anyone else get this? Back pain initially and now I’m standing wonky. The top of my spine is about an inch out of line with the bottom, with a distinct kink just above my lower back.

It hurts.

I’ve got a doctor’s appointment friday

I’ll get flamed for this, but I’d be seeing an osteopath/chiropractor first.

TJ will be along to say it’s all snake oil but I’ve had good results, and having just gone from very wonky and a lot of back pain to none via my local well regarded osteopath I’m happy enough.

oh man i move a good click

Try stretching your glutes/hamstrings/hip flexors. Get a sports massage from someone who knows what they are doing.

Likewise, a good chiropractor or osteopath (or osteomyologist, if there’s one around)

I’m sceptical as hell about things like that, but the chiro I use has done a lot of good for me with my long standing neck and shoulder problems that my doctor just fobbed me off about. It’s taken a while, but it’s definitely done the job.

How have you measured this?

Sounds like nonsense.

Take your pick; physio, osteo, massage, voodoo, homeopathy (similar to voodoo). They will all explain that you are in some way damaged and a course of treatment will fix (10 x£50).

Here is my usual link:

https://www.painscience.com/articles/structuralism.php

Even if your back is “wonky” it is impossible to know that this is causing the pain.

Mick

Massive reservations about anti-structuralism, does it actually offer any solutions or just deconstruct everybody else’s solutions?

Good old structuralism solved my Sciatica, will say that much!

Take your pick; physio, osteo, massage, voodoo, homeopathy (similar to voodoo). They will all explain that you are in some way damaged and a course of treatment will fix (10 x£50).

Hmmm. I could tell I was damaged without a professional opinion – massive pain in my neck and shoulders, varying degrees of pins and needles/loss of sensation in my fingers and thumbs at different intervals, depending on my body position. That course of treatment – yes, it wasn’t necessarily cheap, but I can afford it – has done the job, in a way that either seeing my GP or just waiting it out hadn’t. I was told by a GP that the only long-term solution was to fuse some vertebrae, and that may still turn out to be the case, but what the chiropractor has done has alleviated a lot of the issues and let me move and live (and sleep!) comfortably.

As I say, I was a massive sceptic going in, but it’s worked for me.

How have you measured this?

I can see it. Distinctly in the mirror. I’m over to one side and I can trace the centre of my torso thanks to my hirsute body. What was once a straight line of hair, now is wonky. Plus I’m clearly leading to one side (my right).

My wife says it makes her ill to look at me with my top off, though this may be unrelated to my back pain.

Just because you get pain, it does not mean that you are damaged.

https://www.painscience.com/articles/pain-is-weird.php

Pain doesn’t always equal injury: Thoughts on acute and chronic pain

I had a small issue with this and my physio recommended I always stand straight with both legs evenly weighted (I always bend my right leg and lock out my left by default) and the difference has been amazing.

From your own website link that you’re so fond of, geomickb:

“My writing does not make people reject massage therapy or chiropractic — it just makes them want a good massage therapist or chiropractor. ”
(from https://www.painscience.com/articles/negativity.php)

You can believe what you want to believe, and cite someone’s writing all you like. I know how skeptical I was when I first got booked in with a chiropractor, and I know that it’s worked for me.

I also particularly like the image on that page as well:

Are you sure it hasn’t always been like it and you’ve only noticed not because you’re looking?

Me!

FOr the last year or so. If I stand in front of the mirror its almost like one leg has shrunk by a couple of inches (it hasn’t).

A particular focus of Osteopathy is supposed to be looking at you stand and move and figuring out what the cause of the imbalance is and treating that, rather than just treating the symptom.

As above, though, there’s a lot of overlap between various fields and they’ve borrowed techniques and methods from each other over the years. Hopefully you’ll be able to sift through recommendations and find someone locally who can help.

( big wallet in your back pocket? 😀 )

How have you measured this?

Sounds like nonsense.

Whuuuuuut

Anybody who attempts to diagnose, correct or treat your back without an X-ray should be viewed with deep suspicion.

I used to go wonky, really badly sometimes. I used to lift everything with my right hand, from cups of tea to shopping and bikes. My core strength was out of kilter and pulling my spine out of line. Now I try to use my left hand too so that my muscles are more balanced. Sounds daft but it’s worked for me.

I went into Tesco this year, there was a woman from a chiropractice with a weighing machine handing out leaflets.
I got on,and it showed that one side of my body was 5kg heavier than the other.
I’d consider myself relatively normal, in that respect,and cant take her machine seriously

Anybody who attempts to diagnose, correct or treat your back without an X-ray should be viewed with deep suspicion.

On the contrary, I’d be deeply suspicious of any clinician who relies on x-rays for a diagnosis and clinical management of lower back injuries.

The most common back injuries don’t involve the skeletal system (are soft tissue), so x-rays are actually discouraged in the management of back pain nowadays as research has shown it is often not effective or required and can actually reinforce pain behaviour.

A skilled (or even adequate) clinician should be able to tell whether an x-ray is actually justified eg if pathology is suspected.

Anybody who attempts to diagnose, correct or treat your back without an X-ray should be viewed with deep suspicion.

Because bones are the only things that can hurt, right?

I had similar a few weeks back. Sciatica caused the muscles to over compensate for the knacked ones and before you know im all bent over/down to one side even when I wasn’t in any particularly bad pain, but it was just the muscles pulling me out of shape. Once I got some proper strength drugs I was able to move about again and things got sorted pretty quick. Might be similar for you, I was surprised how bent out of alignment I got.

I get the exact same thing you describe.

One side pulls and I hunch over to the left and I’m in agony. I get back spasms. They last a day or two.

My solution is to start with ibuprofen gel on my back. Then I have a bath and try and do stretches.

When I can walk I go for a sports massage or osteopath depending who can see me first. One session usually fixes me and then I recover a day or 2 later.

The key is to keep doing the stretching but sometimes life gets in the way or I do an arkward move that just tweaks my back.

My problems are caused by sitting at a desk too long. I’ve recently changed jobs to avoid a desk and touch wood, it hasn’t happened again.

A Dr will just prescribe you naproxen (anti inflammatry) and refer you for physio which won’t be for 6 months. Physio shows you how to do stretches to build core strength.