THSCC Forums

Donnie,

See a chiropractor.

I'm serious. I thought those guys were all nut jobs. Then earlier in the year, I had serious, barely-able-to-stand-up back pain, and was taking Advil like they were pop rocks. Oscar White suggested a chiropractor. Desperate, I got a referral. They fixed me right up in about 8 weeks, and the pain hasn't been back. I am astonished, and very grateful.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Karl, thanks for the advice. And please, no more talk of chiropractors. Those debates can be worse than religion or politics. But I'm taking it all under advisement.

But everyone please remember, I'm not dying here. My subject line was melodramatic for humor more than anything. I'm not in pain even enough to want ibuprofen much less real pain killers. So why am I whining? Because it's also being more nagging than normal, and I think something to do with driving is causing it to linger and possibly set me up to have it happen. Hence the discussion here in case this was or has happened to someone else already.


--Donnie

Let me paraphrase: Getting old and having skittles fall out of my rectum everyday sucks - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

Bite me, Buckley! You got so tired of skittles in your seat that you just quit driving.

And I said I'd report back on my seating position in the race cars. I just went and spent some time in two of them really feeling out if I was twisted in any way or anything, and I've come to the conclusion there's really nothing much there abnormal. Things seem good in both the '99 SM and the Acura (didn't try the '91 SM as it was too tough to get to). There's nothing I'd change in either one (other than just to get more room at all in the SM if that were possible, but since it isn't, oh well).


--Donnie

And the seating position in your Jeep?

All the Jeeps I've driven have been horrid. It's no wonder they accelerate through garage doors/fast food restaurants, the accelerator is where the brake is on every other car I've driven.

Scott

Hi Donnie,

Congratulations! What you are experiencing is the initial onset of OFS(Old Fart Syndrome).

The best thing you can probably do is start walking 3X a week and start exercising as often also. It won't necessarily make it go away, but it will slow things down.

Too bad I don't practice what I preach.

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“I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways.” - A.J. Foyt

Kevin Butler
Mobetta Autosport Spec E30 #612
2003 C5 Z06 Corvette
AFR Miata, SM2 61, '93 w/200 SC'd RWHP - soon to be resurrected
Waaaay too many other projects....

I don't put that many miles on the Jeep, so I doubt it's what is exacerbating this "condition."

As to my exercise, well, I'm horrible about doing anything while I'm on racing trips (which has been more days than I've been home up until about four days ago), but when I am at home my week is something like:

Mon/Wed/Fri: 1:15 session with a professional trainer doing weight lifting
Tue/Thur: one hour of basketball on a college court with former college and pro basketball players, often I also mountain bike for an hour at home a few hours later
Saturday off for the most part, get a massage when I can on this day
Sunday: Hard two to two and a half hour mountain bike ride

My professional trainer's day job is taking care of a local elite basketball team and isn't really just "weight lifting", it's more about building everything for the type of activities I do (which means I mostly do what the team does with a few changes).

So the strange thing is this condition seemed to build over time and got way worse while I was doing more driving than working out. That's why I still really think there's something about the driving that's important in the equation, though I certainly don't rule out it's something in my training. But my training is pretty good and we've recently been doing a lot to improve this condition and I'm getting much better now. I just want to figure out if the driving is causing a good bit of it so I can prevent it from happening again if I have a bad stretch of trips strung together such that I can't exercise like I'm supposed to.

Yeah, I know, more and more data. Whee....


--Donnie

But there's good news! We have an autocross class for those who suffer from this condition.

That said, watch out for Bernie. Those old guys can be mean

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Art McDonald
Premier Amateur #518
2008 Dishman Cup
Pivot Cone Snob

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

I can't imagine getting the skittles in there was a good time to begin with. . .

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

Chiropractors? They are the devil incarnate. Stay away from them! Then again if you voted for Obama you can now get free healthcare when socialism starts in January. So at least your chiro visit will be free. And the resulting surgery afterwards... If you are a practicing catholic then if you also pray daily and give lots of money to the church. You won't end up going to hell like all the rest of the heathens (ie, non-catholics).

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http://www.greywinds.com

Damn. You couldn't figure out a way to work in Hitler, huh?


--Donnie

Be careful with chiropractors. They can do very good and bad things. Make sure they are reputable and you have feedback from others. Before seeing a chiropractor. I would see an orthopedic surgeon. Get a basic exam and x-ray. If you are starting to have problems because of discs or spinal issues. A fair bit shows up on an x-ray. Had I done that before spending over a year with a chiropractor I would have realized the chiropractor was going to do nothing positive for my herniated disc. Since it also had a radial tear he made that leak the fluid out of the disc onto my nerves. Then pushed the nerve into the disc. Nerves are allergic to the fluid in the disc. So a double whammy. The pain from that is not really easy to describe. Nerve pain is horrible. I'll leave it at that. Going to a Physical Therapy first before a chiro might be a better choice. The ortho will write an rx for it so it can be covered by insurance. Sometimes after PT it might work well for you to let a chiro go to work. As long as the surgeon tells you nothing bad from your basic checkup.

Disclaimer: YMMV... This has been my experience and I have learned a lot more than I ever wanted to about this. I wish I could take an Advil and this goes away.

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http://www.greywinds.com

Basically, I think it's fair to say that it's probably a good idea to only trust a chiro that you've been recommended to by a good PT or orthopedist for your specific injury/condition/whatever. That's the only way I'd see one, but please, let's don't let this turn into a chiro thread any further. Graham, I know what you're saying and am glad you posted it, but chiro threads can be worse than politics or religion...let's not go any further.


--Donnie

That's fair Donnie. I wasn't trying to derail this post. The first comment was just too easy to let go by... We can put that one in the "cess pool" or whatever the new forum area is called

I most certainly don't want to start a chiro pissing contest. For other things I have had very good results from chiro. I have also used accupuncture. While short lived for me. It did give some relief at a time where I really wished I wasn't here. I have used and continue to use massage therapy. That is also another one where you just need to be careful. You can get hurt with that too. Alternative medicine can work. Just so we understand I am all for it. I've tried most everything for my back. Conventional and not. There was no way in hell I was going to let someone cut me and mess with discs in my back before I tried everything I could think of.

I have to do another surgery soon. The PT helped until I hit a wall trying to do more. The funny thing is that most of the PT exercises I was doing. They are basic Pilates exercises. Slight modification based on your specific need. Those are all about Core Strength and it is very important. Especially for people with back issues.

My point was simply don't take any specific answer that worked for me or anyone else and assume it works for you. There is a sequence or order that I feel you should follow so you see the right person first. Listen to your body too. Any of these people can hurt you. There is a difference between muscle pain when someone works on you vs intractable pain from doing things they shouldn't. Not everyone feels it the same way.

Back to your original point Donnie. When I was seeing the chiro. He told me the heel and toe movements and being strapped in harnesses. Also pushing against the dead pedal. Causes me problems with the sacroiliac joint and it band because of how I am twisting. One PT exercise that helps a lot. It is called a Piriformis Stretch. It helps the Piriformis, IT Band, and Sciatica. For me my IT Band just tightens up all the time from sitting. That stretch helps. Just a thought from my experiences.

In most cases the number one exercise all these people will agree on. Walking. Lots of walking. We all sit way too much. The human body was not really designed for sitting.

Graham

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http://www.greywinds.com

How come nobody invoked Godwin's law at this point?