My back kills me when I sit very long so I would like to buy a seat with some support. I know the answer is to stand but I can't do that very long either.(old old) I have a Tracker boat with the stock pedestal seat and it just don't get it.I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks Denny

Hey there skunk,

   I have the same problem... I fractured 2 vertebrae , right dead center of my back, when I was in the 82 ABN Div.  I have no idea how much $'s I've spent on seats basically  trying to get out cheap. Finally I bought the Tempress Navistyle seat at BPS. ($99).  At the time they  didn't have the Hi-Back version. I ended up buying the Hi-Back this year for my one-man boat  but I actually prefer the low-back better.  I truly wish you the best  with your back, and I wish I could be of more help.  

   I actually took a car seat, from a Chevy Cavalier, (because you can recline those seats) modified it , put it in my Bass Hunter, but it looked like I was sitting on a big ol' throne so i canned that idea.

Here is the best looking one I have found so far. I have upper and lower back trouble my self. Denny Brauer endorses it. I know he had trouble at one time. I haven't tried it yet, I have been waiting to see if they can do something with the thorasic, first then maybe getting one to help suport my lumbar. I tried asking if any one had used one in a past post but didn't get a response. It is a little high but if it works would be well worth it.  Cabela's sells it.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jhtml?id=0018552015951a&navAction=jump&navCount=1&indexId=cat21336&podId=0018552&catalogCode=IF&parentId=cat21336&parentType=index&rid=&cmCat=MainCatcat21276&hasJS=true

I have tolerated back pain for yrs.  I do not take the med's the doc presrcibed when I am on the water, it tires me out to quickly.  

Mudpuppy's advice on Danny B's seat is good advice.  Although you wouldn't want to sit down on this seat, it provides relief to lower back issues by taking the weight off your spine.  My only issue (because of the boat i own) is it blocks partial vision when driving down the lake, because it will not receed.  But i will take that trade anyday.  My back does not feel 1/2 as bad after a days fishing with this seat...And for those of use with back issues, my back is not nearly as stiff the following day.

One seat that you should consider is the Attwood Centrix SAS. These are available from Cabella's for about $ 280.00. I have put them in my Stratos 21 MSX and they are a easy bolt in. They not only give good support but also absorb the impact shock from hitting large waves. I am lucky eneough not to have a bad back nor does my wife. We bought these seats to end complaints when I hit the large waves on Lake St Clair.

Thanks Bass Junky.  I was hopeing it would help even a little would be nice.  Sitting probably won't be an issue I don't remain in one position long anyway.  

hangul,

 That seat looks great. Does the back section of the seat flex backwards or recline at all?  If so I will  have to bite the bullet and get one.

  Or does anyone know of a seat that will recline at all?

DAVMAC

Sorry the SAS Seats do not fold backward or recline. They do fold forward to get out of the way.

Hangul

Skunk,

I don't know any particular name brand seats to help you, but whatever brand you get make sure that you can get them with arm rests...

It really makes a world of difference. It helps also to stand at times while fishing to relieve the pressure on the lower back. If it's in your upper back and neck, rotate your head in small circles gradually moving to larger circles. Then lose weight.

All the above helped me, but real relief and healing came when I began to monitor the food I was eating. I didn't digress. Junk Food + Big Belly = Poor Health/ Bad Back :-* One other item: I realized my bad back was a manifestation of a deeper problem. I just wanted to treat the surface problems. The real problem was my thought processes about my job (work), etc. I was on a down-ward spiral with  emotional weight on my shoulders... I'm almost pain-free today after 28 years of back problems. I cringe at the thought of anyone having to go through back pain. SKUNK, MAN TO MAN, I'LL PRAY FOR YOU-- Sincerely.

I am going to ask you guys what you might consider a stupid question but just hear me out.  I have a bad back...herniated the disks at L4-L5 and L5-S1.  I spent from Nov. 2001, when I was first injured up until last summer going from physical therapist to physical therapist...from pain killer to pain killer and one opinion to another until I found what fixed me.  I opted out of having surgery because my wife is an Orthopedic Surgery PA and I know a little more than the "average Joe" about the post op success rate of lower Lumbar Fusions, Lumbar Laminectomy, Lumbar Microdiscectomy...etc.  Success rates are not as high as some would have you believe.  The success rates rely heavily on the surgeon's skills and believe me, not everyone gets a great surgeon.  I have had trigger point injections, Epidural Injections (these helped), every PT technique and philosophy known was attempted on me at least once.  I tried the chiropractor bending me and manipulating me and none of these worked much at all.  After it was all said and done I had leg and hip pain that sometimes caused me to have to crawl to the bathroom and sit while taking a shower, I had and still have to this day muscle atrophy in my left leg...I lost 1.5 cm on my calve and 2 cm on my thigh.  I am still struggling to gain the muscle I lost back completely.  

I had one of my spells after we moved from our apartment to our house when we lived in Oregon and after about two hours of moving I was on my back and I could not stand up.  For three days I was stuck in my bed and literally unable to move my left leg.  I was very desperate and I was begging my wife to write me a prescription for some pain medicine even though I knew it was unethical and very against the law in Oregon.  Anyway my mother-in-law came in and said, she had made me an appointment with her Chiropractor and that he was not your average one...he was better than most and very good.  I told her that the last chiropractor I saw just hurt me more than anything else and to cancel it.  The next day I was willing to try anything and I went.  

No for the stupid question...have any of you guys with bad backs, either lumbar or thoracic gone to a chiropractor?  If so have you seen one who is "Advanced Proficiency Rated" with the Activator method?  If not please do so...it changed my life.   You can find all the licensed chiro's who are rated with the activator on the website below.  Some of you may go to the chiropractor and they do those high velocity joint manipulations with you and you get just a little better...give this stuff a try.  When I went in I was all out of whack and could barely walk.  Three days later I was hopping and skipping to my appointments. (that's a little over exaggerated)  I was out of alignment in ALL my vertebrae all the way up my spine and my pelvis was really titled to one side.  I am straight as an arrow now.  I go in three maybe four times a year for readjustment and realignment and I never have trouble standing all day long.  If I do anything like play 36 holes of golf for three days straight I might need an emergency trip to the Doc but otherwise I depend on my maintenance visits to keep me going.  This is not regular bone cracking chiropractor stuff and they HAVE to be proficiency rated in order to know all of how to apply the activator methods.  I saw a guy who was not rated but was a licensed and very well respected Chiropractor in my community who said he knew how to use an activator and I could have done what he did myself.  He was lost...period.  Them having the proficiency rating is the key.  They might ask you for your most recent X rays as well and if you don't have them or a recent MRI you may have to get at a minimum X rays.  I spend about $45.00 a visit.  I would pay allot more if I had too, for how good it has made me feel.  The other thing that has helped me was when I was hurt and off work for over a year...I gained 70 pounds...from 200 to 273.  I am now back down to 225 and still losing until I get back down to my in shape weight of 195-200.  I still benefited from the chiropractors treatment even before I lost weight though...losing the weight just multiplied the benefits and my well-being.  If any of you guys want to email, ICQ or I will give you my cell # if you want to talk about this further.  And...NO, I have no vested interest in chiropractors or this method of treatment other than I want others to get back to feeling how they once did...I can't explain how much better I feel now and I would just like to see others share this feeling cause I KNOW all to well what this chronic back pain crap is like.  

http://www.activator.com/    

 

Chiropractors twice the second one trained in all kinds of different oriental methods, really couldn't seem to do anything, and I would have to lean against my truck some days until I could drive home. Non Surgical spine manipulation or stretching once for around 8weeks. (never again) Acturpunturist once, No telling how many epiderals, injections and tests most which are teribly painful for up to a week. One thorasic surgery, would have had more (thorasic, and lumbar) but they are affaid it will worsen my condition. Not to mention 1 year rehabilitation. Physical theropy at least twice. Last month a double neotomy (burned the nerve area in my thorasic back both sides). This is extreamly painful, may not have any effect for 6 weeks after the last one if any. And just about put me down for a month. I have seen a pain specialist since about 96. Pills still help to a degree without them I would not function at all. I am sure there is more I have done but it didn't work anyway. Not to mention all the wonder gimicks and snakeoils. Most of it depends on the condition, the cause and weather they can pinpoint the problem.

When I went to the last chiropractor he used some sortr of device that made clicking noise between some of the disks that he did try to do something on. He would not twist me or pop anything in any shape form or fashion.  I dont know if it is the same thing as you are talking about.

Muddpuppy-

Yep I have also done everything you can imagine as well just short of any type of surgical procedure.  Over the course of 3-4 years I had two different neurosurgeons, an ortho physician, two different occupational health physicians, four different physical therapists employing at a minimum of no less that 7 different approaches on how to fix me, an acupuncturist who was the real deal born and bread in Japan (this helped other things but not my back), and two chiropractors...and a partridge in a pear tree.  I was dependent on a mixture of neurontin, carisoprodol, vicodin, darvocet, percocet and then ambien or sonata to sleep at night...everyday for the entire 3-4 years.  Although I felt a difference after the first visit or two to the chiropractor it took a week to 10 days before I could drive to the store or just down the road 3-5 miles without pain.  But after that first week to 10 days it was drastically better each visit.  The clicking thing you mentioned sounds like the activator.  But as I said in my previous post, if you look at the website and go to the link that allows you to find a doctor near you and your chiro is not on that list...you might as well let my 5 year old daughter have a shot at your back with her toy doctor kit because she could do no worse than a doc who is employing techniques that he is not trained to do.  If they are not on that list they don't knbow the method to the extent to make it work properly.

At the end of the day Muddpuppy, you could be one of the growing percentages of unfortunate people in the world who do and will have chronic back pain till they either quit moving around altogether or die.  These people are the ones that have tried everything to no avail and had surgery and only found that they are the same or worse as before.  A huge percentage of my wife's patients she sees every week on nonsurgery-clinic days, and she see's around 50+ patients a day...I'd say half of them fall into this chronic category.  My wife gets two to three calls every night 7 days a week for patients having trouble with pain management and wanting something stronger for the pain.  There is only so far you can go with the painkillers though.  This one lady who calls my wife ALLOT is going through 24-30 vicodin or percocet every 24 hours!!!.  Anyway I am sorry nothing has worked for you and it is really unfortunate that you have to live with this crap.  I am only 31, and I have been warned that because I have spinal stenosis (degenerative narrowing of the disk spaces in the lower lumbar spine) that I will be at an exceptionally high risk of re-injury later in life...but less now because I avoided surgery, I have lost 50+ pounds and I work out 6 days a week with special attention being paid to my back muscles and stomach muscles for lumbar support.  I refuse to let my back keep me out of a boat fishing for three years again.  That was the worst three years of my life.

One thing that I was shown that made a drastic improvement on my pain in my leg...I have this huge wallet that has everything you can imagine in it and I carry it in my right back pocket.  I told the doc that I was really benefiting from the treatments but that when I would drive for longer than 10 minutes that I would have pain in my leg and more specifically my calve.  He told me to quit keeping my wallet in my back pocket when driving and it has made a huge difference.  It has to be followed religiously though.  You can't just remember to do it sometimes, it has to be followed everyday, every time you drive, ride or sit in a seat or chair.  The other thing was that my wife acquired an TENS unit for home use(electro-stimulation).  Whenever I am sore I put four of the electrodes on my lower back around the area were the disk is located for about 12-15 minutes with an ice pack on top of the area and it helps after a couple of days.  I think they can be purchased for about $60-$100 dollars.  They really help with the inflammation you get when you have back pain.  Later.

     

On 5/23/2005 at 3:06 PM, davmac said:

Hey there skunk,

   I have the same problem... I fractured 2 vertebrae , right dead center of my back, when I was in the 82 ABN Div.  I have no idea how much $'s I've spent on seats basically  trying to get out cheap. Finally I bought the Tempress Navistyle seat at BPS. ($99).  At the time they  didn't have the Hi-Back version. I ended up buying the Hi-Back this year for my one-man boat  but I actually prefer the low-back better.  I truly wish you the best  with your back, and I wish I could be of more help.  

   I actually took a car seat, from a Chevy Cavalier, (because you can recline those seats) modified it , put it in my Bass Hunter, but it looked like I was sitting on a big ol' throne so i canned that idea.

Okay - the Tempress line seems to genuinely care about backs, and are well constructed. Curious (since I have DJD in my L4/L5) - why you prefer the low back to the high back model? Are you referring to the ProBax Ortho High Back? Pros and cons please.