Can't afford a chiropractor and need some advice.

[DerickVonD]

So, here's the deal, right now I'm living at home and going to college. I live off of SSI and foodstamps and of course, since I have free government insurance the chiropractor isn't covered. I simple can not afford to pay like $100 or more each time I go. The problem I am having is a disc in my lower back will pop in and out once in awhile. I can deadlift most days fines, or do most exercise just fine, provided the disc is in place. It seems to pop out if I do anything involving me leaning down too much. So I can do deads, but I can't do standing rear delt raises, or bb rows with my torso low, or it'll pop out. When I go to lay down on my back, I'll feel it crack in that area, even on days I feel fine, or I haven't lifted, it'll just crack alittle bit, instead of a lot. What I'm wondering is, if I can save up money to buy a black foam roller, I have a red one, but I was wondering if the black more dense one would help out with this problem and also if I bought a teeter hang-up would it help with this issue? I've owned and inversion bench before, but it was a cheap one with cheap ankle locks, so I never used it and I got rid of it. Also I was wondering if I bought an 8 inch memory foam mattress if that would help too. Any advice?

 

[Aussteve]

Hey mate, lower back problems really suck! Before I finished reading your post I was already thinking of some sort of hanging to de-load the spine! I do it regularly by just hanging from a chin up bar by my hands for around 30 sec a time, give your hips a small wiggle around while hanging to prompt some greater de-load ( great for grip strength too!! ). The other thing I swear by is the foam roller and myofacially release of your posterior chain, particularly glutes and hammies! The ITB band from hip to knee can be the culprit too, so give that a good belting with the roller! The other cause could be the psoas muscle, google it and you will find out plenty in what to do! Question; have you had x-rays to see if it is disk involvement or if it is muscular? Would be a good move! It's funny with pretty much all other sports mobility and flexibility exercises are carried out religiously, but in bodybuilding very few people give it any attention!?!?
As far as any supplements go my pick would be fish oil, cissus and glucosamine!

Anyway sounds like your going down the right path with it all! Good luck

 

[DerickVonD]

Hey mate, lower back problems really suck! Before I finished reading your post I was already thinking of some sort of hanging to de-load the spine! I do it regularly by just hanging from a chin up bar by my hands for around 30 sec a time, give your hips a small wiggle around while hanging to prompt some greater de-load ( great for grip strength too!! ). The other thing I swear by is the foam roller and myofacially release of your posterior chain, particularly glutes and hammies! The ITB band from hip to knee can be the culprit too, so give that a good belting with the roller! The other cause could be the psoas muscle, google it and you will find out plenty in what to do! Question; have you had x-rays to see if it is disk involvement or if it is muscular? Would be a good move! It's funny with pretty much all other sports mobility and flexibility exercises are carried out religiously, but in bodybuilding very few people give it any attention!?!?
As far as any supplements go my pick would be fish oil, cissus and glucosamine!

Anyway sounds like your going down the right path with it all! Good luck

Is there a foam roller you would recommend? or should I just get a black one? I was looking at this but it's expensive http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Performance-Revolutionary-Roller/dp/B006GUC9KC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369108795&sr=8-2&keywords=trigger+point+foam+roller

I should point out my upper back gives me trouble sometimes too.

 

[Aussteve]

Mate that black roller looks good! I really don't think the roller is that important, mine is prob around 7 years old ( blue one ) and is still round and hurts like hell when I get it in the right spot!! I've even used one of my daughter mini basketball when I couldn't find the roller! Moral of this story is if it's round and hard it will do the job!
If you have upper back pain too then try and de-load your spine some other way than hanging by your hands as I first suggested, could aggrevate it more. Better to invert as you suggested!!

 

[DerickVonD]

Mate that black roller looks good! I really don't think the roller is that important, mine is prob around 7 years old ( blue one ) and is still round and hurts like hell when I get it in the right spot!! I've even used one of my daughter mini basketball when I couldn't find the roller! Moral of this story is if it's round and hard it will do the job!
If you have upper back pain too then try and de-load your spine some other way than hanging by your hands as I first suggested, could aggrevate it more. Better to invert as you suggested!!

How long should I hang for? I fear if I do get an inversion bench it'll have to be the expensive teeter hangup and I may have to buy the "gravity boots" so my ankles won't hurt, if I can get away with hanging for afew minutes I might not need them, but damn $100 for somethign that should come standard with a $300 piece of equipment.

 

[Aussteve]

Have a go at just hanging from the chinup bar with your hands, if it doesn't hurt your upper back all good!? Like I said I hang for about 30 sec or so every session during my warm up/mobility exercises ( warm up takes around 15 min and it is more important to me than the session itself. If I'm pressed for time I never scimp on the warm up ). I really think that once you get on that roller you will see a big difference! My philosophy with it is to only use it when I need it. By that I don't meen to wait until I'm sore/tight, I have over the years learnt to know when I need it and that us around twice a week! Question = do you wear a belt?

 

[DerickVonD]

Have a go at just hanging from the chinup bar with your hands, if it doesn't hurt your upper back all good!? Like I said I hang for about 30 sec or so every session during my warm up/mobility exercises ( warm up takes around 15 min and it is more important to me than the session itself. If I'm pressed for time I never scimp on the warm up ). I really think that once you get on that roller you will see a big difference! My philosophy with it is to only use it when I need it. By that I don't meen to wait until I'm sore/tight, I have over the years learnt to know when I need it and that us around twice a week! Question = do you wear a belt?

No I don't

 

[Aussteve]

Some do some don't! I do on the big posterior chain exercises. My rationale for wearing one is that a belt gives your abdominal muscles something to push against thereby inceasing the bracing and ultimately increasing lower back support and core stability! Anything I can do that will make my time in the wgt room safer I'm going to! That includes wrapping my knees when I squat over a certain wgt! It's a personal thing I'm not going to say wear one or not to, it's up to you? Do some research at the pros and cons and see what suits you and your situation!? Personally I always have and always will wear one!

 

[ZiR RED]

You can get a piece of black PVC pipe for around 10 bucks, and then some handle tape for another 5 and make your own of a density that suits your needs.

You might want to check around you to see if there are any doctor of chiropractor programs at the local universities. A lot of times you can get free or reduced treatment by the final year students.

Finally, you better focus real hard on core strength. I mean do a series of planks, bird dogs, dead bugs, etc. every morning.

 

[McCrew530]

Hey bud I work in the bed industry and will definitely say a memory foam bed can help but it will in no means fix. Watch out though there is a lot of garbage beds out there that say they are just like a leading brand, but they usually aren't. Also to get adjusted check around your local rehab/P.T centers, a lot of the time they will do free consultations with x-rays and evaluations plus they will have in house chiropractors that are a lot cheaper than the regular guys who have their own offices and only pop backs. I go to one locally once a month and its only $10 each trip. Good luck

 

[Jiigzz]

I second going to a university and jumping on a reduced rate/ free chiropracter. I do this all the time and it saves alot when you don't have a lot of money to burn

 

[KimChee]

I third the school, sometimes they need volunteers from the general public just check they will post to replicate a real patient load for practitioners who are in training. I gave a lot of LMT's and Chiros "practice" in school, heh. You might want to look into local rates for chiros, I have a friend who's a chiro and of course the eval is expensive, but an adjustment afterwards on a prn basis is only $30, might be more convenient. Also second what Zir Red said you need to focus on some serious core strength, back extensors, deep abdominal strength, and proximal hip...