Boating with back pain

P

Prfisher

Active Member
Hey folks;
I've been jealously reading the recent reports & with a glimpse of good weather & some decent fish showing up, my frustration level is climbing.
I blew out a disc (while doing the nearly effortless task of hooking up the boat trailer) back in October & have been grounded ever since.
I'm planning to pick up a Shockwave seat module at the Boat Show in February. I also bought a nice used electric winch from another forum member to take that strain out of the equation.
I'm sure I'm not the only old fart with back problems on the forum, so any other tips or suggestions on how to get back on the water would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. Dan
 
Back brace or kidney belt while running, Speed control,And that shockwave will help tremendously. Best of luck to you.
 
Can you clarify if you fully herniated the disc or is it just a bulging disc?

I have loads of personal experience with a bulging disc and sciatica, luckily avoided full herniation.

Either way, it's a life changer. Whole life involvement in managing.
 
Gong Show said:
Can you clarify if you fully herniated the disc or is it just a bulging disc?

I have loads of personal experience with a bulging disc and sciatica, luckily avoided full herniation.

Either way, it's a life changer. Whole life involvement in managing.
Click to expand...

According to the CT scan... 10 mm bulge below L4. 20 years ago I had a compression fracture of L4 vertebrae.
I had months of physio after the injury, but it's been fine till last October.
 
Last edited:
Yeowch!

Sounds like boating is the last of your issues right now.

Traction, inversion and acupuncture helped me. If you have been in acute pain since October, you have a lot of work ahead of you. This happened to me in first year law school, horror show.

Once the bulge starts receding and you leave the acute phase, yoga.
I said that.
Get your core strength prioritized.

Getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative.
 
Gong Show said:
I sneezed in the shower and have never fully recovered.
I do enjoy a full fishing, prawning and boating lifestyle!
Click to expand...
I've been using that exact line about getting old for a long time. Not as original as I thought!
I can't imagine sitting for days on end in a lecture hall with this level of discomfort. My hat's off to you!
It's VERY encouraging to hear you are still enjoying an active life. Thanks... I needed to hear that.
I've been doing all of the core exercises. Massage & deep tissue laser help too. My kid is picking up an inversion table for me at Costco this week. I guess I'll add a brace to the shopping list as well. Any suggestions on which works best?
We should add that getting old gets damn expensive too!
I haven't tried acupuncture yet, but we do have a good practitioner here in Powell River. Yoga is too painful at this point, so I'm sticking to the standard core work for now.
Steroid injection scheduled for next week. Fingers crossed on that one.
Ive found that sneezing is to be avoided whenever possible. Feels like someone is clubbing me on the side of the leg with a 2X4.
Things have improved a lot this past month and I'm hoping I can get back on the water before the best fishing months are past.
Thanks to all who are pitching in here.
Edit... Please note error in first post. 10 mm, not cm bulge. Doh!
 
Last edited:
Me and my dad both suffer from back pain. I originally screwed up my back pounding in spikes and was in bed for two days and could not move. My dad did it lifting up a trunk and being on the water in small boats pounding water his whole life. Eventually transferred from an ocean position to one on the river.

Spazzing can happen and you will be screwed for a few days.

I find taking Advil at the first sign of tightness to help the most.

Unfortunately for these reasons we stick to light winds or 5-10 knot winds. My dad won’t even sit down while we cruse stands the whole time and let’s the knees take the shock.

Other tips, kneel down to pick things up, avoid twisting ect..

Wish you the best of luck back pain is the worst.
 
I had a friend who messed his back up pretty good with a tree falling accident, He wouldn't take the pain pills, The only thing that seemed to help was Mary Jane, And he enjoys all the fishing he wants. Just a thought.
 
Lucky I do not have constant pain, but every so often I can over do it and not be able to move for 24 hours and have horrible spazzing if I move.
 
paguy said:
I had a friend who messed his back up pretty good with a tree falling accident, He wouldn't take the pain pills, The only thing that seemed to help was Mary Jane, And he enjoys all the fishing he wants. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Yeah... I wish I could do pot. Had to give it up in the late 60's after a thoroughly dissipated five years of overuse. :)
I tried some CBD a couple of months ago but it didn't help.
 
Invest in a good pair of cushioned shoes for all the standing in the cockpit. Another thing that helps me is to use a Scotty weight retriever so you don't have to extend your arms and lift the boom or 15# cannonball. Just grab the line and walk backward.
 
I kept trying different treatments until something worked.
That something was a medieval contraption at a Chinese acupuncture place in Vancouver. Your feet go under a bar and your chin in a cup. Wind away pulling your chin from your feet. At a point, the pain goes away.
It was medieval.
 
Good acupuncture can help but not always the way you think it's not like taking a pill-sometime I just notice an overall improvement over an extended period-which is of course what a person wants.
 
All great input.
Being pretty handy (and pretty cheap) I made a copy of the Scotty weight retriever last season. I haven't used it all the time, but will definitely use it all the time, now. Good suggestion to walk it back rather than pulling & twisting for the pull.
I almost always wear good quality, soft soled walking shoes, so that one's covered.
Now I need to figure out an easy way to lift the kicker. Gonna have to talk to my Yamaha dealer about retrofitting a tilt cylinder.
 
Prfisher said:
I've been using that exact line about getting old for a long time. Not as original as I thought!
I can't imagine sitting for days on end in a lecture hall with this level of discomfort. My hat's off to you!
It's VERY encouraging to hear you are still enjoying an active life. Thanks... I needed to hear that.
I've been doing all of the core exercises. Massage & deep tissue laser help too. My kid is picking up an inversion table for me at Costco this week. I guess I'll add a brace to the shopping list as well. Any suggestions on which works best?
We should add that getting old gets damn expensive too!
I haven't tried acupuncture yet, but we do have a good practitioner here in Powell River. Yoga is too painful at this point, so I'm sticking to the standard core work for now.
Steroid injection scheduled for next week. Fingers crossed on that one.
Ive found that sneezing is to be avoided whenever possible. Feels like someone is clubbing me on the side of the leg with a 2X4.
Things have improved a lot this past month and I'm hoping I can get back on the water before the best fishing months are past.
Thanks to all who are pitching in here.
Edit... Please note error in first post. 10 mm, not cm bulge. Doh!
Click to expand...


I cracked some ribs in the summer and sneezing was the worst. My daughter told me that when I feel a sneeze coming on to jam my tongue up between my top teeth and lip. It actually works if you catch it in time.
 
Prfisher , sorry to hear about the back pain. I have suffered for years . Pounding waves ina 17 footer hurts for me . Cbd oil is like an anti inflammatory and thc is like the pain killer . I started doing a combo of 10/10 mg cbd /thcand it really helps . Not into getting high , just looking to get a decent sleep and it cuts the pain the next day in 1/2 . Be really careful with the inverter table , I have used them with some success but you gotta go slow or it’s too much all at once . Don’t go upside down all at once , more like a little bit every day for week till you are upside down . Gluck
 
By the way I stopped buying the expensive oil and started making my own . One oz of pot to 2 cups of coconut oil in slow cooker is cheaper by a lot . 1/2 tespoon before bed and it really helps !!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top