Suggestions for back pain relief?

[Haertig]

I am researching things I might suggest to my daughter who sometimes has significant back pain in her lower back. She's young, athletic, extremely fit and strong, and not overweight (underweight, if anything).

I have an elderly friend who suggested Blue Emu original creme. Has anyone here used that and can comment on it's effectiveness? Suggest other possibly similar cremes? Or anything else for that matter? My daughter really doesn't want to go around smelling like a Ben Gay advertisement, or like Menthol Mama. So something nearly odor free would be much preferable. I know there are lidocaine patches (called "Salonpas" or something like that). My wife likes those. And lidocaine cremes. Also aspirin based cremes. I think that Blue Emu stuff is possibly more herbal than medicated, but I don't really know. I imagine they also make soft wrap-around braces for backs.

Does anyone have something they would recommend, or tell us to stay away from, for lower back pain? Hopefully something of modest/reasonable cost and not hyper expensive.

Thanks!

 

[BBLife]

Good Feet Store. Best $1200 I ever spent in my life! No more lower back or knee pain. Can walk 10X longer without legs getting tired. Took the wife who was having pain in her heals after the Dr. said she needed surgery and after just 1 week of wearing the arch correction her heals were not hurting anymore (i.e. she DID NOT need surgery).

 

[Weedygarden]

I experience lower back pain from time to time. I have spent days on the couch here and there. There are some good back exercises that can help.

These two guys, I think brothers, offer lots of advice and have many videos about all kinds of body challenges. Bob and Brad, are physical therapists.

 

[kd4ulw]

I haven’t taken it for a while, but blue emu is at least cheap enough to try. Didn’t really notice a big difference for myself except my hands were soft.

 

[1371]

Second on the OTC heat creams and they sell a heat pad that sticks to lower back that works well. Not saying to get into the prescription muscle relaxers, but they work! Felt like a had a new lower back…for a few hrs.
Tried the chiropractor, didn’t do much for me. But they did give tips like not sitting on wallet certain exercises etc.
I’ve had acupuncture for other things and it worked. Imagine you could buy a kit to even do it at home?
Big fan of stretching when it doesn’t hurt to keep limber and specific exercises for lower back like mentioned above.
Important to find out why, is it muscle or bone issue.
Best of luck, I know it’s not fun!

 

[kenv1950]

Have a MRI to make sure there aren't any pinched nerves . I've suffered for 37 years, worker 25 yrs with it . Basset health care ny just kept sending me to drs that have nothing to do with backs , 3 yrs. wasted with them . They told me the only fix was to walk (i was there because my right leg doesn't work .
Finally went to UHS health care neurologist , 2 MRIs . After reading them he said I don't know how you can walk at all there's so much damage.
He's going to try some cleanouts around the nerves before considering a double fusion . Fusion is last resort .
I told him to try anything to avoid the fusion .
I did use a chiropractor for 20yrs. it did help until about three yrs. ago . Don't wait , like I did . I also tried PT another waste of time.
Never found anything OC that worked .

 

[Haertig]

Thanks. We know what is causing the pain (physician diagnosed, not just an ignorant Google search). She goes to physical therapy routinely. I was just looking for some tips on generic pain relief. I should have said that at the start.

 

[Peanut]

If you want something herbal there are a number of plants I could name... would need to know the exact problem to narrow the list. If it's a tendon/ligament problem Solomon's Seal is great. If it's disk or bone alignment... Mullein. Or... there are a number of plants for calming agitated or inflamed nerves. Still others that can reduce generalized inflammation.

The best recommendation I could give is find a local herbalist who uses local plants. (Plants from someones daily environment seem to work better than plants from far away.) It may be as simple as changing her diet, adding certain herbs to her food for chronic issues.

Sadly most folks don't believe in the power of plants but still believe big pharma. Okay, I'll put my soap box away.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I use the Xtra Strength Blue EMU with some relief, it is lidocaine based.
A week or so ago I HAD a bout of lower back pain and the wife gave me some Doans pills, I must say they worked well.

 

[Morgan101]

Have you tried Aleve or other forms of Naprosyn? That is my go-to.

Another maybe more controversial method, Chiropractic care. When I had serious back issues I tried traditional medicine, and nothing helped. I went to a Chiropractor that I trusted, and in two visits I was fine. First visit I could barely walk into his office, and I walked out at a normal pace. After the second visit I was 90% improved and had no limitations, and have had no back issues since. That was over 30 years ago. I won't weigh in one way of the other on Chiropractic care, but it worked for me.

 

[Supervisor42]

Thanks. We know what is causing the pain (physician diagnosed, not just an ignorant Google search). She goes to physical therapy routinely. I was just looking for some tips on generic pain relief. I should have said that at the start.

It would be a help if you shared that.
I occasionally suffer from terrible lower back pain from muscle spasms.
(Usually from 'overdoing it')
This goes back over 2 decades.
Left untreated, they multiply. By day 3, I can't even bend over to put my pants on .
If caught early (like in the first 3 hours), one Methocarbamol tablet makes it like it never even happened.
When I go out and about, I carry a tiny zip lock in my back pocket that I call my EDS (emergency drug supply) and it is one of the pills in there.
Do not underestimate the possibility of this being the problem in young healthy people.

Methocarbamol was approved as a muscle relaxant for acute, painful musculoskeletal conditions in the United States in 1957....Methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant used to treat acute, painful musculoskeletal spasms in a variety of musculoskeletal conditions.

 

[Haertig]

It would be a help if you shared that.

My general principle on the internet is not to share anything that is not mine to share. Even these small, innocuous medical conditions someone may have. Specific details of where they are, ... stuff like that. If the someone involved is not me, then I try not to share it. IMHO, it's just not my place. Sometimes, with permission, I will. But I try not to generally.

But the result in this case, and what causes pain, is overstretched and overused support structures around joints. Ligaments, tendons, muscles, etc.

 

[Buffalo]

I was heavily into weight lifting in my 20s and 30s. I lifted 6 days a week and let's just say that I was dealing with sore muscles in one part of my body or another basically all the time. I tried so many different treatments to help with the soreness and pain. What I found was that treating the internal problems while also using external treatments always resulted in the best results.

If you daughter is already attending physical therapy, she is working those muscles, tendons, joints etc. When she stops, her body is going in and trying to repair the microscopic damage that using our bodies causes. Her body needs the correct materials for that. I'd suggest that after she completes a round of physical therapy, she takes a dose of Post Workout BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids). I like the BPI brand Best BCAA. You just mix the powder with water and consume within 30 minutes of completing a workout or physical activity.

Then, if it is an option, either a hot shower or a soak in a hot tub would be the next thing I'd suggest, the heat from either helps to promote bloodflow through out the body and relaxes the muscles. If she can't get to either, a product like Icy Hot, Bio Freeze (my go to) or Blue Emu works almost as well. Then there are times when the pain and soreness just won't go away, that's when I break out the lifter's secret weapon, Tiger Balm. It doesn't take much of the Tiger Balm to heat up an area and it is deep penetrating heat that really helps to sooth the soreness.

And on top of all of this, the most important thing is that she is eating right. Providing her body with the nutrients throughout the day and night to help it repair itself is paramount. I can't tell you what she needs, but if you she does some research into athletic training regimen diets, I'm sure she will find one that will fit the bill for her, along with either a multi-vitamin or supplements like Glucosamine Chondroton, CQ-10, D3, Tumeric and Fish Oil.

Hope this helps! Although I don't lift nearly as often as I used to, I stick with the same vitamin and diet regimen that I did when I was working out, and I can tell you that at 42 years old, I can run circles around most of the 20 year olds around here!

 

[Caribou]

Devils Club Salve, I like the double strength but perhaps a young body could do with the single strength. A friend of mine makes her own but I don't want to harvest it. One look and you know how it was named. It is the plant equivalent of a porcupine. You learn to give it a wide berth.
https://www.amazon.com/DOUBLE-STREN...=1676677949&sprefix=devils+clu,aps,208&sr=8-2

 

[SoJer]

Canna Butter.

More info, Fwiw: https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/gardening-on-the-dark-side.17168/page-3#post-513324 (Scroll down past all the corny jokes and Emojii-beds..

.02
jd

 

[DrJenner]

My general principle on the internet is not to share anything that is not mine to share. Even these small, innocuous medical conditions someone may have. Specific details of where they are, ... stuff like that. If the someone involved is not me, then I try not to share it. IMHO, it's just not my place. Sometimes, with permission, I will. But I try not to generally.

But the result in this case, and what causes pain, is overstretched and overused support structures around joints. Ligaments, tendons, muscles, etc.

Inversion table helps us the most for the same kind of pain. Helps a ton.
Also, I would take her to a professional shoe store to have shoes fitted for her. I was having a lot of hip pain with exercising, and once I got my ON shoes, it went away.

 

[Bacpacker]

I feel bad for her, she's young to be having back problems.
I herniated 2 disk, L4 & L5 in 1987 and have dealt with that ever since. Sometimes it's ok, just really stiff. Others I struggle to put my shows on. I get bad muscle spasms. If I can catch it in time and start muscle relaxers quickly, it's usually just sore for a few days. I have a perscription for 800mg Skelaxin. Nothing less will touch it.
Some PT has helped, but they have to be good ones. One hurt me worse than any help they gave. Out of all those sessions some things I found to work better than others. Limited stretching, and core strenghtening exercises help in the long run. Short term the PT always would ice my back for 20 minutes after treatment, then hook me up to what is basically a TENS unit with a warm towel over my back for 30 minutes after that. I would have them turn it up as far as they would, once they made my leg twitch and backed it down. The TENS fatigues the muscles to stop the spasm. It gave more instant relief than anything and would last for 2-3 hours before starting back up. It worked so well we bought a OTC unit that works ok. It's not nearly as strong, but I can use it as often as I want. It helps some too. One pain relief cream is perscription strength Voltarin. There is an OTC version, but it's not nearly as effective
I had another MRI a few years back to see how bad the deteriation was. Dr told me, I can do surgery but I would give it better than 50% shot at helping. I'll deal with it for odds like that.
Sure hope this is a short term thing for her and she recovers quickly. I wouldn't wish back problems on anyone

 

[FarmOR]

Popular subject? Common problem from bipodal species?

My back injury sidelined me for three months. Worst pain I've ever experienced. The concussions, ankle sprains, broken sternum, broken right arm, torn rotator cup, broken left ankle with titanium pins holding together - nothing compared to the sciatica.

My trusted chiro was on vacation. I was so desperate. Went to emergency room. They gave me "high powered narcotic" injection and sent me home. Might as well have a placebo. No relief whatsoever. Went to alternate chiro. After two sessions he sent me to get a steroid shot. Finally, A bit of relief. Then sessions resumed for two weeks without progress. Told me I was surgery bound. By then my regular chiro was back.

Took him my X-Ray and he addressed the problem immediately. He fixed me up in about a week of sessions and taught me two yoga stretches. I've done them every day since.

Mimicks the inversion table? All you need is five minutes and a clean floor space: Downward dog (30 seconds), traction stretch out flat (30s), cobra stretch (30s), traction stretch out flat (30s). Get up and walk (2 minutes). Like most therapy, it improves with time and repetition.

 

[ABR]

Arnica cream/gel is the most natural topical that we use. It works pretty well on most anything but the deepest pain. I get really bad pain in my back and hips and I try to avoid taking anything. Stretching, heat(bath or heating pad), gentle massage and Arnica are the things that work the best for me.

 

[Cascadian]

My family member has had back pain for many years. Injections, surgery opioids etc. She uses homemade CBD cream. No idea on the THC content for that. For the last few months after getting off all pharmaceuticals she has been using this. Phytocet™ | Official Site

The jury is still out on the Phytocet but for now it is working using it twice a day.

 

[Caribou]

My family member has had back pain for many years. Injections, surgery opioids etc. She uses homemade CBD cream. No idea on the THC content for that. For the last few months after getting off all pharmaceuticals she has been using this. Phytocet™ | Official Site

The jury is still out on the Phytocet but for now it is working using it twice a day.

CBD is a different part of the marijuana plant and has no psychoactive property.

I've been young a heating pad with good results.

 

[Cascadian]

CBD is a different part of the marijuana plant and has no psychoactive property.

I've been young a heating pad with good results.

Correct, I just meant that since since the cream is homemade she likely wouldn't pass a wiz quiz. With no lab results it just kinda comes out how it comes out. Fortunately she doesn't have to answer to anyone on that issue.

 

[Sourdough]

This may have already been posted. Don't assume the problem is back spine or muscular related. Kidney inflammation pain hurts. "REAL BAD". But feels like back pain.

 

[Weedygarden]

This may have already been posted. Don't assume the problem is back spine or muscular related. Kidney inflammation pain hurts. "REAL BAD". But feels like back pain.

I had a h.s. friend who was very active and fit. One day her back was hurting her so bad that she went to the E.R. She was dead in a couple of hours, from a kidney infection.

 

[Spikedriver]

I strongly recommend starting with the feet. Proper insoles have helped my feet, knees, and lower back.

I injured my lower back in 2009. I approach it in many ways. #1 is shoes/insoles. #2 is the way I approach physical activity. #3 is to use a back brace with a lumbar pad whenever I need it. #4 is my choice of vehicles - I only drive vehicles with adjustable lumbar support and an upright seating position, no sports cars for me. #5 is, I only sleep on my sides, in the "recovery position". That takes the stress off my lower back while sleeping. #6 is to always stretch multiple times a day. Keeping the quads and hamstrings loose does wonders for the back...

 

[Magpie]

Similar issues in this house with my daughter, and I too have back damage. Mine is from an injury; I have no idea what my daughters' is caused by.
It does depend on the core issue, back pain may not mean she has an injury- it could be in relation to period pain etc, so maybe keep a diary of the pain. A few things- posture when sitting at a desk for long timeframes- have good back support, stretch regularly etc. try pilates or similar to strengthen the core. One good exercise is standing against a wall, shoeless, and pushing your back curve into the wall for a few seconds.
Heat on the area, a hot water bottle, helps relax the muscles, along with some Vicks cream (the one for chests-not sure what you call it over there, maybe vapour rub) it helps relaxes muscles. Don't bother with painkillers; it's anti-inflammatories that help most if you can't feel the pain that's when you'll make it worse!
A change of diet can be effective. Years ago I was going to Alaska and bought a tens machine with me because I thought I'd be in bits with all the walking. I didn't use it once. Months beforehand, I started making juices and smoothies, having one a day. I gave up white bread and took a Chinese remedy called deer antler velvet. I can't get it anymore, but something worked! I had no problems at all.
Tomatoes and food from that family can inflame certain conditions, such as arthritis.
And finally- and this is a recent discovery- I used to get out of bed like an old woman when I worked, and spent most of the day in pain. From the month I gave my notice, I got noticeably better.
Stress was a huge factor in making me worse. I just didn't realise, I thought having pain all the time was just a sign of hard work. Get your daughter to have a look at her lifestyle in general, a few small tweaks, and being conscious of looking after herself could make all the difference.

 

[INresponse]

28 years ago I blew out a disc in my back and had severe lower back pain for many, many years. It was about 10 years of suffering, and chewing on Motrin, before someone told me to ice it until numb to (temporarily) stop the pain and allow me to move around to gain range of motion in the muscles. It was about 26 years before I learned that sugar and carbohydrates cause inflammation in the body and eating a very low carb, no sugar, diet would put a stop to the majority of the pain.

As for the ice, get a large ice pack, wrap in a Tshirt so 4 layers of the Tshirt material are between the ice pack and your skin. Lie down with the ice pack over the pain and cover with a blanket. As the ice pack starts to relax the muscles other muscles in the area will start to feel painful but keep the ice pack on for about 30 minutes until the area is numb and pain free. After 10 or 15 minutes you might need to move it up or down a bit to the new painful for a bit to relax those muscles. For me, usually once the pain eased up I would fall asleep and wake up much later feeling cold, at which time I would reach back and remove the ice pack and fall back to sleep. Honestly, that was the only way I could fall asleep for many years. If you do this during the day, and don't fall asleep, get up and move around carefully while it is numb to let the muscles move and stretch and relearn their range of motion. Of course you shouldn't do anything stupid or lift anything heavy, just move around and do stuff so the muscles move and gently stretch about.

As for the sugar/carbs, when I casually started a Keto type diet, after months of nagging from my girlfriend, the nonstop pain dropped off quickly. I am not eating a perfect Keto diet, I will still have a piece of birthday cake or occasional ice cream or a delicious burrito at the Mexican restaurant or a few slices of pizza but those treats are my like once a week or twice a month. Nothing has done more to help stop the pain and as long as I don't lift anything stupid heavy my back rarely even lets me know it is there.

 

[lilmissy]

Inversion table helps us the most for the same kind of pain. Helps a ton.
Also, I would take her to a professional shoe store to have shoes fitted for her. I was having a lot of hip pain with exercising, and once I got my ON shoes, it went away.

We were camping in Gettysburg this year and a camper had an inversion table sitting outside under his awning. Got to taking to him and he said he carries it everywhere he goes. He use to go to the chiro a few times a week. His buddy showed him how to properly use an inversion table and he hasnt been to a chiro in years and he uses the table every other day. Those things are heavy and awkward to carry around, so it must really have worked for him

 

[sonya123]

Tell her to try yoga. Even if she is physically fit, yoga stretches all the ligaments and muscles in your body and you usually don't get back pain

 

[Bacpacker]

One exercise almost every PT I've been to gives when the pain is there, is to lie face down and push your upper body up with your arms. Basically reversing the normal spine movement. This allows pressure to come off the affected area for a while. Lift and hold for 5 to 15 seconds, relax for 30 to 60 seconds, repeat. 3 to 5 reps usually gave me relief. Repeat thru the day as needed.