Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Oh My Aching Back...

I have had back problems for many years.  It started when I was just a teenager.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  We were sitting at the kitchen table and I sneezed.  Something in my lower back snapped and I was in pain for a few days; difficulty standing from a sitting position and breathing actually hurt.



Fast forward to 1994 right after my daughter was born.  Oh my goodness, the pain.  Shooting down my legs and nothing I did or didn’t do seemed to make a difference.  That was the first time I went to a chiropractor.  Dr. Bennett is a very nice man and he tried his best to get my lower back to crack to no avail.  It’s almost like it gets inflamed and swollen and the vertebrae compress and pinch a nerve or something.
Eventually the pain went away and I was back to about 95% of my old self.  If you have back problems, you know you are never 100% again.
So here it is 2013 and I've had about a dozen more backaches.  I’ve been to see doctors, specialists, chiropractors, and surgeons.  I’ve had x-rays and MRI’s.  I’ve done physical therapy – twice.  Nothing seems to help.  It just comes out of nowhere and it leaves just as easily.  When I have an episode, I try to rest and take muscle relaxers and pain pills.  I’m not sure if they actually help with the pain but they do make me very tired so I sleep through it.  In a few days, or a week, I’m back to about 90% of my old self. 

I can sympathize with anyone who has back pain; it is excruciating.  The back is one those body parts that you use no matter what you are doing.  Just this morning I drove my son to school and I had a hard time turning my head to check for traffic.  When you turn your head it pulls your back muscles and it hurts.  Picking up my leg to put on my boot hurt my back so badly.  Just rolling over in bed makes me want to cry.
So I’m at home today, trying to rest and get back to about 85% of my old self.  Each time I have an episode, it seems to chip away a little bit more of me. 

Take care,
R. K. Avery
@RKAvery1

 

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