Right lower back pain with great toe numbness

[kellydominski]

Hi,
I'm 33 years old and healthy and have experienced right low back right and great toe numbness since 2005.  I've tried chiropractic, accupuncture, massage therapy and physical therapy twice through the Spine Care Clinic with no relief.  I've had an X-Ray and an MRI which have not proven useful.  I've also purchased fix-your-own-back books and an inversion table.  I'll occasionally perform google searches to investigate the source of pain.  One search led me to your website:
http://ask.metafilter.com/57654/Baby-got-back-pain
Her post explains my symptoms almost perfectly.  Unfortunately, since my pain has been daily for 3 years it has also led to muscle stiffness in my lower back and down my right hip.  The right great toe numbness increases and decreases with the amount of pain in my back.  After an exceptionally active day, I experience lightning type pain shooting from the point of origin while lying on my back.  Rarely, I seem to have pain radiating through my buttocks and I'll sometimes experience the same type of pain and toe numbness on the left but it only lasts a day or two.  In the last 6 months I've also started to experience "moving" pain in my right upper back, neck, shoulder, area.  I assume it is another issue relating to the lower back problem.  I became curious when you mentioned the upper back in your response to her post.  At this point I am so frustrated and tired of spending money on this issue.  I used to work out very regularly (step aerobics 2-3X/week, weight lifting 1-2X/week, spinning 1-2X/week) but have stopped exercising altogether because the pain and stiffness increase tremendously after a workout.  I do not recall the source of injury...it seemed to come on gradually and I guess I just thought I overdid it in a workout and if I took it easy for awhile it would eventually get better.  Needless to say, it never got better.  I did try the tennis ball you mentioned in your response.  It seems to help the upper back more than the lower back (I was very excited it helped at all!)  Perhaps I haven't done it long enough to help the lower back?  Also, I am curious about your take on the great toe numbness.  My back doctor said it is unrelated to my back since I don't have pain all the way from my back down to my toe (and I think that is just a bunch of hooey.)
Thanks for any info you can provide
Kelly

[Steve Lockhart]

Hi Kelly,
the whole body is connected in different ways so I agree your doctors comment is a bunch of hooey. The erector spinae muscle would be the key I think but it is a bit of an art to release it effectively with the tennis or rubber ball. There are other exercises I have which also help and I think my SLM Yoga is the most effective way to release and balance the muscles in the body generally. It is a great program to do instead of stretching as a way to maintain your muscles around sport and exercise. It is also very effective at stopping problems developing in the first place. Anyway all of this info is in my self treatment program and I know you said you are sick of spending money on this but it isn't a great deal ($70 plus postage) and I offer a very unique refund policy of money back if you are not happy within 30 days and you don't need to go to the trouble of sending the program back. So you have little to lose trying it out. www.backpain.com.au/selftreat

Regards
Steve