Lumbar pain after prolonged detecting

WhiteRecluse · Sep 9, 2018

Buy a swingy thingy or similar product. It takes alot of the weight off of your arm and back, get a harness with suspenders to hold up your belt with gear etc. an older guy told me that he had back pain in the beginning too and once he got the swingythingy he felt a lot better and could detect all day without the fatigue. Just a thought.

Gquinzi · Sep 10, 2018

Just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for their input and advice. It was a strained left periformis muscle and not a disc related issue thankfully. With the help of some NSAID's and careful stretching I'm almost 100% better. I got lucky this time so going forward I'll be leaving the excess weight behind and make a conscious effort to rest during longer hunts. I do believe poor posture + added weight of the pack + the long handled scoop (carried by my left hand) caused me to strain my lower back. The pain radiated from the exact spot as that 20 year old herniated l4 l5 injury. When my sciatic nerve began acting up, I thought I'd done it for sure.

The scoop I was using BTW, has a 46" handle made of ash and is fairly hefty especially when full of wet sand. Here is a pic if anyone is curious. Not a bad scoop but I think maybe replacing the handle with carbon fiber would help. I also noticed at times a lack of control over the scoop when in the wet so maybe one of those perpendicular handles as well?

needler420 · Sep 10, 2018

I don't think you need a professional doctor to know a twenty pound back pack for someone with prior back issues is probably too much weight.

Gquinzi · Sep 10, 2018

needler420 said:
I don't think you need a professional doctor to know a twenty pound back pack for someone with prior back issues is probably too much weight.

True.

RayK · Sep 10, 2018

Good to hear you are on the way to recovery.

I had a student of mine that had sciatic pain and what really help him was a routine of stretching. Kept it from recurring.

I have bulging disk in my back and I swear by the inversion table. I have heard others say it helps a lot with sciatic pain also. So you may want to take a look at this for adding into your health routine.

Good luck
Ray

Gquinzi · Sep 10, 2018

Thanks Ray, a good friend of mine who's also a pt recommended I get one of those tables. A mild form of traction therapy that also helps with decompression and circulation.

Gquinzi · Oct 13, 2018

MRI results = out of action for a bit

I had an MRI done recently that revealed an l3 l4 disc bulge. After some further research, I found it was due to my vehicle's lack of proper support causing this. My lower back was slouching for about 3 months in the car that I purchased back in July. My PT doc recommended I not do any digging nor forward bending for a while at least until things get back to normal. So for now, it's McKenzie stretches and core strengthening exercises. A rolled towel for the carseat that will give me lower back support and just being mindful of posture. I'm thinking about getting one of those longer handled Lesche diggers to keep from bending over while I'm kneeling to dig.

RBachman · Oct 14, 2018

RayK said:
Good to hear you are on the way to recovery.

I had a student of mine that had sciatic pain and what really help him was a routine of stretching. Kept it from recurring.

I have bulging disk in my back and I swear by the inversion table. I have heard others say it helps a lot with sciatic pain also. So you may want to take a look at this for adding into your health routine.

Good luck
Ray

Same here. The inversion table was worth it without doubt.

maxxkatt · Oct 14, 2018

Gquinzi said:
Hey everyone,

I was curious if anyone else has dealt with lower left sciatic pain after detecting for 4+ hours? I have a theory that it just may be my posture given that I would wear a backpack (20 or so lbs) while detecting with a detector and longhandled scoop. I did have a herniated disc 20 years ago that I slowly nursed back to health and have taken steps to keep my lower back healthy. Until now :-/ anyhow, I've been resting, stretching and taking anti inflammatory pills since. I'm just wondering if I will be able to get back to detecting or will it be awash going forward.

Greg

Ok, I agree, no diagnosis or cures from the Internet. But I will share with my bout with the same type of intense pain. One day, I woke up with severe pain in my lower back. It took me 2 minutes to get in or out of the car. I could only be really comfortable lying down in bed.

Went to the hospital's back pain clinic. They did an x-ray on my back and found no issues like deformed disks or anything else. They told me my back muscles were weak and allowing the bone to pinch the nerve. They explained that the muscles and tendons hold our skeleton together. they prescribed pain pills and exercises with those large colored rubber bands. After 3 weeks the pain went completely away. It was caused they think by my working at the computer 8 hours a day and not getting any exercise. My doctor told me (in my case, maybe not yours) that in addition to the exercises that metal detecting would be much like the rubber band exercises and would help me keep my muscles stronger. He said the stooping, bending, and twisting and walking will strengthen my muscles.

I also find personally that my laying flat on my back in a tub of hot water make the back feel better when I feel a little pain coming on. Not for the sharp back pain, but the duller back pain. So far I have not been hindered from metal detecting but I never hunt more than 3 hours at a time 1x or 2x per week.

hope this might help others.

GA_Boy · Oct 14, 2018

My Inversion table pretty much keeps me pain free from back problems.
It also helps with sciatic nerve pain. Much better than the alternative IMO.
Marvin

graybeard · Oct 15, 2018

Gquinzi said:
I had an MRI done recently that revealed an l3 l4 disc bulge. After some further research, I found it was due to my vehicle's lack of proper support causing this. My lower back was slouching for about 3 months in the car that I purchased back in July. My PT doc recommended I not do any digging nor forward bending for a while at least until things get back to normal. So for now, it's McKenzie stretches and core strengthening exercises. A rolled towel for the carseat that will give me lower back support and just being mindful of posture. I'm thinking about getting one of those longer handled Lesche diggers to keep from bending over while I'm kneeling to dig.

Try finding a 1 inch thick cushion for the car seat and be careful how thick the towel is in back of your back.

graybeard · Oct 15, 2018

GA_Boy said:
My Inversion table pretty much keeps me pain free from back problems.
It also helps with sciatic nerve pain. Much better than the alternative IMO.
Marvin

If your back goes out the inverter don't do much good; until your back is put back in.

RBachman · Oct 15, 2018

graybeard said:
If your back goes out the inverter don't do much good; until your back is put back in.

Mine "helps" if it's out, but isn't a miracle cure. Eventually I'll need surgery, but in the meantime, zapping the offending nerves, using the inversion table and hot tub when it starts to get "tight" keeps me upright and walking.

corij · Oct 15, 2018

is your detector shaft out at its full extent? if so it may be its still not long enough and you are compensating so the coil reaches at optimum angle by bending forward . i extended my detectors middle shaft using a short 6 inch piece of alloy tube and this has made a world of difference to my detecting and back. im now standing straight as i walk .
Quite recently i was talking to a fellow detectorist shorter than me -im 6ft- hes 5 ft 9 and he has a bad back if he detects and had never considered the detector shaft lack of length may be behind it altho he has his detector extended out to max ,i suggest its likely not quite long enough

Gquinzi · Oct 15, 2018

corij said:
is your detector shaft out at its full extent? if so it may be its still not long enough and you are compensating so the coil reaches at optimum angle by bending forward . i extended my detectors middle shaft using a short 6 inch piece of alloy tube and this has made a world of difference to my detecting and back. im now standing straight as i walk .
Quite recently i was talking to a fellow detectorist shorter than me -im 6ft- hes 5 ft 9 and he has a bad back if he detects and had never considered the detector shaft lack of length may be behind it altho he has his detector extended out to max ,i suggest its likely not quite long enough

No at first I started out with the shaft extended out but recently read its best to keep the coil about a foot or two in front of your feet to prevent bad posture. I corrected this months ago and recently found that my car's seats have horrible support that promotes a sort of slouching effect and it's a manual xmission to boot :-/ I've since placed a rolled towel behind my lower back but it's uncomfortable as all.

Gquinzi · Oct 15, 2018

graybeard said:
Try finding a 1 inch thick cushion for the car seat and be careful how thick the towel is in back of your back.

Thanks, yeah I'm experimenting with towel thickness and too much towel rolled up for long stretches of time will cause a bit of fatigue on the legs.

Lumbar pain after prolonged detecting

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