Another sign that I am getting along in years

Sounds like a pinched nerve. I get that in my lower back every once in a while. I've had it where it brought me to my knees.  It usually happens doing the simplest movement. 

I was working on my deck on my old house, and the contractor wanted me to put a bundle of shingles in the basement so they wouldn't walk off.  Bad idea!  I picked it up, turned with it, and then "slept" on the living room floor that night  (could not bend my back on the mattress)  before going to the ER the next morning.  I had a week of physical therapy after they said they could operate, but it might not help much.  Reaching for something (or lifting) while turning is carefully avoided.  Those mistakes do not feel good, but luckily, are only occasional.

I think everyone over 40 on this forum probably has some physical issue every once in a while. It looks that forum members are in every odd position possible while working on their layouts.The take away I'm getting from your question is that you are not going to let this stop you.  Please don't.   I have a herniated disc in my neck and some radiating pain down my left arm.  So, I don't carry things as often and my projects take longer.  The people on this forum appear to be those that are all here to enjoy the peace and tranquility when they make complicated things work.  Sometimes,  the best medicine for me is reading about other members competing to make computer track plans for someone they never met.  In their comments, I sometimes get a new idea. It has been great hearing random ideas that take me to the net or the LHS or the auto store to find random things that another member mentioned on some forum that might work for me.  In my mind, take your time, it isn't a race it's a marathon.

I hope you a speedy recovery.

I feel your pain. I have 3 bad discs which periodically herniate and none of the times "my back went out" was I doing something strenuous.  I've bent over to pick up a bar of soap taking a shower, reached for something on the top shelf of my kitchen, and bent over to take something out of the oven.  Just the way it is I guess.  

-Greg

EML posted:

I think everyone over 40 on this forum probably has some physical issue every once in a while. It looks that forum members are in every odd position possible while working on their layouts.The take away I'm getting from your question is that you are not going to let this stop you.  Please don't.   I have a herniated disc in my neck and some radiating pain down my left arm.  So, I don't carry things as often and my projects take longer.  The people on this forum appear to be those that are all here to enjoy the peace and tranquility when they make complicated things work.  Sometimes,  the best medicine for me is reading about other members competing to make computer track plans for someone they never met.  In their comments, I sometimes get a new idea. It has been great hearing random ideas that take me to the net or the LHS or the auto store to find random things that another member mentioned on some forum that might work for me.  In my mind, take your time, it isn't a race it's a marathon.

I hope you a speedy recovery.

 

 

I remember some thing my grand daddy told me."Where I am now you be also some day."To my self I think he is right.Its just that picking up some thing that weighs under 5 pounds can do this to you.Well its to the doctors I go.

EML posted:

I think everyone over 40 on this forum probably has some physical issue every once in a while. It looks that forum members are in every odd position possible while working on their layouts.The take away I'm getting from your question is that you are not going to let this stop you.  Please don't.   I have a herniated disc in my neck and some radiating pain down my left arm.  So, I don't carry things as often and my projects take longer.  The people on this forum appear to be those that are all here to enjoy the peace and tranquility when they make complicated things work.  Sometimes,  the best medicine for me is reading about other members competing to make computer track plans for someone they never met.  In their comments, I sometimes get a new idea. It has been great hearing random ideas that take me to the net or the LHS or the auto store to find random things that another member mentioned on some forum that might work for me.  In my mind, take your time, it isn't a race it's a marathon.

I hope you a speedy recovery.

 

 

Thank you.And know some your are right.I am not in a race or any kind of context.

I feel your pain. My lower back became so arthritic that I had to have two vertebrae fused just before I turned 48.  I have some new bone spurs now just 3 years later and look to be headed in for a clean out surgery. I lost 2 years on the rebuild of my layout.

raising4daughters posted:

I feel your pain. My lower back became so arthritic that I had to have two vertebrae fused just before I turned 48.  I have some new bone spurs now just 3 years later and look to be headed in for a clean out surgery. I lost 2 years on the rebuild of my layout.

You do not think about stuff like this that until it hits you.As I stated I was just bent down to pick up a boxcar.Man it hindsight I should have let that car there.I hope you the operation goes well for you.And for you to keep working on your layout.

seaboardm2 posted:

So any body on the forum ever have their lower back or some other part body act up.

Yes, me and about 95% of people I know. Lower back problems are pervasive.

I used to have lower back pain. Doctors and Chiropractors  were of little help. I fixed it by going to the gym.  They have a machine that you sit in and lean back against weight resistance.  I no longer have a problem

From personal experience, pain (lower back, upper back, shoulders, etc.) can come from a variety of sources.  I found myself waking up one morning, after doing strenuous work outside the day before, with lower back pain.  Waited a few days, thinking it was just a strain, before seeing a doctor who recommended physical therapy.  After twelve weeks, therapy ended with no improvement and therapist mystified.

Then, I remembered that I had started a new medicine (statin for cholesterol lowering) about a month before pain showed up.  Looked up medicine and saw back pain as potential side effect.  Talked to doctor and agreed to stop meds temporarily.  Viola!  Pain gone.  I'm still on statin, but at a much reduced dose that I seem to be able to tolerate.  Strenuous work and back pain were only coincidental.

I completely understand. I am building my new layout at around a 53" track height. I have often used "creeper stools" as the bend-over-upside-down-reach thingy doesn't work for me any more. Let's say layout wiring will be on the KISS principle. 

seaboardm2 posted:

As I stated I was just bent down to pick up a boxcar.Man it hindsight I should have let that car there.

Blew mine about out bending over to pick up one of those plastic horns you use at stadiums. It dropped me like I was shot, couldn't move for a few hours til it subsided, still acts up out of the blue for no reason.

Jerry

Just spent the last 4 weeks wiring yards on my upper deck and lower deck. Over 30 switch machines, 18 separate blocks and my back and neck took a toll. Cannot believe I soldered every connection and wrapped them with tape!

And no spiders jumped out at me!

I use the yoga ball and some weights to stretch my spine and what a huge difference!

I lived with that lower back pain from age 27 to 49.  My doctor gave me the analogy of a car tire blowing out.  No one can look at it and say when it will go, but eventually it does.  Just depends on how much and what kind of wear and tear you put it through.  Made sense but didn't make me feel any better.  I avoided surgery for so long because there was no guarantee.  But I finally had the surgery several years ago and that did the trick.  I have never looked back. 

Now I am looking for a cure for being clumsy and forgetful.  The diagnosis I get on those ailments are much less sympathetic

While I sympathize with the OP's problem (my back hurts every once in a while, too!), this thread isn't really about O gauge trains.

I'm not going to delete it, but I have decided to close it to further replies. I hope you understand.