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Gardening and back pain
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06-25-2008, 10:03 AM
I was reading a couple of articles and thought I would share. I've been doing more gardening with summer upon us and it's important to minimize back strain. This page has multiple links to some good ideas.
http://backandneck.about.com/od/gardenin...dening.htm
06-25-2008, 10:56 AM
Its so important to protect your back...some nice easy stretching each evening is a really good idea....and if you can obtain an inversion table, it can do wonders for the back. Just make sure you have no medical conditions that inversion would aggrevate.
06-25-2008, 04:36 PM
That was cool Dr. J!
Another way I know of making your gardening back-friendly is to build raised beds that come up to about waist height. Why not? A lot of us have to make/import our own soil anyway, and the more the better. Beds raised 30" or more off the ground offer some protection against pigs, slugs, fungi and other critters. The trick, I think , is to get the right materials. Redwood is cheap-esque but even that will rot in the Puna rain. What I love for boxes is trex (or other manufactured lumber). It's made of recycled plastic with sawdust fused together with epoxy, and can look really good. It comes with a 25 year warranty - pretty impressive! Here's the catch - it's expensive. My thought is that for the labor of making a great planter it's worth the extra money to have it last a long time. I have designed planters of this same height for folks in wheelchairs too. Here where we get the rain, I think higher is better for planters (and backs!)[  ].Uluhe Design Native Landscape Design uluhedesign@yahoo.com
Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design uluhedesign@yahoo.com
06-26-2008, 01:08 AM
As someone who has gone through two back surgeries, I can tell you that prevention is better than treatment!
If you do have back problems, stay away from the chiroquackers! A lot of us have been injured by them, and they essentially take credit for improvements that would have happened anyway. They can also cause strokes: http://www.webmd.com/stroke/news/2003051...troke-risk
06-26-2008, 02:50 AM
Knowing Dr J is a chiropractor, just wanted to jump in and say that I have benefited greatly by chiropractic care over the years. I've only been to one chiropractor who was questionable. But I've seen many more medical doctors who give away antibiotics like candy. One was willing to prescribe pain medicine for the rest of my life for chronic neck pain. That's when I decided to give chiro a try. And it worked.
Recently I had serious neck pain that continued 24/7 for over a month. Finally found a local chiropractor (the best I've ever been to) and after about 5-6 adjustments, I was back to normal. So just wanted to say to Dr. J that I respect what you're doing. Hopefully you're one of the good ones :-)
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
06-26-2008, 07:36 AM
quote: I was not aware of our neighbor's profession. My experience has been quite the opposite of yours. I went to a chiropractor with some minor back problem, was "cracked," and lost much of the feeling in my leg. I was also unable to walk out of the office without help, and was in excruciating pain. I ended up having to have emergency spine surgery the next day. This was from a licensed guy who even taught at a local chiropractic school. To make matters worse, the chiroquacker told me that the injury he inflicted on me was my fault because "you don't want to get better." The MRI suggests that the problem was a disk that never should have been manipulated in the first place, not my attitude. I've heard my story repeated by others again and again. My view is that any kind of intervention should be done as a last resort. My two back surgeons both felt the same way. The first had to go in or I could have risked permanent nerve damage. The second waited to do a fusion only after months of physical therapy failed. The first surgery was successful in the sense that it took away the pain for five years and restored nerve function to my leg. The second (on the same disk) was done ten years ago and I have been pain free since. So while I am skeptical of any medical doctor who wants to cut into me and any nonmedical "healer" who wants to crack me, I did benefit from going under the knife.
06-26-2008, 08:40 AM
Somehow in our evolution from whatever we were as quadrapedal sapiens to bipeds we were left with one 'weak spot' and that's the lower back. It's not really an engineering or evolutionary imperfection but rather it's our misunderstanding of the basic bipedal predilection to injure these muscles by using improper lifting techniques ,and, by not exercising, essentially, the abdomenal muscles which are actually the muscles which are used to lift (in conjunction with the legs shoulders and arms). Individuals who injure their backs in most cases simply don't know how to lift properly and actual subluxations of the spine are rare. Due modified sit-ups and approach every 'lift' as a world-class weight lifter and you won't injure your back. It's all about body mechanics and exercise. JayJay
JayJay
06-26-2008, 11:07 AM
I always appreciate the opportunity to talk to people about chiropractic. Even those who have had negative experiences. Not every doctor is the same, just like chiros, but it's always important to get the facts.
hpp4m, I don't know your case, but I'm willing to bet that you had a disc injury to begin with, but it probably wasn't properly diagnosed by your chiropractor. Chiropractic care has never been medically proven to cause disc herniations, but many times exacerbate an already existing herniation. Even with a disc herniation there are chiropractic techniques that will correct them without having surgery and that won't aggravate the nerve. Everyday we see people with disc herniations and successfully treat them without resorting to surgery that must be repeated every 5-8 years. If you want to PM me we can talk more in depth about chiropractic and medicine all you want. Just a few facts though. Deaths due to over the counter pain medication every year: 7,600 Deaths due to diseases (nosocomial infections) picked up during a hosptial visit each year: 90,000 Deaths in Hospitals due to medical error each year: 195,000 Reported deaths due to chiropractic care, including strokes: 0 Average cost per year for malpractice insurance for your family MD: $17,000 -$85,000 per year depending on state. Average cost per year for malpractice insurance for your chiropractor: $1,800-$2,400 per year depending on state. I love my profession and love what we can do for people. It is a safe and effective way to treat many common maladies. You are right hpp4me prevention is the way to go! If you have any questions PM me, otherwise my post will quickly become a novel! [  ]p.s. You will remember in your article that the study done didn't include chiropractors, but asked people who have had a stroke if they had their neck cracked previously. It didn't state when they had the care and when the stroke occurred or if they coincided or if it was even performed by a chiropractor. On the second page it stated that only 7 stroke victims could be directly linked to chiropractic care. Out of 30 million adjustments that occur each year only 3-6 strokes are reported. Statistically if I had 30 million people lay on my table and then get up without receiving treatment, 3-6 strokes could occur. Again a great and safe alternative to health care! I'll post more articles as I find them.
06-26-2008, 05:20 PM
If you can't tell good chiropractors from bad ones, you'll never get full benefit of chiropractic treatments. Credentials are nothing. Your senses will tell you when you have the right person work on you. The same with massages.
06-27-2008, 07:42 AM
quote: When you are looking for a health professional, credentials are all you have to go on, really. Word of mouth is not valid (lots of health service studies on that one). So, when you see that someone is allowed to teach at a chiropratic school, it is reasonable to assume that you have a good one. In my case, I could not go on my "senses" because on the first visit I ended up in the emergency room. Dr. J's comment that I had an undiagnosed disk problem is not correct. This guy told me I had a disk problem, cracked me, and I ended up in surgery. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course. Mine is that chiropractic is a dangerous. |
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