Back pain in the Garden

Hi everyone,

I thought it would be interesting to see how many people had bad backs when they are gardening. I've had my fair share of aches and pains, so I thought I'd see how common it was to suffer in the garden. So, how many of us ache after gardening, and who does what to help with the pain?

Richard

 

Well......., funny you should say that! I'm currently off work (okay out of work) due to a bad back. I have a prolapsed disc at the S1/L5 level. My job was a professional gardener, which I had been doing for all my career, but now I'm stuck on the sofa, waiting for the delightful NHS to 'get me sorted'.

I see that you are a chiropractor. My NHS trust doesn't believe in all that, but I for the last 12 months or so have been paying to see a chiropractor privately. Worth every penny in my opinion, just for the advice and knowledge he has given me alone.

My gardening now is a little dead heading here and a little weeding there, and I mean a little.

At my last job, I worked with 75 or so other people in our depot alone, and most would hold their backs at some point during the day, and it was almost accepted that a bad back came with the territory, but nothing other than a manual handling course was given as part of training.

Having experienced what pain, discomfort, and how little I am able to do on a daily basis, I would insist that core strengthening exercises are also taught, especially to the youngsters.

 

It depends on the nature of the work I've done, but yes I get aches and pains. Digging is the worst one. It doesn't bother me while I'm actually doing it, it is when I've finished or stop for a break and try to walk straight. I sometimes find my back won't straighten up for love nor money, and attempting to straighten it just induces pain. I also find that I walk like a cowboy for a couple of hours after too.

Other jobs get me on my arms and legs, depending on what I'm doing.

I should point out that I'm only 35 and reasonably fit, so there are no underlying problems, just muscle fatigue.

The solution is the same in all cases. First, a cup of tea with some buscuits or chocolate. The carbohydrates feed the tired muscles so help stop your body trying to get energy from the muscle tissue itself (which it does as a last resort and is not very comfortable - that's why slimmers find diet alone as a means of weight loss pure torture ). Then a hot bath or shower to relax the muscles.

 

I have a scoliosis, so, yes I get back pain. I have a TENS machine which is pretty good, but,on occassion, I will also use a back support.:gnthb:

 

I'd suggest that for a lot of us, the cause of back pain is that we will insist on; "just doing this and this and this, before I come in."
It's hard to accept you can't do as much as you once could. So it has to be perhaps in some cases "little and often."
In our house we're a firm beliver in "Nanny's magic stuff" as the grandkids call it... arnica gel. Works a treat on aches and pains.

"For everything else there's diclofenac and Zapain."

 

I wish more NHS Trusts would offer osteopathy and chiropractor treatments than physiotherapy. I'm not knocking the latter, but I speak from experience of pain in the back in the past to know that osteopathy works a treat.

I know someone who practises Yoga regularly and only goes to her osteopath once a year to get "straightened out" (her words). I keep meaning to take up Yoga!

 

I had a really bad fall 28 years ago and broke both my heels and my right hand. The fall also caused fusing of 3 vertebrae and arthritus in my back and knees. Since then I have had a few more falls resulting in various spells off work. In July, I tore ligaments in my bad left knee due to slipping on someones very slippy driveway. Three weeks ago, another incident meant landing on my left elbow which came up like a tennis ball.

We all have to work through the pain 'cos when you are self employed, the incapacity benefit office treats you like a criminal. I have now been back at work for 2 weeks and have not as yet had a penny of IB. They wanted to see tax returns for last year, wifes pay slips for 2 months , all bank statements, building society statements and all pensions. They also demanded to know if I had private sickness cover and if I owned property abroad.
It makes you wonder if it would be better to be a professional scrounger or an alcoholic or a drug addict 'cos they seem to get preferential treatment and every one of them knows how to work the system. Even if you step off a boat as an immigrant(illegal or not), you are offered assistance immediately.

I have been self employed for 30 years and have worked on average 50 hours a week to pay for the upbringing of 2 kids and payment on a mortgage. It makes my blood boil to see all of the people (not genuine claimants BTW Iam talking scroungers here) with their 40" plasma screens in their 10ft x 12ft living rooms smoking 40 cigs a day and out at the boozer at least every weekend while I struggle to make ends meet due to the higher and higher cost of fuel and the extra back door taxes that the self employed have to pay.

Most people think 'cos you are self employed, that you are rich. They don't realise that if you have a spell between jobs, that you just don't have an income. That is why we just have to suffer the pain of the sore backs and the arthritic joints and the fact that we need a new knew joint but can't take the time off work to have it done and subsequent recovery time.
G.Man

 

As arthritis has been mentioned in here, I thought I'd chuck in something I've learned that might help (not just with arthritis but various other problems too).

As an external thing, essential oil of Rosemary is ace (as long as there are no heart problems). It stimulates blood blow which promotes healing of muscle tissue. (Ok, not really for arthritis).

As an internal thing, Cayenne pepper is very highly rated (put it in your food or if you're brave, mix it in a drink). It improves blood circulation by clearing much of the rubbish that routinely builds up in our arteries as we age. It helps with arthritis by helping your body to dispose of toxins that build up in arthritic joints apparently (I'm not a doctor, its just what I've read). I do know this: My dad suffered badly for ages with an ailment that affected his blood circulation, plus arthritis in various parts of his body. His ailments are not going to go away, but since I found about about Cayenne pepper he's been using it routinely in his meals nearly every day. I've witnessed the transformation. It is not a miracle, he didn't drink a magic potion and then turn young again or anything, but over the last year or so since he started using it, he has got steadily better. At one point he'd let his allotment and his back garden go a bit because it was too painful for him to do the work. Now both are back to their former glory.

 

I'm glad that someone else has problems with the benefits system in this country....., perhaps we should start a new thread!

 

i suffer with back problems for yrs and i find moving around is brill,but you settle down afterwards to read,watch TV etc then boy i feel it.
Aromatherapy I've had great easy from using,yeah they are hit and miss some people say(i was lucky to find a good 1) she worked wonders on me.I used to use deep heat and other
creams regular,until i found her,perhaps I'll see her 2 or even 3 time in a yr now,but the big tip she told me was to use is a few drops of Lavender in an oil (virgin oil i use) and lately I've been adding a some peppermint oil to it,which i was told has the warming and cooling effect of your body and works well for me.:thumb:

 

I used to get backache after a day of gardening, but since I started working out every day, I seem to be able to garden without any problems. Obviously I don't have any underlying problems so I'm one of the lucky ones.

 

Backache after gardening usually occurs because we're using muscles that are normally relaxed. I suffer with Reumatoid Arthritis and have done since 1995, but although I get backache after gardening, it has the habit of vanishing after a good night's sleep. Some years ago, I worked in a factory that made brake linings... now this was a killing task. I was forced to take up another position. Anyway, now if my back aches badly, my partner, she with the gentle touch, soothes it away in no time at all.

 

I find that using longhandled spades and other tools intended for heavy work reduces back pain.

 

I suffer with"Fibromyalgia" and find if i feel a pain,stop, sit down for a while and then i can probably carry on a little more.

If i go into a full back spasm,thats it for 24 hrs, i just have to take to my bed,

What i do find though is working with the proper tools and having potting bench at the right height helps immensely

 

good reply gingernutsman i know exactly how you feel backache is an occupational hazard in my experiance the best way to avoid the backache is to get someone else to do the garden for you.