Does Back Pain effect your ability to go boating?

[BelleSerene]

I had some spinal operations in 2015: a microdiscectomy to fix long-term and worsening lower back pain due to sciatica, and then two more within a month because the surgeon fouled up. I contracted a major infection of the vertebrae from the surgery, and that then laid me horizontal in terrible pain for months while the vertebrae (L4&5) resolidified (albeit semi-fused and at a silly angle). I got off the morphine onto strong oral opiates which I weaned off over a further year while spending longer periods vertical and using other painkillers to substitute as I did. I walked on crutches for some months, wearing a hard lumbar brace which I since replaced for a soft one which I still wear.

A year after the surgeries but before I could walk a mile I sailed myself over to the Channel Islands and back. I used the solo trip to bone up (sorry!) on parts of the YM theory (when you’re on opiates your memory goes to pieces!) as I’d booked my YM Offshore exam aboard the boat for my return. I found that bracing the inner core muscles to grind a winch or haul a sheet was just fine, followed by sitting down again. Walking, by contrast, requires sustained internal bracing and that took much longer to be able to do. I took a folding bike to cycle from Beaucette to St Peter Port and around.


My life is still significantly affected by residual back pain - but that didn’t stop me sailing solo to the Swedish archipelago and back this summer. Again, it’s the variety of physical activity that matters and the ability to rest in between.

Never be put off.

 

[Seajet]

BelleSerene,

thanks - very useful for a lot of people.

 

[dunedin]

I probably (and currently) have less sever back pain than others on here. But like many, find sailing better for the back than being office or home bound.
What does wreck the back though is doing some of the work on the boat - particularly fitting and removing heavy sails, lifting deflated dinghies etc. Lifting at boom level to remove a heavy mainsail had me unable to walk more than 100m for a couple of months or more. So increasingly looking to pay for assistance for any work that involves lifting.

Indeed, anybody thinking about giving up sailing due to age/pain etc would be worth considering / trying first
(a) stopping the annual layup/refit - a lot of risk for no real benefit before doing the same in reverse.
(b) paying for more agile people to squeeze round the engine, lift sails, paint under the hull etc

 

[maby]

I have significant arthritis in my hips, back and neck and am frequently in significant pain in the house, but very rarely in the boat. I put this down to a combination of higher levels of exercise while sailing and the relatively hard berth in the boat consisting of just a couple of inches of foam on a solid wooden base. In the house we have a ridiculously expensive Tempur bed with a mattress consisting of memory foam about six inches thick on a spring divan base. My wife loves it, but I'm convinced that it causes a lot of my back problems because it is not hard enough. Getting up in the morning in the house means going through a significant number of minutes of quite strong pain, but on the boat I jump out of bed and am immediately fully functional.

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

Always best to let the memsahib do the heavy work ....... :encouragement:

 

[Praxinoscope]

I have significant arthritis in my hips, back and neck and am frequently in significant pain in the house, but very rarely in the boat. I put this down to a combination of higher levels of exercise while sailing and the relatively hard berth in the boat consisting of just a couple of inches of foam on a solid wooden base. In the house we have a ridiculously expensive Tempur bed with a mattress consisting of memory foam about six inches thick on a spring divan base. My wife loves it, but I'm convinced that it causes a lot of my back problems because it is not hard enough. Getting up in the morning in the house means going through a significant number of minutes of quite strong pain, but on the boat I jump out of bed and am immediately fully functional.

Memory Foam mattress, tried one and it was ‘orrible, not only did my back problem get considerably worse, it was like sleeping on top of a furnace, I just couldn’t cool down. Got rid of it and bought a nice hard sprung mattress and back problems are considerably lessened.
On the boat, bunks are similar to above, but on GRP base, and yes my back is a lot less trouble.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

My dear Navigator has back issues and cant stand for long and needs back support when sitting. Back pain does clearly interfere with sailing and watching her get into and out of our dinghy always worries me.

She must always sit to steer for any length of time, however she claims that some gentle rocking motion helps.

A colleague had to go to the dark side and buy a big mobo as his beloved could not cope with the effect of sailboat rolling on her injured spine.

 

[agroundagain]

Very interesting thread. I was back pain free until two years ago when suddenly I was nearly immobilized with sciatica and back pain. The cause is obviously long term (many years in the scrum in the winter and hiked out in the summer plus sedentary job) but the trigger was immediate (running). Looking back, as a bloke, you carry on but I could barely walk until physio and surgery made things better. I am now not fixed but it is containable; I know what is likely to bring it on, we have changed mattress and sofas and I use cushions. Cycling is now my main exercise.

Anyway... to the boat... sailing can be a bit of a trigger. Specifically, when the boat is in her sweetspot and we are going along nicely for a few hours on a single tack with not much to do but play the sheets and minor course adjustments. I think I just relax into it too much and forget to move about. If I keep this in mind I am fine.

 

[gus]

I appreciate all the replies and comments to my original post. The general consensus would appear to be a positive for continuing boating, the firm sleeping surface and the continual movement. I would also add, a determination to carry on despite the pains and not to let it get you down. The muscles that react to the mis-alignment of the spine are muscles you normally use yourself so you have some measure of control over them in a positive fashion. Not letting them stiffen up and keeping them warm are the main factors. It is also useful to understand what is actually the real cause and realise that although it can be painful, it is not all doom and gloom as espoused by the supposed professionals who really don’t have a clue, can only fling labels about and offer no proper solution. Keep taking the ibuprofen and enjoying your boating. If anyone wishes more info you can PM me, as I like to help.

 

[Seajet]

gus,

what you say sounds spot on to me.

a friend who suffered - it was a while ago so I don't know if he was ever diagnosed - took off his bedroom door and slept on that as his mattress was too soft.

The specialist I saw this last week said there's no way of fixing my crushed discs, but their ' pain management ' course and team are as good as a cure; I actually have faith in her, unlike the physio dept who I reckon ought to be juggling on unicycles !

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I have quite severe back pain now - I'm 56 but was at an accident in 1992 when I had to lift a car off somebody - long story - over the last couple of years it has become very severe; at its worst I reckon I could just control and navigate my 22' cruiser, but not a dinghy.

Had results from an MRI scan* this week so your question is timely for me.

* In the modern NHS despite my GP phoning requesting me a scan there and then in front of me, I was diverted through LOTS of meaningless physio depts - a national policy which is great for the little physio dept empires which have sprung up - inc contracts to use private physio clinics, a nice little earner for someone I'm sure but useless to patients.

I had to get very ' forceful ' indeed to get the scan they kept promising me then trying to avoid.

Once I got to the MSK Muscular Skeletal dept they were professionals and got me the scan; the hospital were extremely helpful, ' yes when would you like ? ' - they don't get patients now !

I didn't think a cure could be found, just after all this time I wanted to know what is going on.

2 crushed discs etc as I suspected, inoperable - but at least I know now and am learning ' pain management '.

Co-Drydamol are good painkillers bt I found I was getting hooked so have to minimise them.

This physio racket must cost the NHS a fortune, loads of in my experience not very good staff, no doubt well paid.

Re sailing, I know very keen dinghy sailors who have had to give it up due to back pain - but I will not give up my Anderson, this is our 40th season, I had dinghies from 1974.

I had a similar story, but with a better outcome! I too went through the physiotherapy hoops, despite the problem having been diagnosed previously as being due to a congenital narrowing of the spinal canal. It was episodic; I went through bad times and good times (basically, if I did something ill-advised, it would pinch the nerves and set off various muscular spasms and sciatic pain, which lasted until a) the spasms stopped and b) any bruising of the nerves healed), and the last time it flared up I decided it was time to see if medical science had moved on from the last time, when I was told that an operation was too risky. After going through the physio hoops (which i knew would be unlikely to do much good!) , I was reviewed by the local hospital, and they put me in for what they called "minimally invasive lumbar decompression" - keyhole surgery on my spinal column. Basically, it worked! It took a couple of weeks recovery after the operation before the pain quite suddenly went away and hasn't come back.

Possibly because I live near Cambridge, I have to say that the physios I saw were very good, and completely understood that there would be limits to what they could achieve given my history - in fact, they short-circuited the system when they realized the situation.

 

[[2574]]

I too vouch for the significant benefits arising from a good physiotherapist team, they worked wonders for me.

 

[johnalison]

I too vouch for the significant benefits arising from a good physiotherapist team, they worked wonders for me.

That's the point. It works for some people, but is not a panacea and its use by compulsion in the NHS protocol leads to gross delays and ineffective treatment for many. One reason for this is the abandonment of proper clinical examination at the primary care level, when in the past the patients showing significant signs would have been traiged through. Nowadays, reliance on a superficial history and investigations has tended to give the impression that something useful is being done when it isn't.

There is nothing new about sensible back care. I remember visiting a Vauxhall factory circa 1962 and being impressed by the section devoted to the recovering sick. There was one area where workers contributed to production but their work was laid out in such a way that it forced them to bend, twist and stretch to get hold of the items needed. as part of their daily routine.

 

[tudorsailor]

I too vouch for the significant benefits arising from a good physiotherapist team, they worked wonders for me.

Almost as good as a physio is this book by Robin Mackenzie who originated a lot of the techniques now used for back therapy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Treat-Your-Back-Robin-McKenzie/dp/0987650408 Worth every penny

Those with back pain might find the BBC program https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bmblb8 enlightening or maybe upsetting - but interesting nevertheless

TudorDoc

 

[Zing]

Almost as good as a physio is this book by Robin Mackenzie who originated a lot of the techniques now used for back therapy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Treat-Your-Back-Robin-McKenzie/dp/0987650408 Worth every penny


TudorDoc

From personal experience, I can endorse the importance of back exercises. I have been doing a daily stretch and exercise routine for 15 years now, based on a doctor friend's advice to strengthen the multifidus muscle in particular. It is a good thing for general flexibility and mobility reasons too. Separately I learnt to avoid inverting the spine by not sleeping chest down, which in my case was a hugely useful tip I got from a chiropractor. I was very sceptical before I went, but was pushed to go by my sister in law and was very happy to be proven wrong.

 

[Paddy Fields]

One other thing - there is tons of stuff on YouTube about back pain, just do a search for “back pain”. Loads of good information, tips, exercises, etc. Most sailors I know are technically minded, so should be able to understand all that stuff on the structure of the spine, and how to maintain it.

 

[gus]

99% of the stuff on Youtube and the internet about back pain is just crap. They haven't a clue as to the real cause and are just milking patients through their ignorance and the stupidity of their patients. The treatments etc may help the symptoms and make it feel better, but how can they possibly claim to sort it if they don't actually know what the cause is. Fools and their money are easily parted. It is not without good reason that a patient astutely commented that I only sort smart people, that is those who appreciate what I can do and accept the advice given.

 

[Paddy Fields]

Its the internet, so judgement and critical thinking has to be applied. Some content is really good, more than 1% of the content E.g., this kind of content

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfiorcWqc_U

Always consult with a medical professional first/as well!

 

[johnalison]

One thing that I leaned many years ago about back pain is that we sufferers tend to get stuck into a routine involving pain-avoidance. As a result, almost anything that you do differently will result in relief, if only for a time. This is one reason why so many quack procedures develop a reputation, because a proportion of those using them will report 'cures'. The hard bit is finding a long-term solution.

 

[maby]

When I was in my early forties, I had some serious back problems - paid a lot of money to a variety of osteopaths and physios with no significant improvement. We had recently moved house and the back garden needed major work - I looked out and thought that I was in so much pain already that digging the garden was not going to be able to make it any worse. Several hours later the garden was looking a lot better, I was exhausted and my back didn't hurt at all! That lasted quite a few years...