update

[dylan]

4 months ago I started talking to my neigbor about what I can do to get my back better. At the time I was strongly considering surgery. I started doing yoga (mostly stretches), drinking a gallon of water a day, walking 4 miles every other day (up a hill), I quit smoking and I stopped sleeping on my stomach. At 4 months I am 50% better. My pain is mostly gone, I am now dealing mostly with weakness. I have gone back to work as a photographers assistant (gear schlepper), and I am playing in a band (schleppen gear). I had one day where I worked from 6am till 9pm then went and played a show that night and danced untill three in the morning. The next day I did some stretches and then I went off to pay my bills, no pain.

[Harrison]

Wow! That's great -- way to go, Dylan! Anything to avoid the fun of surgery is a smart. Keep up the good work!

[Mariaa]

Dylan,
Whatever works that doesn't make one worse for the wear sounds good to me! While your overall "long day and night" sounded pretty good to me it was the dancing till 3 a.m. with no repercussions that I would have loved to do~
Stay well, healthy and without surgery if you can. Congrats on the method that works for your pain improvement~ Maria

[Rein]

Wow, Dylan! This is a complete turn around from previous posts I remember! Congratulations on what seems like a complete lifestyle change.

I also have turned my pain around from last Winter and attribute it to religious exercises and hanging in my inversion traction machine. Some days are still not so great, but at least I rarely suffer from the hot stabbing poker to the back and can take more time to get the ADR I know I still need and want.