drauch wrote:
Getting physical therapy next month boys for my now 6 months of sciatica. Being the pessimist I am, I assume it will do nothing and I will be uncomfortable the rest of my life. I assume this will be lots of core exercises. Any experience here with this sort of fun?
Okay, so I jumped in here at the right time I guess. I haven't posted in here a while because... guess what... I fucked my back!
I'll explore more if you want, but I was doing some travelling after I had tweaked my back a couple of times in the gym. It was livable. Mexico? Not bad. I knew I needed to take it easy and not upset it but I was able to swim and even lift quite a bit. Went to Japan for a month and things went absolutely pear-shaped. Very stiff and old bed, and futon underscored how bad of shape my back was. I woke up in tears a few times - stabbing pain between pelvis and thigh. Fucking nuts.
Anywho, a few pages back, this topic came up and long time member lawnspic mentioned he had been seen by Dr. Stuart McGill and eventually made a breakthru with his pain. He and I took the conversation offline and he graciously shared videos and knowledge he gained from his meeting with the man himself. I read
Back Mechanic TWICE. There's some great info in there even if the exercises and routine don't work for you. I highly recommend reading this book. You can get through it in days. It's not super cheap - if you're broke I can mail you mine as a loner.
The vote isn't in if it's going to rid me of my pain, but to be fair, I have not really given myself a great environment. I'm just now back from travelling, and I don't even have a real bed. I've been in shitty hotels, and now in my new place on an air mattress for days, and finally a decent 6" foam fold out but it's not amazing. My bed gets here Tuesday. I have a fuck ton of boxes to unload and that's not great on the back either.

So... what's in the book? Tons of shit, but the take home points are below. Some are at odds with the "community" and common knowledge. For example:
Quote:
hold my knee to my chest,
This is specifically called out (with pictures!) as horrible for a damaged back. Doing that and twisting maybe the worst thing you can do.
Quote:
hangs
Pain relief. Inversion table probably a bit overkill but I have talked to people that have sworn by them. The book promotes
slight traction as pain relief... like holding yourself up on a counter.
Anyway, key points:
0: Your back needs to heal, and the only way to do that is to let it rest. Obviously a proper bed that gives you the right position is key, but you need to keep the spine in a neutral position as much as possible while you get on with your life. Ideally always. The book teaches you ways to get up and down off the ground, tie your shoes, make sweet love, etc., all in spine-sparing ways.
1: Good posture - what is it? How do you maintain it, etc?
2: Core
endurance (not strength) is paramount to your recovery. Endurance first, then worry about strength. Achieved with the
McGill Big 3 to start.
3: Don't fucking stretch and injured back. Any relief you get is temporary. It doesn't fix anything, and might make it worse.
4: Walk. Walk some more. Then walk some more again. Walking is good and will probably relieve your pain.
Now having said that, I actually forked up for an assessment from a McGill Master Clinician. It wasn't cheap but I wanted 100% confidence I was doing everything right. Well guess what, I wasn't! So, really read those instructions and realize how easy it is to cheat them. I wasn't doing terrible, but not great. Most people won't have the dough to do that (it's expensive) but the book will indeed help.
As for your PT: Many internet posts, even dear friends, and lawnspic confirmed in the theory that finding a good PT in America that will actually help you is difficult. I've heard from at least 3 people that they've gone to many (like 10) with no relief. So, keep that in mind. It's by and large a "by the numbers" practice and the book argues that each back and back injury is it's own snowflake.
Sorry that got a bit long.
_________________
RegalSin wrote:
New PowerPuff Girls. They all have evil pornstart eyelashes.