The queen of weird injuries strikes again
Why is my superpower the ability to hurt myself in strange ways? Why?
This week's episode: How I hurt my back.
(And mind you, I've been going through old camp pictures recently, and I found some from when I hurt myself clapping. Like, in several different ways, but the obvious one was hyperextending my wrist. I'm wearing an Ace bandage at the bonfire. Good job, me.)
So here I am, I have the week off, and I've ended up being super lazy. I had things I wanted to do, and I did do some of them, but some of my little projects didn't get written down and therefore didn't happen. No biggie. It was nice to have a somewhat relaxing week. ...Maybe too relaxing.
When I wasn't busy dealing with my car, or randomly cleaning the house (because I didn't have anyone over...shh...), or hanging around outside, I was probably attempting to surf the internet while lying awkwardly on my bed. I know it's not good for me, but whatever. It's comfortable in the moment. I'm getting older, and I can tell that I should *probably* sit somewhat properly when I do these things, but when it is vacation and you are feeling lazy, you don't really care. Until you go to get up on Friday evening and you feel that awkward feeling where your legs are sort of unhappy with what you've just done, but normally they return to normal in a minute or so, except not this time. This time, it's your back, reminding you that you are 45 and it gets unhappy pretty easily, and ever since then (going on 48 hours at this point) you felt like that time when you were shoveling and you felt a *ping!* and your back took two weeks to feel normal again. (See hips don't lie, volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4; there's more if you want to look at my January 2022 posts.)
It's my left side again specifically. I don't think I slipped a disc, and thankfully it is not nearly as bad as it was back then, but it's similar. It feels like my back is just really tight. I've tried to do some back exercises where I move one leg off to the side while the other is bent in front of me, foot on the floor, and my legs won't touch the floor. Sitting has been kind of painful. I was doing something Friday night, trying to sit in my chair, and I had to get up a couple times because it was just that uncomfortable. I had plans with Laura yesterday (that post will come soon) and I texted her to warn her, uh, I'm not sure I can handle the car ride. That for the most part ended up okay, though by the end of the ride to where we were going--which was epic in and of itself--I was getting mighty uncomfortable. We all were, for various reasons.
At least walking and standing aren't so bad, though toward the end of my practice session today--which was SO LONG OMG WE HAVE TO CUT SOME OF THESE MARCHES--my lower back was feeling compressed. I thought about grabbing a stool but left it alone. Sitting in my chair for too long is also not ideal as there's almost no cushioning in general--it's an old desk chair with wheels--and while I have an old pillow on it, it's not enough for me right now. I'm currently sitting on the floor, which...no, it's not more cushioned, but I just needed a different surface for a bit.
Every so often I'll have a muscle spasm which makes me gasp, but so long as I move slowly and deliberately, I'm okay. But I'm really upset with myself for getting this hurt by something so stupid and innocuous. At least it was on Friday? And I've had a couple days to get a little better before I go back to work tomorrow? I'll have to warn everybody that I broke myself. At least they've seen it before so they know to be gentle with me.
This week's episode: How I hurt my back.
(And mind you, I've been going through old camp pictures recently, and I found some from when I hurt myself clapping. Like, in several different ways, but the obvious one was hyperextending my wrist. I'm wearing an Ace bandage at the bonfire. Good job, me.)
So here I am, I have the week off, and I've ended up being super lazy. I had things I wanted to do, and I did do some of them, but some of my little projects didn't get written down and therefore didn't happen. No biggie. It was nice to have a somewhat relaxing week. ...Maybe too relaxing.
When I wasn't busy dealing with my car, or randomly cleaning the house (because I didn't have anyone over...shh...), or hanging around outside, I was probably attempting to surf the internet while lying awkwardly on my bed. I know it's not good for me, but whatever. It's comfortable in the moment. I'm getting older, and I can tell that I should *probably* sit somewhat properly when I do these things, but when it is vacation and you are feeling lazy, you don't really care. Until you go to get up on Friday evening and you feel that awkward feeling where your legs are sort of unhappy with what you've just done, but normally they return to normal in a minute or so, except not this time. This time, it's your back, reminding you that you are 45 and it gets unhappy pretty easily, and ever since then (going on 48 hours at this point) you felt like that time when you were shoveling and you felt a *ping!* and your back took two weeks to feel normal again. (See hips don't lie, volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4; there's more if you want to look at my January 2022 posts.)
It's my left side again specifically. I don't think I slipped a disc, and thankfully it is not nearly as bad as it was back then, but it's similar. It feels like my back is just really tight. I've tried to do some back exercises where I move one leg off to the side while the other is bent in front of me, foot on the floor, and my legs won't touch the floor. Sitting has been kind of painful. I was doing something Friday night, trying to sit in my chair, and I had to get up a couple times because it was just that uncomfortable. I had plans with Laura yesterday (that post will come soon) and I texted her to warn her, uh, I'm not sure I can handle the car ride. That for the most part ended up okay, though by the end of the ride to where we were going--which was epic in and of itself--I was getting mighty uncomfortable. We all were, for various reasons.
At least walking and standing aren't so bad, though toward the end of my practice session today--which was SO LONG OMG WE HAVE TO CUT SOME OF THESE MARCHES--my lower back was feeling compressed. I thought about grabbing a stool but left it alone. Sitting in my chair for too long is also not ideal as there's almost no cushioning in general--it's an old desk chair with wheels--and while I have an old pillow on it, it's not enough for me right now. I'm currently sitting on the floor, which...no, it's not more cushioned, but I just needed a different surface for a bit.
Every so often I'll have a muscle spasm which makes me gasp, but so long as I move slowly and deliberately, I'm okay. But I'm really upset with myself for getting this hurt by something so stupid and innocuous. At least it was on Friday? And I've had a couple days to get a little better before I go back to work tomorrow? I'll have to warn everybody that I broke myself. At least they've seen it before so they know to be gentle with me.