Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Back Again

One weekend when I was 20, my husband and I were working on the bicycles. I reached over my bike, grabbed the frame, and lifted it to turn it upside down. My lumbar region felt as though it had been blasted by lightning, and I spent the rest of the day flat on my stomach in bed.


That was the moment my back troubles began.

I can go years without having any back pain, and then one day I'll twist or bend funny and WHAM! My back screams at me again.

A couple weeks ago I walked into the bathroom at night to brush my teeth and felt a little twinge in the back of my waist. No big deal. But later that night I felt a few more twinges, so I decided it wasn't a bad idea to get the chiropractic gel-pack out of the freezer and lean against it while I sat in my spot on the loveseat and watched some streaming TV shows on Netflix. Just in case, really.

By morning, though, my back was in full-Psycho mode, and for the first time in the two and a half years at my job, I took a sick day. I spent the day alternating between icing my back and giving the gel-pack a chance to re-freeze. By the next morning, my back had improved to a steady band of lightning across my waist, so I headed off to work with my gel-pack and walked around the office like an old lady.

It's been a slow recovery, but every day has been an improvement over the previous one. Sunday I wore heels to church without any ill effects. (Yay! I hate flats! I feel frumpy when I wear them.) So this week it's heels again at work. Life is good.

But I have a new BFF (sorry, girlfriends!). It's my gel-pack. She and I still hang out together a few times a day. I don't have the courage yet to end that relationship.

3 comments:

Malott said...

I have a similar problem with my neck, and I have missed work twice in the past ten years because it was nearly unbearable to hold my head erect.

Makes you appreciate the times you feel good, doesn't it!

Malott said...

Oh, and you have a nice back. Who took the picture?

gutter cleaning nj said...

With increasing wait back injuries become more common and i am also facing beck problems and i hope we can fix it with some morning walk and some workout.