Thanks . It really hurts today. Im sitting here icing it down, and that feels really good.
I tried to convince the missus that the China Massage parlor at the end of the street would help, but she won't let me go .
Im gonna go easy on it for a week or so, and try the exercises , and ice it down every night . IF not , I think Ill make an appointment. I need a good strong back for another 15 or so .

I have the same, occasionally through out my hips and my Chiro fixes it. I trust him as he is also a sports doctor for many local teams.

I will say one thing, you would be surprised how much it's usually muscle related. There are connectors in the buttocks that really connect all key points in the lower back. There is a spot about 4 inches down from your hip in the rear you can push in and you will feel the pain, he recommends a tennis ball against the wall you get the knot out.

I was skeptical until I could find the point and press it to feel huge pain and knew that's where the knot was.

Your muscles overcompensates when your bones go out of sync and the pain can be unreal.

Good luck

Well, being a Chiropractor for 37 yrs, all I can say is there are good ones and lousy ones. If you walk into a office and there are a lot of staff and first visit is full spine x-rays and consult, come back tomorrow for first adjustment, just say thank you and run. Probably a nice Porsche sitting in the back of building.

Ice is your friend and so is use it or lose it, motion is lotion. When I first started as a Chiro, I admired those old Chiro's that could fix someone in one visit, One and done. Now I am a old Chiro and this is a no brainer.

Don't forget about potassium and magnesium, those muscle spasms will never be the same. As you get older, eating banana's are not enough, it does help in maybe keeping that bm working better.

Believe it or not but the most read article in Chiro school was written by the AMA on how to cure low back pain.....get more sex. Think about that one, hip movement, good. Also when you were younger, you probably did a lot of dancing. I rest my case.

Once injured it's easier to re-injure. You now really have to do exercises. Swimming is best, walking is second, but stretching and some strengthening are also part of rehabilitation. You need to come back better because just coming back the same, doing the same bad habits, you will injure yourself regularly.

I all but eliminated my lower back pains by strengthening my core through reps of 2 minutes planks. I tend to sit or stand a lot, staring at a computer screen, so my core was weak. After a few weeks of daily planks I no longer have much in the way of backpain.

^^^ I don't think you'll get better advice than that. Zeke's obviously worn out the T-shirt as well...

I saw a number of chiros over the years. It's difficult to "tough out" back pain if you can't stand or walk...

Although stretching/exercise/core work is key, while you're getting back to healthy, self-adjustment is a real thing - listen to your back if you tweak it, use heat/cold as necessary and figure out what adjustments help the most; you can likely do much of it - especially for lower back, trickier for neck issues - for yourself.

In the US they're relatively thin on the ground, but (and with the greatest of respect to the fine chiropractors that have helped me) I would tend to prefer osteopaths over chiropractors; same philosophy on alignment/correction for the joints - but they devote time to relaxing spasmed muscles before adjusting - idea being that they don't resist the adjustment/pull it out of whack after.

IME you tend to be less sore after the adjustment and the beneficial effects seem to last longer/be more efficacious - although some chiros I've visited blurred the lines somewhat by adding massage and/or heat treatments. Either way, I find it's almost entirely down to the skills of the individual practitioner(s) - and there can be a lot of variation there.

Fingers crossed, I haven't had to visit either in more than 10 years. Very grateful for that.

Im right at that ripe age, where I can still do everything I have always done, I am just taking big chances of hurting myself easier now .
I have to really adjust my way of thinking , and make smarter choices . I just put a transfer case in an f 350 today. . Before back pain, I would have just picked that mother up, and tossed it up on the trans jack. Today, I used my cherry picker to do the heavy lifting .
I am going to take your advice about the exercises ,and maybe start to work on strengthening my core. Funny, I would have thought my back was about as strong as one could be after a lifetime of lifting wheels , engines, transmissions, and all the rental house work, but we live and learn. I have never really had any back problems before. I've pulled it a few times, but it felt better in a few days .
I iced down last nite, and took ibuprophin, and to my surprise , I feel really good today. A tad sore, but just got done humping out a 10 hour day, and still feeling good.
At the end of the day yesterday, I could barely walk, it hurt so back

Fred, something to keep in mind is that rotation and lifting is a multitude higher strain.

You mentioned shoveling. You were putting things at much higher peak loads with the shoveling.

I am self conscious of my posture when shoveling and loading wheel barrows.

Now the strange thing, I have had back pain from when I was a teenager.

I thought when I switched to working in engineering it would go away.

It didn't.

What was the cause? The seats in my Porsche 944 did not fit me.

i discovered accidentally when I bought a Jaguar, and if I drove it instead of the 944 my back pain went away. Drive the 944 for more than half an hour and for two days I'm feelin' it.

Wish I'd learned that at a younger age.

Be careful with the ibuprofen, the inflammation is a natural protectant in that it makes you not want to do the things that caused the injury in the first place. There is nothing wrong with getting the inflammation down, it can help.

Just be aware that because you feel fine doesn't mean you should go right back to what you did.

What the ice does is it promotes circulation, allowing the negative build up in your muscles to get carried away. Targeted massage helps spread those negative points out across a greater portion of the muscle, also making it easier to carry away.

Ok. Similar to MRM, I had a car accident. Messed up my back and neck. I went to 9 different providers until I found two that helped. I had two physical therapists that worked on my to no positive result. The third? GENIUS!

The message here? Try and try again. Not all therapies work for everyone. I bet there is a solution for you. It may not be the first (or second) provider however.