They say the muscles in the back are VERY much related to the muscles in the feet in that the tightness/soreness in one is reflected in the other in the form of a knot or stiffness. Said plainly, give her a foot massage!! :)

Heh...very good humor.

And re: back. I just recovered from a bad episode of lower-back pain...she has my deepest sympathy. Muscle-relaxants are good, but what REALLY helped me the most were: MOIST HEAT and some gentle flex/stretching muscles, prescribed by my physical therapist. The moist heat coupled with some electric-stimulation was amazing -- I got up after 20 minutes of zaps (while laying on a near-boiling moist towel) and practically did a jig out of the office.

Good luck!

Big fan of Morphine.

I'm just sayin'...

The good thing is it's just a strained muscle and she will recover fairly quickly unlike if it were a disc problem. Having suffered back pain myself, I do know how miserable it can be. Oh a nice total body massage from hubby would do wonders too.

Vicodin is great, but can knock you out if you're not active.

I like napro. Pain killer/anti-inflamitory. Seems to work when Ibuprofen doesn't. Strained my rotator cuff tendon, IB did nothing, but napro helped a lot. I think it's in Alleve.

Alternate heat and ice. Best ice pack in the world, mixture of water and rubbing alcohol. The alcohol lowers the freezing temperature of the water so you get freezing slush instead of hard ice. Alternate ice and heat until she's sick of it, and by then she should be all better.

A few hours on the riding mower......

Call Dr. Johnson my Chiro. I hate anyone who touches my back, but this guy works miracles! Muscular or not this guy makes the pain go away, Period.
Carefree and Academy
572-0211

I hope Dr. Steve isn't advocating that his little sweetums heep booze on top of muscle relaxants, mixed in with some Advil no doubt. Perhaps the cocktails are designed to send her into a blissful daze so as not to have her presence at home impact too much the Doctor's blogging duties. Eh?

I assumed Dr. Steve's prescription was for himself.

(I hope she feels better.)

aah.. the rapier wit returns.

I was all set to say "what are you crazy?? you can't mix cocktails and muscle relaxers!!" then I saw the last line.

Seriously though, if the muscle relaxers don't work in a day or two, get back to the Doc immediately.

Stephen, what, if anything, do you do for a living?

What your wife needs is massage therapy. It will relax the muscles and the injury will heal. The medical doctors are helpless in this instance. One visit to a massage therapist is not enough, it will take several visits, preferably close together, i.e., a week apart or less. It works. It also hurts, at first. Stick with it. Good luck, it worked for me.

"Stephen, what, if anything, do you do for a living?"

I would have to characterize Steve as one who has followed a George Hamilton-esque lifestyle. Good tan (although, the more the housework, the more it fades)......perfect hair....
Don't worry your pretty little head......he pays his bills. And it isn't illegal.

Ed

Work is for those who have nothing better to do. And since the housework generally messes ones hair and steves' hair is never messed, I submit Missy does all the work and Steve writes about it- Isnt that considered a Job?

For a muscle relaxant to suppress spasms/pain without drowsiness, prescription Methocarbomal is very hard to beat.

Also, Google "Psoas Muscle"

G.W.S.

I dont know if there is any painkiller better than a melange of muscle relaxers and stiff cocktails!

Another shout out for morphine!

Seriously, over the counter pain stuff is all but worthless. See if you can get some celebrex or other COX-2 inhibitor. It has a noticable if not dramatic effect on the pain. A little heat, sleep on your side (preferably with back against a wall) . . . just have to wait for it to go away.

Get up and move periodically or you'll stiffen up.

/lower back pain veteran

Wife has bad back, it cannot do useful work.
Get rid of burden. Divorce wife. Is ok.

Steve,

After the episode is over and assuming the pain isn't trauma related, have Melissa look into her muscular balance with a physical therapist.

A regime of massage, possibly specific weight work, pilates and or yoga may go a long way to preventing reoccurance or a chronic condition.

Best of luck

Matthew King

Steve,

I had a condition similar to Melissa's for over a year. Vioxx worked for me.

PING