Lower Back Pain

[Lee Barker]

Glad that I found this thread, i have had back problems for a number of years but the last 4 months have been really bad, I have been to a chiropractor and had acupuncture and it did really help. However the pain has returned again and I just don't see any end to this.

I am going to give the golf a break for a month and try to give my body chance to heal but I am worried that at 50 years old I might end up having to give up the game I love.

[Cantankerish]

Have you had an MRI?  My back pain was a mystery until I got one.  They are expensive and it took me ages to get it approved by the insurance company because, ya know - their money guys know more about my injury than the doctor or me - but it was ABSOLUTELY worth the trouble.  For the past 11 years I have been keeping the pain in check because I know what is causing it and what to do about it.

[IowaGreg]

@Lee Barker

13 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

Have you had an MRI? 

I would have to agree.  While a chiropractor and acupuncture can help certain things, an MRI will typically pinpoint what the problem is and give you a better idea of what the treatment plan needs to be.

Shot of Toradol, anti-inflammatory……
Tens machine for electro muscle stimulation therapy...
Hot and cold therapy...
Physical Therapy
Surgery is usually a last resort, but, procedures have gotten better than they were 30 yrs ago..

 

 

[Lee Barker]

17 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

Have you had an MRI?  My back pain was a mystery until I got one.  They are expensive and it took me ages to get it approved by the insurance company because, ya know - their money guys know more about my injury than the doctor or me - but it was ABSOLUTELY worth the trouble.  For the past 11 years I have been keeping the pain in check because I know what is causing it and what to do about it.

No, not had one yet but there may be an opportunity to do so through work, i'm hoping to find out next week, i have already been referred to a Osteopath so i'll give that a go as well.

3 hours ago, IowaGreg said:

@Lee Barker

I would have to agree.  While a chiropractor and acupuncture can help certain things, an MRI will typically pinpoint what the problem is and give you a better idea of what the treatment plan needs to be.

Shot of Toradol, anti-inflammatory……
Tens machine for electro muscle stimulation therapy...
Hot and cold therapy...
Physical Therapy
Surgery is usually a last resort, but, procedures have gotten better than they were 30 yrs ago..

 

 

I have a course of pain killers and anti-inflammatories that are helping me get through and use hot and cold therapy as well. Hopefully some rest as well will do the trick but I am looking at getting an MRI if possible.

[txgolfer45]

I tweaked my lower back a few weeks ago hitting golf balls.  It spasms on occasion.   Not constant pain.  I can do a variety of exercises no problem and then twist and get a spasm.  No pain shooting down the leg or upward.  I'm taking ibuprofen and committed to doing stretching and core exercises.  Will see how that works.

[cooke119]

How is your back doing since you wrote this thread in July 2019?? Just curious to see if you are OK.

[cooke119]

As I said above I have had three lower back surgeries, back feels fine now however I played golf yesterday, 45* and ~15 MPH winds. I took Alever, (440 mg) before playing, made sure I stretched out, felt good. By the time I got to the 13th or 14th hole I felt it in my lower back, not nerve pain, more like muscle pain. I did not get any better by the 18th, maybe I should have stopped after the 16th but.... Today back is tight and hurts. I guess I will be living with this for the rest of my golfing life. I'm thinking the cold didn't help, plus we were bundled up with clothes. But it doesn't get this bad during the summer time.

[downbylaw11]

I think the best thing anyone with a back injury can do to help for golf is to start working out and strengthening their core and surrounding muscles.  it helps heal tweaks faster imo and can aid in preventing them.  I used to tweak my back constantly while golfing, though it was something that would go away in a few days, so i never worried too much about it.  I then felt a pop in my back while I was at work in 2018 and believe it was a herniated disc.  While it got a little better quickly, the pain and sometimes numbness lingered for weeks and months, and was aggravated every time i swung a golf club, especially longer clubs.  This was especially tough as I had just had my most active year of golf yet and was looking forward to playing even more, but I couldnt practice without pain.  I then said screw it and started a strength training program.  nothing insane, but 4 or 5 days a week of dumbbell workouts and within a few weeks I definitely felt improvement in my back, and I continued this for the next 5 or 6 months and played pretty much pain free golf for the rest of the year.  Of course being human, I stopped the workouts, and the back tweaks returned more frequently and again I tweaked it at work and am having a hard time getting over the hump.  f*** the human body, am i right?  I also played the best golf of my life that year too, so there are definitely benefits to working out. 

[cooke119]

On 3/1/2020 at 9:06 PM, downbylaw11 said:

I think the best thing anyone with a back injury can do to help for golf is to start working out and strengthening their core and surrounding muscles.  it helps heal tweaks faster imo and can aid in preventing them.  I used to tweak my back constantly while golfing, though it was something that would go away in a few days, so i never worried too much about it.  I then felt a pop in my back while I was at work in 2018 and believe it was a herniated disc.  While it got a little better quickly, the pain and sometimes numbness lingered for weeks and months, and was aggravated every time i swung a golf club, especially longer clubs.  This was especially tough as I had just had my most active year of golf yet and was looking forward to playing even more, but I couldnt practice without pain.  I then said screw it and started a strength training program.  nothing insane, but 4 or 5 days a week of dumbbell workouts and within a few weeks I definitely felt improvement in my back, and I continued this for the next 5 or 6 months and played pretty much pain free golf for the rest of the year.  Of course being human, I stopped the workouts, and the back tweaks returned more frequently and again I tweaked it at work and am having a hard time getting over the hump.  f*** the human body, am i right?  I also played the best golf of my life that year too, so there are definitely benefits to working out. 

IMO. weight training is great to strengthen the back and core muscles but if you are in severe pain, especially if it is radiating down a leg with numbness  you need to go to a doctor for an MRI and diagnosis. In my case, three times, it was a herniated disc pushing on the sciatic nerve. Weight training was definitely out of the question, I could hardly walk. 

I know back surgery is a last thing someone wants to go through but I can tell you, again in my case, surgery was not that bad. Today it is done almost on a out patient basis.

I also recommend a neurosurgeon.

Best of luck. 

[downbylaw11]

On 3/13/2020 at 8:23 AM, cooke119 said:

IMO. weight training is great to strengthen the back and core muscles but if you are in severe pain, especially if it is radiating down a leg with numbness  you need to go to a doctor for an MRI and diagnosis. In my case, three times, it was a herniated disc pushing on the sciatic nerve. Weight training was definitely out of the question, I could hardly walk. 

I know back surgery is a last thing someone wants to go through but I can tell you, again in my case, surgery was not that bad. Today it is done almost on a out patient basis.

I also recommend a neurosurgeon.

Best of luck. 

oh, dont get me wrong. im not suggesting if you can't walk, to start lifting heavy.  mine was more, i dealt with the nerve pain for a while, but that eventually became asymptomatic,  however, i noticed it would be pretty sore after golfing, and it would ache after bending over too much.  I started working out after the numbness went away.  mine certainly wasnt as bad as many deal with, but given I'm a sprinkler fitter by trade and am either always lifting heavy pipe, or contorting my body in odd positions, that would be uncomfortable for my back, I decided to work out a bit.  It began to rapidly improve in the weeks the followed.  given that my back being in tip top shape is an important part of my job, my decision to not see a doctor and possibly be recommended surgery was purely a financial one.  of course I was foolish in the first place to not report my injury at work because then I would have been covered, but alas, sometimes we make a judgement call based on experience, and when I originally hurt it, I did not think it would become a long term issue.  yeah, I know, it was dumb.