Back Injury Help

For anyone suffering from a back injury, I can provide some advice.
(This is my personal opinion and it is your choice whether you act on it or not.)

• Beware of doctors, even "spinal specialists" or similar, as the state of medical science in relation to back problems is not much beyond the stone age. Some doctors may not want to admit it, as it obviously is not good for their ego. I do not blame the doctors, as they cannot work miracles.
• Do not take steroids from doctors. Theoretically, they are supposed to reduce inflammation, but they have nasty, permanent side effects, such as weight gain. After the first batch, I refused more and the doctor was surprised, but did not ask again.
• Ginger is the best natural painkiller and anti-inflammatory. Powdered ginger can be mixed with any liquid to drink. Ginger beer used to be a popular drink and is making a comeback! You can buy non-organic ginger in supermarkets or organic ginger on ebay. It is very cheap and pharmaceutical companies will never be interested in it as they cannot patent a natural substance and so there is no money in it for them. Incidentally, ginger is beneficial for other parts of the body, as I recommended it to a lady with knee pain and the ache disappeared.
• Turmeric is a fairly good anti-inflammatory. It needs to be consumed with a small amount of black pepper for your body to absorb it. It is often used in India, especially in curry.
• Lifestyle changes are important, so that you avoid or minimise situations that stress your back. For example, I undertook a driving session on a race track recently with an instructor. She asked me to do a series of emergency stops, but they hurt my back, so we did other activities instead such as controlling a car in a spin in the wet. Ironically, she survived hundreds of races without injury, but was hit at 60mph from behind by a van driver while waiting in a car at traffic lights! At 23 years old, she has a bad spinal injury and was also scathing about doctors.

If you have any comments or questions, you are welcome to post them here and also email me. petermunro (at) email.com