I feel for all of you. Chronic lower back pain here now for about six years. I ran for exercise and stress relief until 60 when I had a bad leg injury. In retrospect, it was probably a good cardiovascular thing but no doubt cost the muscular-skeletal system a bunch.
I was an anesthetist and did pain management (all the fluoroscopic spinal injections) until ‘15 when I retired and then did only pain injections until 2019. In ‘15 hurt my back in the Wind Rivers on an elk hunt and had all the injections and RFA’s since without relief. Radiographs, MRI’s also showed some scoliosis and degenerative disk disease (DDD), which is fairly common at age 50 and over.
Really can’t take NSAIDS (aspirin Ibuprofen, naproxen etc) because last fall developed paroxysmal a-fib (means it occurs every once and awhile) which requires an anticoagulant and all the OTC pain relievers can add to that “blood-thinning” effect seriously.
So, I wear a brace, use ice, stretch, lie down, and take occasional tramadol. Interestingly, I found a dropping barometer greatly affects my discomfort
Some perspective: not much good happens to the body after thirty or so (for some earlier) and it’s the rare 80 y/o who doesn’t have some of these serious medical issues. I doubt I experience what some of you do by your explanations but some times, it’s quite bad.
But then I’m a pilgrim and just traveling through; heavens my home and it “looks“ better every day.
