backaches from gardening? The quik fix

21 years ago

As I say, I love to teach, and it's easy to fix backaches from gardening. It's my job, I'm a massage therapist. If you get it in the lumbar region, the very best tx is to lay backwards over a barrel till the back relaxes. Anything else you can find to lay backwards over would help, the exercise balls do pretty well. But the other kind of back pain is the really surprising one. If you hurt in a line across the low back or in the sacral area, esp if it's chronic for you, or if it starts after a day of bending over, you need to stretch the inside of your legs. It's too complicated to go into the explanation, but it works. You can sit on the floor with your legs straight but separated by 90 degrees or more, and then lean forward enough to feel a pull on the inside of the legs just proximal to the knee. Give a good 20-30 seconds of gentle stretch. That's all it should take. You can learn to do it standing, like a martial arts stretch where you drop down some on one knee and stretch the inside of the other leg, in this case it will pull closer to the groin. If this is your chronic area of back pain, you can figure out how to do it sitting in a chair at work too. Try it even if you don't have this kind of back pain, so you'll remember it to tell to someone else. It works!

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Comments (6)

ltcollins1949
21 years ago
Thanks for the good information.

I will use it when necessary, but I think that I'll just keep going to my massage therapist once a week and let her worry with my back! HA! I use two different massage therapists that used to work together, so if I can't get into one, I go to the other one.

Nineteen years ago I was skiing and broke my sacrum, the pelvis bone next to it and three pelvis bones in the front. My doctor told me that the front break actually caused for a floating pelvis break. I was on crutches for 3 months, and my back has never been the same since.

Sometimes when I down doing weeding, planting, etc., I have to find something to pull myself up with, and I'm only 55 years old, but I look like I'm 85 years old when my back goes into spasms.

People like you, i.e. massage therapist are great for being able to make us feel better. Thanks.
earthlydelights
21 years ago
donna,

thank you kindly for your expert advice.

i always say that the very first thing i would do if i ever won a lottery, would be to have a personal massage therapist. next to gardening, that can become an addiction as well.

these exercises will come in very handy -- i ALWAYS have a back ache.

thanks again and happy new year!
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jayway
15 years ago
It has been seen that after a certain age women mostly suffer from back pain problem due to pregnancy and many other reason. These problems are common and it has been seen women. Dacula GA Chiropractor will help you get rid from back pain problem and you must not ignore it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dacula GA Chiropractor
greyandamy
15 years ago
I don't know if you can help with this. I have severe back pain, which my rhemo says is actually muscles around spine. I do take a muscle relaxant for it, which is currently of minimal help. And antiinflammatories. When I walk, sit, the pain's much worse. Any ideas what this is. Bending too... but walking really triggers it...
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
15 years ago
For me it has been my unwillingness to accept the real age of my back and not overdue how I work it. After a problem last year that made walking very painful, tests indicated excess bony growth causing inflammation of the nerves to the legs. I had a injection of cortisone into the lumbar area of the spine, and now take anti-inflammatory drugs. By taking a break during the day and relaxing for 15 minutes I can then work some more without promoting inflammation which would require another injection or surgery. At 82 I still can do most everything here on my six acres. Al
gardener_sandy
15 years ago
I have the greatest admiration for anybody who is still maintaining six acres at age 82! Way to go, Al! My brother is still an active gardener at age 71 and I thought that was great. You take the prize.

A couple of anti-inflamatory tablets a day seems to be almost necessary when you reach a certain age. Or at least necessary to stay active. Pain tends to make me stop being active and that's never good for me. Less active equals more stiffness and therefore more pain.

I certainly have to take it easier than I did when I was younger but one reason I hate winter so much is because I can't get out and dig in the dirt. The first decent days of late winter mean I'll ache more for a while but it's worth it. Getting back in shape after a few months of non-gardening stuff takes some doing but it's all still a pleasure.

Sandy