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Just got back from the chiropracter and (ommits long story) it was the first time anyone has had anything positive to say about my back in 2yrs! ---Nick is happy ;)
Now I finally appear to be on the mend I've resolved to stop sitting like an idiot (legs crossed, half off the seat etc) and force myself to sit properly.
I'm guessing that we in our industry suffer from back pain alot right?
Is it a hard habbit to break, and is it worth it?
Nick
Don't feel bad, Nick_W, I've been getting physical therapy for a foot injury. My therapist was moving my foot in the wrong way and gave me a charlie horse in the bottom of my foot. Grimmacing in pain, I said "you're giving me a charlie horse!" but she only looked puzzled and continued. Now I realize that not everyone in the world knows that a charlie horse is a muscle cramp, not even Americans.
Thanks for the explanations!
>>somebody punches you in the arm
Ahhh... we have the same game but we call it giving someone a 'dead arm' or 'dead leg' ;)
Nick
Can’t compete with Pageone and Chris_f – titanium rods?
Damn Straight :)
What were you doing?
Don't know how to spell it but it's pronounced "Sir-monds Disease". It was actually a condition and not a disease but it's causes a weakness in the spine and a hunched back (with ALOT of pain that requires morphean ... ah morphean :)).
Chris
I can't compete with your story but my sister (who's not in IT) has a fused spine flanked by titanium rods as well. Her issue was scoliosis (curvature of the spine). Because of the straightening the surgery allowed, she added an inch to her 5'6" height. Her first words to me when I went to visit her in the recovery room were "I'm gaining on you, Shorty!" (I'm 6'2").
in any event, i'm positive my laptop isnt helping things. definitely impossible to get the screen up to the "right" level, and there's always an impulse to put it in your lap, or to work on the couch, or whatever.
anyone else have problems due to their laptops?
i LOVE my laptop (tibook, baby!) and i dont ever want to give it up... but i wonder if i should force myself to setup "workstations" at home and work with it...
some day i'm gonna save up all the loot i'm making through SEO ;) and buy me one of these suckers: [healthyback.com...] ... looks like the perfect chair for anyone who's ever dreamed of projecting their screen on the ceiling and working from a full recline... :) admit it, you have the same dream...
seoboy
The lordosis if anyone doesnt know is the lumbar area at the bottom of the spine. Basically it sticks out 1.5" to the right which is kinda amusing and I have got so used to it I really dont care anymore.
I spent years "low riding" in my car with the seat all the way back, "low riding" in my chair at work, drinking beer and getting a beer gut and lifting heavy speakers and equipment during my 10 years of DJing the club/rave scene.
mine got so bad towards the end that I couldnt even sleep, I stayed up for almost 3 weeks with short cat naps when I just passed out... I wish I had known about taking care of this way back when I was 18 but now I'm on the mend - to you people who are healthy PLEASE take care of your posture - nothing better than walking too!
good to see I'm not alone among the IT peeps with back problems!
good luck to you all
wax
chris_f--I can't compete with your story but my sister (who's not in IT) has a fused spine flanked by titanium rods as well. Her issue was scoliosis (curvature of the spine). Because of the straightening the surgery allowed, she added an inch to her 5'6" height. Her first words to me when I went to visit her in the recovery room were "I'm gaining on you, Shorty!" (I'm 6'2").
Photon,
This is exactly what happened to me. Including the gaining in hight.
Chris
do you mean "cross-legged" in your chair (ie. indian style, er... "native american style") or with one leg crossed over the other...?
just curious. i sit cross-legged. wondering if that's the norm, or weird.
seoboy
Sport is not all roses I just got a knee injury (ACL) after a football match, that means 9 month rehab, but OK that is sport to, so I will kill that problem to.
DO SOME SPORTS AND EVERYTHING IS GREAT.
taskmaster
Seriously, i think most cases of back pain is more due to mental conditions than anything actually wrong with yer back.
Did you know that before the industrial revolution, there was basically no such thing as back pain? or, at the very least, it was not recorded in any form of written history.
A friend of mine went to a chiropactor for back pain. those guys are such quacks. first he massaged him, then stuck zapping electrodes in his back, and then stuck him in a 'water massage' machine. basically some machine that shoots high pressure water at your back. He then charged my friend out of the ass and told him that he needs to come back every other week for several years.
I dont even think you need any real degree to be a chiropactor.
"Did you know that before the industrial revolution, there was basically no such thing as back pain? or, at the very least, it was not recorded in any form of written history."from weblamer2
That why they did more hard work then today, the problem is that your muscle in the back are to weak and then it do not support your back that good.
zeus
Back pains are a myth and chiropactors are quacks!
Did you know that before the industrial revolution, there was basically no such thing as back pain? or, at the very least, it was not recorded in any form of written history.
A friend of mine went to a chiropactor for back pain. ... first he massaged him, then stuck zapping electrodes in his back, and then stuck him in a 'water massage' machine.
I dont even think you need any real degree to be a chiropactor.
Anyone have one of those foam body forming orthopedic pillows or mattress pads?
lawman
Seriously, i think most cases of back pain is more due to mental conditions than anything actually wrong with yer back.
And on which particular planet is this true? From where I'm sitting, in some considerable discomfort, this bears about as much resemblance to reality as the rest of your comments.
The chiro I see is a medical doctor, I was interviewed for 1hr by 2 doctors at Denmarks specialist back unit before I even got to take my shirt off and I can ASSURE you that I'm no more mental than you are.
Lobbing such a throw away, unqualified, insensitive and downright MISINFORMED trolling comment into a serious dicussion will win you no friends.
Nick
In most cases, back pain is a physical ailment, not a mental one. Although, there are probably documented cases of mind over matter and someone was able to think themselves right into some of the worse pain they would ever experience. I can't seem to think of anyone at the moment who would want to do that.
[edited by: pageoneresults at 11:08 pm (utc) on May 1, 2003]
Hmmm, I'm guessing that I now have to go see a psychiatrist for my recent Sciatica.
If you are interested in giving yoga a try, you may want to check out the book "Back Care Basics" by Mary Pulig Schatz. She is an MD who is also a yoga teacher. Her book has poses for sciatica that cleared up my pain completely, when traditional physical therapy actually made it much worse. For me, most PTs focused too much on strengthening exercises when what my muscles really needed was stretching out.
It's good book for my neck pain, rounded back, back pain and scoliosis.
Pete Egoscue go to his site or Amazon.com and get one of his books. You should experience substantial or complete relief in the first session of exercises.
I also found the Pete Egoscue book "Painfree" very helpful, but I would say I got the most relief from the Back Care Basics book.
"Welcome to WebmasterWorld, Peter95. It's indeed amazing the amount of pressure that are on the bones of the feet. I'm spending hundreds, and possibly thousands, of dollars on a foot injury that would not have occured had I worn shoes with a little ankle support. And the pain can't be measured in dollars".
--Mayor
Mayor- Thanks for the welcome. The foot thang sounds like a drag and a half. Subtalar joint injury? Whatever it is, I hope it "cooperates" with you a little more than it seems to have in the past.
Peter
Anyway, I do all my work on an iBook and used to use it in bed or on the couch. My neck and shoulders hurt so much.
Luckily my family is extremely generous and bought me an Aeron chair. Add an iCurve under the iBook, an external keyboard and mouse, and that's my new setup. So far neck and shoulders are much happier.
to everyone who sits "with their legs crossed"...
do you mean "cross-legged" in your chair (ie. indian style, er... "native american style") or with one leg crossed over the other...?
Can't speak for anyone else, but what I meant by that was that I sit with my lower back against the chair, leaning in to the computer screen with my legs crossed at my ankles. LOL... boy that sounds bad to describe it.
Weblamer... I take it you aren't 140 pounds lifting 35 pounds of dead weight all day every day. My back problems come from being a caretaker for my son and not from mental issues, LOL.
My girlfriend is a massage therapist.
I had to laugh at that one. My current girlfriend of five years is also a licensed massage therapist. I've never gotten a massage from her. I could relate to that Seinfeld episode....
In college I dated a belly dancer; never saw her dance :-(
I have kept mine under wraps for the last 12 months by regular stretches (as detailed by a Physical Therapist), and walking the dog. The later works wonders too, and I can recommend a dog for stress management! :)
For me, most PTs focused too much on strengthening exercises when what my muscles really needed was stretching out.
For me it is my vertebrae that need regular stretching and "twisting" too keep them mobile. This I understand is normal for sedentary jobs. In defence of PT's, mine was great, and looked at the long term problem, making me stretch, as my muscles are still reasonable. My Chiropractor on the other hand did not, he seemed to want to see me once a week for life. It seems the solution is dependant on the individual, as the old man had the reverse experience. I cannot condemn all chiros on my one experience.
Visibot...Boston was a great break in routine for me too.
Nick_W... I admire your pain control, your trouble did not show in Boston. I would have been grumbling to everyone. Was is that drink you had in you hand in the Breakfast photo?
George
>pain control
Mine is pretty much ONLY when I'm sitting and as you know, I was fueled by good ole Stella most of the time and that stuff'll take your mind off ANYTHING ;-)
Nick
In defence of PT's, mine was great, and looked at the long term problem, making me stretch, as my muscles are still reasonable.
I also eventually foynd a PT who was very helpful, but that was about the fifth one I tried.
I personally never found a chiropractor that helped me. I felt they all wanted to keep me coming back for endless amounts of sessions, where the PT who helped me taught me lots of techniques I could do at home by myself.
A good friend of mine swears by her chiropractor, though, and has been trying to get me to go see him. I do believe her about how helpful he has been for her, but I just don't like the whole neck cracking thing. The chiros I've been to here in California all want you to sign a waiver saying you won't sue them if you die, they break your neck or they cause you to have a stroke during treatment. I just can't see signing something like that. The PTs I've been never asked me to sign any waiver.
