|
Post by htmb on Nov 1, 2012 2:22:18 GMT
I've had periodic problems with my lower back for the past twenty-four years relating to an accident when I fell on a slick wooden dock while carrying a brand new baby. From time to time I will have flare-ups related usually to some sort of strain. I had sciatica for a few years with nerve pain radiating all the way down my left hip, but that pretty much cleared up several months ago after lots ofexercise and good massage.
Usually exercise, mainly yoga, helps me to keep my joints flexible and muscles strong, but tonight I did something really dumb. It's been very chilly here this week, which is pretty bizarre in itself, and I just didn't think about how stiff and cold my muscles were before jumping into the advanced yoga class I take on Wednesday nights. I should have warmed up a bit first, but the parking lot was crowned due to a Halloween gathering for little kids in the same area as my gym. I barely found a place to park in time, rushed into class, set up, began the yoga routine and RIPPPP, the right side of my lower back felt like little fibers had just pulled apart. I tried to work through it, and it did seem to get better for awhile. When it later appeared to be getting worse and became too painful, I stopped the regular stuff and did some basic and simpe stretches for the rest of class.
So now I'm home, totally stiff on the right side of my lower back. I've taken an anti-inflammatory, used an ice pack for awhile and have also prescribed a small glass off red wine. Hopefully, it will be all better in the morning.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2012 6:19:43 GMT
Ouch, I hope it gets better quickly. I get very annoyed now with the passing years that I can't do a full and complete stretch (such as we admire cats doing when they get up) without risking pulling something somewhere. So I have to make do with a 75% stretch.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Nov 1, 2012 12:11:21 GMT
Thanks, Kerouac. Fortunately, my back is a lot better this morning. It doesn't seem like I've done anything to debilitating. I just need to give it a little TLC over the next couple of days.
I'm still very flexible, though nothing like I was when I was younger. I can bend forward and put my hands flat on the floor while standing with straight legs; I just can't do it without warming up first or I will pay for it later. I also need to stretch regularly, which I tend not to do when I travel. I get lots of walking in, but none of the rest. The idea of "use it or lose it" is becoming even more meaningful as I get older.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2012 19:03:29 GMT
I have chronic lower back problems HTMB and I still do the same exercises and yoga (although, not as religiously as I used to). ICE ICE ICE!!!! Before and most especially after any strenuous exercise the physiotherapist drilled in me. I discovered way later in adulthood that I do have some scoliosis curvature of the back but, it has never dramatically interfered. My problems are largely due to bone headed body mechanic lifting all the years I've gardened and too much enthusiastic dancing while under the influence in my younger years....ah, those were the days....... I hope you find some relief soon. Do continue with the yoga and swim if you can. And, ICE!!!
|
|
|
Post by mossie on Nov 1, 2012 19:42:25 GMT
I know the feeling. (That is all I can do now, remember ;D ;D) Just hope there is no lasting damage. I had to wear a corset with steel straps each side of the lower spine for a while. That did more harm than good because it weakened the muscles and I spent years doing exercises to strengthen them again. Still have to get down to the exercises occasionally when the back plays up.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Nov 2, 2012 0:27:45 GMT
Yes, casimira and Mossie, ice and proper exercise is definitely the key to a healthy back. Funny, it hasn't bothered me too much today except during the middle of the day when I sat next to the former Mr. at a funeral for the mother of an old friend. Hurt like the dickens hell then. Tonight it's not so bad. I am sure it will be just fine and was a good reminder that I'd better be more faithful about working out.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Nov 2, 2012 0:29:14 GMT
I know the feeling. (That is all I can do now, remember ;D ;D) Just hope there is no lasting damage. I had to wear a corset with steel straps each side of the lower spine for a while. That did more harm than good because it weakened the muscles and I spent years doing exercises to strengthen them again. Still have to get down to the exercises occasionally when the back plays up. Gosh, Mossie, that sounds like brutal torture!
|
|
|
Post by mossie on Nov 2, 2012 8:24:39 GMT
It is like being married . You get used to it.
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 2, 2012 17:28:47 GMT
ow...ow....ow
Sympathy htmb... Kerouac is absolutely spot on!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2012 13:43:21 GMT
Hoping your back is better HTMB!
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Nov 9, 2012 14:02:40 GMT
Thank you for asking, casimira. Am back to normal. I just need to remember I'm not thirty anymore. ;D
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2012 18:22:44 GMT
Thank you for asking, casimira. Am back to normal. I just need to remember I'm not thirty anymore. ;D Here, we say "back to abnormal" ....Good to know HTMB. Keep up with the yoga and icing.... I have seem way too many women and men' let themselves go' and there's no reason for it... You're only as young as you feel, and, it does take work...but, it doesn't have to be miserable either. I wouldn't want to be thirty again anyway,maybe, have the body of, but beyond that, .....nah.................
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Nov 9, 2012 20:45:48 GMT
Watch out, casimira. Only one more year to go before you're my age.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2012 21:35:27 GMT
Thanks. I like to think I'm pretty well disciplined at this point in my life and other than slowing down a bit I'm in pretty good shape. For me, yoga, cycling,gardening,walking, taking care of young children is not work for me, it's what I enjoy doing,and I've never really been a big eater and I don't smoke or drink. I do have high cholesterol but take medicine for it and my numbers have been good the last year or two.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Nov 11, 2012 3:20:38 GMT
Sounds like you are doing all the right things!
|
|
|
Post by mossie on Nov 11, 2012 17:49:27 GMT
Thank you for asking, casimira. Am back to normal. I just need to remember I'm not thirty anymore. ;D You're only as young as you feel, and, it does take work...but, it doesn't have to be miserable either. The song I remember goes "You're as young as the woman you feel" Coat time
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Nov 11, 2012 18:01:18 GMT
Maybe that should go in the "bad jokes that have a lot of truth to them" section, Mossie. ;D
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Aug 1, 2013 19:42:34 GMT
In my head I hear myself saying "STUPID, STUPID, STUPID."
Why didn't I tell my work colleague that, even though I COULD lift the box full of paper off the floor, it's not something I SHOULD be doing!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2013 20:18:50 GMT
They keep telling me not to pick up my mother by myself (65 kilos). And yet I do it every day.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Aug 1, 2013 21:34:41 GMT
That is a lot of weight for you to be lifting, but you must be really strong and have a good back.
My paper box only weighted about 15 kilos, had no place to get a proper grip, and was on the floor. Every time I do something stupid like that it aggravates an old injury, which I tend to forget about most of the time.
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Aug 3, 2013 12:36:04 GMT
i guess against all that the 7.5 kg i lift all the time are nothing. though i do feel it in my back overtime (fortunately mr. r. gave me a massage yesterday!)
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2013 18:23:13 GMT
Well it happened again. Woke up on the weekend unable to sit up or turn over without teeth-clenching pain. And you know what it was? My neck! Does anyone else wake up with their cervical spine (upper back to skull) in a state? I keep thinking that I must be dreaming something fierce. Either that, or what I read about migraines is true: if you've had them for many years, the body knows they're coming and the muscles of the neck and head grip for the onslaught. These days, my neck takes all the crap. But that's part of the back, right? Grrr.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2013 18:37:30 GMT
I am super lucky to have had extremely few neck or back problems in my life (I think I missed only 2 or 3 days work during my entire career due to a backache, while other colleagues were regularly out of work 2 or 3 days at a time.).
I have had a few neck aches in my life but the one that I remember the most was when I was on holiday. I'm not sure, but I think it was in Indonesia where I suffered for almost 2 weeks out of my 3 week trip trying to take pictures. I had to contort myself into the most incredible positions to get a photo since I couldn't look up normally and so many of the pictures that one takes are on a higher level. It was agony.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Aug 13, 2013 19:40:52 GMT
Hope things get better soon, Lizzy. A series of good massages were always what helped my neck issues the best. It was where I used to hold my stress.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 2, 2015 0:39:54 GMT
I'm reading over this thread, though I don't know whether I have back strain, I have been experiencing nagging lower back pain, which I haven't had in years. I haven't been working particular long hours; I was doing some strange lifting before, during and after the housepainting and installation of a new kitchen floor (returning all the objects to their proper place, and some needed decluttering).
It is New Year's Day so I can't go out and buy some ibuprofen (all the pharmacies nearby are closed).
My cat can still do a full back stretch upon waking up, though he is relatively much older than I am.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 2, 2015 3:38:29 GMT
Ice! If you've got ice, or something else frozen, put it on the affected area for awhile. Sometimes it helps even more than ibuprofen.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 2, 2015 16:22:21 GMT
I guess I could just flop out on the snow on my balcony. The thought of ice right now is torture; I'm freezing. I went to bed early and fortunately slept very well, under warm covers and with cat at feet. I wonder if any kind of gentle stretching exercise might help?
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 2, 2015 16:33:33 GMT
Stretching usually helps me, Lagatta, but it will also depend on your injury.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2015 18:41:30 GMT
The nursing home staff constantly chastise me for picking up my mother, who is not a feather.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 2, 2015 18:52:51 GMT
Well, then they should be better attending to her needs. Yes, of course I know they are probably understaffed and overworked.
|
|