Tag Archives: back

5 things I have learned while having a sore back

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Early Saturday morning I managed to hurt my back in the most pathetic method known to mankind. I was painting my toenails, twisted a little and POP! Instant pain. I knew this girly business of makeup and nail polish was overrated!

As a result, I missed out on a Hen’s party that night since I was hunched over like a grandma (with a dirtier mouth), and I wouldn’t have been much fun. The entire weekend was spent pretty much doing nothing, and I don’t do well doing nothing. Thankfully C was home to keep me entertained, otherwise I think I would have ripped my hair out. As it was, I did end up plucking a bit of hair out, but not from me. My black dog had managed to get some white hairs, and they were bugging me.

Please don’t call PETA.

During the weekend, I got the chance to learn some things that had never been quite apparent to me before now.

  • Despite having a sore back, our couch is still amazingly comfortable
  • The toilet is not
  • It’s amazing how heavy a frying pan or laptop can be when it hurts to stand straight
  • It’s amazing how much of a pussy you feel when you realise you just thought the frying pan was heavy
  • It’s not fun explaining to people that you hurt your back from painting your toenails. I’ve made a mental note that in the future I will  be telling people I hurt myself jumping out of a plane while wrestling a great white shark with my feet. Oh yeah, hardcore (I will also leave it up to people to figure out how a great white came to be in the sky).

What’s the silliest injury you’ve ever had?

Hurting yet again

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I am writing this from the floor of our unit, where I lay with an ice pack on the curve of my lower back. Once again, I have managed to hurt myself.

I blame it on the hotel room bed where Mat and I slept following my Christmas work party. I awoke that morning with a sore lower back (having a spa didn’t fix it, but at least the spa was nice) and despite stretching it every hour the pain never went away. Then later that night I simply stepped the wrong way and boom, back pain extending down my leg to my knee. Not good.

A visit to the Chiro this morning and I was finally able to stand up straight again. The pain hasn’t gone away, but at least I’m vertical. My instructions are to keep icing it for 10mins on, 10mins off for an hour. I have been doing it for longer since the ice makes my back feel good.

It’s annoying though. My friends have pointed out I’m the most injured person they know, and I’m still young. It’s a valid point though; I’m going to be screwed when I get older and my bones deteriorate.

I also have a family Christmas function on tomorrow which I was really hoping to attend. I guess I will see how it goes.

I hope you’re all having a better weekend than I am!

Latest injury – scoliosis

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spine.jpgFor a long time now I’ve been getting the odd headache and migraine, and more commonly just a really stiff neck, particular at the base of my skull. One of my new years resolutions was to go to the chiro and get this sorted out, which I’ve done *crosses it off the list*

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) the Chiro determined I had a few discs in my spine out of alignment at the top of my neck (under the skull where the stiffness was), and also mild scoliosis. She sent me for xrays to be safe, and to determine exactly what was going on. Thankfully it turned out to be nowhere near as bad as the image on the wikipedia page for scoliosis although I was still going to need some treatment to help loosen up all the stiff muscles etc. A picture of my xray is on the left – imagine that what you’re seeing is meant to be straight, and you’ll immediately see the difference.

When she first did her examinations, the Chiro pressed lightly on a spot at the top of my neck which almost made me cry out in pain. She confirmed that was one of the troublesome bones. She has cracked the centre of my back where all the discs are tightened up, and also my neck to loosen it. She then used this cool contraption which she likened to “a small punch” to help push the discs into their correct position. Both times I’ve had this done now, I get a feeling of bulging eyes for about half an hour after treatment, its quite bizarre. After the first appointment, I stupidly cracked my neck by habit that night and immediately got a headache, so was pretty sure I’d put the disc out of alignment again. I had my last treatment almost 48 hours ago, and have been extremely focused on not cracking my neck. It’s amazing how much of a habit it’s become – I’ve stopped myself on at least 3 or 4 occasions today alone!

It looks like I’ll be visiting the Chiro twice a week for a while to sort out my issues. I’ve also started to take up yoga as a way to “strengthen my core”, and increase the flexibility in my spine. Hopefully all of this combined will prevent any more issues for the future, and at the same time increase my level of fitness. That will be really handy when combined with the fact the netball superleague season has just started, so hopefully I won’t be putting my back under too much pressure every game. Anyways, I’ll keep you posted on my progress to see how it all works out, but I can just say – THANK GOD FOR HEALTH INSURANCE.