Back Problems - Oh the pain
well, my abs were not fine, but back stuff runs in my familly...
In PT, I got to do this thing that helepd. When you lie on your back, put lots and lots of pillows and folded blankets to support your legs, so they are kinda like...90 degrees? And have a hot water bottle or something on your lower back. Also, when you lie on your stonach, make sure the front part of your ankles are slighty raised. It does help. I have been reading about slipped disks, and if they tell you hat is the thing, get a second opinion, you dont always need surgery!!!!
I had that when I was in my early twenties, and it last for a long time until I eventually figured out how to "relax through the pain". Tightening up the muscles because of the pain seemed to add to the pain, because the muscles got "knotted up". Relaxing seemed to painful, but if you can get through that temporary thing of feeling the pain get worse when you un-tighten the muscles, eventually the pain can be reduced some. Then you're only dealing with the "root problem" and not "secondary" pain.
Every so often in the fifteen or so years following, I'd feel it coming on if I moved wrong. I eventually learned that if I layed across the bed sideways (which means not laying in the usual "gully" made each night in any mattress); and if I stretched my arms up over my head and made a conscious effort to relax the back, I could fight it off.
Between getting the habit of moving a little more correctly, and learning how to fight it off; I've had a very long time now with only very rare episodes (which I'm able to keep short by doing the things I learned through experience).
Something else I learned was that even if it started to seem a little better (not much, but a little) I was more likely to move a little more freely and seem to "re-do" it, sending me back to Square One.
So, I'd say, where you are right now, the first step is to make it a point to consciously relax the area. There's that natural tendency to keep it tense, and just make it a point to keep telling yourself to relax through the pain. It's almost like your brain has to actually "speak to" your lower back and "tell it" to relax all through the day. (Doing this may not help you as it did me, but it won't hurt you either; so it's worth a try - but you have to keep thinking about it and doing it all through each hour/day. A few times a day isn't enough.)
If you can, you may try the stretching thing. Try to get your whole back and legs as straight and aligned as possible. I found (for some reason a non-chiropractor like me doesn't quite understand) that putting both of the arms up over my head and stretched out straight seemed to facilitate the whole "aligning" attempt.
What worked for me was to tell myself just to stop doing any moving that I could possibly avoid. (That second-down shelf in the refrigerator doesn't seem like a big deal, but it can be a killer.
). Less moving means less chances of re-doing anything that could be in the process of improving.
What I found was that having things go back in place the right way wasn't as sudden an event as having them get out of whack was. It felt as if it was a gradual process. What I learned, though, is that for months afterward I had to be ever vigilant about "no false moves", or else it would start to come back. (Also, watch out if you sit on any chairs that don't have hard seat. I got my back kind of going by not noticing that the cushioned chair I always used was getting worn down. I didn't realize that I was using back muscles to compensate, until I actually got a lump. I began using a metal desk chair, and within about two days I was good as new. )
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