Just a long shot here but as dog lovers and walkers, I wonder if anyone suffers from a really stiff back.  This has happened since my lovely reactive boy came into my life.  The stress of walking him has really taken it out of my back.  Ended up with a facet joint problem and the pain from that means that I probably haven't been walking in a relaxed state for many many months.  I do the stretching exercises, they don't really help, hot showers do help.  I was going to start a pilates class but lockdown.....  I have had physio and massages but lockdown.....  paracetamol helps a bit but I hate taking medication.  Any tips that have worked for you??

Didn't know water could help and it's free.  Thanks am going to try that immediately.

works for me, hope it does for you too :)

Funny but  hydration and back pain was just mentioned on TV .

I've got a dog walking belt as my rescue foxhound can really take off and pull, which sometimes yanks my shoulder and that obviously can have a knock on effect on my back.  A few weeks ago she had a mad dash behind me and dragged me half way down a slope, and that really hurt.  The walking belt is nice and wide, and an added bonus is that it has pouches for treats, dog poo bags etc.  The lead that came with it has a couple of handles along the length of it, so you can keep a dog in closer when required, or let them have the full length of the lead.  It's also elasticated in a couple of places to absorb the shock if your dog does bolt suddenly.  It's so much nicer to walk her with that on knocking she can't jolt me suddenly, even though she doesn't get to range as far I think we both enjoy walks more as she's not being told 'no' so many times throughout the walk, and she loves the treat pouch.

I don’t know if there is a post missing or something, but what was that about water helping back pain?
I have bad lower spine arthritis and tendon damage which makes walking hard going if I’m not assisted by a stick

I wondered that but on TV they were saying that our discs/ joints can be affected by being dehydrated and that making sure we have enough fluid preferably  water can help with the pain

Thanks Sleeping Lion, I agree they are brilliant.  I had a phase when I wore a walking belt and it did help enormously with the training, just keeping my hands off the lead showed me the effect I was having on his anxiety without even knowing it.  Having learned that, I have since moved on to a 3 metre 1 inch wide nylon leash which loops around my hand which I love, he is a smallish breed and pulling isn't a problem.

I don't know where Chaumsong's post on water has gone

Yes the post has disappeared and it said that drinking 500ml as soon as you feel the stiffness and then 500ml every hour really helps a stiff back.  On my second 500 ml now.  Will definitely report back.

Here is the missing post from Chaumsong.

This may sound really stupid, and pointless but I swear it helps, drink lots of water all day long, I went to a bowen therapist years ago who told me this, I shrugged it off but I was so sore that I thought I'll try anything and it really does help, whenever I start to stiffen up I force myself to drink a full glass of water then have about 500ml of water an hour. I reuse a 500ml bottle so I can be sure I'm drinking enough, I just sip out of it all the time and top it up on the hour. If I do that for 5/6 hours I start to feel the benefit, a couple of days of doing this and I'm much better. Downside is I may feel more supple, but walking must involve somewhere near a loo, or a heavily wooded area

Also take ibuprofen rather than, or as well as paracetamol, it's an anti-inflammatory so actually helping rather than just numbing pain like paracetamol.

Thanks 91052.

Very interesting. I’ve been drinking at least a litre a day since early March as the consultant said it would help with healing by keeping my skin in good condition. I also started taking ibuprofen as well as paracetamol to help with pain and I have noticed it’s helping my back pain a bit. I hadn’t really used ibuprofen much until now.
The doctor checked the incision wound yesterday and unfortunately there is an area not healing and breaking down so I’m having another operation on Monday to sort it out. I was warned this could happen due to radiotherapy I had which effects the healing properties of skin. The rest of the wound looks fine and is healing well thankfully. I’m sure glugging all that water has helped.

Hope you made a steady recovery Jodi.

Well I'll be...... it is working.  Feels much better after drinking 1.5 litres (without painkillers) and getting more exercise going to the loo and it is going to help with the lockdown midriff issue as I feel full and would normally have been snacking on something by now.

> Well I'll be...... it is working.

Just wondering how your back is now? Have you kept up the water intake?

It's very interesting.  My back is much more relaxed throughout the day, I still have back pain but the stiffness is much improved.  I have taken to drinking a pint of water as soon as I get up in the morning.  That seems to help enormously and then every hour or so have a big drink.  A bit fed up of having to constantly go to the loo but better than a stiff back.  Thanks again for the advice and I wonder why the physio(s), consultants etc. have never told me this before.

Oh that's great, glad it's helping, it works for me too but like you say I get fed up of going to the loo all the time and then my water intake tails off, my back gets sorer and I need to remind myself to drink more water