I’ve been thinking that I’ve been having major trouble with my right kidney lately; with my history of stones and infections, and the pain being right above my right kidney, it was a pretty natural assumption. But it’s not my kidney; my urologist says it’s back spasms. Nothing terrible happened to start this intermittent pain, and it doesn’t seem to be aggravated by things like heavy lifting. It does seem to be helped by pressure on the spot where the pain is; hydrocodone helps, too, and my urologist has generously provided me with a scrip for such.
So, who else has these horrible things? Sometimes they’re bad enough to be debilitating. My urologist suggested a heating pad; I don’t have one yet but will get one this week. What do you do about your back spasms? What’s been most successful? Do you have a favorite kind of heating pad? Please share your stories!
The best thing for me was physical therapy. I injured my back lifting something and it didn’t just get better on it’s own which scared me a lot. I finally got approved for physical therapy and they taught me a lot of streching and strengthening exercises that helped.
I mentioned these to my doctor; he seems to favor the ones with the cord, because he says rest is good, and if I have to stay in one place, I’ll rest; I’m kind of wanting a thingie I saw at Value City: it’s a body-length (probably five and a half feet) pad with five vibrating points, and heat. They’re selling it for $30.00 which I don’t think is bad at all. Maybe Santa will leave one under my tree. . .
I have much better luck with ice on these things than with heat – with my scoliosis, I get them occasionally. Owie owie owie. Sure, the cold isn’t too much fun, but it helps the spasms a lot. Then I find somebody who will massage it for me (usually my mom, could be my boyfriend) and when I screech with pain, they know they’re on the right spot.
My boyfriend got some amusement out of my telling him “That’s it! Hurts like hell! Keep going!” when I had one in my shoulder.
If you can, I’d see about getting a professional massage therapist to look at you. I would if I could afford it.
odd. I came into this thread because I have some weird problem with back spasms. My ex-girlfriend was giving me a massage once and she found this spot on my back that would apparently make me spasm. No clue what it was, but I do think I was pretty tired at the time. no pain other then uncontrolable flailing.
If you routinely get spasms, consider investing in a Tens Unit. A friend of mine used to date a chiropractor, and clipped one of his when they broke up (shhhh…). Every now and then I borrow it, and it is fantastic when combined with a microwave heating pad. Half hour on, half hour off. Oh, the relief!
Well, I have seen those sacks that are filled with buckwheat or some such, that can be put in the microwave to make a heat pack, or the freezer to make an ice pack; maybe one of those would be good, because then I could experiment with which is more effective.
I can’t, but hopefully, by the first of the year, hubby will have a job with good insurance benefits; if this happens, our insurance might pay for a therapist.
Well, as I said above, we can’t afford anything like that right now (I can’t even afford the $30.00 right now for the massage mat I want), but, again per above, once my husband is comfortably ensconced in a Fed job, his insurance might pay for one; I’ve known others who’ve managed to talk their insurance companies into paying for them.
I used to get horrible back spasms. They started below my shoulder blade and spread over my whole back. I would be sore for days afterwards, and have real trouble getting out of bed.
I still have occassional back issues, but I seem to have resolved the problem. First, I took up running. For me, that relaxes my back muscles and acts in a preventative manner. Second, I acquired two good desk chairs. Usually, they aren’t cheap, but mine were free. I haven’t had any since getting the chairs.
Good nutrition helps. You may be low on potassium and magnesium. You also might want to try Yoga. Even a beginner’s course offers techniques that will straighten your back and make you more limber. It’s a lot cheaper than a chiropractor and will probably do more for you both in the short and long term.
To answer this more thoroughly, you don’t have to do anything, really, to have back trouble. You may have a degenerating disk. You might wish to talk to your GP, rather than just the Urologist, if it is not kidney related. You should consider a MRI.
Also, I agree with the SDopers who recommend options like physical therapy. Don’t rush into surgery (if it is suggested) - seek other options. Also, talk to a chiropractor. Mine worked miracles for me without medication.
One thing you might try is placing ice on the area for 15 minutes, then 10 minute break, and repeat 4x for a total equivalent of one hour of icing overall. IIRC, I did it twice a day, if possible. Repeat daily esp while you seek a chiropractor.
Hope this helps,
Jinx
P.S. I was skeptical of chiropractors, but a friend made a good recommendation. Ask family, friends, coworkers…
Well, I’m not skeptical of good chiropractors; I know there are quacks out there, but I know there are valid ones, too, and hubby and I have both had good results in the past using chiropractic for a variety of issues. Now it puts me back to the fact that money is real tight right now, and we have no health insurance. But I 'spect that may be changing in the next couple of months, and a chiropractor would be good to look into.
Magiver, I get plenty of calcium, but may indeed be magnesium defficient; I’ll have to check into that, definitely. Supplements, I can afford . Also, I hadn’t considered yoga. I could probably get a good DVD for beginners for not too much money. Thanks for the suggestions.
Sounds like your pain is in the lower back (if I remember anatomy). The best thing I’ve found for low back spasms is lots and lots and lots and lots of walking. Do you live in a pedestrian-friendly city? Luckily walking is free, but I realize time usually isn’t. Still, if it’s possible to walk instead of drive, walk.
I had back spasms once in my upper back, right in the muscle covered by a shoulder blade. I twisted wrong when I was lifting weights, and was lifting weights that were too heavy for my frame (I’m a girl, by the way). Anyway, the pain increased day by day until I couldn’t even stand up straight and could barely walk. It was, apart from a migraine, the worst pain I’ve ever been in. I couldn’t breathe except in short little gasps in time with the muscle spasms, and when I cried from the pain it only made it hurt more, which made me want to cry more. Eventually I passed out for a while, then my then-boyfriend came home and found me and managed to get some pain killers into me so that, while not comfortable, the pain was a hair more manageable.
I strongly recommend going to a doctor who can recommend you a good physical therapist. My husband swears by chiropractors, though I’ve never been to one.
Well, in this respect, my current state of poverty is working in my favor! About two weeks ago, my car died; we can’t afford another one right now (and the one that broke ain’t worth repairing). We still have one vehicle, but hubby uses it for work and he works out of town during the week; this means that I have a vehicle at my disposal for, maybe, two days a week. Downtown is about a ten-minute walk, and I try to do it a couple of times a week (then I have to walk back, of course); the market is only a five minute walk (each way), but I do this just about every day, sometimes two and three times a day; and yeah, it’s lower back.
Go get a regular old heating pad. They are great for this sort of thing. I loaned one to my neighbor who had crashed his motorcycle and messed up his back, and he didn’t want to give it back. I had to go over to his house and get it, and he went and bought one for himself the next day. The other thing I recommend is Flexeril, which your doctor can prescribe. I had bad back spasms that wouldn’t go away and Flexeril made them totally disappear.
Drugstore.com has 90 tablets of generic 10mg. Flexeril for only $15.00, plus they offer $10.00 off first prescription for their website. I wonder if (seeing as how I don’t have a general practitioner right now) I could get my urologist to prescribe these for me? Certainly worth a try.
Do NOT use flexeril without having had a thorough back exam by a competent physician. And do not use for longer than 2 weeks. For short periods of time, flexeril has anti-spasm action against muscles. But it does not help with muscle knots (muscle fibre tangles) or pain due to either plain old musculo-skeletal inflammation or pinched nerves. It can also put you in lala land.
Some folks however come to appreciate the medication’s sedating effects, and thus treat their back pain. Month after month. Not a good idea.
Qadgop, thanks for the advice! It sounds like I should wait to get some insurance before I check into special medications (although I do have my urologists blessing to use the hydrocodone; I use it sparingly, usually no more than two 7.5 mg. tablets per day). I will definitely be investing in a heating pad this week, though, and looking into some yoga for beginners DVDs.
When my back went into spasm (sitting down in the Smallest Room of the House - they had to call the emergency squad to get me out), I was prescribed hydrocodone and Flexeril. One of each, four times a day. I was a complete zombie. It was horrible. I did it for a day, and then stopped. I would rather be in pain than mindless.
My experience is that back pain is managed, not cured. I have degenerating discs, and basically what I have to do is get thru the acute episodes and do lots of stretching and strengthening to try to delay the next episode and recover as much function as I can. The physical therapist told me that I could have back pain from exercising it and retain a lot of function, or back pain from not exercising it and wind up not being able to walk.
Stretching, stretching, stretching. Walking is good, so are crunches. But lots of stretching - long, slow, gentle but persistent stretching.
. Also, I hadn’t considered yoga. I could probably get a good DVD for beginners for not too much money. Thanks for the suggestions.