Back where...

[magid]

Thursday I somehow managed to throw my back out (it was a small turkey, really, much smaller than the weights I've been lifting).

Unlike previous back issues, it hurts to stand, and sitting for very long isn't very comfortable, either (lounging is better, and lying down best of all). At least I've got lots of leftovers to nibble as I reread lots of favorite books, but this isn't quite how I'd wanted to spend my time.
Drugs don't seem to be helping all that much. Heat feels good, but I haven't found a way to apply that at all times....

Dunno if I'll be able to face driving to work Monday, not to mention sitting all day... Gah.

Comments

[geekosaur]

it was a small turkey, really, much smaller than the weights I've been lifting

But it's not so much a question of "how much" as it is of "how", and even of whether you've warmed up for it or not.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I tend to be pretty careful about lifting from the legs, not the back. And a ten-pound turkey is so much lighter (even stuffed) than a 50-lb bag of flour carried for a block and up the stairs... and yet it's the Turkey Day cooking that got me, not the flour shleppage.

At least one friend thinks it may have to do with issues other than the
physical, suggesting I read The Mind-Body Prescription. He well may be right... but I'd rather have something less debilitating, if so.

[gingicat]

I hope things feel better soon.

If you can find a comfortable way to lie on your stomach and read without arching your back, hot damp towels work really well for heat.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I tried hot towels (well, actually, a friend did; many thanks to her, too), which worked, but when the parents visited, they brought something I can either nuke or freeze before putting on my back. I've been using that because it's much more flexible.

(Lying on my back is the most comfortable right now, but it's much harder for me to read, plus I can put heat on my back when I lie on my stomach, so stomach it is :-)

[jwg.livejournal.com]

Have you tried ice instead of heat? 15 minutes at a time.

On your back with your knees raised on a pillow.

That's what works for me and when I used to go to a Chiropractor that is what he recommended. I think the idea is that it shrinks tissues a bit and that places less pressure on nerves.

RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is the term that is often used for this form of therapy.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion. The parents suggested RICE, and I know it's what to do with other injuries; it's just that when I thought about how it would feel, I couldn't face it. I don't know why, it just made me unhappy with the thought of it. Happily, today things seem to be enormously better. Still a bit noticeable, but not painful to the same extent at all.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Apologies for Sounding Like Dad, but have you called a doctor?

[magid.livejournal.com]

The last time I saw a doctor for back pain, I was told to rest and take drugs, and that will be [copay amount] please. Doctors don't know much about backs, other than extreme issues like broken ones or herniated disks, things like that. So, no, I haven't called a doctor.

Hm... Friday I got to hear an earful about certain siblings not going to a doctor....

[cellio]

Ouch. I hope it's feeling better soon.

I've sometimes had success using either heat or cold while lying on my back, with said source of comforting temperature wedged between my back and the chair/mattress. This obviously works better on squishier surfaces or with thinner temperature sources. And if it's wet, of course, you have to be willing to deal with the resulting dampness on the bed etc. But hey, water dries pretty quickly...

[magid.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm over half-way through my workday, and haven't resorted to drugs yet, so I suppose I'm doing ok.

Lying on my back is definitely the best for it; my problem is that I don't sleep on my back, and I'm uncomfortable reading on my back, too. I hadn't tried putting the Bed Buddy [TM] my mom brought me under my back while lying on it, since I don't think it would be thin enough to be comfortable. But perhaps I should double-check that assumption...