Paul
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
Thomas Edison
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« Reply #1 on: 15-Dec-08, 07:44:00 PM » |
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I'm not a trainer but your post is basically me, same experience. Never had back problems but started with some discomfort and tightness and thent going out once a year which would incapacitate me for a week. THen intervals shortened and then just didn't heal. Thought I was doing everything by the book - gym couple times a week, running, cycling, swimming, etc.
Tried a few chiros but most were the old style twist you in a pretzel, beat the crap out of you with no real relief other than a lighter wallet. Then found a guy who focuses more on trigger points and pressure points and it was like a magical cure. Seriously, I'd go in walking like a duck in excruciating pain and come out 90% cured and within 2 days 100% and back in the gym. His approach is to have patient lie face down on a fancy table and he applies pressure or combines pressure with a small section of the table dropping about an inch.
My advice on chiros is stay away from the ones who immediately try and sell you the 5 or 10 visit package. Also avoid the ones who crack your neck via twisting (very dangerous) - safer to use a little plunger/trigger thingy that pushes on the cervical vertebrae. A good chiro shouldn't need a lot of brute strength to fix stuff.
You don't say what kind of pain you're having but check your flexibility especially quads. Although MRIs revealed I have a severely degenerating L4/L5 disk, my main problem was the world's tightest quads which had the effect of pitching my pelvis forward and down and creating a tight back with way too much curve. This came from tons of cycling, skiing, heavy leg presses, let extensions, etc. My solution was lots of stretching, and more lateral
I'd say go see a good orthopedic doc to rule out any serious structural problem due to injury, etc. and get a referral to a good physical therapist to work on your back and to evaluate whether your routine is causing some of the problem. Check your stroke as well - if you're swimming fly super hard or have a lot of torso twist in free you can irritate your back.
I have a great chiro but I saw a half dozen really bad ones before him. Same deal on a personal trainer, you can get lucky and get a real pro who can transform you but you can also get some muscle head who doesn't know beans. Start with a doc and therapist and go from there.
Long post but figured I help out a fellow sufferer. Good luck.
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