Severe lower back pain

[MinorityView]

I think the problem is that my pelvis is twisted. I've been through this before, but it has been under control for several years now and I hate to have it come back. The big muscle across my lower back starts going into spasms. Any sort of movement becomes painful, but it is, of course, better to keep moving than not.

I've been rubbing it with a high quality birch/arnica massage oil and alternating heat and cold. Plus I've walked about 8 miles in the last two days (which may have been pushing things a bit.

I'm also stretching my hamstrings.

I don't currently have a chiropractor I trust, plus, driving any distance to get to the chiropractor would be a challenge since I have a manual transmission and working the brake and shift are both a strain on my lower back.

Any ideas of stuff I can do that might calm things down a bit? I've called my massage therapist and hope she is around and we can get together.

[Wonder-Full]

I wonder if magnesium would help? Just thinking with the muscles spasms and that magnesium relaxes muscles? Not sure if I'm barking up the wrong tree or not though...and probably will only help with sypmtoms, not the cause.

[MinorityView]

Good thought. I do have some magnesium, I'll double my dose for the next couple of days and see if it helps. Thanks!

[ZGT Mummy]

I have a twisted pelvis too. And I also have constant lower back pain, not always bad enough to stop my day to day activities but that constant ache is always there.

I was seeing a structural osteopath in preparation for pregnancy with #3 and he did some manipulations to my groin which were rather painful but longer term did help (till I got pregnant again of course!). But he also gave me exercises to do at home to relieve the ache, and they did if I kept up with them.

So: sit perched on the edge of a chair with feet flat on the ground, back straight, cross arms across your chest, focus your eyes on a spot in front of you to keep your head still, and then twist your shoulders and upper back. Your head and bottom should be very still, it's just your torso that is twisting from side to side. Washing machine type effect. Do this for 20, rest for the count of 20, repeat 3 times. Do this as many times a day as you can manage. In a couple of days you may need to twist further and up the repititions as your muscles loosen.

Whether that will help or not......

Certainly helped me so long as I kept up with the exercises, which of course I did not....

[MinorityView]

Thanks, I did it. Slightly painful, but not at all impossibly so.

I'll do it several times today and see if it helps.

I think I overdid the walking yesterday. Probably a couple of hours of walking with a break in between would be good, more than that is too much.

[oloph]

There is one myofascial release practitioner in your area. Not sure how close you are to them though. Might be able to google and find someone else who doesn't pay to be in the directory. At any rate, it is more permanent than massage and chiropractic manipulations will hold much longer if myofascial release is done first. Worked wonders for my DS.

http://www.myofascialrelease.com/home.asp?

[MinorityView]

Thanks, I'll see if I can find someone. This area is a hotbed of alternative practioners. The local medical center has a regular doctor on the ground floor and the upstairs is all alternative folks. Sort of funny, actually.

[MinorityView]

Today I had my first appointment with a woman who does something called Integrative Neurosomatic Therapy. She came highly recommended and I can see why. She spent two hours with me, first talking over my general history, then carefully examining my posture and checking various muscles and bone positions. After that she put me on the table and worked with very specific areas of my body. It was moderately painful, but she was careful to stay within certain bounds.

When she was done we looked at my posture again and all of the problems were improved, significantly.

The session finished with her prescribing a series of stretches which I'm supposed to do every day.

I liked her as a person, too, which is a nice bonus.

Finally, the cost was extremely moderate and I should be able to pay for it out of the pre-tax money I put aside for medical care not covered by insurance.

After doing about 4 sessions with a physical therapist, this was in striking contrast. She looked at my body more carefully and had a much more holistic picture of how all the pieces fit together. The physical therapist was working piecemeal, basically, and was working very hard (and had me working very hard) for quite small gains.

I will say that the physical therapist was there when I needed immediate pain relief and his methods worked--but this is so much better and really seems to be getting to the bottom of the various physical problems I've been struggling with for years.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes...if anyone is interested.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Absolutely.... so what are the areas she's defined that need working on?

With me, the key is to keep my core muscles strong...