You could also try working on the strength of your back, through weight lifting. But I'd probably first see a doctor anyway.

 

Skip the quackery and go see an orthopaedic surgeon...

 

you said you don't have medical insurance yet you have all these expensive toys in your sig. Dude!!!!! Prioritize!

 

I vote YES on going to a chiropractor. A year after going for 5 sessions or so my back still feels perfect 99% of the time and my neck is much improved.

 

Ok. I usually leave these medical threads alone but I HAD to jump in after this comment.

First of all - I am a Board Certified Physical Medicine & Rehabilitaion physician speicalizing in Pain managment. 80% of my practice is the treatment of spine disorders. I employ a chiropractic physician(D.C.) and a P.T. in my clinics.

You have given minimal information. However, if you are young, have no history of recent trauma(MVA or lifting injury) and don't have any pain with numbness tingling down the leg then a D.C. is a perfect place to start. At your age - you risk of "getting hurt" is minimal to none. A good D.C. can easily sort your problem out. If he can't then he should refer you to a M.D. who can.

The typical stepwise procees to treatment(least invasive to most invasive) is meds, P.T, D.C, Pain physician(needles) and finally Surgery.

So - an Orthopedic surgeon is the worst place to start. He is a surgeon - I seriously doubt you need surgery. EVEN if you did - he would say - go try meds, P.T. or a pain physician. So why waste your time and his.

PM me if you have any questions.

 

Thanks for your expert advice.

What's a D.C?

I've decided to go ahead and see a chiropractor and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

Good eye, I don't have health insurance due to neglect more than anything else. The insurance industry in general relies on collecting more money than paying out. I looked at some plans in a while ago,and it just didn't add up for me. I do agree with you on the fact that I should prioritize my health more than I do.

 

I have found Chiropracty to be the absolute worst thing to do for your back and the absolute best thing.

That's not a contradictory statement, just the difference between the source of the problem.

I had bulging discs in my lower back and chiropracty was the worst thing because it just upped the irritation quotion. I eventually had microsurgery to remove the bulges and 10 years later I am still pain free.

I have had some pinched nerves (once you have them you understand the name) caused by Ford truck seats and Chiropracty was absolutely fabulous for that problem. These seats put 4 of us into treatment before I got rid of the truck. For those of you with the hard Ford seats and the resultant strange pains we learned that putting a bed pillow between our backs and the seat just about eliminated the prob. That is unless you were driving for over an hour.

The strange shape and support of the seats caused an issue up high in the back that "cracking" of the neck and upper back helped. It gave instant relief of the shooting pains and the resultant hunched & stiff back posture that was a result.

So a medical issue like bulging discs didn't respond well to manipulation, but external forces causing pain did. Of course the ultimate reliever of the pain was the sale of the truck.

 

Chiros?

I remember the line in a Simpson episode where Homer leaves after being "treated" and he says:

"Your right I do feel a little better"

 

A quick word of advice--

Don't let the doc touch your elbows at all, or try to rotate your arm at the shoulder joint. This was the advice given to a friend of mine by a family member, but the chiropractor got to her elbow and she decided not to say anything; he probably knew what he was doing.

POP!

Her tendon was disconnected from her elbow joint in moments. It required surgery to re-attach and arm was out of commission for 3 months. Be careful!!