Bass players & structural health.

[louisthebass]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1336403701' post='1645087']
Fixed
[/quote]

Thanks Shep - have read the article & found it to be very interesting. The only thing I seem to suffer from (at the moment anyway) is Sciatica, which a course of physio helped with when I had it really bad about 18 months ago.

It's good that you recognised the physical issues when you did, & at least you should be able to carry on playing .

[thepurpleblob]

I've been to see all of them at one time or another with a variety of back and neck problems. I've found any kind of treatment to be effective to be honest. I suspect that with problems that have a muscular basis any kind of stretching an manipulation is effective or, at worst, a lot better than sitting around in pain.

I think personally I prefer the physio's "do the exercises I tell you to every day and you'll be fine" approach but that's just me.

Edited May 7, 2012 by thepurpleblob

[KingBollock]

I have to admit that I haven't been to a Chiropractor. I do suffer with a bad back and have done for almost 20 years. One day my wife mentioned the idea of going to see a Chiropractor to my GP. My GP, whom has earned my trust, gave me a very withering look and said "Well... [i]Some[/i] people think it helps...". After that I did all the research I could as before that I had believed it to just be a type of physiotherapy. I, personally, wouldn't touch it with someone else's wonky spine and certainly never my own or someone I cared about.

[chrismuzz]

Glad to hear your health is improving Shep

I am always reading about bass players having back problems and the like, and I thank my lucky stars every day that I have never been there myself! A lot of it has to do with getting advice from fellow players, and all the amazing lightweight gear that's been made available to us in recent years.

Anyways, great thread! It's surely gonna help a lot of people, maybe myself one day!

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1336412240' post='1645290']
[url="http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html"]http://whatstheharm....iropractic.html[/url]

While Chiropractic is still largely woo filled, I will say that there is a new school where they don't bother with the woo stuff so much and the stuff that helps is where they overlap with what a physio or proper massage therapist would do. Which is fine. It's when they go telling people they can cure your baby's Colic by performing dangerous procedures and altering it's "subluxations" that I have a problem with them.

[url="http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/chiropractic.html"]http://www.randi.org...iropractic.html[/url]

Just be aware.
[/quote]

Well, my sister-in-law is an ex-GP and she seems ok with them. In any case I've already done the physiotherapy thing and whilst it alleviates the symptoms for an hour or so I'd have to be doing the exercises about six or seven times a day for it to count as an effective procedure (plus a dose of Naproxen every time it goes into spasm - around once every 9 months currently), and at this point am willing to at least give it a try.

Thanks for the warning though.

[patch006]

I have had back pain for a number of years , I had tried multiple therapies spending hundreds and hundreds of pounds to no avail. I was at the end of my tether so paid for a private mri scan to see what was going on.
Results? Bulging disc, two degenerated discs and worn facet joints I am only 33!

Right I am no doctor but I am a personal trainer and this is from my own personal experience, I use to train a lot before my back pain. The pain put me out of training for over two years. I researched the back pain condition for a few months, reading many many peoples different views on it. This is my conclusion !

I look at it in a very simple mechanical way, chiro's work on bones right but what hold the bones in position? muscles!
There is no point visiting the chiro if the important muscles that support your lower back are shortened tight weak and unconditioned WHY? because the muscles will just pull the bones back out again. Obviously chiros do great things to bodies/ conditions and help many people just not for me.

Tight hamstrings and psoas muscles can pull the pelvis out which leads to a lot of stress on the lower back and often shortens one leg ( Lie on the floor and get some one to see if your ankle bones are aligned when your leg are out straight ) if you suffer alot I bet a minimum of 70% of you will see a difference in length.


What i did and am doing!
Inversion ( hang up side down ) decompresses the spine.
Strengthen Abductors and Abductors , glutes ect ( build a good foundation for lumber spine )
Stretch lengthen and condition hamstrings
Stretch lengthen and condition psoas muscle
Using a massage ball, massage the glutes ( arse ) and also the multifidus muscles which run up both sides of the spine. ( releases tension on the facet joints ) minimum twice a day.

I now train and am the strongest and fittest I think i have ever been, so there is hope! Basically you need to find what works for you!

Edited May 8, 2012 by patch006

[discreet]

I like the idea of massaging the glutes. Arse!

[alyctes]

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1336422698' post='1645489']
Glad to hear your health is improving Shep
[/quote]

And, this

[dmccombe7]

Good thread and good to see you picking up Shep.
I'm open minded on this one but think that as we get older we generally exercise less. Simple things that we took for granted as teenagers become a bit more strenuous. Many minor problems could be helped if we all stretched and took some light exercise to loosen muscles before holding a heavy bass for 2-3 hr sessions.
I'm pretty lucky that I don't have many issues with my back but find on a 6hr rehearsal my lower back starts to ache a little. I only do this every couple of weeks and gigs are generally up to 2hrs so it's not a real problem for me.
Make sure you get someone to lend a hand lifting your cabs in and out of car / van though.

Dave

[51m0n]

I've a knackered back after an incident with a bass cab over 20 years ago (bloody HH 2x15s!)

The only thing that has helped (and I used to train a lot way back when) has been osteopathy. Within a day of it orginally happening I saw an osteopath who managed to get it all working ok in half an hour, and the pain went completely in a couple more. Brilliant!

I still see an osteopath these days, but largely because I live the vegetative life of a programmer in the day, and he keeps me mobile.

Before seeing him (over five years ago now) I would slowly but surely lock up tight as a drum, to the point of struggling to breathe, over a period of some weeks. GPs were useless and just said take pain killers, which neither killed the pain of the condition, nor lead to any easing of the muscular spasm causing it. This would usually alleviate over a couple more weeks, eventually allowing me to move freely for awhile before the cycle repeated. One day it just got so bad that I looked up the original osteopath and asked her to recommend someone, she now teaches osteopathy and had no problems suggesting a local practitioner she knew was dead good.

40 minutes with this chap sorted me out, and to begin with I saw hime every week, then every couple of weeks, then every month, working away at the various issues, and giving me great advice about how I should change my working slouch into something slightly less debilitating etc etc.

I know see him every few months or if I cause myself an issue (haven't for a very long time now, touch wood). This works brilliantly for me, and I'm not about to stop!

[jakenewmanbass]

core strength, is all I have to add.

[pietruszka]

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1336589330' post='1648120']
core strength, is all I have to add.
[/quote]
A climbers best friend.




Dan