them. They both used the term "lifesaver" relating to results obtained.

We did seek professional advice before proceeding. :lifter

Thanks again for all the eager assistance and sharing of experiences. Alot of excellent considertions and COA's.
MM:)

Possibly deep muscle issues
 

I am a licensed massage therapist as well as a competitive long-distance runner. Understanding the strain you have put your back through over the years, there are a few key elements cited in previous posts which may come in to effect. Just as others have stated, this is not a diagnosis or prescription since I can't examine you personally. These are merely some suggestions to consider:
1. Poor posture- strengthening the abdominal muscles will help counter-act a forward rotation of your pelvic girdle as well as some upper-body strains.
2. Stretching- Strangely enough, tight hamstrings can cause a lot of back problems. You should comfortably be able to touch your toes with your fingers while maintaining straight legs and straight back. If not, a stretching routine may help.
3. Psoas Major- This is a very deep muscle which attaches to the front of your lumbar vertebrae and high on the inside of your femur. It is a major hip flexor and is often ignored or unknown. Runners will typically have very tight psoas. Additionally, if you sit for long periods of time it can cause the muscle to shorten. Then when you stand it can put great strain on the lumbar vertebrae.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

--

"It is not enough for us to be good. We must be good for something." Gordon B. Hinckley

Not in this life time. The only way that could ever happen for me would be to have someone coil 14 wraps of detcord around my waist, detonate it, and lay the two halves together.:D

comment removed by ASG
 

...

What a site, pretty much everything my Doc told me following L5-S1 surgery and degenerative disc disease in so many L's and C's I cant keep up, has been covered...

Stretching
Weight Control
Strong Core (read abs)
Quality Bed / sleep position
Posture

The one thing no one has mentioned is as a society we are always in a huge hurry...watch someone lift a Tuff Bin to load it in a truck, they will stand with their side to the truck, bend over and in one motion, lift and turn to slide it onto the bed. If you lift it straight up, then rotate at the feet, and slide it on the bed, its much better on the back...if you are concious of it, you'll notice tons of stuff that could/should be done in two steps in stead of one twisting one...it'll help as well.

Back in 1977, I experienced a hard landing during a demonstration jump...like a terminal reserve opening that collapsed after opening because I was on the pavement! Diagnosis then was a compression fracture at L1 and another at L5.

Fast forward to today - had an orthopedic specialist explain why I'm hobbling around. Seems those simple compression fractures have turned into major narrowing of the disk spaces between all of the lumbar vertebrae. I have torn disks at L1, L2, L4, and a major herniation at L5/S1. The L5 vertebrae is displaced forward about 30%. The frontal view of my x-rays was described as looking like a 'snake'. Throw in a touch of arthritus and you get the picture of one major pain in the lower back.

The doctors want to try some steroid injections first. My question is will the injections do anything to help ease the pain? There are times when the pain in really a bitch...starting in the hip socket and radiating down the leg (left side) to my instep. Best description is thinking of a white-hot poker inserted in the hip socket and running down the thigh. The pain makes me really cranky and I feel bad about barking at folks when I'm hurtin'.

IMHO - the injections were only a temporary relief for me (L4-L5 2003). Tried three rounds over four months, ended up with surgery. My disc was protruding up and into the canal at an angle - would not release with therapy or the injcections. Outpatient discectomy did the trick - still some occasional muscle type aches, but nothing compared to what it was before (sour attitude, hot poker sensation, pain traveling down back of leg, muffling screams getting in and out of car/aircraft, etc. ...)

The steroid injections will hopefully work to decrease local inflammation, swelling, and ultimately pain. The steroid works by suppressing secretion of inflammatory mediators, essentially chemicals which are secreted by cells in times of injury. These chemicals dilate blood vessels and allow them to become leaky, increasing swelling and redness. These chemicals also cause local pain (the idea is that when a part of you becomes injured, the pain makes you baby that area until it heals). The problem is that swelling in certain areas may cause more harm than good, and continued secretion of inflammatory mediators will cause pain without the benefit of expected repair. The pain that you are experiencing down your leg is because the swollen, inflamed tissue is pressing on the nerve roots where they leave the spinal cord in your lower back. Though you may eventually be looking at surgery (such as the microdiskectomy that PoPo mentioned), I've seen many patients who got very good results from the injections. The local injections give you the benefit of targeted anti-inflammatory action without a lot of the systemic effects of oral steroids. Usually orthopedists will limit you to 3 rounds injections of a single area over a lifetime, since after that there is very little benefit for repeated injections. Everyone is a little different, but you should expect some relief even if it's incomplete.

'zilla

Doc: Thanks for the info. I go in next Wednesday for the first injection. The second is on July 5th and the third on the 12th. Does this constitute a round of shots or is that it - a one-time deal?

I have to put in a vote for osteopathic manipulation (think chiropractic only better supported by medical research). I fell through a roof as a firefighter- went completely through the attic, through the floor and landed in what I think was a dining room. Needless to say it was on fire so I didn't stick around to find out for certain. I walked outside and everyone on scene (who were expecting me to be dead) started clapping. Being a smartass, I took a bow and promptly collapsed. Turns out I broke 7 ribs, bruised my right lung, dislocated my right shoulder and my right ankle, in addition to straining, bruising and generally messing up the muscles and ligaments around my spine. According to the emergency department physician who treated me (former SF medic from VN ironically enough), I was lucky I was able to stand up given my injuries seeing as I was burdened with ~80lbs of gear: "Either you're damn lucky, someone upstairs likes you or you're just plain tough." Seeing as I am 160 lbs wet and skinnier than I should be, I don't think it's the latter. :D

The orthopedic doc put me on muscle relaxers and pain medication. One of the local osteopathic physicians who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation contacted my department and offered to treat me for free (apparently volunteer firefighters had saved his daughter from a structure fire several years prior and he felt the need to "pay us back" for what we do for our communities). Two weeks after the accident and I was still unable to sit comfortably or stand up for long periods of time without my back seizing up, so I went to see him. He manipulated my back- working on getting the muscles to relax and what not- and I felt much better. Two visits and I was able to return to duty. That's why I recommend finding an osteopathic physician (the ones with DO after their name rather than MD), especially one who specializes in physical med and rehab (PM&R).