Back Problems

I've been dealing with a back injury for over a year now. I'm at the point where steroid injections still help, but much less than they used to. I don't want surgery as I've heard mostly bad things about this, such as the fact that it has to be periodically touched up. I've tried MMJ which was fun, but really didn't help, so I gave it up. I'm now looking at a contraption called Back2Life. It is a device that you hook your knees over while laying on your back. It then simply moves you knees around pulling your lower back along with it. They claim that this motion makes the discs more pliable and allows them to go back into their proper place. Has anyone heard anything good or bad about this device?

Hello TM,

I thought I would comment on your post. I am Dr. Greg Karraker, the chiropractic doctor on 285bound.com. I'm glad the steroid shots are able to still give you some relief. I'm not sure what MMJ is. As a chiropractor I have been able to treat thousands of back injuries of all different types. Chiropractic is a non-invasive type of treatment compared to surgery, but when surgery is warranted it shouldn't be feared. I have had great results with the surgeons I have referred to when surgery is warranted. They are rated top in the state at what they do and are very conservative when determining if surgery is necessary or not. Chiropractic has also had very great success in bringing relief and healing to millions of people with all different types of back injuries. Chiropractic care has been able to get people back to work and a pain free lifestyle sometimes fairly quickly depending on the type and severity of the injury. I also have a high powered therapeutic laser which is great at healing certain types of disc injuries. I am not sure about the device you mentioned in your post. You did mention that "it makes the discs more pliable." The intervertebral disc is made up of annular fibers of very tough tissue which encapsulates a ball of liquid, known as the nucleus pulposis. When the annular fibers of the disc tear it weakens the disc allowing the nucleus to leak into the disc creating a bulge or a herniation of the disc. This bulge or herniation can then place pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots creating low back pain, leg pain or both. The device you mentioned sounds like it causes traction in the low back by moving the legs which would imbibe (bring fluid into) the discs, thus decreasing the bulge or herniation and relieving the pain in ones back. It may only be temporary relief depending once again on the type and severity of your injury. I would be more than happy to discuss this more thoroughly with you if you would like to contact me. Please feel free to give me a call.

To Your Health;

Dr Greg

SC - Yes, I've tried the Yoga and it helped up to a point, but that point just never moved forward after a time, so I went and tried injections. The trouble is my SI joint and the nerves are being pressed by a bulging disc causing pain down both legs. When the injury occurred, I was nearly crippled with pain and Yoga/physical therapy got me mobile again.

Dr. Greg - I am interested in talking about chiropractic treatment, but more than a little nervous about the prospect because of the location of the injury and where I could end up if treatment went wrong. BTW - mmj = Medical Marijuana - definitely not a solution for this problem.

towermonkey, I don't know exactly what kind of injury nor what kind of yoga you tried, but I invite you to read my entries under Royal Yoga/Yoga Success Stories <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href=" 285bound.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=8283 " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=135&t=8283<!-- l --> , when done gently and intelligently yoga has amazing healing capabilities - it takes time though. Wishing you the best and feel free to contact me if you would like more information.

towermonkey, I think that any therapy's success is dependent upon the kind of injury and the location as well. I have tried the back2life and loved it, but not until I was about 4 years out from my collapse. At the height of the pain, I couldn't have stood the motion.

The thing that helped me most through it back then was a good and competent pysical therapist who worked with me on how to relearn to do literally everything I do so that I didn't reinjure my back after having undergone an intense course of 7 weeks+ in traction therapy; along with acupuncture, Reiki, massage, arnica cream, oral steroids (I refused both the steroid shots and surgery until I couldn't stand it, then relented to a short oral course). I did chiropractor visits regularly for a year and a half prior to all this and I did pilates, yoga, stretching, praying, begging, crying, cussing...you name it.

At the end of the day, for me (L3, L4, L5, S1 ruptured, prolapsed, compressed discs and stenosis so that I had no use of my left leg at all, walked on the top of my foot with no feeling in the foot and constant leg and back pain), the only thing that worked was a combination of traction and the PT. I also did a lot of work through homeopathy and other 'voodoo' that meant I had to look at the root reason for my body to be acting up and screaming for me to listen. Mostly, now, it is just a matter of moving correctly, doing what the PT taught me, massage, Reiki, acupuncture, exercise and and keeping myself focused and positive. I'm 5 years out now and (knock on wood) so far so good. I can relate to your agony and sympathize whole-heartedly; I wish you the best and hope that you can find relief. If I can be of any help, please ask.

Oh, wow, that had to be painful. I'll quit whining immediately -lol. I'm glad to hear that you are doing much better. My injury is much smaller and only consists of one disc bulging. If you used the Back2Life, you may have seen their infomercial. My injury is almost identical to the one they show on their demonstration which is why I got excited. I'll head over to ebay and see what I can find.

It's such an odd little contraption. My friend has it sitting in her living room and calls it "The Alien". The entire family uses it and it's strange to lay there 20 mins thinking that nothing is happening and then get up and in about 10 minutes, you feel better! It's very relaxing too. The marks for adjusting it to your height are incorrect though; I had to be at 6'4" and I'm only 5'11". I do have long legs, but still.... Have fun and if you get it and hate it, maybe I'll buy it from you.

TM I can understand your pain. Have had lower back pain constant now for about 20 years. Military injury. Bethesda Naval Hospital, stationed there, saw specialist, stated what the problem was and that even surgery would not give me a 100% fix. They did tell me though that they could not promise me my back would recover completely from the surgery. My answer was simple. No thanks, I can walk now. I have meds that when it gets so bad I take them and they only take the edge off. I am sure there is something out there that would help, I just have not found it yet. I wish you the best

Navy, sorry to hear you're dealing with back pain too. I have heard mixed results for the surgery ranging from completely cured to MUCH MUCH worse. Unfortunately, most that I hear are worse off afterwards.

I started with PT again yesterday and the therapist found that one of my pelvic bones was rotated pretty far forward. He thinks that's the root cause of most of my pain. I'm actually hopeful for the first time in quite a long time.