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Thread: Back pain related to duty belt

  1. #11
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Texas
    Based on having two back problems resolved by two procedures done at the same time, I suggest this which helped me and can't hurt anyone. Hang from a pull-up bar and let your body's weight stretch your back. It's a passive traction technique. Ice packs alleviated pain. Nsaids helped. You can take Tylenol along with most. Have a gut? Lose it. Poor posture? Change it. Friends with inversion boards praise them. Restraining, of course, aggravates back problems. My city had a small employee health clinic. I gave them xrays and diagnoses. This step protected me from later harassment. It also facilitated approval of disability pay while off work during recovery from surgery. I noticed the beginning of back problems 25 years before I had surgery. I ignored them, then lived with them, and finally endured many months of agony before having surgery. I urge friends to have surgery while you still have good insurance.

  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by feudist View Post
    Lacrosse ball. These are hard enough to let you slowly locate trigger points and slowly press them until they dissolve.

    Lot's of YouTube video. Check out Kelly Starrett especially.He has a Painball adventure for every joint, ligament and muscle.
    Thanks for the tips. I just bought a lacrosse ball, and am checking out those videos. This forum is great.

  3. #13
    Not an LEO. You already got a lot of great advice. I just wanted to throw in that I've known a good amount of people that have alleviated chronic back pain by stretching the front of your body (as already mentioned, your hips but I would include abs and pecs/shoulders), but also strengthening the back. So, see a doc or PT first to make sure you don't have a bulging disc or something you need to be aware of, but adductor stretches, bridges, and then kettlebell swings and deadlifts. Your spine can take a lot of force in one direction (compression) but a lot less in other directions (shear and rotation). Strong muscles are what keep it in alignment and with the stress distributed appropriately.

  4. #14

    Possible Solutions

    If you can switch to a duty vest, it will help to alleviate a lot of the pain as more of the weight is evenly distributed. I also used to keep my radio on the opposite side of my leg with my holster and Beretta. This allowed weight to be distributed evenly as well as a radio can be quite heavy, and so is a side arm; which means both sides of the body will taking on the weight.

    Another thing that has helped me a ton is massages, and yes I know they can get pricey and may not be a realistic solution. So, there is always the solution of stretching before and after work. Use a tennis ball to roll out your hips as well as investing in a leg roller. These are good not just for your legs but for your back as well. You can even work on strengthening those muscles in the hips and back. My husband suffers from sciatica from his time as deputy and military member and he has been told by many therapists that he needs to stretch out and work his SI joint.

    I have also heard good things about inversion tables as well. I also use a cream, it's like icy hot, but it is called Blue Stop, I buy it at Sams club but I know it is sold at Wal-greens as well. It works amazingly well. Way better than any icy hot i have ever used.

  5. #15
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    America
    Suspenders and stretching/exercises. Get out of the patrol car as much as possible. Sitting too much kills your back.

  6. #16
    Member Horseman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    New West...Same as the Old West.
    pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?27945-Back-Defense-Systems-Back-Defender

    I don't know the product from the second thread. [/QUOTE]

    I've used a set of these for several years. They work exactly as advertised. Unloading the entire duty belt weight from my hips stopped the onset of lower back pain, for me.

  7. #17
    Member John Hearne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Northern Mississippi
    Lost weight. Used suspenders until I dropped the pounds.
    • It's not the odds, it's the stakes.
    • If you aren't dry practicing every week, you're not serious.....
    • "Tache-Psyche Effect - a polite way of saying 'You suck.' " - GG

  8. #18
    Site Supporter Rex G's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    SE Texas
    My recipe for success was to keep everything at the sides and front; nothing behind my back. ONE pair of handcuffs on the belt, in the front. I did gain some undesirable weight, over the years, but managed to keep my duty belt at the same size setting for the whole 33+ years. (I wish I had maintained that waistline, in retirement, through the panic-demic.)
    Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.

    Don’t tread on volcanos!

  9. #19
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    TEXAS !
    Quote Originally Posted by KeeFus View Post
    800mg Motrin and water. You’ll be fine.
    You forgot clean socks.

  10. #20
    I wont parrot what other's have said, I will add a few things.

    If you're able to transition to a vest carrier for load bearing, I would also recommend that you reduce the stiffness of your duty belt. There's really no need to have a belt that's as stiff as some of the belts out there.

    By reducing the stiffness of the belt, you're going to cut down on some of the pressure that's being applied to your lower back. The reduced weight and stiffness on the belt will no longer pull the load forward towards your hips which tilts your pelvis which pulls on all of those muscles back there and shortens your hip flexors.

    Obviously, there's a balance to this since you still need the belt to be rigid enough so that it won't roll when you need to draw your firearm.

    I carry the following on my duty belt:

    1X Firearm/holster.
    2X pistol mags (cordura light weight carriers)
    1X TQ/sheath
    1X pair of handcuffs in a soft HSGI taco. The handcuffs are my secondary pair and I could do without them but choose to carry the weight there as I have my primary pair on my vest.

    That's it.

    This belt weighs a third of what it used to and it's done wonders for lessening my back pain.

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