Tell me about it, have had eighteen months of numbness in knees, toes and nether regions together with a loss of a lot of upper body strength. Two MRI scans, lower scan revealed nothing unusual, still waiting for the results of the upper scan, probably delayed by Covid. But you try to keep going, lifting chucks on to the Student is possible, just, so is fitting the vertical head to the Senior. I have been redecorating and its been a real struggle, crawling about in the loft to wire in new down-lights in the bedrooms has been a nightmare and I have just ripped out one of the bathrooms with the floor up to reconfigure the pipework. I must be crazy!

Edited By Chris Crew on 18/07/2021 08:51:51

Ady1, join my club. Out of nowhere I had crippling back pains at 0300hrs,woke up went to move and , 'Ping' back gone! Now 2 years on and had one session of 3 nerve block injections and then Covid stopped any further treatment.

Got called back and asked how I was and she said , 'I am signing you off'. Thanks, I thought. as I go out the door she says, 'Keep up on the hot water bottle'.

It has affected how I walk and how far I can go, shopping trolley is a good support. Stairs hack me going up.

No pain killer touches it, even Tramadol which gives me a headache, At 84 I feel I may have to get a motor wheel chair, I can drive OK. cannot reach up as I then tend to fall backwards. Its one hand for me and one for what I do.

Diagnosis says the pad between L3 and L4 is worn causing nerve compression and they cannot do anything for it.

Ady1,

dont know if you ever got around to making that lifting platform I mentioned some time ago, but my one has been a Godsend for my back when lifting chucks vises ect.

I screwed up my back years ago moving a washing machine, still not right, so I dread having to change a wheel on the roadside ! There is not really much they can do for your back, no matter what they tell you.

It,s like a machine, easy to damage, difficult to fix !

Dave,

You need to see about fitting grab handles near your toilet, dont ask how I know !

I too have to be careful of my back. Found that the neoprene stretch supports don't much for me except for a bit of short term assistance when I've been stupid (again!).

Wide weightlifters belt when I'm going to be lifting or doing back intensive things like gardening for long periods works best for me.

No support for normal activities even though things feel a bit sore and generally grumpy about half of the time. Seems to me that support all the time risks reducing the strength of your core muscles making things worse. Running round with no support keeps them active.

I suspect that 50 miles a day on a big motorcycle commuting to work was pretty good for my back as it was continually moving gently. Certainly as a post retirement occasional rider its noticeable how unfit I now am in that area. 18 months off, except for MoT, with the COVID thing has really emphasised that.

I have found that no longer wise to drive or ride in a normal car for long periods. The seating position is not good for my back and getting in and out can be an issue. Swopped the last of my SAABs for a Range Rover P38 11 years ago. My back seriously approves of the comfort and upright seating position. My wallet tends to grumble about old fashioned V8 thirst.

Clive

Been a 'member' of this club for many years. Ady's mention of the support belt is a good move – usuallty listed as 'nailer's belts'. Just gone back to wearing mine full-time.

Unfortunately Nature and a local 'sandscaping scheme' have left us with a need to move constant inundations of drifting sand – heavy, wet, particularly and dry. I can load a bucket using a long handle 'snow shovel, but lifting the bucket to wall height to dump it, is beyond me. So …

and

… not completely finished, but, it does work and has been proof-tested to 28kgs, which is enough for my needs.

'Proper', competent engineers would undoubtedly make a much better job of it, but I have to work within my limited 'skill' set. The principle has been around a long time – Google "lifting sack barrow" for several variations and power sources. The 'Barrow' was a 'cheapie' £25 job and seems to be standard.

rgds

Bill

I duffed my lower back doing a new gymnastic trick when I was in Bedford Boys Club gym team in the late 'fifties. After much pain I underwent a laminectomy and spinal fusion in 1986. However, since then the pain has returned and worsens.

All backs are different and what suits me will not necessarily help others so I do this:

Sleep on a cheap inflatable mattress – I find conventional mattress's purgatory!

Lazee-boy type recliner in lounge – very soothing.

'Lectric buggy in car – walking is painful.

Workshop arranged to minimise lifting including hoist for my heavy lathe chucks etc.

Any pain killers I have tried which work have unpleasant side effects. So now, my evenings are rendered more comfortable with several generous measures of Scotlands finest and bu**er the liver.

Rik

As Rik rightly says, all backs are different, but one of the main causes of injury is that the muscles that support the spine do not get the work-out they need from modern lifestyles. A basic course of weightlifting – squats and deadlifts in particular – does a huge amount to help prevent injury, especially as we pass into the last third of our lives. Interestingly for many people weightlifting is also found to rehabilitate injuries, which might seem counter-intuitive.

Belts help by reinforcing what the stabiliser muscles do – which is why serious weightlifters use them – and for a one-off lift they make good sense. Wearing one all the time will in theory contribute to atrophy.

A PSA test might save your life, I'm quite happy to be tested for anything & it's free at point of use.

Tony