Lower back issue.

[JoeFirth]

So basically my chiropractor has told me to rest for a couple of weeks, after feeling out some lower back issues.

He wants all the fluid to drain out etc.

Any training you guys think I could do to keep up with my jits? Self drilling perhaps?

Thanks in advance.

[Louis Ho]

NO ONE has a worse lower back than me. On many mornings, I literally cannot even tie my own shoes. I get my kids to do it for me. The lower back is an enigma. I don't think anybody really knows how it works. Chiros will tell you one version, and somebody else will say something different. Treatments will even vary among chiros. A lot of people swear by them, hasn't helped me one bit. For me, the key is to sleep in a position that doesn't make the pain/dysfunction worse and to do a lot of stretching. Also, not to stess out about it, that'll make it worse. I don't know about self drilling. When my back is really bad, I just take a few days off. I never heard anything about fluid draining out. But through all of it, I am still training most days.

[Demitry]

I've been lurking these forums for about a year now. Finally, this is a discussion I can contribute to.

I've struggled with lower back pain for about 9 years. I had lumbar disc surgery approximately 7 years ago. At my worst, I could not tie my shoelaces, have sex, walk up a set of stairs, stand, sit, play guard, or drive a car. As recent as two months ago, I would wake up at 2AM unable to go back to sleep because of pain. Total nightmare.

To combat back pain I have tried: surgery, chiropractors, physical therapy, sleeping on the floor, ice, heat pads, heating creams, lower back exercises, all types of stretching, yoga, Brazilian jiu jitsu, meditation, acupuncture... Probably more stuff i've already forgot. Never tried injections (hate needles). Some of the stuff worked some of the time, but nothing permanent.

Today, I have some residual pain but nothing that would keep me from training or performing ANY daily activity, including lifting furniture, sleeping, etc....

Here is my reality as I see it RIGHT NOW: most CHRONIC back pain IS NOT "REAL". The lower back is one of the strongest muscle/bone groups in the body. There is nothing there you can "pull", "tweak", "pop" that would not heal in a matter of days (or months). Surgeries and chiropractors might work as a placebo effect for a while. Chronic pain is almost always related to stress.

Here is what I have recently come to learn. Most of what doctors and chiropractors tell you about chronic back pain is nonsense and is keeping you sick. I would recommend a couple of books on the subject if you want to get real about getting rid of lower back pain for the rest of your life:

Read this first: Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno
http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-P...ling+back+pain

Then read this: The Great Pain Deception: Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse by Steven Ray Ozanich
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Pain...teve+ozanovich

Now as a disclaimer, this is what I believe about the lower back pain right now. A year ago I would swear by my chiropractor because he seemed to help. Five years ago I would swear by my surgery. However, I would never had surgery or spent thousands of dollars on chiropractors/physical therapy if I had not found these books first

all the best

[JoeFirth]

In terms of fluid I'm sure hes just talking about lymph.
I'll just continue stretching and just shadow drill whatever I can really.

[Tom Carbone]

I'd just take some time off and watch some MTS videos
Its better than making it worse and taking longer to heal. Easier said than done though

[Eddie Bravo]

The dr said I need a backiotomy

[Mike Seabrook]

The dr said I need a backiotomy

Sir-Smokes-Alot himself, haha

I'd definitely take the time off and rest up. Once it's healed up you may want to look into some strength training for your core, kettlebells are great for it.

[JoeFirth]

The frustrating thing is, I'd took time off from general illness (flu) and came back and jumped straight back on the squat rack haha.

I'm going to work on my cardio and drill. Learn new techniques and then just leave the sparring for two weeks. I'll see how it goes.

Those lower back stretches at the beginning of Mastering the Rubber Guard helped the other day. I'll continue with them and just learn not to be a dick, and just stretch straight after a session!

[Michael Sioda]

I had some serious lower back pain from getting stacked in guard during my 1st year of training. I was supposed to avoid stressing my back for a month but instead I kept coming back onto the mats "too early" - would think I could slow-roll but inevitably would overdue it. This resulted in a nagging injury that got even worse each time I re-stressed the injury. In the end it took over 6 months to heal (including a frustrating 2 months of zero training). I should have just taken it easy in the beginning like the doc said but I have to do everything the hard way I guess.

Do yourself a favor & listen to the doc!

[Jack LaBarge]

Just had 2 nerve blocks today. If it doesn't work. I'm more than likely looking at surgery. Its so dam frustrating.