Degenerative Disk Disease

[FLO_RIDA]

I am 34 and have been diagnosed with it.  Who has it?  Do you still ride?  What in the HELL can make it feel better on my lower back?  I have had sciatica once.  The shot fixed my herniated disk back in 2015.  Now, I have DDD.  I still jump rope, and ride a stationary bike, and I actually feel pretty good.  But, bending over working outdoors picking things up, yeah different story.  Heavy lifting, not so much.  I use my core when I am biking.  I use my core to lift.  I don't bend at the waist.  I bend at the knees. 

But, I hurt.  I am in pain.  I was going to a chiropractor.  That became expensive very quickly.  I didn't have the money for it.  I do not have time for physical therapy.  I am a stay at home dad, mom works from home.  I literally have no time to be going to doctors at the VA 40 minutes away one way.  I am a no bullshit kind of person.  I honestly believe in just doing it once and being done.  Not physical therapy for months on end to no avail.  Screw that.  Give me a shot or something.  

So, what does everybody who has it do? Thanks. 

[Jon Heron]

I have deteriorating subluxation in my neck and was born with scoliosis in my back. My back is FUBAR on a good day.

Best advice I can give is stay away from medical doctors, they are not good at back service and only offer surgery or pills. If my mom had listened to the doc I would of had a rod in my back at 12 years old, would have destroyed my life.

The only thing that has helped me is a good chiropractor and exercise. The chiro manipulates the joints which allows blood in there to heal.

And keep moving, my back and neck is always the worst after long travel or being sick in bed for a couple of days, again got to keep the blood flowing into the bad areas.

Keep it lubricated with lots of beer and good weed, helps too. 

Good luck!

Jon

[Hans Schmid]

54 minutes ago, FLO_RIDA said:

I am 34 and have been diagnosed with it.  Who has it?  Do you still ride?  What in the HELL can make it feel better on my lower back?  I have had sciatica once.  The shot fixed my herniated disk back in 2015.  Now, I have DDD.  I still jump rope, and ride a stationary bike, and I actually feel pretty good.  But, bending over working outdoors picking things up, yeah different story.  Heavy lifting, not so much.  I use my core when I am biking.  I use my core to lift.  I don't bend at the waist.  I bend at the knees. 

But, I hurt.  I am in pain.  I was going to a chiropractor.  That became expensive very quickly.  I didn't have the money for it.  I do not have time for physical therapy.  I am a stay at home dad, mom works from home.  I literally have no time to be going to doctors at the VA 40 minutes away one way.  I am a no bullshit kind of person.  I honestly believe in just doing it once and being done.  Not physical therapy for months on end to no avail.  Screw that.  Give me a shot or something.  

So, what does everybody who has it do? Thanks. 

I'll pm you some info.

[SlowDinoDog]

1 hour ago, FLO_RIDA said:

I am 34 and have been diagnosed with it.  Who has it?  Do you still ride?  What in the HELL can make it feel better on my lower back?  I have had sciatica once.  The shot fixed my herniated disk back in 2015.  Now, I have DDD.  I still jump rope, and ride a stationary bike, and I actually feel pretty good.  But, bending over working outdoors picking things up, yeah different story.  Heavy lifting, not so much.  I use my core when I am biking.  I use my core to lift.  I don't bend at the waist.  I bend at the knees. 

But, I hurt.  I am in pain.  I was going to a chiropractor.  That became expensive very quickly.  I didn't have the money for it.  I do not have time for physical therapy.  I am a stay at home dad, mom works from home.  I literally have no time to be going to doctors at the VA 40 minutes away one way.  I am a no bullshit kind of person.  I honestly believe in just doing it once and being done.  Not physical therapy for months on end to no avail.  Screw that.  Give me a shot or something.  

So, what does everybody who has it do? Thanks. 

I've lived with lower back pain and sciatica pain for years. I got off all pain meds and tried to figure out what I was doing that was aggravating my issues. 

A biggie for me was sitting on a 'fat' wallet in my back pocket while driving. I always had a sore back after driving extended periods. Also, some sitting positions aggravate my back.

My opinion is US medical doctors are quick to give pills for pain, but are slow to determine root causes of pain. My theory is I was taking meds during the day that were masking my actions of inflaming my back.

Edited February 28, 2021 by SlowDinoDog

[Hans Schmid]

21 minutes ago, SlowDinoDog said:

I've lived with lower back pain and sciatica pain for years. I got off all pain meds and tried to figure out what I was doing that was aggravating my issues. 

A biggie for me was sitting on a 'fat' wallet in my back pocket while driving. I always had a sore back after driving extended periods. Also, some sitting positions aggravate my back.

My opinion is US medical doctors are quick to give pills for pain, but are slow to determine root causes of pain. My theory is I was taking meds during the day that were masking my actions of inflaming my back.

 

[FLO_RIDA]

I have never sat on my wallet it always sits in my left front pocket. Always comes out of my pocket while driving. I have to deal with my l4 l5 discs. there is very little space in between them very very narrow. We don't get weed down here in Florida like we did in Alaska. And I have a CDL. I wish I could smoke some weed. I smoked it in Alaska and damn did I feel good when I had my broken bones. 

 

Every time I drink alcohol I hurt worse. I don't drink Sunday through Friday. But this past Friday night I had some vodka, saturday morning I could barely move. But that's probably in part of me bending over all day power washing my driveway.....

[Spud786]

44 minutes ago, FLO_RIDA said:

I have never sat on my wallet it always sits in my left front pocket. Always comes out of my pocket while driving. I have to deal with my l4 l5 discs. there is very little space in between them very very narrow. We don't get weed down here in Florida like we did in Alaska. And I have a CDL. I wish I could smoke some weed. I smoked it in Alaska and damn did I feel good when I had my broken bones. 

 

Every time I drink alcohol I hurt worse. I don't drink Sunday through Friday. But this past Friday night I had some vodka, saturday morning I could barely move. But that's probably in part of me bending over all day power washing my driveway.....

Id say the alcohol is dehydrating you, making it worse. So drink plenty of water daily

Have you tried the hanging upside down idea, which stretches out the discs, you can also lay on a hard bed, with knees hanging over the sides , and your back will eventually stretch out too.   I dont have a back issue, I just do this daily, cause it works well avoiding back degrade. you can lift each leg, stretching out far to the left and right.  You've had issues for so long,  not sure how effective, but for 60 year olds, I recommend this daily.

Pain pills (weed) and stuff like that does nothing fixing the situation, pain meds are for when its a lost cause.

[SlowDinoDog]

4 minutes ago, Spud786 said:

Id say the alcohol is dehydrating you, making it worse. So drink plenty of water daily

Have you tried the hanging upside down idea, which stretches out the discs, you can also lay on a hard bed, with knees hanging over the sides , and your back will eventually stretch out too.   I dont have a back issue, I just do this daily, cause it works well avoiding back degrade. you can lift each leg, stretching out far to the left and right.  You've had issues for so long,  not sure how effective, but for 60 year olds, I recommend this daily.

Pain pills (weed) and stuff like that does nothing fixing the situation, pain meds are for when its a lost cause.

I've cut back on alcohol, too.

My GF does have a device to rotate and hang upside down. That feels great, afterwards...and the bed stretch technique works for me, too. ?

But, we have had medical pot here for a few years and I do smoke that. Its not so much for pain relief...it just makes me feel good and helps me sleep, even without pain killers.

 

[MXOldtimer]

Like I told my Doc, pot doesn't get rid of the pain, it just makes you stupid so you forget about the pain for awhile to get some relief. And it just helps with peace of mind. ?

I've had degenerative spine issues since about 40 in my neck. It got so bad I couldn't turn my head left or right, I'd have to turn my whole body. Nerve issues from it traveling through my shoulders down arms. After hard riding sever headaches so bad you could shoot me in the back of the head and I'd thank you.

Cold weather was HORRIBLE.

After learning life tricks like cutting a memory foam pillow to about 2" thick, knowing what hurts, what helps. I refused the surgery they wanted to do, refused the pain meds they wanted to put me on. Since I've retired and moved to a hot humid climit I feel sooooo much better it's FRIG'N FANTASTIC!

The relief has made me feel somewhat human again.

My biggest bummer is, I can only ride 20/30 min's, the holding my head up and back with arms out get excruciating but I have fun for those 20/30 min's.

You just have to find what works for you and keep having as much fun as you can. 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by MXOldtimer

[cosmicelvis]

I was diagnosed with degenerative disc in my early 40's and I am 52 now. I rode mt bikes for 15 years and one day it occurred to me that it could be making it worse. This was after years of physical therapy and pain meds. I gave up mt biking a year ago and bought a drz 400S instead. I started walking on soft surfaces ( trails, grassy fields for exercise instead of cycling ) and it started to heal. Doing pull ups on a pull up bar helps it a lot too. I also do weight training twice a week .Certain core exercise help, however some actually irritate it and will make it feel worse. Trial and error on core strengthening exercises is what I recommend. I take advil sometimes that helps too. I have to have a DOT card for work so i can't smoke weed either, thats a bummer. Glad I bought the DRZ, no regrets there.

 

[FLO_RIDA]

6 hours ago, Spud786 said:

Id say the alcohol is dehydrating you, making it worse. So drink plenty of water daily

Have you tried the hanging upside down idea, which stretches out the discs, you can also lay on a hard bed, with knees hanging over the sides , and your back will eventually stretch out too.   I dont have a back issue, I just do this daily, cause it works well avoiding back degrade. you can lift each leg, stretching out far to the left and right.  You've had issues for so long,  not sure how effective, but for 60 year olds, I recommend this daily.

Pain pills (weed) and stuff like that does nothing fixing the situation, pain meds are for when its a lost cause.

I drink a gallon of water every single day 7 days a week. And that is no bullshit right there one gallon every day....

[FLO_RIDA]

46 minutes ago, cosmicelvis said:

I was diagnosed with degenerative disc in my early 40's and I am 52 now. I rode mt bikes for 15 years and one day it occurred to me that it could be making it worse. This was after years of physical therapy and pain meds. I gave up mt biking a year ago and bought a drz 400S instead. I started walking on soft surfaces ( trails, grassy fields for exercise instead of cycling ) and it started to heal. Doing pull ups on a pull up bar helps it a lot too. I also do weight training twice a week .Certain core exercise help, however some actually irritate it and will make it feel worse. Trial and error on core strengthening exercises is what I recommend. I take advil sometimes that helps too. I have to have a DOT card for work so i can't smoke weed either, thats a bummer. Glad I bought the DRZ, no regrets there.

 

Know what is messed up?

I recently just bought that stationary bike. All of this pain happened just after I started riding this stationary bike. I really really hope to God it wasn't this bike.....  How is that even possible? Jump rope actually makes it feel better Believe that or not...  I have been jump roping for years now. I must be thick headed. My wife said something about ever since I started writing that stationary bike or spin bike whatever it's called I had the back pain...

[cosmicelvis]

I also was born with a clubfoot so one of my legs is much weaker than the other, this was twisting my spine when mt biking according to my physical therapist. I read somewhere too that most professional bicyclist have to quit because of spine issues not knee problems as one would think. If my hip flexors get too tight my back will start hurting because your hips are connected to your back muscles. I do some stretches as well a few times a week, this may be causing you pain too.

[FLO_RIDA]

Thank you all. 

[Topher99]

Im 40 and have 3 herniated discs in my back. No insurance and no money for doctors or surgery. The best thing Ive found is an inversion table I hang for a few minutes every night and it works wonders. Still riding my exc450 every weekend just can't swing a leg over it anymore I have to do a 3 pointer ninja move just to get on. Worked construction my whole life the money was great when I was young but pay for it every day now.

 

 

[FLO_RIDA]

17 hours ago, cosmicelvis said:

I also was born with a clubfoot so one of my legs is much weaker than the other, this was twisting my spine when mt biking according to my physical therapist. I read somewhere too that most professional bicyclist have to quit because of spine issues not knee problems as one would think. If my hip flexors get too tight my back will start hurting because your hips are connected to your back muscles. I do some stretches as well a few times a week, this may be causing you pain too.

Wonder if I should sell the stationary bike? 

[cosmicelvis]

Try adjusting the saddle first, it may be at the wrong height.

[FLO_RIDA]

40 minutes ago, cosmicelvis said:

Try adjusting the saddle first, it may be at the wrong height.

Ive tried a lot of adjustments....  What I really think did it to me, was me riding in the 50-70 rpm zone for way too long.  I was trying to simulate hill climbs.  Make my legs really work.  

[MXOldtimer]

Thing is I know what and when my neck was damaged.

In my 30's I and a guy were rebuilding a second story deck.

We'd jacked up and shored the joist and decking and we're replacing the 16' 4x12 beam and posts.

We were carrying the beam up ladders, climbing with left hand beam on right shoulder. When I got in postition I went to lift the beam over my head and my grip slipped.

The beam came down on the back of my neck about ear level driving my head/neck forward and I caught the beam in my shoulder again.

That was the begining of all my neck issues. Then in 2000 I got rear ended, that really caused major neck issues but they blamed it in past degenerative issues.

 

[Nigel18]

if it’s not too far gone....
Loose weight if you overweigh, Stay hydrated, Stretch everyday, (Critical - Strengthen your Abs !! For me stretching and Abs have made all the difference ! Go see a physio and get strengthening excercises ideal for your needs. I have it and ride ?