Back Pain

[10-10 Bass Busters]

Just wondering if anyone else gets pain in their middle back between the shoulders fishing tourneys.  I thought maybe it was from wearing sandals but shoes didn't help.  The only way I can get it to not hurt to bad is take a muscle relaxer part way through the morning of an event.  anyone else go through this and find away to help prevent it?

[fowlmouth]

I don't know you so I'm not sure if this will help but last year I had similar issues. I figured it was posture, I talked to my doc and he said I need to lose a few chicken wings and beer. I lost about 10 lbs and it made a huge difference.

[10-10 Bass Busters]

yeah i need to lose a few of those wings and beers.  and my weight i put on for winter..I keep telling myself i'm not a bear but man do i eat like one!!

[fiker]

I've had back pain for years.  I've tried several methods to curtail it, as it will never be "cured". 

This is what I've learned through experience, doctors, PT's, and chiropractors.
Problems usually start down low, and work their way up.  This is due to the vertebrae being lined up on top of each other.  The only things holding them there are muscle and ligaments.  You can actually be out of whack in your lower back, but only experience pain in the upper.

Shoes.  Must fit well, feel comfortable, and stablize the body.  I hardly ever go bare foot for very long.  I need the support of a good pair of shoes or sandals.

Muscle tone-  I have several exercises that I do on a semi regular basis to tone those parts of the body that aid in good support of weak areas.

For the area that you describe between the shoulder blades this is what I do.  Lay on my stomach.  Prop up on my forearms and elbows.  Then I kind of do a push up of sorts, I try and bring the shoulder blades as close together as I can, and then as far apart as I can.

Equipment:  For me personally it's a big deal whether or not the trolling motor pedal is above decks, or recessed.  Above deck seems to throw me off to one side and create problems.  If your boat doesn't have a recessed pedal, I know there are a couple of solutions on the market. (IE an aluminum pan that you can build into the deck to accept the pedal)  Some day, I'm going to build myself a recessed fiberglass insert.  I can do that cheaper than the aluminum solution.
There is also a wide variety of seats to try.  I'd like to try the seat that Al Linder has on his boat.  It's more like the seat back on an office chair, but sometimes he sits, and sometimes he leans on it.  I'm trying a bicycle seat that has adjustable height this year.  We'll see how that goes. 
Strong muscles can help alleviate poor back alignment.  Stretching and doing fairly low impact exercises can solve a lot of probems. 
Hope this helps. 

[thedude]

i have lots of lower back problems... mainly from my bottom 3 vertebrae being out of line and a bone spur on one of them.... if i twist just right it pinches the nerver between the spine and pelvis... i've actually thrown it out setting the hook... missed a few days of work. told my wife i did it that morning taking out the garbage

try an elastic back-brace it will help support your back/sholders.