Lower Back Pain

[TheBullfrog]

I am not a medical professional, however, I figured I'd share what has worked for me as I know that back pain, especially lower back pain, is pretty common.

My lower back was constantly a bother and painful to the point of making it difficult to get a good night's sleep. I figured that the 70 lbs (give or take) of kit was compressing the hell out of my lower back, so I purchased an inversion table.

What a difference! I have to say my back feels so much better, I sleep at night, and no pain in the morning. I do a full inversion twice a day for 5 mins and it's made a huge difference. Again, I'm not a physician, however, I wanted to share in case this could help someone else.

Happy diving out there folks!

 

[atestani]

I am not a medical professional, however, I figured I'd share what has worked for me as I know that back pain, especially lower back pain, is pretty common.

My lower back was constantly a bother and painful to the point of making it difficult to get a good night's sleep. I figured that the 70 lbs (give or take) of kit was compressing the hell out of my lower back, so I purchased an inversion table.

What a difference! I have to say my back feels so much better, I sleep at night, and no pain in the morning. I do a full inversion twice a day for 5 mins and it's made a huge difference. Again, I'm not a physician, however, I wanted to share in case this could help someone else.

Happy diving out there folks!

I have used these in the past and they do work. Be careful about too much pressure building in your eyes and ears especially if you tilt fully upside down.

 

[The Chairman]

Everyone is different. Every pain is unique. Inversion tables made it worse for me, but my injury was way too far.

 

[Kahuna.]

Another way to get a similar lower back decompression is to use a reverse hyper machine, e.g.: Westside Scout Hyper

 

[KiLLAH-WHALE]

i’m still pretty young but i would not say that i am strong. i’m now using a drysuit and steel tank plus a lot of weight, and man its heavy! in the future i would like to go to doubles, but i think i would mess up my back if i did that right now. does anyone have some exercises they recommend to strengthen their lower back or back in general to help prevent injuries from diving? i want to be physically fit for diving and looking at the big picture to still be diving without problems as i get older.

 

[Kahuna.]

i’m still pretty young but i would not say that i am strong. i’m now using a drysuit and steel tank plus a lot of weight, and man its heavy! in the future i would like to go to doubles, but i think i would mess up my back if i did that right now. does anyone have some exercises they recommend to strengthen their lower back or back in general to help prevent injuries from diving? i want to be physically fit for diving and looking at the big picture to still be diving without problems as i get older.

Squat!

 

[Boarderguy]

I recently moved to BM double 100s.

Full Tanks + bands + manifold = 96lbs
AL40 deco = 22 lbs
Regs = 5-7 lbs (not sure, need to check)
Weight belt = 16 lbs (I don't like squeeze, air = warmth)
DPV = 32 lbs
Fins, drysuit, hood, mask, boots, and BPW = ~20 lbs (again, need to actually weight them)

I weigh about 190 and my kit is close to matching my own weight. Walking with everything from truck to waters edge and back makes me question my life choices. I feel a bit sore the next day after most dives. Having full redundancy and more back gas than I have attention for is worth it though.

I just got an inversion table and it is nice to relax into as your body slowly lets go.

 

[rmorgan]

i’m still pretty young but i would not say that i am strong. i’m now using a drysuit and steel tank plus a lot of weight, and man its heavy! in the future i would like to go to doubles, but i think i would mess up my back if i did that right now. does anyone have some exercises they recommend to strengthen their lower back or back in general to help prevent injuries from diving? i want to be physically fit for diving and looking at the big picture to still be diving without problems as i get older.

Joseph Pilates developed his exercise concepts to strengthen bedridden soldiers while they wasted away in hospital wards. The work focuses on strengthening the abs, legs, arms, back, etc., while stretching the lower back muscles. Try a few reformer classes—maybe you get hooked

 

[grantmac]

I recently moved to BM double 100s.

Full Tanks + bands + manifold = 96lbs
AL40 deco = 22 lbs
Regs = 5-7 lbs (not sure, need to check)
Weight belt = 16 lbs (I don't like squeeze, air = warmth)
DPV = 32 lbs
Fins, drysuit, hood, mask, boots, and BPW = ~20 lbs (again, need to actually weight them)

I weigh about 190 and my kit is close to matching my own weight. Walking with everything from truck to waters edge and back makes me question my life choices. I feel a bit sore the next day after most dives. Having full redundancy and more back gas than I have attention for is worth it though.

I just got an inversion table and it is nice to relax into as your body slowly lets go.

This is largely why I sidemount most dives, taking everything piecemeal is a lot easier on the body. Easier still if you can use a cart.

 

[CarlosA]

Interesting.