Lower Back pain

[Funtimes]

BTW, hope you have more than 5 years in otherwise the injury will not be presumptive. You'll have to fight for it if you have less than 5 on.

I've been military for 8 years and have some significant lingering pain in the very last area of my back; I wonder if the same kind of rules apply to other jobs?

Anything you guys know of I could look at for this "5 year" thing?

[c3 rolling]

I ice my back after work and stretch/heat it every morning. Lighter gear helped but did not solve the pain for me .

[Falconis]

Ohh FWIW, the 5 year thing is for cops and firefighters. It's a labor code issue I think. Stems from cops and firefighters having to constantly and needlessly fighting these cases with their insurance carriers despite doctors and other professionals saying most lower back problems stem from the day to day abuse.

Any other professions will probably have to hire a workers comp lawyer like most of us cops and firefighters do anyways.

[mwunsch]

Try exercising. Situps, squats and running. You dont have to do a lot and most people of european ancestory end up with back pain no mater what the job is.

You would be supprised how many people get back pain and bulging disks when they are about 35 or so. It also eventually goes away when you reach your 50's if you dont do any surgery and do exercise

I have to chime in here...

I am a professional personal trainer and my wife is a physical therapist...we do this for a living. cops, firemen, army etc...

do NOT do any sort of situp and keep your running to a minimum (the base level to qualify for your particular department). I am training a LA sherrif for a PT pullup test and the dude has reconstrructed shoudlers...also training people for the academy and PT tests for places such a LA sherrif, West point , ATF, CHP, blah blah blah...

if you are interested pM me and I can help with this type of thing. I am a avid hunter and actually had a webiste called hunterstrength.com, although, my other side of training got me too bust to keep up the site.

not trying to make money, just help a fellow hunter...

or this may be a thread!?

[1911su16b870]

I have a great chiropractor and after being a competitive swimmer for over the past 20 years, I find swimming is a great way to keep the spine in alignment and back pain away.

I do not go to the chiropractor unless there is back pain...and then only for for the back to re-align and then I am GTG.

Also make sure your Sam Brown is not too tight!

[retired]

Here is a little something to add about back pain from my first post. I've been away from this site since Tues. due to severe back pain. I went to my spine surgeon to discuss my upcoming cervical surgery (C4-C7) and then my pain management doc next door.

4 1/2 hours of sitting at their offices and a 45 minute drive home was sufficient to do me in. When I awakened Wed. morning, I was in agony. Over the last week, even with the medication I take, it has been a 8-9 on that scale that we all know about.

For those of you who are not suffering from back pain, please do what it takes with your equipment and your physical training to ensure that you limit your chances to ever suffer from it. Genetics did have a part in my situation, but the gun belt, the 15 years in patrol and the fights in the jail certainly didn't help.

I'm 61 and I've lived with back pain for over half of my life and I'm here to tell you it's not fun. Please take care of yourselves.

[fmxmyway]

I have some pretty consistent, and intermittent lower back pain. Do you guys use any sort of "girdle" to help brace the lower back?

Any recommendations?

Depending on your precise condition, recommendations will vary widely but I would like to add that I had Sciatica which caused me severe pain. I ended up getting a microdiscetomy. If your conditions are mild I would recommend core exercises. If they are severe like mine I would recommend seeing a neurosurgeon. When it comes to back surgery everyone has a real negative feedback on it but it was totally worth it for me and I feel almost a 100% again.

[Doheny]

If it gets bad enough call an attorney.

Call an attorney regardless; he can give you some options. My wife just won a settlement and lifetime medical for the same issue.

[veeklog]

Eleven year ago I tore up my ACL because I was working midnights and out of shape. One ACL surgery and five months later I was able to return to regular patrol work. I vowed that I would not be out of shape again and would exercise as much as I could. Since then I have kept that promise to myself to include intense cardio but core and back exercises as well.

But having back problems is one of those things that even LEO's in shape get. We wear a ton of crap on our hips that and that puts a lot of stress on the lower body. I remember when I was in uniform my hip used to bleed because of all the equipment that I was wearing. Ten years later I see friends that are wearing more equipment on their Sam Browne/River Belts than I ever wore. I am sometimes in awe because there isn't any room on their belts anymore.

Right before I left uniformed work, I wanted to see how heavy I was wearing all of my duty equipment; I was in good shape by then, and lost a lot of weight that helped me get hurt in the first place. So, with uniform, vest, duty boots (Danner Acadias), river belt with all my equipment, I weighed an extra 30 pounds more than my normal weight without my equipment. Just think about it: with all of our equipment that we have one, we get in and out of patrol cars, contort our back so we can sit comfortably in a marked vehicle with cage (not too much room in there), do foot pursuits while wearing our equipment, and sometimes have to get into altercations while wearing our equipment.

Sometimes I feel lucky because I only wear tactical gear and tactical vest only for raids (and I am currently not even doing THAT for the next few years!) so I saved a little time/stress on my back. But I sometimes still feel pain in my lower back, and wonder if I will have back problems as I approach my last 30's. For all the guys that still in uniform and lugging around your Sam Browne/River Belts on a daily basis, I tip my hat to you because you are true warriers in every sense.

[bshnt2015]

Clarify if you can, was this documented at work? Are you being treated by your personal doctor or city doctor? My co-worker went through the same issues and he was given clearance by his personal doctor to use ballistic nylon gear with a backsaver pad on his duty belt. Did you get an attorney yet? Does your association know?

[DaveInOroValley]

The best thing you could possibly do is acupuncture. I've tried it after recommendations for other ailments and so far it's been 85% effective.

Brother was in a tremendous car crash on the Bay Bridge he was stopped, lady not paying attention rear ended him at 55mph. Was told he would be permanently disabled from back and shoulder injuries.

Acupuncture then sports medicine exercise later he has no indication he was ever injured. Of course his regular Western medicine doctors think it's a miracle and won't admit it was the acupuncture.

[Jack L]

The best thing you could possibly do is acupuncture. I've tried it after recommendations for other ailments and so far it's been 85% effective.

Brother was in a tremendous car crash on the Bay Bridge he was stopped, lady not paying attention rear ended him at 55mph. Was told he would be permanently disabled from back and shoulder injuries.

Acupuncture then sports medicine exercise later he has no indication he was ever injured. Of course his regular Western medicine doctors think it's a miracle and won't admit it was the acupuncture.

It works for many people. Try everything you can before you decide on surgery.

[razr]

Reduce your weight by 25 lbs, its tough but can be done.

[spr03]

Look up a book called 7 Steps to a Pain Free Life by Robin McKenzie. Also, look up the McKenzie Method and press ups. Recovery and mobility are crucial to your longevity.

Exercise is important, but if you don't improve your hip mobility and improve your ability to brace your midsection under load, you'll just speed up your injury.