BootsnAll Travel Community

My back is doing me in recently which is a pain as I have just bought a new backpack

It isn't really bad yet, not at the painkiller stage, anyway, but I am worried that it is the start of chronic problems (am feeling my age). It also means that I run around the sights with the waistbelt of my little daypack attached, looking like a dork.

Anyway, I wonder whether sleeping on hard ground might help, that would at least be a positive aspect of camping -- or is that actually making it worse?

I injured my back about 12 years ago playing hockey. Since then I've had it go three times and each one seems to be worse than the one before.

It doesn't seem to matter if I sleep on a hard surface or a soft one, as long as it is dry and warm. The cold causes my back to sieze up.

Actually, when I fully loaded my pack my lower back hurt incredibly. One of the reasons I'm concerned about packing light.

Hmmmm.

I hurt my back a couple of years back - didn't know how I did it, and was very worried as I could hardly sit or carry anything. Turned out to be a combination of stress and sleep (the stress caused problems with sleep, etc...)

Cleared up in a couple of weeks after stressful issues were resolved and I could sleep better. Had a small reoccurrance of back pain since, but nothing quite so bad, and I can lift and work like the best of them.

Have you changed beds recently or done anything odd that might have contributed?

Its actually a lot better now, so maybe being on holiday (or sleeping on hard ground) does help, but I think that the daypack was the culprit. These things are badly designed and weight shifts around them freely and I always carry water bottles, books etc around with me. I guess we can look forward to an entire generation with bad backs because everyone is using them!

As a chronic lower back injury sufferer, whenever my back starts to go, I see a chiropractor and sleep on the floor for a few days. The sleeping position is with a pillow under my knees on my back or between my knees on my side. The whole idea is to get spine into alignment and hopefully it will decide to stay there when you wake up.

Hey, I'm not looking forward to carrying stuff on my next trip. I may have to resort to <<shudder>> a rolling suitcase

I slipped on some snow about 20 months ago and got that pinched nerve feeling in my lower spine. I saw a doctor, a physio, got x-rays etc. but the pain didn't go away - sometimes spending 10 hours on an airplane seat would be torture by the end. 1 year and a half of discomfort and pain.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I got a proper orthopedic mattress when I came here to Australia, and within a week the pain was gone. So I think Sky Annie is right, sleeping posture is very important.
My friend Roger claims he 'ruined' his back skydiving when a chute he said was packed too tight opened with a jerk. He's never done it since.

Hey Borderland -

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My friend Roger claims he 'ruined' his back skydiving when a chute he said was packed too tight opened with a jerk. He's never done it since.

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One injury does not typically 'ruin' as far as I'm concerned. You do all the right things, exercise it when it heals enought, etc... I think your friend Roger might not have wanted to continue and was looking for a way out without losing face. If you really want to continue, you will. Kind of like all those footy players out there who have wrecked every joint in their bodies.

Let me put it this way: most people I know who skydive for a long time have spinal problems (back/neck injuries). Me, I had a doozie of a bad opening that involved whiplash and one REALLY nice welt that ended in a blood welt at the base of my skull. Oh yes, and a dislocated thumb. REALLY bad opening. Get this: I have had chronic back problems since I was 18 and this opening hurt, but didn't end my skydiving career. Even now, I reckon I'll get back into skydiving when money/back recovery allow me to return.

As for a tightly packed parachute causing a bad opening, your mate has been sniffing glue. I can tell you what causes bad openings (15,000+ packjobs to my credit), and a tight packjob is not something that equals a fast opening.

Thanks for the info.

'your mate has been sniffing glue'
Hahaha. You've been in Australia too long Annie :-)

And that's a lot of packjobs - what does cause bad openings?

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what does cause bad openings?

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a whole bunch of things that would take me a book to explain. In short, if the components that are used to stage the deployment sequence are not in the right spot, in the right way at the correct level of tension, or if your body is in the wrong position in the air, you can have a bad opening. Parachutes want to open and will do so VERY quickly if they have nothing to slow the opening down. Needless to say, thanks to some of the old timers in the sport, we now have very soft opening parachutes thanks to what they learned for us. If you want an explanation with pictures, let me know when you're in Brisbane and I'll be happy to show you.

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Originally posted by Sky Annie:
If you want an explanation with pictures, let me know when you're in Brisbane and I'll be happy to show you.

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Sounds cool, thanks. But I'd prefer mime to pictures if its OK with you.

What about mime AND interpretive dance....

The only way to avoid pain in the backs on airplanes are to use pillows!

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Originally posted by Sky Annie:
Hey Borderland -

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My friend Roger claims he 'ruined' his back skydiving when a chute he said was packed too tight opened with a jerk. He's never done it since.

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One injury does not typically 'ruin' as far as I'm concerned. You do all the right things, exercise it when it heals enought, etc... I think your friend Roger might not have wanted to continue and was looking for a way out without losing face. If you really want to continue, you will. Kind of like all those footy players out there who have wrecked every joint in their bodies.

Let me put it this way: most people I know who skydive for a long time have spinal problems (back/neck injuries). Me, I had a doozie of a bad opening that involved whiplash and one REALLY nice welt that ended in a blood welt at the base of my skull. Oh yes, and a dislocated thumb. REALLY bad opening. Get this: I have had chronic back problems since I was 18 and this opening hurt, but didn't end my skydiving career. Even now, I reckon I'll get back into skydiving when money/back recovery allow me to return.

As for a tightly packed parachute causing a bad opening, your mate has been sniffing glue. I can tell you what causes bad openings (15,000+ packjobs to my credit), and a tight packjob is not something that equals a fast opening.

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If they have spinal problems, why do they skydive?

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Originally posted by Sky Annie:
What about mime AND interpretive dance....

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If you throw in Interpretive Dance, the Australian judge might have to give you a 10 out of 10 (if he can stay awake)

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Originally posted by borderland:

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Originally posted by Sky Annie:
What about mime AND interpretive dance....

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If you throw in Interpretive Dance, the Australian judge might have to give you a 10 out of 10 (if he can stay awake)

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Lightweight...

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Originally posted by Sky Annie:

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Originally posted by borderland:

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Originally posted by Sky Annie:
What about mime AND interpretive dance....

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If you throw in Interpretive Dance, the Australian judge might have to give you a 10 out of 10 (if he can stay awake)

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Lightweight...

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What are you guys talking about?