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Post Info TOPIC: Take care of your back!!
John D


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Take care of your back!!
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Use proper lifting techniques, get help with awkward (not even heavy) objects... and most of all

DON'T LET THE 20yr old LIVING IN YOUR HEAD OVERRIDE WHAT YOUR 50+ year old BODY KNOWS IS BEST!!

I haven't been too active with Club events this past summer, as Sheryl & I have been doing some major life-changes. I hung up the toolbelt and retired from commercial security after 30 years. We sold the cabin "up north", sold our home "in the city", and bought a new place on a lake in Mound. Well now that I'm not punching a clock every day, guess who 90% of the packing/hauling/toting of our 34 years of crap accumulation from 2 homes into the third...??

Me. That's where the 20yr old in my head screwed me over.

Starting in August I was having some minor back pain. Wrote it off to "overdoing it", and it wasn't anything that a couple of Advil and good night's rest would solve. This continued into September but was getting worse (the "Vehicle Lift Relocation Crew" knows this, as I wasn't able to help much). Enter October... most of the big jobs are done, but the back isn't getting any better. It's getting worse... this isn't just "Sciatica", it's an occasional stop you dead in your tracks redhot pitchfork in the azz PAIN, with numbness in my feet/toes. Doctor time!

Had an MRI done. I've got some trouble all along my "L's" (lumbar spine), but L4-L5 is the worst:

L4-5: Disc degeneration with mild endplate osteophytic ridging. Central disc
extrusion, extending slightly above and below the opposing vertebral endplates,
with resulting effacement of the ventral thecal sac and severe spinal canal
stenosis. There is also a right subarticular/foraminal disc extrusion resulting
in severe right foraminal narrowing and impinging the exiting right L4 nerve
root. There is mild left foraminal narrowing.

Translated to plain English, this means my discs are getting old, compressed, etc. (gifts of age & abuse), and I don't have enough clearance in the channels of the bone for the nerve bundles to exit without being pinched. I'm waiting to see a Neuro-guy about my options.



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John D. - St. Louis Park, MN.

1965 El Camino - LT-1, 4L60e, 4wh discs, SC&C susp.
2013 F-150 Platinum - Twin Turbo 3.5

2018 Factory Five MkIV Roadster build thread
Lost in the 60s


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Sorry to hear all this, John. I know back pain well. Herniated a disc in my low back at 23 yrs. I've lived with that Herculean stupid moment for the past 47 yrs now.
Talk to people who have had surgery before jumping in. It's not always as good as they say....just sayin'.

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Mitch D.   River Falls, WI

Lifetime member of the "Cars apart Club"

1966 Chevelle SS 396 M20

1970 Chevelle SS 396 M20

1967 Camaro SS/RS 350 M20
jim larson


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Sounds similar to my MRI last summer.  15 lb limit on lifting.  I have a Spine Clinic visit in December at Mayo Clinic.  Good luck with your issues.

 



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Jim L

Lake City
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back problems are no joke. Hope you get it squared away


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Bryan-NW 'burbs
1972 Malibu
Vaguely stock appearing, and the opposite of restored.
1999 std bore 5.7, Vortec heads, Holley Stealth Ram, GM cam
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ghaasl


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Sad to hear this, John. My 75 year old dad is going through the same stuff. It runs in the family. Makes me glad I got out of working in the field and took an instructor position. If any of you saw him hobbling around SMN on that Saturday, that’s his back acting up.



-- Edited by ghaasl on Sunday 20th of November 2022 08:24:03 PM

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In today’s digital world, don’t be afraid to embrace some analog.  My father tells me I was born 30 years late.

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Larry Lucast


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I first hurt my back in a motorcycle accident at age 22. I have had periods when I could barely stand, and times when it worked pretty well. Twice I had surgeons tell me it was important I have surgery immediately.
When I had my surgery in March, they somehow offended a nerve where I had a power cable for my LVAD ten years ago. When I had surgery in September, the pain was reduced to a sort of tolerable level. I have been going to physical therapy since then, and am making good progress. Most important, I am able to work on my car for at least an hour at a time.

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Larry L.

Coon Rapids
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