A tip for those with back pain......

[Baz]

My back gets sore from time to time.

Sometimes I go months with no pain but....every now and again....and sometimes associated with certain projects I am involved with.....the back gets sore.

I think it's mostly the muscles.

While I have used various over the counter meds such as Aleve and Advil, I believe external treatments to be friendlier to your system than anything internal so I have continually searched for those applications.

Well yesterday I bought something that really helped and was easy to use.

It's a patch that you apply to your back and it has adhesive so it stays put. I put it on late evening and slept with it and woke up this morning and my back feels great...no issues.

It's mostly menthol based but there are some other ingredients such as aloe.

The patch I bought came from WalMart, was in a single envelope, and cost just under a dollar.

Here is the manufacturer:

WellPatch® -

They have several variations but mine is the "WellPatch COOL&WARM Backache Relief Patch"

Hope this info helps someone....

[mikesride]

hmmm good info, will need to try this out.

[mreid]

Spend 5 minutes a day doing ab exercises. Strong abdominal muscles prevents most back pain. So, a two step process. Prevent it with exercise, fight it with the patch.

[recycled sixtie]

To be applied liberally to the PITA's in Parf.....

[azasadny]

Originally Posted by mreid

Spend 5 minutes a day doing ab exercises. Strong abdominal muscles prevents most back pain. So, a two step process. Prevent it with exercise, fight it with the patch.

Amen to that! Too many people where I live are at least 25lbs overweight and never exercise. They go to a chiropractor (don't get me started!) every time they have back pain and they never prevent or treat the root cause.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by mreid

Spend 5 minutes a day doing ab exercises. Strong abdominal muscles prevents most back pain. So, a two step process. Prevent it with exercise, fight it with the patch.

My step-father is/was friends with the old orthopedic doctor for the Dallas Cowboys, he went to see him because he was having back issues and was interested in having surgery to correct the issue. The doctor told him the last thing you ever want to do on a back is operate on it. He told him to do certain exercises EVERY morning. Fifteen years later, he is doing fine. I gave my overweight mother in law the same advice and she is also managing her back issues better than before.

[dennis in se pa]

1. Sit ups help prevent back pain.
2. Chiropractors are of value if you find a good one.

[TechnoViking]

Deadlifts and Squats

[BE911SC]

Five years ago I bought an inversion table. Haven't had any back pain since. I went with the Teeter Hang-Ups $350-ish model and love it. My wife uses it too and loves it.

[Bill Douglas]

Surfing prevents back pain. It really does. It's the lying on your chest with your back arched and REALLY working your arms and shoulders.

[manbridge 74]

Agreed on the pro-active stuff.

Once I was horsing around with my 7 year old daughter on my shoulders, leaning way forward and back. Next morning I had THE worst pain which even ran down to my feet on the left side. The dreaded sciatica I suppose. And I've never had any back pain, even after falling off at Road Atlanta once and tumbling for long enough to have smoke come off my leathers! This along with many other crashes. Now I'm cold sweating and on the floor every morning after getting outta bed....

So what to do? My BIL is telling me it won't get any better and he had taken the surgery route years ago and now blames his inability to handle cold weather on it. Being a contrarian I rejected the surgery option and decided to use ice/heat/motrin/exercise and prayer for as long as it took. After six weeks my back was right as rain.

20F degrees this morning and I'm sure glad I can enjoy winter OUTSIDE.

And the old saying is correct, "Riders don't stop riding because the get old... they get old because they stop riding." (Sub in any physical activity for riding)

[LeeH]

Cured my back pain by doing push ups, bent over rows, overhead presses, etc. As long as I keep those up on a regular basis I have no back pain.

[Schrup]

I have a fairly hard rubber ball about the size of a softball. I use it on the floor & lay on it to massage my lower back & sciatic nerve, works wonders.

[Bill Douglas]

These posts remind me. A guy I know who does iron man comp's, Our Coast to Coast challenge (run/mountain bike/kayak) etc, does touch your toes each morning or he gets a very sore back. Fine if he remembers.

[Baz]

Some very good posts.....all good to know and keep in mind! No mention of meds......just doing it the right way with exercise and stretching.

Thanks everyone who replied and posted..........I really appreciate it!

[gearya]

Pilates.

[TimT]

I use a similar product called Salonpas when my back pain and sciatica flare up..

As mentioned developing core strength and flexibility are important.. I do about 400 crunches and back extensions a week.... and do stretching for my back every day... I also have an inversion table...

Since I really started to make an exercise routine a habit... my back pain is almost non-existent lately..

And I have tried alternate methods of healing

[mreid]

Dude! You need to get those blisters lanced!

[intakexhaust]

Is the Walmart product a recent release product?

I think the Lidoderm patch patent expired so now there's others coming on the market. One is Lidocaine (5%) on a patch from Watson.

[matt f]

I believe the Lidocaine product was prescription only and continues script only.
The other pads described in the thread are readily available at retailers.

Matt