FAQ – frequently asked questions

General information about Hexenschuss-Notruf (Lumbago emergency service)

Hexenschuss-Notruf is Germany’s first emergency service for acute muscular back pain. Even on weekends, we offer you immediate help without injections or painkillers. We come to your home, hotel or office!

We offers you the greatest benefit if you appreciate a quick treatment for acute muscular back pain without painkillers and without injections and have such acute complaints that you cannot leave your home or hotel. Especially in the evenings, on weekends and holidays.

Lumbago therapy is done through manual acupressure, gentle chiropractic and taping. Without painkillers and injections.

Currently, we can offer you home visits in Munich city and in the area of Munich airport. A further journey is possible depending on availability.

Bernhard Schwarz specialises in immediate aid for lumbago without painkillers and injections.

As a licensed naturopath, personal fitness trainer with a focus on prevention and rehabilitation as well as an active paramedic, he has several years of experience in emergency medicine and the treatment of acute muscular complaints. In the last 15 years, he has completed most of his education and training in the field of training, nutrition, manual therapy and chiropractic.

Booking

You can make an appointment every day (including public holidays) around the clock via the callback service or online.

The lumbago treatment in Munich including home visit, examination and treatment takes a total of 2.5 to 3 hours and costs 320 euros. You will receive an invoice for your private health insurance.

Yes, private health insurance companies generally reimburse the costs of treatment in Germany.

Please book your appointment online here and pay for the treatment directly so that it is firmly booked.

Lumbago treatment Preparations

We offer you a treatment for lumbago without medications. Due to a variety of intolerances, allergies and side effects, we recommend avoiding painkillers as much as possible.

We haven’t invented the recipe for the right magic potion for lumbago yet, but we’re working on it.

Relax and take the position that is most comfortable for you. We take care of everything else.

Drink a little more water and exercise lightly so that the metabolism can work well and your muscles are reactivated. In the first few days after our support, you should not make any jerky twisting movements or lateral torso bends. You should avoid rotation and lateral inclination of the upper body with weight.

General informations about lumbago

In lumbago, the back muscles, usually in the lumbar region, tense up abruptly after an event. Less often in the neck or thoracic spine. Often with a twisting and bending movement of the upper body. However, lumbago can also be triggered by a bump, blow, accident and/or unhealed injuries to the musculoskeletal system.

In addition to the word lumbago, other synonyms such as lumbago, lumbar sciatica, lumbar spine syndrome, lumbalgia, sciatica, lumbar syndrome or dorsalgia (thoracic spine) are used in the language. In lumbar sciatica/sciatica, the pain in the lumbar region also radiates to the legs.

The cause of lumbago is usually a crooked ilio-sacral joint (sacroiliac joint or SIJ joint). In some cases, those affected are crooked for months and the body is put under one-sided strain. Even with a difference of a few millimeters, one half of the body takes on more work than the other. At some point, the body has had enough and can no longer compensate for this pelvic obliquity, it responds with pain. The trigger is usually a banal movement, the cause behind it lies somewhat deeper.

The cause is therefore not a one-time lifting that is too heavy or a wrong movement, but rather the tension and imbalances that persist for months or years.

Depending on the area in which lumbago occurs, it can lead to different symptoms. In addition to pain in the thoracic spine, sufferers report breathing difficulties. Since the upper body (more precisely the chest) moves during breathing, this is understandable, because every millimeter of movement simply hurts in the case of lumbago and is very unpleasant. In the case of pain in the cervical spine, painless rotation of the head is often no longer possible.

Especially when driving a car and looking over the shoulder, the lack of mobility is noticeable.

If the acute back pain is in the lumbar region, the strong tension of the buttock muscles can also lead to sciatica pain and discomfort that radiates into the thighs or legs.

Lumbago occurs more frequently when digging, transplanting or building a house in the garden. Even with a lengthy renovation of the home, acute back pain often occurs. Those affected, who otherwise work a lot in the office, can quickly overload their trunk muscles due to the often physically heavy work in unfavorable positions (for example, working overhead for days because a ceiling has to be renovated).

As already written, trauma or unhealed muscles or joints after surgery can also lead to imbalances in the musculoskeletal system and thus to lumbago.

Other factors that promote lumbago are: Little exercise, one-sided competitive sports, poor diet, stress, worries and problems, weak back and/or abdominal muscles or an incorrect ratio of muscles to each other, wrong lying (wrong mattress) or wrong sitting (wallet in your pocket and constantly sitting crookedly), wrong shoe insoles. As you can see, there are many influencing factors.

In lumbago, the muscles usually tense up abruptly in the lower back after an event. Often with a twisting and bending movement of the upper body. In the case of a herniated disc, the intervertebral disc protrudes between the vertebral bodies backwards or sideways. In rare cases, even forwards. The protrusion of the disc is called protrusion and a herniated disc, prolapse. Whether you have a protrusion or a prolapse, a doctor can tell you after a detailed examination, for example through an imaging procedure such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Yes, in principle, of course, you can fly with lumbago, even if it is unpleasant. If you are flying from Munich, a personal treatment directly at the airport could help you. Alternatively, you can also use the self-help course or an online consultation if you are already on the road.

In most cases, lateral flexion and rotation of the spine are very painful. For example, if you get up from lying down, we recommend that you stand up over your side and use your arms and legs for support. Furthermore, one-sided carrying of objects is often problematic. It is better to wear it with both arms in front of your body.

Stretching exercises can make lumbago extremely worse. This has already been the case with Bernhard Schwarz and some of his patients. Since the muscles are usually already very tense, stretching often does not bring you any relief from the symptoms. Strengthening the tense muscles is the better option after the treatment.

The three main symptoms (red flags) to visit a neurosurgical emergency room now

Located in the lower back, the ponytail (Latin from cauda equina) is a collection of nerves that look similar to a ponytail. The compression of these nerves can lead to breech anesthesia, a sensory disorder of the gluteal and thigh muscles. So if you feel a tingling or pins running on your buttocks or thighs, you need to see them immediately in a neurosurgical emergency room! Ideally, it takes less than 12 hours from the first appearance of symptoms to treatment. If the symptoms persist for more than 24 hours, permanent damage may occur.

In the event of uncontrolled leakage of urine or stool, nerves may be acutely affected and endangered by a herniated disc. Acute urinary retention may also occur. You want to, but can no longer urinate. This is the second of the three signs to seek clinical clarification as soon as possible.

If you notice signs of paralysis and numbness or suffer from loss of strength, we ask you to arrange for a radiological examination immediately. Reflexes such as the Achilles tendon or patellar tendon reflex (kneecap) may be attenuated or absent altogether.

Other diseases and functional limitations of the spine

Have you recently had a fall or an accident. Sometimes even the smallest fractures remain undetected for a long time, which can later lead to pain and restricted movement. If you are unsure and manual therapy or chiropractic does not have the desired effect, consider a (re)radiological examination and the exclusion of a fracture.

Also known as juvenile kyphosis, it leads to a strong hunchback (hyperkyphosis) due to collapse of the cover and bottom plates of the thoracic vertebrae. The anterior areas of the vertebral plates show increasing deformity, which leads to wedge-shaped malgrowth (wedge vertebrae).

A chronic systemic disease of the spine. Above all, the small vertebral joints, as well as the sacroiliac joint, are affected. As a result of intermittent inflammation, atrophy (tissue loss) of the articular cartilage occurs and then a bony build-up of the vertebral joints. Intervertebral discs and ligaments are also affected. Nocturnal back pain in the lumbar spine and morning stiffness can be a symptom of ankylosing spondylitis. This disease should be considered especially if the mattress is adapted to one’s own body, muscular tension can be ruled out, there are already suspected cases or cases of illness in the family (familial predisposition) and one feels exhausted for a few weeks after getting up. Breath-dependent chest pain, as well as Achilles tendon and heel pain may occur concomitantly.

Scoliosis is a pathological (pathological) lateral S-shaped curvature of the spine, which can also cause rotation of the vertebral bodies. In the case of flexion (a bend forward), the rib hump is created. In the case of mild scoliosis, this is not necessarily recognizable at first glance to the layman.

Chronic degenerative change leads to narrowing of the spinal canal and intervertebral holes.

Abnormal loss of bone density beyond the usual age. There is a disorder of bone metabolism that is accompanied by increased degradation and loss of bone substance, bone structure and bone function. Women after the age of 50 are particularly affected. Estrogen deficiency, lack of vitamin D and calcium, as well as underweight and immobilization are factors that promote osteoporosis. In addition, prolonged use of cortisone or repeated administration of cortisone injections can lead to osteoporosis and spontaneous fractures.

There is the congenital and the acquired form, for example, as a result of an accident. In acute discomfort caused by spondylosisthesis, chiropractic treatment is contraindicated and should not be performed. One of the most important measures is the targeted training of the trunk muscles in order to fix the affected vertebrae, ligaments and tendons as much as possible.

Rare causes (but possible)

In the case of deep-seated pain, especially in men over the age of 60, skeletal metastases in prostate cancer should be considered. In women, breast cancer (breast cancer) can cause back pain. In case of suspicion, a further examination, including blood sampling and laboratory diagnostics, should be arranged by a specialist.

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Lumbago, lumboischialgia or sciatic nerve is pinched?

Hexenschuss-Notruf (Lumbago emergency service) is Germany’s first emergency service for acute muscular back pain. Especially on weekends, we offer you immediate help without injections or painkillers as a private patient or self-payer in Munich or around the Munich airport.

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