Back Pain

TORONTO -- Three days after telling team trainers that his lower back pain had dramatically eased, Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken was forced from yesterday's lineup against the Toronto Blue Jays and seems headed for the disabled list. Ripken will be examined today by a Cleveland orthopedist after a recurrence of the pain. Team officials were careful not to speculate on the extent of Ripken's latest problem, but a club source indicated it is a virtual certainty that Ripken will land on the disabled list for the first time in his 19-year career.

Sherry Brourman, a physical therapist, never suspected her back was out of whack until she had a baby, went dancing a couple weeks later, and suffered a "spondy." Short for spondylolisthesis, that's what happens when spinal vertebrae slip forward."I was in tremendous pain," Brourman says. "A lot of docs suggested surgery."Her response: No thanks.She turned to a colleague, who suggested exercises to strengthen her abdominal muscles, which assist back muscles. As she became stronger, she experimented with ways of walking that kept her back pain at bay.Eventually, the California-based therapist developed a system of gait corrections outlined in her 1998 book, "Walk Yourself Well: Eliminate Back, Neck, Shoulder, Knee, Hip, and Other Structural Pain Forever -- Without Surgery or Drugs" (Hyperion)

The choices are boring exercises for the rest of your life, potentially risky surgery, being stuck with needles, or a butter-soft leather recliner that massages you as it plays soothing music.Who you gonna call?Not your personal trainer or your orthopedic spine surgeon or your acupuncturist.Try JoAnne Schatz.JoAnne Schatz is the owner of a Beltsville-based chain of stores selling back-care products. JoAnne's Bed & Back Shops moved into Timonium and Catonsville last summer, and a third opened in Annapolis a few weeks ago. Schatz, a perky 60-year-old, has discovered -- like many entrepreneurs -- that back pain can be big business.

Facing a potential break point in their off-season renovation, the Orioles have presented free-agent outfielder Brian Jordan with a modified five-year offer worth approximately $40 million, according to sources familiar with talks.The upgrade, representing the most lucrative contract in franchise history, apparently puts the Orioles in a showdown with the Atlanta Braves for the Milford Mill graduate and former Pro Bowl defensive back. While the Orioles have promised Jordan he will inherit center field should he decide upon a return to his hometown, the Braves reportedly have assured him they will meet or beat any offer.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A long season caught up to Lenny Webster last night when a strained trapezius muscle forced the Orioles catcher to be scratched from the starting lineup in favor of Chris Hoiles.Manager Ray Miller was uncertain how long the soreness alongside his neck would prevent Webster from catching, but it is a virtual lock that Charlie Greene will receive his second major-league start this afternoon."I don't know if I slept on it wrong or it was the plane flight, but there's no way I can throw with it this way," said Webster.

Welcome to Fitness Profile, a new feature. Each Sunday we'll tell you about a Baltimore-area resident who inspires others with his or her quest to be more fit. If you know of someone who'd be a good subject, write to: Fitness Profile, Baltimore Sun, Features Department, 501 N. Calvert St., P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore, Md. 21278.About 250,000 men, women and children will hit the golf links around Baltimore this season, and, says Ron Herbst, "Too many of them will end up playing in pain."Many of these duffers have sat idle over the winter, and don't realize how the inactivity has affected them.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Somewhere along the otherwise deserted perimeter of a back field the Iron Man is already counting laps. For 30, sometimes 40 minutes this goes on, beginning around 8 a.m. Practice doesn't begin for another two hours, the day's game more than three hours after that. Taking any morning off isn't an option. Cal Ripken knows rust never sleeps.As punishment for a herniated disk that nearly extinguished his consecutive-games streak last summer, Ripken, 37, has embraced a daily routine that would make many younger men buckle.

I recently wrenched my back, but I can't take anti-inflammatory medicines. An advertisement for a painkiller that contains no drugs or narcotics caught my eye. They say it is as effective as morphine and contains phenylalanine. It sounds like a miracle, but is it really safe and effective?An amino acid, d-phenylalanine, has been shown to relieve acute back pain and might be worth a try for you. It interferes with an enzyme that breaks down the brain's natural pain relievers. Expecting it to work as well as morphine could set you up for disappointment, though.

When abused children die, they never get a chance to tell their stories. We get information from the autopsy and police reports. We hear from neighbors and relatives. But we don't know what their last hours were like. We don't know what went on inside their heads.What were Rita Fisher's last thoughts before she died on June 25? Was she frightened or was she relieved to leave behind such a wretched existence?The picture of her death that emerges from court records and law enforcement officials is truly horrible.

I have had chronic low-back pain, with occasional flare-ups of worse pain, for at least five years. Examinations by my doctor and the tests he ordered have not found a herniated disk or any other obvious cause for the problem. I would be interested in any suggestions you might have to relieve my discomfort.The agency for Health Care Policy and Research has published guidelines for adults with low-back problems. These guidelines describe some common treatments that don't work and some that do and include some advice on how to carry out everyday activities in ways that may help to reduce the recurrence of back pain.