Another back pain question

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Im 23 years old, male… which makes me a little weary though I
shouldnt be, im under the impression that not many males take yoga.
Anyways, I have horrible posture from sitting at the computer for most
of my life, recently i took up a more active lifestyle and found that
I really cant do too much… I sprained my foot in acting class about
a year ago, which… i developed tendenitous in and it still hasnt
healed… Ive been going to physical therapy for about half a year and
during my first visit, they noticed pretty much everything back and
down was out of place… Around the same time I started physical
therapy, I got sick and was bed ridden for a week and I have had back
problems similiar to sciatica (doctor says its not, and no one knows
what it is, ) During this time
of sickness my back pain got really bad… and didnt go away for a long
time, I was also doing a detox during this time… who knows if that
was a part of it…now the pain is still here,
… I can still do these things, but it causes some
discomfort. My physical therapy which focus’s on alignment as well,
has suggested I go see a different physical therapist now that my foot
and back arent any better… but I may take a break from phyiscal
therapy and maybe try some yoga… but im not sure, if you think it
would help. please take the time to write back.

However, I dont want help, I want cure… Im missing so much of my life and what I want to do because of this…

Also, I am very constantly tight in the lower right back…

#2

I walk in the same shoes, although I am older.

Get a mat, and spend a lot of time on it, just lie on your back. I gave up sitting on chairs at home, I sit on the floor on a mat, and lie back for a stretch when I feel it.

Avoid activities what make you focus in front of the screen. Games, movies, work, they are very bad if you get lost in them, because your self awarness of sitting right disappears and the old habits pop in.

If you have to do these activities, try to not be lost in them.

But this alone will not help.
You need a well chosen asana practice, and you will have to stick to it. Try a class, and if it does not work the way you’d like, you should get a personal teacher.

You are still young. You have good chances to achieve good posture, good muscle tone, and mobility, by regular practice.
You probably have tight hamstrings, not good enough abdominal muscle tone, lack of strenght in the back muscles.

About males and yoga … don’t worry about it. You know there is Virabadhrasana I-II-III, what are named after a great warrior ? And there also is Virasana, or hero-pose. Forget MMA and UFC, through yoga will you become a real man. Just try to not hit on the girls in class. :slight_smile:

#3

I have suffered from back ache and spondylolisthesis in 2001.I would advise to take homeopathy and do yoga.At that time i had taken homeopathy only and it has helped. At present i am taking homeopathy medicine from a doctor for toncilitis .it is quite effective.This doctor sends medicine abroad also.I have heard from my colleagues that his medicine for backache is very effective.He is little expensive but if you require and desire so i will forward his e-mailid.He makes his own medicine and charges only for medicine.

You can consult him.

#4

I have suffered from back ache and spondylolisthesis in 2001.I would advise to take homeopathy and do yoga.At that time i had taken homeopathy only and it has helped. At present i am taking homeopathy medicine from a doctor for toncilitis .it is quite effective.This doctor sends medicine abroad also.I have heard from my colleagues that his medicine for backache is very effective.He is little expensive but if you require and desire so i will forward his e-mailid.He makes his own medicine and charges only for medicine.Further stiffness can be cured by homeopathy as it happens due to spasm or lack of production of natural salts with ageing and homeopathy works on natural salts theory.

You can consult him.

#5

I refuse to have the pain continue, Im into things like dirtbiking,4 wheeling, rock climbing, white water rafting… a lot of things that are really strenuous, i would probably be in a big world of depression if i ended up having to give up my active life style before it barely began. Its rather worrying at least to me that you are still having back pains even with yoga, fixing me on the no cure thing. Ive also been doing homeopathy for years for many different reasons, no real help from it yet in any subject.

My trucking company will be started soon and I will be spending alot of time in a truck, I also love to travel and spend many hours in cars and vehicles.

I have virtually no ab muslces and im assuming no back muscles either, the yoga teacher im gonna go to had a very damaged back and sciatica on both sides, and yoga has gotten rid of it, so im wondering why many of you still have your back pain with all the corrections and strengthenings of yogo.

I dont want to be avoding things at age 23, and this may sound very negative, and its because it is… id say if i have to id better start giving up on my dreams now.

#6

Dear aspirant,

As Hubert points out, you will need to devote some time to yoga before you start seeing results. Yoga is not an ‘Ibuprofen’ route where you can expect things to improve after a few weeks of practice. Yes sometimes people do notice major improvement in pain after two weeks of yoga but this is just a ‘surface’ effect. Even if such immediate alleviation of pain is noticed, it should be taken as a sign to continue and stick to the yoga routine for a longer time. I would suggest to give it at least 6 months.
It is also very important to focus on mind-body techniques of yoga instead of just the ‘body’ techniques. The mind-body techniques include Shavasana, Yoga Nidra, music therapy, Pranayama (simple ones to start with like Dr. Andrew Weil highly recommends here Breathing: Exercises as also Ujjayi and Kapal Bhati Pranayamas).
You will have to make a multi pronged attack on your problem using many yogic techniques. As Swami Vivekananda said “Arise Awake and stop not till the goal is reached”.
Make a resolution to stick with a longer program of yoga. This will not only help bring outer strength to your mucles and ligaments, it will also build your inner strength and endurance to pain which in turn will break the vicious circle of pain and negative response to pain.
Good luck

#7

At least with physical therapy, I notice I have more pain when im aligned, and less pain when im out…

When my osteopath said it wasnt sciatica I was relieved, but it seems that stuff with the SI joint can be just as bad.

I start Iyengar yoga on tuesday, and thats if i can make it it… The pain got really bad yesterday and its been shooting pain at me… usually it only hurt when bending over or squating or something.

#8

irhxcbcziuzxs,

That’s quite a user name. What was the inspiration for choosing it, may I ask?

I’ll just point out a couple of things based on your two posts and the issues you raise. Then you may do with that information as you see fit.

First, hollistic health or remedy is a whole body approach. This differs from alopathic medcine which merely diagnoses and treats (usually with pharmaceuticals or surgery). Hollistic remedy is therefore complete (in that it addresses the entire person) but it also has its own speed and that speed is typically slower as it actually calls upon the body’s systems to do the healing (rather than blocking body operations as many meds do).

In order for “cure” one must always look at cause. Until cause is examined and addressed, “cure” is only temporary. It does not last and therefore it is not “cure” but rather band-aid. Our choices are our health. It is fine to lead an active lifestyle as long as one understands the consequences. So your choices of dirt biking, 4-wheeling, rock climbing, and white water rafting all come with consequence. Those consequences are unique for each person so your “results” are not mine - even when doing the same activities. You have also mentioned the trucking issue which involves a lot of sitting. This leads to shortened, lax hip flexors which in turn causes lower back pain and pelvic malalignment.

So a yoga program for you would be countering your lifestyle. It would be mitigating your other choices. It would be staving off some of the by-products of your choices. If you are unwilling to change the causes of your back pain then it is not particularly reasonable to expect “cure”. When certain parts of the body are injured or damaged they do not fully recover. For example a sprained ligament often does not come back to 100%. Though I will say a man of 20 has a greater propensity to heal than a man of 45.

Healing the body requires several things. The first thing is rest or calm. Why? becasue a nervous system that is not parasympathetic (calm) can not possibly heal. Healing in the body takes place when the nervous system is in parasympathetic mode. Oddly, all of the activities you mention are sympathetic in nature.

Additionally, nutrition in the body is the fuel for proper healing. Those folks begging health who are unwilling to avoid caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and refined sugars, not to mention inorganic foods, while eating green leafy vegetables and taking in proper fluids, set themselves up for disappointment. Just as your dirt bike does not run on sugar neither does your body (very well).

Yoga may help you help yourself but it does not DO the work for you and it does not take the unwilling very far at all. Without a committment to make change in one’s life, to amend that which has brought the dis-ease, healing is quite an uphill battle. One I am not certain any modality can over come. It all starts with attitude. There is no miricle in yoga, only in you.

#9

Excellent points InnerAthlete. I love the quote “There is no miracle in yoga, only in you.”

#10

Hey, I am sorry if I was a bit conservative. This is just how I am. :slight_smile:
Everyone has abs and back muscles. Yoga is a good way to make you aware of this fact.

About my back pain. My lifestyle has been demanding on my spine, for 20 years (I am 35 now). Too much sitting, lack of workout. I no longer have something you would call a healthy spine now. Bad alignment, fused vertebrae, childhood rahitism, lacking genetic heritage, I have them all.
Even now, I am forced to sit at least 6-8 hours a day.
My yoga practice is recent, about 8 months now. I am saying all this for you to understand why I was not able to “cure” myself so swift.
But I did come far !
Te last acute episode of low back pain I had was in december 2006. In fact this was one among the reasons turned to yoga. Now I have much better body awarness, I walk differently, I sit differently, and I did manage to bring a greater amount of order in my life.
My posture improved a lot, and I am able to do things with my body I did not think possible. Yes there are still issues, but now I know how to deal with them. I do not expect wonders, and asessing my problems was part of this journey.
If I have to sum it up … I am amazed by the restoring capacity of yoga practice. It is so natural, so right and so effective, so “common sense” that one wonders: why the heck does education in western countries lack this ?
How to sit, how to breath, how to take care of your body, your diet, these are the bases of a good health and a happy individual. And yet, we find out about it through peculiar ways, or we are afraid of it because it is dressed in exotic clothes.

#11

I just wanted to thank you all for your comments and apologize if i seem negative alot, I wanted to give a little more on my background if I may… some of this may re-cap a little bit.

I grew up sitting in front of my computer for 12 years, and during this time I gained alot of weight, I reached 260. During all this, I had a rather negative lifestyle as well, I am not sure if someone of you are aware of the current scenes with teenagers or anything but, I had black hair down to my shoulders, wore make up, and had similar friends who just so happened to be just as negative as me… At one point I found out that my hair was thinning and I freaked out so bad, leading to suicidal thoughts and everything that I realized I was focused on the wrong things in life…

I cut my hair, started working out, started hanging out with different people, people who were more confident and positive. I don’t feel bad for abandoning my old lifestyle and friends, it all just dragged me down… further down the line, I had to attack my weight problem. More importantly my health problem concerning my weight. I decided to do the “master cleanse” detox. Right before I started this, I got very sick and was bed ridden for a week. I also started physical therapy right before I got bed ridden. About the same time I got sick I also had my first adjustment in physical therapy… for my foot. It was at this time my back pain appeared.

For the record I had had occassional back pain in the lower right by my SI joint every now and then for years, and had been seeing a chiropractor for years. Also a little more background, a couple months before starting physical therapy and getting sick but after twisting my foot, I tried to lift the backend of a truck with some friends, we succeeded, but in the process I felt a pop in my lower right back, and had some pretty bad pain for a few days.

It seems like the pain is more frequent when Im doing my physical therapy exercises… ranging from the Iiliac crest, to the sides right next to it, and into my lower back and buttox. Now finally going down into my lower leg right leg, on the right. Sometimes in the pain on my hips is on both sides.

Ive been to an osteopath who said that my pain was not sciatica, he scheduled some X-rays and an MRI of the lumbar/spine and all was normal with some early signs of arthritis. He put my through some motions but nothing really hurt during, its just a constant pain. so he didnt know what it was, my physical therapist wants me to go to a different physical therapis due to no improvements with my back or foot.

The truck driving thing hasnt started yet, but Im starting up a hauling business.

The other things I mentioned, are things im not currently doing due to pain, but I would like to get into.

Really, my negativity comes from me not being able to find out whats causing this, and it all starting when I decided to become an active person… Most of my dreams revolve around me and going out and doing the living I didnt do when I was younger. Ive done alot of reading on back pain through forums and other places, and it just seems many do not heal, and they have to avoid almost every activity I want to do. I’m not gonna lie, even sitting on the toilet right now hurts a great deal. Im 23, im too young to give up my dreams or my life yet.

The place im going to yoga for, in west michigan, has a certified Iyengar teacher… In fact she just got done living with the Iyengar family in India, so I am fairly confident in her ability.

As for my name, irhxcbcziuzxs, this was derived from my old life style

ir - i are
hxc - hardcore
bcz - because
iuz - i use
xs - x’s

It’s really a mock on hardcore kids, and It my AIM screen name, or my old aim screen name and ive moved on to a new one, but Its the moniker i use most of the time elsewhere.

edit: I have a fairly extensive spiritual background that I dont feel like typing up right now.

#12

Sounds as though you 've made tremendous strides in leading a life that will bring you more joy. It is very tough to break away from the sort of lifestyle you had previously. You are to me commended for the strength and determination to do such a thing.

It also seems that from a yoga standpoint you are looking in the right directions. While I value alignment-based yoga (which includes Iyengar) it is best to work with someone who has training in yoga therapeutics. Perhaps the teacher you mention has such background.

I would not say that “most” people still haave their lower back pain. Obviously on a forum it is more common to post questions of “how to fix” something rather than “hey I’m fixed”. And the nature of back injuries varies so greatly. Plus when a student begins to make some progress toward healing and then returns to bull riding it makes it problematic to blame yoga as being ineffective.

There is every reason to believe a proper program, addresssing diet and nutrition and any lingering emotional issues, will bring the student to a place of wellness. It is more likely, as I said previously, for the body of a 23 year old to heal than for a 43 year old.

We may be of more help to you after you’ve gotten involved in your yoga program.

#13

So, I had my first Yoga session, my hips/back seem a bit better after the supta padangusth asana 2, where you pull the leg to the side, or what ever, that stretches the area of where it hurts…

I have huge tendency to push in my lumbar spine, I cant seem to push out my chest without that happeneing.

Definatley some hard stretches…

However, during standing asana’s… my feet get achy really really quick and im quickly uncomfortable

its wierd, i havent been this depressed in a long time, after this yoga session…

also, my hands and arms seem to have a considerable amount of shake this evening, but that could be from using my muscles?

#14

any idea why i would be so depressed after my first yoga session, all my self esteem has depleted too.

#15

No sudden changes. Do not try to get better in two weeks. The muscles might adapt fast, but connective tissues do not. Too much ambition in the beginning will hurt you.
Also, in the first sessions, you will advance fast as your tehnique and self awarness gets better. It is later when you hit a plateau, where you just have to keep practicing without any sign of advancement at all. So you’ll have to learn to have patience and willpower.
Depression might be connected to the fact that turning your awarness to your body, you have realized the situation your body is in now. You are overwhelmed by what you are required to do, and you cannot do it. But there is another possibility … yoga practice does calm, and balance things. People who are accustomed to be dynamic, always active, and always turning towards outside stimuli often feel lost without these impulses.
Any change requires an effort of adaptation on part of the body, so I find somewhat normal to feel down a bit. Try to rest more, sleep more.