Back pain/alternative medicine?

a few years ago i had to pack in my job as a builder due to a very bad back, i have spondulitis ( forgive the spelling if it is wrong) after having conventional medicine for some time i have been feeling somewhat better however the last two days i have been in agony struggling to even dress myself, are there any alternative medicines or therapies that you could recommend to ease the pain and get me back to normality?.

thanks for the first two answers but i have had both of these in the past and they only provided me with short term relief
the only thing that gave me long term releif were injections straight into my spine

hi there.. i have had 3 operations on my back and in between them i had a sort of epidural put in my back to stop the pain.. i was off mega silly painkillers for a while.. but then ended up having more surgery.. also have you tried taking low dose of anti depressants ampitriptilyne that helps along with some painkillers i also had gabapentin for a while alongside my painkillers i know it sucks to rattle around... i too have tried the tens machine.....and didn't make any difference to me i was still in agony and uncomfortable i have done all the pyhsio stuff and that makes me worse.... walking is meant to help but not when your in that much pain it is impossible... good luck in trying anything you can its crap having a bad back..best wishes

Acupuncture (sorry about the spelling).
It worked for me!
Good luck!

you could try a tens machine, they are available in most chemists. they work wonders for some people and really help with the pain.

It's definitely an alternative, but maybe you should consider a nutritional supplement. The idea here is to improve your immune system so that you body will start repairing itself. In time, hopefully you will feel better and be able to function normally.

I recommend the product from the link below. We started taking it for health reasons, but found that it has improved many other areas in our lives.

Hi Shu..

There are many things you can try, however, if you want to use something just for pain relief then herbal or homeopathic remedies work well.

If you want to actually remove your back pain and stop it returning then you need to use techniques that address all the factors causing back pain - tight and weak muscles, joint dysfunction and pelvic imbalance.

The only product I know (and tell my patients to use) is called the X-Pain Method. It has a step by step approach to teach you how to correct your spine. The techniques only take a few minutes each day to do and most people report back to me that their back pain eased within days and some even were 100% pain free after a week.

There are some free techniques fromt he book at the link below, but I do recommend this product.

All the best
Dr Graeme Teague

Try Reiki xx

I'm so sorry you are in so much pain. If you have good painkillers, I believe in taking them... I know this is the alternative medicine board, but pain makes you miserable and it's harder to heal if you're miserable.

Two things that have worked for me:
1. I am very lazy about it, but if I do yoga regularly, it works. Now I'm not talking about the bada$$, stand on your head kind. I'm just talking about gentle stretches and calming things you can do to realign your spine and reduce strain. I get free yoga classes online at www.yogatoday.com . Just please don't do anything that causes you too much strain - the idea of yoga is that you should listen to your body.

2. At times, chiropractic has worked for me; at other times, I have thought it was total BS. I used to get back and neck tension so bad that I would lose feeling in my hands. I went to a chiropractor who also did electric muscle stimulation and whoa - no pain, no tension. (I slept for a week!) He helped me a lot. But then I moved, and went to a different one, and I thought he was kind of obsessed with developing his business and that my health was secondary. That was probably him, not the chiropractic. Oh, and insurance paid for it :)

I hope you can lose some of that pain! Good luck!

reflexology is great for back pain.give it a try.

Have you tried a chiropractor they may be expensive but they fantastic they give lots of relief don't know if they work wi you rcondition but try calling one see what they say.

I would absolutely see a chiropractic physician. Not exactly "alternative" but very effective for what you are describing. I can't tell you exactly what they will do for your spondylitis... but they may use a number of techniques at the discretion of the doctor.

I have seen people get referred to a DCs office in extreme pain and within a short time, be out of pain. Keep in mind, however, you have your condition for a very long time and it may take some time to see a huge improvement.

Good luck!

self medicate yourself. start asking pep around you if they have anything that mite help ease the pain. in other words "hydrocodones"

Several things that might help you here. Have you tried Swedish or Remedial massage? Also look at Chiropractic, Manipulative Therapy and Osteopathy.
I hope that you feel better very soon.