Back pain and racing

Long story short, I have a couple of herniated discs in my lower back. Going to see a neuro surgeon at the end of this week as one is impinging on a nerve root.

Just wondering how many of you have had or continue to have back ailments and wonder how it affects your racing addiction. What have you done to modify your car to make it more comfortable?

Wish I could say I injured it doing something glorious, but appears to have happened standing up from the seated position.

Yeah I guess you wouldn't want to take muscle relaxers while racing, that might be bad.

I've had lower back pain. The fix is simple--strengthen the abdominal muscles that support your lower back. If you're carrying extra weight--lose it.

I look at your post and am struck by the irony. Instead of modifying your car, modify your body!

I'm actually in decent shape, weight is appropriate for my height. Though I'm sure some PT focusing on the correct muscles will do me a world of good. I suspect the root cause of it is the years and years of hockey and lacrosse.

The thing that has me concerned isn't physical therapy and the like. I'm more afraid of getting in the car over the roll cage(and being able to get out quickly), as well as the shock of a firm suspension. So take it as given that I will do what it takes to my body to get it in good shape.

1988RedT2 wrote: I've had lower back pain. The fix is simple--strengthen the abdominal muscles that support your lower back. If you're carrying extra weight--lose it.

Ditto... but in the case of herniated discs I imagine you'd have to be a lot more careful about your exercise regime. The last few years most of my time is increasingly spent in front of the computer, or squashed into an airplane or car seat. My lower back was continually in a state of rigid agony, so much so that I was sick of being grouchy from the time I woke up until I went to bed. Embarked on a fitness program after Christmas, and I'm determined not to let travel or work interfere. I do a LOT of core strengthening and yoga stretching and I can't believe the difference it's made. The payoff is so good that I'm committed to keeping it up, even if it means stretching for an hour in a hotel room while I'm on the road, or going to the gym late at night after a long day of work.

I bought one of these this morning:

http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3318182&CAWELAID=253729371

If I can get it out of my truck, into my basement and assemble it, I'll let you know how it works.

I've seen those on TV. I'd seriously like to know how it works for you.

Funny I got kicked out of the local BOB's sprots cause i was going once a week to demo it...

I've got two bad disks. one is pinching my siatic nerve. The new truck seat it not helping it.. Just finished up 6 weeks of PT and it's helping still have bad days and sitting in the staging lanes waiting to go out can kill me if the class before has to many yellows but once i'm on the track i seem to be able not to notice it much.

Go back to the back pain dr. in a few weeks likely going to have a shoot and more PT.

My mother and I both have had those upside down hang by your feet things. As as a friend of ours. None of us have them now. Guess that says something.

Best thing I've found for my back has been strength training of the back muscles. Remarkable how much this has helped.

Second best thing I've found for my back has been stretching. I would have thought this would be the #1 best thing. It isn't. Once I started using weights on the back, that's when the pain most thoroughly went away.

Caviat, I do not have herniated discs. I just have tight muscle pain, probably from bad posture or such.

In reply to sachilles:

I have two compressed disks, myself. Mostly, I do a lot of stretching and see my chiropractor religiously. Although lately I've been eyeballing the suspension seats some folks use in dirt racing...anyone used these?

Am presenetly going to PT but may opt for the ~X-Stop~ spacers if things don't get better. I race about 8 weekends a year and would like to increase that number. I have stenosis and pretty strong sciatica.

sachilles wrote: I've seen those on TV. I'd seriously like to know how it works for you.

I've been using it twice a day for about five minutes each time, for three days now.

My back has not felt this good in 25 years. The first night, I was so distracted by how good my back felt, I actually had a hard time sleeping. I've never been able to sleep on my back before, I've always been a side sleeper. It's like having a new bed.

Knowing what I know now, I would have paid twice the price.

On a side note, the first time you set it up, you need to accurately measure your height. After using it for, literally, three minutes, I measured myself again and I was 3/4 of an inch taller.

Dude I spent 10 years on prescription pain meds for a back injury, AFTER SURGERY! Loosing weight, strength training, and a good chiropractor has made all the world of difference. I haven't taken anything stronger than tylenol/alieve(sp?) for back pain since December last year. The chiropractor has made the most difference. FREAKING AMAZING! Good luck with it.

Find a reccomended chiropractor. Least invasive thing you can do. If none of your friends know one. I can ask a Dean or two and get u one.

I have a fantastic chiropractor that I've been going to for a decade. He's great, but as of last year, he no longer accepts my insurance. Now I pay about $85 per visit.

In reply to Woody:

I've been living with pain from herniated disks for a little over 8yrs now. Nothing really 'fixes' it for me. I've tried it all - PT, Chiro, Steroids, pain meds, diet, exercise, etc. They all help, but fade with time and when I have flare ups, it seems to take about the same length of time to recover regardless of what I do.

For the car, the best change I made was a quick release for the steering wheel. It makes getting in and out less painful.

For me, the biggest thing to remember is to stay hydrated. Usually when I get really bad, it's associated with getting a little sick. If I really work at taking in lots of fluids, I recover much quicker. This is basically free, easy to do, and really helps.

Gentle extension exercises work well for me too. I don't have one of those fancy inverted chair thingies, but just watching TV for an hour or so laying on the floor with my chest raised with pillows often does the trick.

Chiro feels good, and seems to help, but costs a lot and I'm not sure I really believe in it.

Steroid injections work great for me, and last for the better part of a year, but are crazy expensive if you have insurance like I do.

Good ole asprin and NSAIDS are my best freind.

-Chris

Backs suck.

Me: broken vertebra, spinal stenosis, herniated disc(s), pinched sciatic and to top it all off, some seriously good arthritis.

Ibuprofen, beer and exercise have all seemed to work with varying degrees of success. Steroids, not so much.

For me, it is the harness more than anything that causes a flare up, compressing my back.

I hurt for a solid week after 24 Hours of Lemons, but it is worth it.

I won't do surgery unless I can't fix it with every other method.

Woody wrote: I have a fantastic chiropractor that I've been going to for a decade. He's great, but as of last year, he no longer accepts my insurance. Now I pay about $85 per visit.

Woody, find a good one that gives a cash discount, Mine lets me pay 120 a month, for as many visits a month as I can get in. Of coarse he's only open 3 days a week, but heck I only go about once a week nowadays.

Spinout007 wrote:

Woody wrote: I have a fantastic chiropractor that I've been going to for a decade. He's great, but as of last year, he no longer accepts my insurance. Now I pay about $85 per visit.

Woody, find a good one that gives a cash discount, Mine lets me pay 120 a month, for as many visits a month as I can get in. Of coarse he's only open 3 days a week, but heck I only go about once a week nowadays.

This

BTW if you are in Philly one of the legends of chiropractic works out of there. His fee is whatever you think its worth....in cash

Tyler H wrote: For me, it is the harness more than anything that causes a flare up, compressing my back.

Try a HANS device if it's within your budget. In addition to being a fantastic safety device, it also helps with the back pain by spreading the load from the harness across a larger area.

And, while my Chiropractor no longer takes my insurance, he is fantastic. It took a long time for me to trust someone with spinal manipulation. I'm sticking with him, but I tend to tolerate the pain for much longer before I break down and make an appointment.

My back is all kinds of berkeleyed up. I have 4 ruptured discs and 2 herniated discs in my lower back and I have been struggling with this for about 5 years now. I refuse to get surgery because I am 24 and think I am too young for that. Mostly its just me being stubborn. About every 6 months I get several sets of epidural steroid injections that dont make the pain completely go away, but they make it bearable.

Racing does not really agitate my back at all, at least no more than most other day to day activities. I do autoX, time attack and the occasional HPDE. I am sure if I were to do an endurance race it would start to bother me a lot, because I know that driving for more than 6 hours under normal circumstances really hurts my back. I would say the most important thing is to find a comfortable seat that does not bother your back!

Before auto racing I was a professional downhill/freeride mountain biker(hence the injury) and amateur snowboarder, etc, etc. I cannot even entertain the idea of doing any of those activities anymore, but auto racing more than makes up for it!

Wow, Seth, me too. Only reason I'm typing right now is cause I am not playing in goal tonight on the ice where I would normally be. I was over working on the Formula Vee in Jericho on Saturday and simply bent over to look at the suspension. Almost couldn't straighten up!

I think I may go back to PT. I have been seeing a neurologist who wants to exhaust every avenue before surgery is considered.

I've had bad experiences with chiros, but others swear by 'em. May just need to find the right one.

I'm tempted to try the inversion stuff.

Funny I spent the entire afternoon on my back under the Vette installing a hitch and wiring WITH NO PAIN!

Go figure.

Any one else use the inversion equipment?

George

Woody wrote:

Tyler H wrote: For me, it is the harness more than anything that causes a flare up, compressing my back.

Try a HANS device if it's within your budget. In addition to being a fantastic safety device, it also helps with the back pain by spreading the load from the harness across a larger area. And, while my Chiropractor no longer takes my insurance, he is fantastic. It took a long time for me to trust someone with spinal manipulation. I'm sticking with him, but I tend to tolerate the pain for much longer before I break down and make an appointment.

That's with a HANS. ;) It's a good pain. I can sleep wrong and get just a jacked up. Now that I've got two kids, I hit my max out of pocket every year about this time. It's time to start heading for the chiro.