thanks for all the info guys! i did wind up going to the chiro, and he told me a lot of what y'all told me along the lines of keep stretching and trying to strengthen the muscles in the back. i've got pretty descent abs and all from lifting, but i've kinda slacked on that stuff in the last couple of months. i'm wondering if my body is going through some kind of exercise/lifting withdrawal? anyways, it's still kinda sore, but i got some naproxen and some ice packs. hopefully it'll be a bit better for work. and i totally agree that chiros can be like a drug. once you get it, you need it. i try to avoid that route unless absolutely necessary. this quick back kink sprung up on me shortly before i had to go to work, so i needed a quick fix! in the end, i ended up missing work for the day, but i'm guessing some slow stretching and some good relaxing will be better for me in the long run. i think i might try to work exercising back into my routine. i've never tried yoga, like someone mentioned, maybe i'll check into that. i've heard a lot of good things from the few people i know who do it....
One more thing I thought of that made a difference in my case: don't carry your wallet in your back pocket. When you sit down, it prevents your back from sitting straight. This might seem really minor but I felt noticeably better after the first few days of doing this.
In the last year or so I've been having really bad, really sharp lower back pain. I was referred by my doc for X rays, was diagnosed with "Spondylosthesis" Which basically means my L5 vertebrae has slid over top of my Sacrum, and is a little bit cracked. in short, it fucking hurts, like a whole lot. Anyway, I am going to an orthopedic doctor for this soon. See your Doctor and don't let anyone adjust you without X rays first. If I had just gone to a Chiropractor, they could have made it much worse.
Chiro has said that carrying your wallet in your back pocket causes your hips to be rotated so whichever side your wallet is on, that hip is forced forward when you sit. If you carry a fat wallet, it probably is best not to have it in your back pocket. I know my hips are this way...but not only because of the wallet but because of hours put in skating. If you go skating, you are usually going in one direction, counter clockwise. Hours spent doing crossovers in one direction were probably part of my hips and my back being how they are now. Not having your wallet in your back pocket when you sit seems so minor but I agree with Roger, it does help. Maybe I should put my wallet in my other back pocket to make up for the years of carrying it in the other pocket.
It's not the cracking (I'm assuming a slow, gentle twist of the neck resulting in a pop) that's the problem. The quick, Van Damme, head-twist is what you want to stay away from. But if you just gently turn your head to the side to pop your neck you shouldn't tear your carotid.
And now I have to thank you, because I'm going to start skating in a couple of weeks and know what to expect!
I'm sure you've already heard it - but make the life-style changes to remove/reduce the stroke risk factors. A stroke can basically make you retarded and/or severely handicapped if it doesn't kill you. Way scarier than a heart attack if you ask me. But then perfectly healthy people with absolutely no risk factors have died from strokes, so there's no guarantees.
