Back spasm.....AAAARRRGGHHH!!!

[Jeff7]

God these things suck. I figure it's like having a mini-Taser embedded in my spine. Damn unpleasant.
I managed to take a nap, complete with a dream - my back actually still hurt there too.


If anyone here offers :cookies;, make sure they're laced with some kind of sedative.



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[UnatcoAgent]

What's that from? You should probably get that checked out.

 

[Jeff7]

What's that from? You should probably get that checked out.

In this case, from lifting something about 30lbs. It started to slip, and I just automatically moved to catch it. About 3 minutes later, a muscle in my back started to tense up, and bam, the spasms started.

Other things that can cause them:
- Brushing teeth
- Writing
- Sleeping

You get the idea.
They can pretty much come without warning every few months or so, and can come either from off-balance lifting, or else just from the stupidest little things. My mom (an RN) said she once got a back spasm from dusting.

It seems the only thing that can be done about them is to simply wait a day or three, and grunt now and then and envision Mr T. talking about pain.

 

[NetWareHead]

Ive gotten them from sneezing. Terrible terrible pain.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

In this case, from lifting something about 30lbs. It started to slip, and I just automatically moved to catch it. About 3 minutes later, a muscle in my back started to tense up, and bam, the spasms started.

Other things that can cause them:
- Brushing teeth
- Writing
- Sleeping

You get the idea.
They can pretty much come without warning every few months or so, and can come either from off-balance lifting, or else just from the stupidest little things. My mom (an RN) said she once got a back spasm from dusting.

It seems the only thing that can be done about them is to simply wait a day or three, and grunt now and then and envision Mr T. talking about pain.

Sucks dude... I strained my siatic nerve (sp?) a few years ago and can still feel it from time to time

 

[MotF Bane]

So, a hereditary back problem? That sucks.

 

[Jeff7]

So, a hereditary back problem? That sucks.

Yeah, the whole damn species has it.
"Ok, this'll be fine," says nature. "We'll just use the existing spinal design from quadrupeds, except this species will walk upright." Continuing to muse over this faulty design, nature continued, "I'm sure there'll be absolutely no problems whatsoever from turning a horizontal support structure into a vertical one."

Webmd: "Back pain affects 80% of Americans at some time in their lives."
Design flaw.

Go to hell, nature and evolution, go to hell.

Ive gotten them from sneezing. Terrible terrible pain.

Yeah, that's another good one. And it sucks because there's not a lot to do to stay comfortable, mainly because breathing continues to be necessary, and that motion is enough to aggravate the muscle.

I just need to somehow get this computer chair to work. The chair there was just awful, possibly because it lacks a headrest, and the act of maintaining my torso and head upright in it was quite unpleasant.
This chair is considerably better, but, well, there's still one problem: I need to stand up and walk on occasion, such as to the bathroom and so on. And sadly, my back muscles lack both intelligence and sentience, so there's no good way to exact revenge upon them.

 

[bignateyk]

Yep, I feel your pain.

I got one at work the other day. I was in my office chair, and I went to get up to get something too quickly and must have moved the wrong way. I pretty much just collapsed back into my chair and sat there silently crying to myself for the next 20 minutes until the pain subsided.

Then for the rest of the day, the slightest awkward movements would set it off again.

 

[destrekor]

Yeah, the whole damn species has it.
"Ok, this'll be fine," says nature. "We'll just use the existing spinal design from quadrupeds, except this species will walk upright." Continuing to muse over this faulty design, nature continued, "I'm sure there'll be absolutely no problems whatsoever from turning a horizontal support structure into a vertical one."

Webmd: "Back pain affects 80&#37; of Americans at some time in their lives."
Design flaw.

Go to hell, nature and evolution, go to hell.

Where's that bitch mother nature at eh? I've got half a mind to give her some stern words.
And if she talks back? Straight to the moon I say!

edit:
And I think that's why I like sleeping so much. The body is aligned precisely how mother nature told me, at least it says so here in the instructions.
And that reminds me, got more words for her - the instruction manual is missing a majority of the pages. I don't even think I've been reading this gibberish right.

 

[Jeff7]

Yep, I feel your pain.

I got one at work the other day. I was in my office chair, and I went to get up to get something too quickly and must have moved the wrong way. I pretty much just collapsed back into my chair and sat there silently crying to myself for the next 20 minutes until the pain subsided.

Then for the rest of the day, the slightest awkward movements would set it off again.

Yeah, that sounds about right - except replace "20 minutes" with "5 hours." I never really had one of these before where it just wouldn't stop.
Just getting up for something, it was a little "ok, we can do this aaaaand...no, dammitall, screw it, that hurts."

And of course now all the muscles in my abdominal area are sore from overstress to counteract the attempted motions of my utterly psychotic back muscles.

...
edit:
And I think that's why I like sleeping so much. The body is aligned precisely how mother nature told me, at least it says so here in the instructions.
And that reminds me, got more words for her - the instruction manual is missing a majority of the pages. I don't even think I've been reading this gibberish right.

Documentation: Not one of the strong suits of nature. (Or any programmers, for that matter. )


At least it's a bit better now, and I can still continue neffing. However, I'm not looking forward to getting up again. The slightest bit of motion in my chair causes my back to say, "Hey there buddy pal, what the hell do you think you're doing, huh?"

 

[eits]

find a good chiropractor

 

[Rubycon]

Electroshock therapy stat!
50 whippings/sec!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5dE4p6Ve2Q&

 

[Jeff7]

Electroshock therapy stat!
50 whippings/sec!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5dE4p6Ve2Q&

Great, now I have second degree burns too.

 

[moshquerade]

do you exercise regularly?

 

[Rubycon]

Great, now I have second degree burns too.

That's just part of the experience.

p.s. if 2nd degree you moved to fast! Well done or bust!

LOL @ switch! I love those!

 

[Jeff7]

do you exercise regularly?

Presently? No.

Though back when I worked retail or at a warehouse, and was in considerably better shape, this sort of thing could still happen. But I imagine it can't help. Much. But, you know, exercising, like.....sucks and is unpleasant. :$

And I mentioned that my mom got back spasms too sometimes - she'd regularly go hiking, and swam quite a few laps at a local pool, and was generally in fairly good shape. My dad on the other hand, not too terribly active, but also no back spasms.

That's just part of the experience.

p.s. if 2nd degree you moved to fast! Well done or bust!

Sorry, I'll do better next time.
"Don't stop till you see the whites of their bones!"

LOL @ switch! I love those!

It definitely does add a few points to the "mad scientist" score.

 

[moshquerade]

No excuses Jeff7, exercise will help your back.
Since you are prone to these spasms you need to talk to a doctor / physical therapist and find out what exercises are best for your condition.

The worst thing you can do with a sore back is baby it.

 

[Rubycon]

The worst thing you can do with a sore back is baby it.

This. Find a scaffold of at least three tiers in height and do a back flop onto something fairly hard like a street covered in peaches.

 

[Jeff7]

No excuses Jeff7, exercise will help your back.
Since you are prone to these spasms you need to talk to a doctor / physical therapist and find out what exercises are best for your condition.

The worst thing you can do with a sore back is baby it.

Have you got any morphine handy?:|


And by "prone," I guess that'd be like, 2 a year maybe? Or less, on average? It's certainly not pleasant when it happens though.

 

[moshquerade]

Have you got any morphine handy?:|


And by "prone," I guess that'd be like, 2 a year maybe? Or less, on average? It's certainly not pleasant when it happens though.

Can the spasm be stopped by massage of the area?

Seriously, talk to a PT about it. You need to keep those back muscles strong.

 

[MotF Bane]

Listen to mosh.

 

[Jeff7]

Can the spasm be stopped by massage of the area?

No, that pretty much provokes the hell out of these things, usually resulting in the triggering of additional spasms.

Seriously, talk to a PT about it. You need to keep those back muscles strong.

$$$

Time to finally find myself a doctor in this area I suppose.

 

[eits]

No, that pretty much provokes the hell out of these things, usually resulting in the triggering of additional spasms.



$$$

Time to finally find myself a doctor in this area I suppose.

chiropractor... seriously.

 

[Jeff7]

chiropractor... seriously.

Well....and I don't want to summon Godless' wrath into this thread, but I'm kind of "jury's out" on the chiropractor thing. My sister had chronic migraines for years, and went to a chiropractor. I don't know if it was the placebo effect or what, but it seemed to help - for the first few appointments. Then it stopped doing anything, despite the constant "corrections." She tried others, to no effect. I don't know what she does for the headaches now though.
My mom's experiences with chiropractors were similar - they just kept scheduling more and more appointments, but they didn't seem to do much of anything.

Granted, there are doctors who specialize in various areas of the body, and I'm sure the back needs attention; there's just a fair amount of snake oil that's gotten mixed into the practice over the years. "Sure, come see a chiropractor to take care of your pain problems. Oh, but you'll need to keep coming back over and over and over and over again."



On that note, I think the ibuprofen is wearing off, or else my back is finally tiring of this chair. Time to stand up again. Mr. T, tell me another story about pain.:'(

And I don't know if this is just sad or what, but I think I'm more disappointed than anything that I had to leave work. I had to meet with someone quick to work out a communication protocol to be used on a custom solid-state control system we're designing for an array of 1500W heater elements.
Once I get the circuitboard prototype routed out, I can finally solder it up and see if I set any records for bugs in the microcontroller's programming.


Edit: There's also no odd tingling, numbness, or leg pain with this, so hopefully that's indicative of it not being anything like a herniated disc. Of course the online descriptions of herniated disc vs spasm kind of overlap a bit - and I'm not a doctor. All I do know is that reading about herniated discs makes me a bit queasy; too much mental simulation going on of the cartilage squishing out of the bones forcibly. Yuck.

 

[BoomerD]

I certainly understand your pain. With my FUBAR'D back, I endure spasms and sciatic pain daily...nearly constantly.
Sitting hurts, laying down hurts, standing up hurts...

I find alternating heat packs and ice packs brings the most non-chemical relief for me.

Add a couple of valium washed down with a couple of beers...

I've had pretty good results with chiropractic over the years, but I agree...it seems to be something you need to continue doing over and over and over...BUT, it kept me going for over 20 years without surgery...until I fucked it up so bad that my chiropractor "fired" me...and the neurosurgeon says there's too much wrong to fix with surgery.