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  1. #21
    Member Booya's Avatar
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    I only compressed a vertebrae and bruised my ribs after a dirtbike accident. But, I still have backpain everyday from it. That and all my other injuries from hockey and snowboarding, I wake up with pain everyday. Except for when I wake up in a hammock
    I got an ENO on sale, decided I'd take a nap in it, and I haven't gone back to sleeping on the ground since.
    Everybody wang chung tonight!

  2. #22
    Senior Member hikingshoes's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by slowhike View Post
    Have you found using a hammock to be the answer to back problems?
    We've herd so many mentions & stories saying just that, so this thread is a place to collect personal experiences for others to read about.

    Everyone's body responds differently, so "your mileage may differ" (YMMD).
    Here's my story.
    I experienced a broken back. As bad as that may sound, I believe that other back issues involving the disks, etc, can be much more difficult in the long run.

    In May of 2002, a friend named Chuck & myself went to Panthertown Valley, NC to backpack.
    http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/panther1.htm
    On Sat eve as we sat up camp, I thew the "rock sack" attached to the bear bag line across a limb to hang our food for the night. It got tangled in a bunch of sucker limbs growing up out of the main limb.
    Next morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we started packing up to start hiking back in the direction of the car. I had given quite a bit of thought about the hung bear bag line... either cut the line & leave it hanging w/ the rock sack & carabiner used to attach bag to line, or climb up & un-tangle it.
    I choose to climb up & get it. It wasn't a difficult climb or very high. I was being very cautious & thoughtful (I thought), but I made one very costly mistake. After untangling the line & dropping it down, I put one foot on a knot on the side of the tree to change directions, intending to climb back down in the other direction. My foot slipped off the knot & I grabbed for a limb, but it was rotten.

    Next thing I knew, Chuck was knelling over me saying "Don't move, don't move".
    He said I was not unconscious but was in a daze for a couple minutes before I realized were I was again.
    I didn't know the extent of my injuries at the time, but I knew I had at least one broken rib. It clicked every time i breathed in or out & it hurt like everything to try to breath. I couldn't breath well at all. There was no getting a satisfying breath.

    Panic soon tried to set in, knowing that although we weren't far from roadways, this was still a wilderness area that had not yet become well known & used, not to mention that we were on a little used, unnamed foot path that snaked it's way up & down a creek bank & through Rhododendrons so close that you could barely get a backpack through it.

    I had my cell phone but the day before we had tried it, but got no signal at all. Chuck dialed 911 & thank the Lord, it went through.
    As Chuck talked to the 911 operator, I was able to describe, through Chuck, that we were on an unnamed trail between two named waterfalls.
    It was about 1.5 hours later when the first of the rescuers found us. More soon followed.

    After taking the fall, I had found some comfort in drawing my knees up w/ feet on the ground, near my rump. I could not put them back down. Trying to was excruciatingly painful. But my legs grew tired after a while so I had Chuck make a loop of cord, then put it around my knees, allowing me to relax my legs outward with the loop holding them.
    The rescuers said I would have to get my legs down for the stretcher ride out, so very painfully, we got them down & they strapped me onto a backboard.

    They tried some kind of lesser medication at first, but it wasn't even touching the pain, so the folks on the other end of the radio had them give me morphine. Still in pain, but it certainly helped

    I believe the trip out was almost as bad for the guys trying to tote me on a backboard as it was for me.... up & down steep banks, passing me through & around trees & Rhododendrons. They dropped one corner of the stretcher twice, but they were giving it all they had.
    I expressed my thankfulness for what they were doing. I even tried to joke a little, but I believe my delivery was off because of the pain & the meds

    They got me out to a forest service road were an ambulance was waiting & I was off to a hospital in Highlands/Cashiers were they did ex-rays.
    They determined that my injuries were more than they needed to be dealing with at the small mountain hospital so back to the ambulance for a ride to St Joesph Hospital in Ashville, NC. BTW... put some shocks on that ambulance or something
    The Neurosurgeon that worked on me was one of those called in for consultation when President Regan was shot. I was very fortunate to have such a highly respected doctor taking my case.

    After closer inspection of ex-rays & MRIs & such, he found me to have two broken vertebra, one a fracture & one a clean break.
    Also as many as 13 breaks/cracks in ribs (both front & back) from fractures to clean breaks. I believe one or two are still free floating?
    And a mild concussion to the back of my head.

    I don't know what happened on the way down from that tree, but I must have hit a limb on the way down, maybe did a spin??? The ground was nothing but exposed roots. That didn't help

    Anyway, he fused vertebrae (took bone from my hip) & added titanium hardware. I believe it was about a week & a half when I walked a little ways down the hall & back & went home to continue recovery.

    I started walking down the road from my house, using my trekking poles. The trekking poles not only gave a little extra margin of safety against any possible falling, but they also spread the work to my arms & back, which was good therapy.

    Started walking a very short ways, accompanied by someone, but was quickly on my own & increasing the miles.
    In a couple months I was up to 13 miles & at a pretty good clip

    I thank the Lord for good healing!!!
    Three months & five days after the fall, I was able to hike into the Mt Rogers area, about 4.5 miles for an overnight backpacking trip
    Friends carried some of my stuff, but I was still carrying about 20lbs. I still hadn't learned to get my pack much below 40lbs at that time

    One year after the original surgery, at my request, a Neurosurgeon nearer home removed the hardware. I got right here

    It remained difficult to lay on my back on any kind of a firm surface, including a mattress, so I slept on pillows.

    In winter of 2005 I somehow became interested in hammocks & came across the yahoo site "Hammock camping".
    Once I got past some of the "Newbie" uncertainties of making my first hammock purchase, I bought an Eagle's Nest Outfitter's (ENO) hammock!!!
    I started with the single, but wasn't satisfied. So I took it back & exchanged it for a double. No turning back after that!!!

    I slept better in my hammock than I did in a bed & almost immediately replaced my bed w/ the hammock. As I continued to experiment, I realized that sometimes, even the taughtly stretched fabric of the hammock was not always pleasant on the center of my back were they had twice made the 11" cut to work on the ol spine. Along comes the Big Agnes (BA) Insulated Air Core mat, then the Exped Down Air Mat (DAM)!!!
    AHHHH.... Heaven!!!!
    Perfect support!!!
    Glad your doing well slowhike...I was down for 3x with my back L4,L5,S1,but it wasnt as bad as your,for as liking the hammock,I LOVE IT!!HS

  3. #23
    slowhike's Avatar
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    Just came across this old story.
    I too will something make and joy in it's making

  4. #24
    TallPaul's Avatar
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    Good reminder to be careful out there. Sounded like you were being thoughtful until crap hit the fan.

    Did your forum/trail name pre-date this or was it from this?

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