Question:
I lift weights and am in good shape. But I have really bad lower back pain. I injured my lower back at the gym three years ago and it did get better. But I write for a living which means a lot of sitting, and not always with tbe best posture. Too often I end up writing at the dinning room table.

The low back pain is just always there, it's become a part of my life...but it really kicks in after I spend an hour standing. If I go to a museum, for example, I am in agony after an hour. Also, day-to-day stuff like bending over to tie my shoe, sometimes even putting the key in the ignition of the car, these things cause a lot of pain.

It starts first thing out of bed in the morning. I went to a chiropractor about ten times and it helped, but not dramatically. He felt that I should have five sessions in a row for a while and this would help a lot. Maybe it would. But the relief I experienced lasted only a few hours. He did show me a hamstring stretch which really helps a lot, to my surprise. SO I try to remember to do this in the a.m.

Could stretching actually provide me with real, long-lasting relief from this? It seems too simple. In the meantime, i'm taking Vicadin HP, usually three pills a day. And even this only dulls the pain ever so slightly.

So my question is: is there any treatment for lower back pain that really, truly helps?

Answer:

Have you seen a doctor? If there is a physical (structural or nerve contact) problem, a doctor should decide what to do, and activity may not be the best thing, sometimes rest is needed, and the spine can only rest when both the hips and shoulders are supported.

After you see your doctor, find an exercise studio that is experienced in pilates. The pilates are very gentle stretching excercises that will help your back. It does take some time for results, however. I used to have spasms that paralyzed my lower back. It took almost two years of weekly exercises, but I have not had a really bad spasm in over ten years.

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