Reddit reviews Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill (2015-09-30)
We found 20 Reddit comments about Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill (2015-09-30). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
You might find "Back Mechanic" and "Gift of Injury" helpful if you're a reader.
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC
According to Dr. McGill, degenerative disc disease is a bit of a misnomer that sounds a lot scarier than it really is. I threw out my back at the start of this year and used this book to get back into climbing shape inside of a few weeks. It's a possibly inexpensive educational remedy so I recommend checking it out.
I'm not a doc, but I'd suggest that you look into more back stabilization vs. stretching, and also evaluating the position of your spine during workouts.
Here's an amazing book on back injuries and evaluating your back pain. It focuses more on keeping the spine neutral during workouts and regular life, and he also advocates keeping the stretching of the spine to a minimum. Not to say all stretching is bad, but not all stretching is good either. Good luck!
Stuart McGill "Back Mechanic"
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC/ref=sr_1_2?gclid=CjwKCAjwxaXtBRBbEiwAPqPxcFr1i7jdrWAaqCJKCpE-UjkhFfbzBfeJ92T5yL1ZZr1uwPbd-Gz8jhoCbvwQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241627292377&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1027019&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13843638346619929566&hvtargid=aud-647006051489%3Akwd-315932574130&hydadcr=22567_10355147&keywords=stuart+mcgill+back+mechanic&qid=1571403675&sr=8-2
First, the fact is a bulging disc's healing time can take up to 2 years, if you don't do anything that keep damaging it. Disc heal very slowly, and even worse, it's can be tricky to adjust your daily postures/movement in a way that doesn't continuously damage it. Unlike a finger cut, you would know right away not to touch the injured area to let it heal.
I wouldn't based the decision on whether to take surgery on how long you have been the problem. Instead, I would base it on the following factors:
A good test I have used for finding the good ones is "McGill test": do they read & study Stuart McGill's work on low back pain, do they have blogs that talk about the insights they learn about low back injury?
If you are willing to wait for a bit more, I suggest buying the book "The Back Mechanic" by Stuart McGill, give it a try for a month & see if you get any improvement before proceeding further with surgery option. It's only $35, much cheaper than a massage section. :-)
A competent surgeon should tell you that many people relapse to subsequent disc injuries after their disc injury is fixed. There is a research which shows that the number one predictor of a low back injury is a previous occurrence of low back injury. Whether you fixed your back through surgery or just let it heals, I still highly recommend you learn how to change your postures to avoid future problems.
Yup. I'm my case, sciatica is from stenosis of spinal foramen. Found enormous jeep help in the book Back Mechanic, by Stuart McGill.
Hey, I had one at L5-S1, described as “huge” by my surgeon. Surgery was mid November and it has been a lot longer and rockier road than I’d expected, but I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Ive recently had some days here and there without ibuprofen or acetaminophen and I am slooooowly regaining stamina and doing more normal activities. I know if I want to return to the active lifestyle I enjoyed that I will need to commit to a focused exercise routine. The Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill is a great start.
Best of luck to your wife. Keep the faith! It’s hard and I have had some very deep doubt myself, but you have to believe that you’ll get there.
Edit: I try to get my wife to do some trigger point massage before bed each night. This is an awesome resource, and I’m sure your wife can guide you to the tender spots as well.
Thanks for the stretches! Are you familiar with/what do you think of Stuart McGill and his book back mechanic? I'm leery of anyone who starts out a book "busting myths" and shitting on other people in their own field but it's a highly recommended book. Also, what do you think of hanging for shoulder health?
First of all, see a physical therapist. Back issues are not to be taken lightly and we cannot diagnose you or prescribe treatment. A professional will help you determine what is causing the problem, how to work around it, and how to rehab and prevent it in the future.
As an aside, I don't know what your goals are, but working out once per week on your current program isn't going to get you very far. You should consider getting on a more structured routine that is programmed by someone with experience and will help you move toward your goals.
Edit: I'd also highly recommend this book just for your own knowledge. It's expensive, but it's written by the best in the field.
Read this: https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC
We talked briefly about your knee pain a while back. Have you been spreading the floor (twisting legs into the ground) more consistently since then? Does it help at all?
We also talked about the effect it can have on maintenance of lumbar neutral during your squats. Any luck with that, or do you still see a significant buttwink?
If the doctor immediately suggests xrays, MRI, opioids, or injections, I would suggest that you politely decline. Unless you have constant, unremitting pain that does not vary with activity and you have changes in your ability to control bowel/bladder...then imaging would make sense.
For your reference, one A-P lumbar xray delivers the same amount of radiation as 20 A-P chest xrays. And they are very rarely necessary.
These books can help you manage your back pain independently:
Treat Your Own Back
Back Mechanic
For your sanity, your presentation of symptoms sounds pretty normal. But to keep stuff from getting worse, any activity that makes symptoms travel lower down than your back need to be avoided for a week or two, maybe longer depending on how you're treated.
They do heal but strangely enough the healing process in younger discs is slower than older discs. Discs only heal when they aren't getting irritaded. Compare it with walking on a broken leg, it will never heal properly. What this means for your back is that you'll have to find the spot in your posture that will give you the least amount of pain. It is hard enough to do with one bulging disc let alone multiple. You can ask for physical therapy to help you through the process. The book ['Back Mechanic'] (https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC) will provide you with a lot of insight on this.
Former Bikram yoga instructor here. I taught for almost 10 years and by the end of it I’d wrecked my back so badly with all the yoga that I was in chronic, debilitating pain all the time. A PT friend turned me on to the back pain research of Dr. Stu McGill. Not sure how popular McGill is on this sub, I know he’s said some critical things of Crossfit in the past, but his work clearly explained to me why Bikram yoga classes—and most group yoga classes in general—are some of the worst things you can do to your back. ESPECIALLY if you’re mixing it with weight training. The short version is: the spinal flexion/extension/twisting postures in yoga destabilize the spinal joints, which are then more vulnerable to injury when placed under load. I'd be very suspicious of any chiros, PTs, trainers who subscribe to the erroneous notion that more flexibility and mobility in the spine is always better. If you're interested, McGill wrote a book for the layperson called The Back Mechanic, which does a great job of explaining the science of back pain and offers some practical solutions. Also, I applied McGill’s principles to yoga and created a course for back pain sufferers that provides the template for a spine-sparing home yoga practice. TLDR: Flowgrade Show #33: Dr. Stuart McGill - Why Powerlifters Shouldn't Do Yoga.
I had a hemi lumbar laminectomy for pretty similar reasons eight years ago when I was 21. It sort of helped I guess, but it was a pretty painful process and I had lingering problems that never really got better. In fact, I’m not convinced the surgery actually helped, or if it was the post surgical rest and rehab that made my back moderately better at the time.
About six months ago however I stumbled upon “The Back Mechanic” by Dr. Stuart McGill thanks to this sub. After following his advice as gospel my back pain has gotten considerably better for the first time since before injuring it. He’s a PHD kinesiologist who’s life’s work has been back pain patients. His advice was refreshing, new, and backed by years of clinical research. He does talk about surgery and his advice is that it should be a absolute last resort, and that the surgery itself often doesn’t actually fix the problem (my surgery experience supporting that). Based on my experience, I would strongly urge you to postpone your surgery before getting the book and giving his advice an honest try.
The amazon reviews are spectacular, and I’m far from the only staunch advocate of the book on this sub. This book alone has greatly improved my quality of life, and I hope it can do the same to you!!
Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill (2015-09-30) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FKSGJYC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_U-zIAb8M69DXB
Edit: Autocorrects
Asking on the off chance: has anyone read Stuart McGill's Back Mechanic? I've got it on order from Amazon, and my PT appointment is booked (for two weeks from now). I know there are important diagnostics and very carefully chosen exercises, and will be into that anon - but what has he got to say about the first few days following a disc herniation or bulge (if anyone knows)?
(also put a hold on the book in the library - 82 holds for 30 something copies :/)
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC
Hi, I haven't had your pain - my awareness of this is from disk pain and other ortho issues - but I would check out Dr. Stuart McGill's books and maybe make an appointment with him if you can. He is the top person in the world for spine biomechanics. Not a Dr., a researcher.
https://www.backfitpro.com/ (see his about page, I think, for info on consultations - there are providers who use his method, also, listed on that website)
https://www.amazon.ca/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC
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Otherwise, I would see a) a physiatrist and next b) a really good physiotherapist. A physiatrist is a specialist who looks at whole-body mechanics from a functional perspective (vs a surgeon, who's more likely to look at the part s/he's cutting on its own). A physiotherapist would do something similar. But for the physio, really do your research - some therapies aren't as useful as others. c) you could always see what a sports medicine specialist can tell you (they're also more likely to go from a functional perspective than a surgeon).
https://www.aapmr.org/ american academy of physical medicine and rehabilitation
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Regarding pain control - if you're not high (I agree, I hate that feeling), what's the problem with CBD if it helps? Would you say the same thing about NSAIDs or a prescription medicine, if they helped? Ideally you'd not have to deal with pain at all, and fix the root cause of it - but until then, if CBD helps, I would think that's pretty good, no?
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Try reading this book. Gives you all the tools to fix your back issues. It's written by on of the leading researchers on back pain and spine biomechanics. FWIW it help me fix my back issues.
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC
I don't have much actual advice. If anything, I'm pretty much a strength training novice. But I've settled on calling my similar back pain a bulging disc. I've notice less discomfort backing away from things that compress the spine a lot (i.e back squats) and things involving loaded back extension (which may or may not be the right term, but I'm using to describe barbell rows). I've been benching with my feet on the bench, for no arch, and haven't had much discomfort that way. You may have to talk to an actual pt or something for real advice, but I've noticed less discomfort in this training cycle this way(so far!). This was an informative book for me, but your results may vary. Good luck!
I'm currently trying the exercises in Back Mechanic: https://www.amazon.com/Back-Mechanic-Stuart-McGill-2015-09-30/dp/B01FKSGJYC/
The author (Stuart McGill) is well-known for his scientific research into herniated discs. His approach, which is explained in the book, is essentially 2 phases: