Back Issues

[Miggs]

I have a one inch foam pad I use for my stretching and core routine. If they sold a 1.5-2 inch one, I would legit consider sleeping on it in the living room. It’s only about what, two feet wide, so wider would also be better but yeah, that foam pad would be sweet. Cheap. And I could just get a new one every 3 months and it would be way cheaper than a mattress.

 

[Miggs]

Yep. Do you rotate the mattress? Mattresses nowadays can't really be flipped over, back when I first got married most every mattress was made like basic twin mattresses are now, the same construction all the way through, and we flipped it over and rotated it to extend it's useful life. They don't make them that way anymore, but I do rotate mine 180 degrees every couple of months to try to minimize the swaying. I think it helps.

This is another reason I'm thinking of going custom and getting a Wyoming king size mattress. Those are 7 ft X 7 ft, so it's square. Then I could rotate it 90 degrees at a time and hopefully even out the swaying to extend the life of the mattress.

No. We should now but my wife’s a bigger woman and I’m terrified at how her side of the mattress will feel. Though truth be told, my upper half will be where her legs are.

 

[LogGrad98]

No. We should now but my wife’s a bigger woman and I’m terrified at how her side of the mattress will feel. Though truth be told, my upper half will be where her legs are.

Yeah over time it does get weird a bit since we are shaped differently and different heights. The benefit for me is my wife is a wandering sleeper, she's all over the place. So it minimizes her divot, or spreads it out. I essentially sleep on the same 2 foot section all the time basically without moving. So it works pretty well for us.

 

[Miggs]

Yeah over time it does get weird a bit since we are shaped differently and different heights. The benefit for me is my wife is a wandering sleeper, she's all over the place. So it minimizes her divot, or spreads it out. I essentially sleep on the same 2 foot section all the time basically without moving. So it works pretty well for us.

Yeah my wife moves a lot too so I think I could be okay.

 

[Miggs]

What stretches or core strengthening exercises do people do that they find helps a lot with their back?

 

[MilesDeep]

Back problems can be very complex and usually come from compensating for weakness or lack of flexibility lower in the chain; ankle/knee/hip/back. Depending on what the issue is, strengthening your back/core can exacerbate the problem. Start from the bottom, ankle, and if needed, get someone knowledgable of biomechanics and figure out which areas lack strength or flexibility. Doing this can help pinpoint why and how the back is trying to compensate. In other words, tight hamstrings or glutes which frequently result in back issues, can be caused by ankle inflexibility. Stretching is far more useful if done through resistance (I would argue this should be the only stretching needed). Exercises like nordics, reverse nordics, seated good mornings (cable are best), Jefferson curl, and others. Squats and deadlifts are awesome exercises but without proper ankle mobility will absolutely lead to back issues even if it exhibits as knee problems. Hip flexor/psoas tightness are also frequent contributors to back pain. Again, increasing range of motion thru resistance should be the goal and absolutely will alleviate pain, sometimes very quickly. But start at the bottom and analyze up the chain.

 

[Miggs]

Back problems can be very complex and usually come from compensating for weakness or lack of flexibility lower in the chain; ankle/knee/hip/back. Depending on what the issue is, strengthening your back/core can exacerbate the problem. Start from the bottom, ankle, and if needed, get someone knowledgable of biomechanics and figure out which areas lack strength or flexibility. Doing this can help pinpoint why and how the back is trying to compensate. In other words, tight hamstrings or glutes which frequently result in back issues, can be caused by ankle inflexibility. Stretching is far more useful if done through resistance (I would argue this should be the only stretching needed). Exercises like nordics, reverse nordics, seated good mornings (cable are best), Jefferson curl, and others. Squats and deadlifts are awesome exercises but without proper ankle mobility will absolutely lead to back issues even if it exhibits as knee problems. Hip flexor/psoas tightness are also frequent contributors to back pain. Again, increasing range of motion thru resistance should be the goal and absolutely will alleviate pain, sometimes very quickly. But start at the bottom and analyze up the chain.

Agreed. Many of my stretches are also for my hips.

Who would I see about my biomechanics, so far as putting me through tests to see if I’m asymmetrical or whatever? Is that usually covered by insurance?

 

[MilesDeep]

Agreed. Many of my stretches are also for my hips.

Who would I see about my biomechanics, so far as putting me through tests to see if I’m asymmetrical or whatever? Is that usually covered by insurance?

First thing would be to do a variety of tests. Can you sit in resting squat position? Touch your toes with legs locked? Anterior or posterior pelvic tilt? Can you hold your back flat against the wall and with do a shoulder press with your elbows maintaining contact with the wall? Tight psoas test? Most important, imo, is can you sit in resting squat position? Butt to the ground, feet flat on floor, knees out over ankles back straight etc; so much involved in this, a high percentage of the population cannot do it. If you can't, it should be a goal, and then work up to where you can do it for even up to a half hour a day. For asymmetries, use a mirror and doing your common lifts, you'll be able to see what's happening with each side. Obviously, each of us has a side that's more dominant, I'm right handed, and you will have discrepancies in strength/speed/rom etc from side to side. Before I went to someone, I would answer some of the above questions/tests and get ideas on what needs correcting/strengthening before I went to a doctor that specializes in rehab or biomechanics. As far as insurance, I have no idea. The body is incredible in its ability to heal itself and adapt.

 

[homeytennis]

My bible is "The Self Care Back Book" by a New Zealand physio named McKenzie. I have had both PTs and Chiros laud it.

 

[fishonjazz]

Yeah I have a stretching routine I do in the shower under hot water so everything is loose to keep my shoulder and back and neck flexible. If I miss it for a few days my pain gets markedly worse.

We got a new mattress maybe a year ago and I'm already wanting to look for a new one again. I can only sleep on my left side, literally barely moving all night, so if the balance is firmness and softness isn't nearly perfect my neck ends up at a bad angle during the night, putting stress on the metal rods holding everything together, and sometimes it's bad enough I can't function. So after a while with a new mattress even mild swaying or a mild divot developing where I sleep can **** everything up. Funny thing is we had a Simmons for about 10 years that held it's form better than any mattresses we've had before or since, but it was before the trend to put memory foam in everything and add layers and layers of different kinds of foam. I'm convinced the trendy new way of building these "hybrid" mattresses make them hold up worse. That one was all natural materials, with the whole pocketed coil thing, and cotton batting and high-density latex foam. I wish we had never gotten rid of it. But since we did we've gone through 3 mattresses, I'm afraid soon to be 4, and basically given them away with only 2-4 years on the mattress. Mostly to my kids so that's good. I'm tempted to go fully custom on my next mattress, but those are $10k+. Maybe I can get insurance to pay for it.

LOLOL as if insurance in America does jack-**** for anything.

Dude, mattresses and mattress shopping is the worst. I found this one that I thought would be perfect. It was latex and was 2200 bucks. Had it for the trial period of 90 days. It sucked and we sent it back and got a memory foam one for about 1700 bucks. It was good for like 6 months and then it sucked. Bought a cheap one on amazon (like 600 bucks). Memory foam again. It lasted about a year and then it sucked. Bought a hybrid and it sucked. We have had our current mattress for about 2 or 3 years and its a spring mattress we bought from the deseret industries. It started sucking after about 1.5 years. So we bought a memory foam topper and that helped for a while until it sucked again. Then we folded up some towels and put them under the mattress where it was sagging and that has been working for about a year now.
I hate hate hate mattress shopping. Lots of fake reviews, you try it in the store and its great but doesn't last. They are quite expensive and oh so important. I hate it so bad. Probably the most stressful thing I have ever researched and shopped for.
I will probably just stick with the DI mattresses in the future I guess even though I dont love them (I have had 2 of them and they have been good enough). I have thought about the Purple mattress but for some reason it seems like a scam to me.
My brother in law and my sister just bought a really expensive sleep number mattress and adjustable frame. They have had it for like 5 months or something and already think it sucks.

 

[fishonjazz]

That sucks bro. I completely agree on the divots comment. Ours is only nine months old and I can already feel it sinking in certain parts where I always lie. It’s fine for the most part but my head feels like it feels a coil or something a bit and there’s really no where else for me to move my head enough so I don’t feel it or I am essentially shifting my whole body over six inches to the left or right which doesn’t work because six inches to the right and I’m falling off the bed and six to the left and I’m in a spot that is half in the bodily divot half not.

For the divots try stuffing a towel under the mattress under the divot point. That has worked for both me and my wife for a while now. Better than nothing

 

[fishonjazz]

Yep. Do you rotate the mattress? Mattresses nowadays can't really be flipped over, back when I first got married most every mattress was made like basic twin mattresses are now, the same construction all the way through, and we flipped it over and rotated it to extend it's useful life. They don't make them that way anymore, but I do rotate mine 180 degrees every couple of months to try to minimize the swaying. I think it helps.

This is another reason I'm thinking of going custom and getting a Wyoming king size mattress. Those are 7 ft X 7 ft, so it's square. Then I could rotate it 90 degrees at a time and hopefully even out the swaying to extend the life of the mattress.

I rotate mine and it does help a little.
The laytex one I bought (it was a zenhaven brand) was actually one you could flip. One side was a little more firm than the other. That mattress seemed so freaking nice. I thought I had found the one of my dreams. It was so comfortable and such high quality. It looked and felt like it would cost like 20,000 bucks. But I would always wake up with my arm or hand or something asleep and I never got good sleep on it. We literally kept it until the end of the 90 day trial hoping it would work out. Never did and we returned it and got our money back.
I feel like I have done more research on mattresses than anyone in history and I still know nothing.