Back Pain

There were two periods in my life I had back pain, one caused by trauma on my back falling off a bike and the other had to do with commuting 4 hours a day with a car seat that had no lumbar support and then after the commute each day spending hours wiring a house for a friend, where I had to stand hunched over to do the work. The pain was severe and interfered with my sleep even with pain medication. In the first case, my legs would occasionally give out and I would collapse.

The cure in the first case: Dead-Lifts for a period of months. This is where one lifts a bar with weights off the floor while arching the back and looking straight ahead. You lift the weight from the floor to the waist slowly and then put it back down slowly and repeat about 10 times and do several sets per day. (Its better to put a piece of wood or other spacer under the heal to facilitate better posture and put less strain on the ankles. It took only about 8 weeks to stop the back pain and stop my legs from "giving out"; however, I kept doing these for close to a year. I was a teenager then.

The cure in the second case: I purchased a ski machine. The ski machine involves a "pushing back" with the legs which mobilizes the spine and works the back muscles, especially the lower back and buttock. This took only about 8 weeks to stop the pain completely. I was in my 30's then.

Outside of those two years with serious back pain (which is decades ago now), I have never had back pain again. To prevent a recurrence, I exercise regularly and learned to maintain good posture; such as, keep my back arched when sitting, and make sure my car seat has lumbar support.

So, the point is, a combination of targeted exercise and getting accustomed to maintaining good posture worked for me.