Yes, nothing beats preventative medicine: yoga,
weights, aerobics, and some martial arts in my case
have eliminated a lifetime of back problems -oh yes,
and some chiropractic from a great chiropractor, who
also gave me a set of exercises that keep the back limber
and build the abs that support the back.
Here is my advice about treating flare-ups (advise
learned from painful trial and error):
1. USE ICE!! Not heat!! Ice on the sore spot 10 min.
per hour for the first day. This reduces pain and
when removed causes warmth and blood to flood the affected
area, speeding healing.
2. If the doctor says rest, REST! Backs have a way of taking
longer than you think possible to heal. But they will,
if you do rest. Any heroics only prolong the problem a lot.
3. After day 1, unless chiropractor/doctor strictly forbid,
after each icing do range of motion exercises for a few minutes.
i.e., bend forward, then back, then side to side, then rotate.
Very gently, very slowly, jsut a bit. This causes anything
that is stuck to unstick.
Any of you with chronic back poblems have my deepest
empathy. It's as if someone pulls the lynch pin out
of your whole body. We want to look deep when we play, but
not if that look comes from a pain in our backs.
Good luck!!
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Leah Aronow-Brown
Dept. of Communication, UAF
May God stand between you and harm in all the empty
places where you must walk.
- Babylon 5
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