Back blog day 2: Downess
I couldn't get comfortable last night, and I woke up really stiff and painful. I had planned to wake up feeling great after doing some exercise and research yesterday. Nope. I had charged up my Garmin and so took that for my walk. I kept my pace under 13 minutes per mile for almost four miles, but I could feel my back for some it. I wouldn't say it hurt, exactly. More just made me aware that it wasn't feeling great.
When got back to the house, I decided to sit on the sidewalk and stretch and let my body stop sweating, but as I was trying to get down to the sidewalk, I realized I couldn't. How did I get so old and immobile? So I decided not to do the Fitness Blender workout I had planned but instead try the 30 Minutes for a Healthy Back video I checked out from the library. I had found the Fitness Blender videos a little frustrating and depressing because I couldn't do so many of the moves even in the easy and low-impact workouts. I figured a video for back pain sufferers would not be that way. I quit in tears after I couldn't do the second exercise. It was called, I think, "airplanes." It involves bending at the waist so that the torso is horizontal with the floor and with one arm extended also horizontal with the floor. The same-side leg is extended backwards. The modification for really hurt people was not to lift the leg. I couldn't even do that. I couldn't bend at all, just as I could not yesterday. I decided to take my shower instead.
Even as I was getting breakfast ready, my back was reminding me that it didn't feel good. Pain is almost too strong of a word for what I feel most of the time. Yesterday, Dr. Patel asked me, "So are you in pain right now, sitting here?" I wasn't. And when I was standing in the shower, I asked the same thing. No. It's only when I'm moving or trying to sleep. Unfortunately, it's most movements, and I like to move. I'm also really tired. I wish my doctor's appointment was sooner.
**I've been sidelined by some weird dizziness. I'm going to try to finish this post, though.
I started reading Ending Back Pain by Jack Stern, M.D., Ph.D. I meant to skim, like I did yesterday, but I think I might want to read this whole book. It seems more like a system for finding out your own back diagnosis and treatment being your own advocate. I printed out and took the questionnaire about my back and also found the following points:
-back pain is so widespread and encompasses such a wide variety of issues that even doctors are annoyed by it. You need to find not a specialist, in case that specialty isn't the answer (as seems to be my case,) but a generalist.
-this author has a website (www.drjackstern.com) and provides second opinions. Probably terribly expensive (I haven't checked it out,) but it's something else to keep in my back pocket.
-Even when you have a back condition visible on x-ray or MRI (which is the for almost everyone over 30--even people who are not in pain), "Back pain may actually not be coming from the back. A study of 368 back pain patients published in the journal Spine in 2009 found that a full 35 percent experienced back pain from unknown or so-called non-spinal pain generators" (17). Hence, the need for a generalist who will look at EVERYTHING. The list he includes encompasses "benign and malignant tumors, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, kidney infections, kidney/gallstones, aortic aneurysms, depression (!!), Lyme disease, vitamin D deficiency, and shingles" (17).
When got back to the house, I decided to sit on the sidewalk and stretch and let my body stop sweating, but as I was trying to get down to the sidewalk, I realized I couldn't. How did I get so old and immobile? So I decided not to do the Fitness Blender workout I had planned but instead try the 30 Minutes for a Healthy Back video I checked out from the library. I had found the Fitness Blender videos a little frustrating and depressing because I couldn't do so many of the moves even in the easy and low-impact workouts. I figured a video for back pain sufferers would not be that way. I quit in tears after I couldn't do the second exercise. It was called, I think, "airplanes." It involves bending at the waist so that the torso is horizontal with the floor and with one arm extended also horizontal with the floor. The same-side leg is extended backwards. The modification for really hurt people was not to lift the leg. I couldn't even do that. I couldn't bend at all, just as I could not yesterday. I decided to take my shower instead.
Even as I was getting breakfast ready, my back was reminding me that it didn't feel good. Pain is almost too strong of a word for what I feel most of the time. Yesterday, Dr. Patel asked me, "So are you in pain right now, sitting here?" I wasn't. And when I was standing in the shower, I asked the same thing. No. It's only when I'm moving or trying to sleep. Unfortunately, it's most movements, and I like to move. I'm also really tired. I wish my doctor's appointment was sooner.
**I've been sidelined by some weird dizziness. I'm going to try to finish this post, though.
I started reading Ending Back Pain by Jack Stern, M.D., Ph.D. I meant to skim, like I did yesterday, but I think I might want to read this whole book. It seems more like a system for finding out your own back diagnosis and treatment being your own advocate. I printed out and took the questionnaire about my back and also found the following points:
-back pain is so widespread and encompasses such a wide variety of issues that even doctors are annoyed by it. You need to find not a specialist, in case that specialty isn't the answer (as seems to be my case,) but a generalist.
-this author has a website (www.drjackstern.com) and provides second opinions. Probably terribly expensive (I haven't checked it out,) but it's something else to keep in my back pocket.
-Even when you have a back condition visible on x-ray or MRI (which is the for almost everyone over 30--even people who are not in pain), "Back pain may actually not be coming from the back. A study of 368 back pain patients published in the journal Spine in 2009 found that a full 35 percent experienced back pain from unknown or so-called non-spinal pain generators" (17). Hence, the need for a generalist who will look at EVERYTHING. The list he includes encompasses "benign and malignant tumors, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, kidney infections, kidney/gallstones, aortic aneurysms, depression (!!), Lyme disease, vitamin D deficiency, and shingles" (17).