Back Pain

So, after doing some yard work this weekend I've now acquired a lovely bunch of pain lancing through my back and shoulders. It is becoming a bit of a nuisance and since a doctor visit is not possible any time soon, I was wondering if anyone can recommend some intense over the counter painkillers. I do not normally suffer pain of any kind and the Tylenol I had in the house isn't working as well as I would hope. If you take a lot of something does it work more or longer?

With back pain, ibuprofen is actually a better bet than something like Tylenol. Though everyone's body chemistry is slightly different, so it's possible that it might not work as well either. With ibuprofen, hospitals will dose you as high as 800mg, which means even with OTC ibuprofen, you can just up how many pills you take. You can actually try the same with Tylenol--taking up to 4 pills in a single dose. Though in doing a regimen such as that, I wouldn't recommend doing it for anything longer than a week's time. It is very harsh on the body, especially your liver. However, it is more than likely what would be offered by a doctor anyway. Another pain med to try, but it can be harsh on the tummy, is Aleve.

For me, the more Tylenol I take the more tolerance I build and the less it works. When I suffer pain I turn to Aleve... and if it is more severe, than Excedrin makes a Back and Body formula that I adore.

I typically only suffer migraines and sore muscles from, like you said pain in the butt yard work. I hope all this helps!

~LD

This might be a long shot, but if someone you know has a back inversion table, I would definitely suggest using that to straighten out your back while coupling it with an OTC pain medication. It's what I've done in the past with great results, thankfully these days I've got a few massage therapists in my life who are more than happy to step on my back.