9 ms·

This is a horrible part of COVID that no one seems to get. Chronic conditions are life changing, and no part of it is good. It's different, but as an example,

• treeman79 6y ago
  I hear you. Blew a disk in high school. Set me back decades. A few years ago I got serous on stretching videos, finally found the ones that “fix” it. Doctors and chiropractors were helpful, but it never lasted
  • bonecrusher2102 6y ago
    Would you mind sharing the videos?
    • deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    • treeman79 6y ago
      https://youtu.be/ntUXh7qiyr0 https://youtu.be/ntUXh7qiyr0 And https://youtu.be/PJJO9PmXm90 https://youtu.be/PJJO9PmXm90 These are the two stretches that help me the most. Highly recommend going through bob and Brad, and Dr Jo on YouTube. I try stuff all the time and have regained much of my mobility.
      • irrational 6y ago
        Thank you for sharing these.
    • kossae 6y ago
      Not sure about the original poster specifically, but when I had a herniated disk the two movements that helped the most (and I still perform along with others to this day) were: - Prone Press Up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sws_GwrlYO0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sws_GwrlYO0): Relieves tension in lower back, pressing discs back towards their natural position. - Banded Hamstring Stretches (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msxQR56U7sI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msxQR56U7sI): You can use a belt for this if you don't have the bands, but properly and consistently stretching my hamstrings was the biggest thing I did to relieve (and 'cure') my back pain after the herniation.
    • unvs 6y ago
      This one has been wonderful for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI He runs through them pretty fast, but someone in the comments recommended playing it at 0.75x speed and that works great.
    • stronglikedan 6y ago
      I used this to get rid of my back pain from sitting all day. Now I prevent it altogether, by getting up once per hour, and walking around for five minutes, so I haven't had to do these stretches in a while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNN3K2qj-L0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNN3K2qj-L0
  • trts 6y ago
    any series you like or do you just mean ones specific to your purpose?
  • christian008 6y ago
    I find that well-executed strength training (i.e. with proper form) eliminates all kinds of back-related issues for me. This talk has been really eye opening for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9poXGU11ms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9poXGU11ms
    • ubercore 6y ago
      +1 on this, for me deadlifting has single-handedly fixed my back. I tried PT for it, with mixed results, but once I started lifting it completely went away. YMMV, but it's worth considering for sure.
      • abeppu 6y ago
        I'm clearly doing something wrong, but lifting has driven every time I've injured my back in the past 5 years. I've had trainers coach me on form, and _most_ of the time I'm fine. But if I have bad form p% of the time (e.g. 0.5-3%), and working out becomes a ~daily thing, then I have a handful of opportunities per year to injure myself.
        • saiya-jin 6y ago
          You kind of provide recipe how to avoid it yourself. One suggestion that might or might not be relevant - don't do weightlifting at your proper max, and don't push your limits that way. Its a way to grow fast but also sure way to injury. There is no way to be at your limit and keep the proper perfect form, every time. You can always add more repetitions to workout. For me weightlifting is about staying in shape for things like mountain adventures, feeling great, looking good. But Arnold-look is a silly goal for long term wellness, and so are the methods to get there. Once I stopped pushing the numbers and focused on more repetitions, I never had any injury. That's worth much more than some momentary number of kilos/pounds you did today - nobody will care about that tomorrow, but injuries remain, sometimes forever.
        • ropable 6y ago
          YMMV, but I found the following articles quite useful to 1) help self-manage symptoms brought on during strength training, and 2) to stop obsessing about my using "bad" form during training: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/pain-in-training-what-do/ https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/pain-in-training-what-d... https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/movement-variability-should-we-eliminate-it-or-embrace-it/ https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/movement-variability-sh...
  • therealdrag0 6y ago
    My anecdote: I tweaked my back 3 times in 18 months (like bedridden/WFH/swearing like a sailor for a week). Then I started going to a 1hour yoga class 1-2 times a week, and it's now been another 18 months without any issues. (Since covid I've been using DownDog app and doing 10-15 min sessions)
• moralsupply 6y ago
  Regarding your back pain, try to start walking barefoot using a forefoot technique, as opposed to heel striking as most people do. I suffered a lot with back pain (for years, despite the fact I was very active), tried everything to fix it to no avail, eventually switched to barefoot/forefoot running and walking (with all my shoes being zero drop and minimalistic), my back problems went away completely.
  • AnonHP 6y ago
    I can imagine trying to run by placing the toes/front foot first, but I find it difficult to imagine walking like that since it seems awkward. Do you have any links that depict this well?
    • abfan1127 6y ago
      I was able to transition to front foot walking by shifting my weight forward.
    • arcticbull 6y ago
      Buy a pair of Vibrams. Walking in toe shoes that have little to no heel support will naturally change over your gait in a week or two. I used to run 3-5 miles most days on concrete in running shoes and had knee and hip pain afterwards each day. Switching to toe shoes and by extension forefoot running eliminated the pain completely. The impact of walking and running is dissipated into your calves instead of your joints, and the nice thing about muscle is that it grows back. Take it slow as you ramp up, I promise your calves aren't ready for it yet.
      • moralsupply 6y ago
        There are plenty of great "barefoot" walking shoes in the market nowadays. I like to run on Vibrams and sandals (I generally use a Shamma Warriors during the summer), and a have a bunch of other shoes for walking (Lems, Freet, Vivobarefoot, etc.) A good all-around barefoot shoe that is suitable for both running and walking that I'd recommend is the Lems Primal 2. Also: use toe socks (Injinji is the only brand I'd recommend) and, if you can, use toe spacers for a while (1-2 years minimum) to correct some potential issues with your toes placement (unfortunately the only brand that seems to be decent enough in the market is Correct Toes, but it's rather expensive; the cheaper ones you can find everywhere are no good in my experience)
• throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  Deleted.
  • slg 6y ago
    That person is describing their chronic condition that has nothing to do with COVID. How would you blame that on the COVID quarantine procedures?
    • deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    • throwaway0a5e 6y ago
      I didn't blame their condition on Covid but that doesn't matter at this point.
      • slg 6y ago
        They described the mental hardships that come along with a chronic condition. Is it possible that quarantine is worsening those hardships? Sure. But when you claim that COVID related hardships are due exclusively to quarantine you are basically invalidating their experience by saying that a chronic condition alone wouldn't cause these issues. Your comment would have been totally fine as a top level comment. It is a believable theory that quarantine is worsening mental illness. Your problem was the context in which your comment existed and the way you were effectively dismissing OPs experience out of hand.
        • treeman79 6y ago
          My point was Chronic conditions / isolation. can cause/worsen mental illness. Covid or otherwise Personally I’ve had the best year in a long time, because I found the right treatments. Only one month before things locked down.
          • slg 6y ago
            I don't disagree with your point. I simply got the impression from throwaway0a5e's comment that they were saying that these issues weren't worsened by quarantine but they originated from quarantine.
• anoncake 6y ago
  Even after months, there is -- fortunately -- no evidence that Covid causes chronic illness except in very rare cases.
  • butbutemails2 6y ago
    Bro what The sad thing is that you get to gloat and be right for now but when you’re wrong next year other people are suffering and you’re scot free!
    • anoncake 6y ago
      I really don't care about the outcome of something I have no reason to believe will happen.
      • butbutemails2 6y ago
        Try some rona it’s delicious. Or are you too scared? Just go to your local bar You can help the economy and get immunity at the same time! What do you have to lose?
        • anoncake 6y ago
          Bars are closed.
          • butbutemails2 6y ago
            If you don’t like where you live you can move somewhere else[1] 1. Economics[2] 2. You not having friends was a prepandemic and a you problem
            • deleted 6y ago
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            • deleted 6y ago
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• hourislate 6y ago
  Many folks have a hard time understanding chronic pain. I did too until I suffered from it for a period of 6 months. I injured my neck and my right arm went numb. The pain from my neck down to my finger tips was a constant 10 out of 10, 24/7, even in my sleep. There was no amount of pain killers that would help. I freaked out my whole family telling them that if it doesn't go away I don't think I can make it. There was a point where I got an axe and asked my wife to hack my arm off at the shoulder. Miraculously, it finally healed somehow and I just remember thinking how wonderful it felt to have a second chance at life. I understand now why people with chronic pain want to end their lives. For some poor souls it seems like the only way to get rest/peace from the constant and exhausting pain.
  • bserge 6y ago
    I often sit and wonder "why the fuck do I need to feel the pain all the time". I'll literally feel it until I die. What's the point? If it was a machine with problems, I'd just set it to generate a report/warning once in a while and not waste energy probing the sensors every second. Remind me once every few hours that yes, my back and knees are still fucked (doctors' advice: just live with it...oook). I don't need it 24/7 (OK subtract a few hours when sleeping without waking up because of it), it's literally pointless.
    • treeman79 6y ago
      Trial and error. I ran a constant 6-9 pain level. Down to 1-3 most of the time. But took years of trial and error, and so many mistakes to get here.
    • numpad0 6y ago
      I don't think you are supposed to live indefinitely under chronic conditions. We're so outside of design scopes.
      • treeman79 6y ago
        People put way to much trust in doctors. I have family members we are clearly suffering exact same issues I have. I keep telling them to go ask for X,Y & Z test. Everyone of them as assured me their doctors don’t see any reason to run those tests. Then they complain about how hard life is. Blows my mind.
• matwood 6y ago
  I'm sure you've seen drs. so I'm not going to get into too much detail about how I fixed my back pain, but I understand where you are coming from. I couldn't stand up straight for months. Laying in the MRI machine long enough to get a good image was excruciating. Just getting comfortable each night to sleep was an exercise in frustration. Narcotic painkillers didn't really help me, but a pain that never goes away helped me understand how people do get addicted to pills. Finally, I had one of those injections directly on my spine and it was like magic. I walked into the appointment and couldn't stand up straight and walked out like I had never been hurt. For weeks, I would wake up each morning and dread getting out of bed because I wondered would this be the morning the pain came back. It's been years now, and knock on wood, I hope to never have a problem again. I was always a weight lifter, but stopped powerlifting (maxing things like DLs), and stopped playing basketball. I still exercise a lot, but my entire focus now is on longevity. Strength is still a key component, but so is flexibility and learning proper movement.
  • bmurphy1976 6y ago
    I had a similar experience 20 years ago. I had a herniated disc triggered by heavy lifting. Spent about 10 months in pain (enough that it was a problem but not so much that it was debilitating). Finally had an epidural after months of PT that was going nowhere and was 100% fine the next day! I was lucky, the epidural broke the cycle of inflammation that in all likelihood the PT was actually aggravating. BUT.... Last year I had another herniated disc triggered by axing down a tree. This time it was really bad. I spent two months in debilitating pain unable to move or really do much of anything. Couldn't stand, couldn't walk, couldn't sit, couldn't lay down. All I could do was dope myself up on narcotics and try to sleep the time away. I had two epidurals. The first one took the edge off the pain away but I was till unable to move. The second epidural I actually regressed. So I went and had a microdiscectomy done. Turns out my nerve had slipped into a canal that had no room for it and was pinched inside. A week or two of recovery and I felt great again. BUT.... I didn't change my habits, covid-19 hit, I started working from home where I did not have anything close to an ergonomic setup and my back started to ache again. This time it was the original disc. I was doing ok, but it was enough that I knew I should talk to my doctor. A couple weeks later, at the pool, I decided to go off the diving board while my back was slightly bothering, and that slight bother became nearly debilitating pain again and two months of physical therapy. I feel great again, the PT worked this time. What's my point? The injection doesn't always work. PT doesn't always work. There's lots of ways things can go wrong. Take care of yourself and be careful, next time you might not be so lucky!
• ficklepickle 6y ago
  I get that exact burning sensation in the bottom of my spine! Weak core muscles; specifically wrong muscles trying to support the core. I had zero lower abdominals. Pilate's helps a lot. I have to consciously engage muscles, even after practicing for years (can't afford Pilate's sessions which would make it go faster). Now I very rarely get the burning sensation and corresponding days, weeks, or months or not being able to sit or do much of anything.