backpain log
Apr. 17th, 2006 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lobelia321I am back from Germany. Hello! :-)
However, the first thing I want to do before commenting or reading or having online fun of any kind is to make a brief log of my back pain troubles. It is mainly for my own record so that I can Memory it and refer to it in future because it is easy to forget the details. So feel free to scroll on by this rather boring medical report.
The back pain had three stages.
Stage 1: Happened on a Thursday or Friday (?). I did yoga Salute to the Sun without warm-up exercises. I felt a twinge, especially when in Dog. In retrospect, I should have started to take great care then.
Stage 2: I went to a 3-day conference in Leeds. I took the small pull-along suitcase. The wheels were a bit wobbly so sometimes it toppled and had to be righted. I twisted around to pull it along. I walked to the train station with it from home. In the train, I lifted it up to the luggage rack. In Leeds, I walked up a long hill to my B&B. I also carried the bag up a steep staircase to my room. In retrospect, I should have purchased a new and better suitcase that rolled properly, taken a taxi to the train station and a taxi to the B&B, and got the B&B proprietor to carry the bag for me.
I woke up the first morning of the conference and felt a dull back ache. I lay on the floor flat. At one point, I couldn't stretch my arms above my head. Standing and sitting at the conference all day did not help. The first day I walked all the way to the venue, 40 minutes, this did not feel good. In retrospect, I should have taken a taxi everywhere and taken great care, walked about slowly, stood at the back of lectures, not gone to every session.
After my return, I went to another one-day conference on Saturday, this time with no luggage. But it already felt quite strenuous sitting upright. In retrospect, I should have cancelled this date and in fact, in future, I must remember never to schedule two appointments like this back to back.
Stage 3: I woke up on the Sunday morning in acute pain. It took me ages to get up out of bed, and I had pain spasms where it felt as if my whole back was cramping up into stiffness. I rang the duty doctor who advised taking ibuprofen and paracetamol. I spent the day having fun online standing up. This was probably okay; I should have taken more painkillers, though.
On the Monday morning, I went to the osteopath. This, in retrospect, did not help. In future, I will not go there again; it was not the right thing to do for me. I had to lie down which was painful, and turn over which was painful. She did, however, locate the pain further up than I had initially thought, at the juncture between lumbar and thoracic vertebrae.
I think in this situation, it is not a good idea to do anything that causes pain. It is not the kind of thing where you grit your teeth and bear it (as in childbirth). The more pain I felt the more tense I got, and this caused a vicious circle of not being able to relax and making the pain spasms worse, and finally just going into a pain spasm out of fear of having one. It was most difficult getting up from a sitting or lying position (the worst was in the mornings, going to the loo in the morning was also bad).
On Monday afternoon, I went round town with the children, buying presents for my sister's family. This was not a good idea. In future: do all present buying a week in advance! Or get them delivered online.
On Monday evening, I lay down, propped on cushions on my side, to watch Main Hoon Na. This was great and took my mind off things. In retrospect, I should not have staid in one position for so long without sufficient painkillers. I could barely get up after this, I just made it into the living room where I collapsed on the floor. The pain did not go away, either. This was very bad. Up till then, a change of positon would alleviate the pain. But I ended up being stuck on the floor for close to an hour, frightened to move. A neighbour came by which was wonderful beause I was worried about the children getting spooked. Finally, the emergency doctor came, asked me to lean forwards and sideways and prescribed lots of ibuprofen and codeine. He suggested taking 3 times a day: 1 ibuprofen, 2 paracetamol, 1 codeine. If needed: one valium. I never took the valium.
On Tuesday morning, I got a walking stick. This was very helpful.
On Tuesday afternoon, we drove to Stansted and flew to Germany. The car journey was unpleasant; worst were the speed bumps and any sharp turns. My back felt like wobbly jelly.
On Wednesday afternoon, I went to an Orthopaede in Germany. This was a very bad day. He made me lie down and turn around and lie on my stomach; all of this was very painful. He located the exact spot of pain: to the right of the spine, at the juncture between lumbar and thoracic, about half-way up my spine. He did some stretching which was not painful. He injected some local anaesthetic (thearin) into the spot of pain. He bent back my ankle which, upon consultation of a health book at my sister's, I discovered was a test for sciatica. I did not have sciatica but he could not provide a diagnosis. The X-rays he did showed that there was nothing wrong with the bones but that my posture was very bent, but he said this was schmerzbedingt. He advised relaxation and moving about 'as normal'. (Yeah, right.) He changed the dosis of my medication to 3 x ibuprofen a day (of which up to two could be a double dose), 1 paracetamol, 1 codeine if I wanted, a valium when needed (he said it does not send all people to sleep).
On late Wednesday afternoon, my mother arrived who knows how to do foot masssage / reflexology. She found a spot on my right foot, corresponding to the pain in my back, and she massaged that spot. There was a sensation as if I had a small plastic strip inserted into my foot at that point, and her thumb kept zwirbling and knirsching across it. She could hear it 'click'. She did this twice a day over the Wed and the Thurs. By Friday, the clicking had stopped but she continued the massage until Sunday.
Thursday was the first day where I felt any kind of improvement. This was the fifth day after the first acute pains.
I went back to the Orthopaede on Thursday. He cost 219 Euro in total; I don't think I'll get this back on the NHS as I didn't obtain an EHIC before I left. He gave more injections up and down my spine and did another lot of stretching.
It was good to be at my sister's as I did no cooking or bending or lifting. I walked about gingerly with my walking stick. They also have Poduschen in their house, shattafs from Egypt, hoses attached to the side of the loo to wash your nether regions with. This was fantastic because it was painful to twist around to apply loo paper. Also, my belly ballooned out, perhaps because of the side effects of the painkillers (codeine causes constipation) or because everything just seized up.
I took: 2 ibuprofens + 1 paracetamol about 1 hour before getting up to help me get up.
1 ibuprofen + 1 paracetamol at 3 or 4 pm.
1 ibuprofen + 1 paracetamol before going to bed.
I stopped taking the codeine because the Orthopaede said it could cause excitement.
I also used the walking stick all the time. I also put a heat patch or two which was very soothing and good. At night, I had a hottie and pillows to prop up my back and my head and a flat pillow under my waist which I later moved to under my hip because of Druckstellen due to not moving much at night. I carried a little pillow around to prop my back up. A 'sausage' pillow was also helpful, propped vertically between spine and back of chair.
The flight back was much better. Today, I have twinges and must move slowly and gingerly. I pull myself up on things. Sudden movements must be avoided, and twistings. No bending at the hip, always go down with a straight back and bend the knees. I shall do online shopping and have it delivered. I had one more back spasm at one point but it went away quickly.
If this happens to me again: Advice to self:
- Use the walking stick.
- Take loads of painkillers immediately: 2 ibuprofen + 2 paracetamol + 1 codeine initially. Keep up the ibuprofen especially; take a double dose before getting up.
- Use a hottie. Get heat patches, loads of them. Use 1-3 per day.
- Ask around in advance for a reputable reflexologist in the area (I haven't always got my mother handy).
- As soon as I feel something, stop doing stuff. Don't go walking about town. Don't go to London. Don't carry suitcases. Take taxis.
- Avoid lying down and getting stuck in one position.
- In advance: buy a new expensive office chair. Get a comfortable easy chair.
- In advance: always keep the house well stocked with emergency supply of painkillers (ibuprofen especially).
- In advance: always keep emergency food in the house, in case I lose the capacity to cook, i.e. frozen pizza or somesuch.
- Make a note for emergencies and train the children to follow its instructions, in case of need.
- Never schedule things back to back. I am no longer 25!
- Avoid the pain. Do everything to relax. You cannot relax if in pain. Don't think 'oh, it's okay, I'll just do this'.\
- Go to the loo before you have to. It is not a good idea to be in a rush in there.
- Take care getting into and out of cars. Avoid twisting too much.
Thank you, everyone, who provided helpful suggestions and accounts of their own experience. Especially![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ook, :-)
However, the first thing I want to do before commenting or reading or having online fun of any kind is to make a brief log of my back pain troubles. It is mainly for my own record so that I can Memory it and refer to it in future because it is easy to forget the details. So feel free to scroll on by this rather boring medical report.
The back pain had three stages.
Stage 1: Happened on a Thursday or Friday (?). I did yoga Salute to the Sun without warm-up exercises. I felt a twinge, especially when in Dog. In retrospect, I should have started to take great care then.
Stage 2: I went to a 3-day conference in Leeds. I took the small pull-along suitcase. The wheels were a bit wobbly so sometimes it toppled and had to be righted. I twisted around to pull it along. I walked to the train station with it from home. In the train, I lifted it up to the luggage rack. In Leeds, I walked up a long hill to my B&B. I also carried the bag up a steep staircase to my room. In retrospect, I should have purchased a new and better suitcase that rolled properly, taken a taxi to the train station and a taxi to the B&B, and got the B&B proprietor to carry the bag for me.
I woke up the first morning of the conference and felt a dull back ache. I lay on the floor flat. At one point, I couldn't stretch my arms above my head. Standing and sitting at the conference all day did not help. The first day I walked all the way to the venue, 40 minutes, this did not feel good. In retrospect, I should have taken a taxi everywhere and taken great care, walked about slowly, stood at the back of lectures, not gone to every session.
After my return, I went to another one-day conference on Saturday, this time with no luggage. But it already felt quite strenuous sitting upright. In retrospect, I should have cancelled this date and in fact, in future, I must remember never to schedule two appointments like this back to back.
Stage 3: I woke up on the Sunday morning in acute pain. It took me ages to get up out of bed, and I had pain spasms where it felt as if my whole back was cramping up into stiffness. I rang the duty doctor who advised taking ibuprofen and paracetamol. I spent the day having fun online standing up. This was probably okay; I should have taken more painkillers, though.
On the Monday morning, I went to the osteopath. This, in retrospect, did not help. In future, I will not go there again; it was not the right thing to do for me. I had to lie down which was painful, and turn over which was painful. She did, however, locate the pain further up than I had initially thought, at the juncture between lumbar and thoracic vertebrae.
I think in this situation, it is not a good idea to do anything that causes pain. It is not the kind of thing where you grit your teeth and bear it (as in childbirth). The more pain I felt the more tense I got, and this caused a vicious circle of not being able to relax and making the pain spasms worse, and finally just going into a pain spasm out of fear of having one. It was most difficult getting up from a sitting or lying position (the worst was in the mornings, going to the loo in the morning was also bad).
On Monday afternoon, I went round town with the children, buying presents for my sister's family. This was not a good idea. In future: do all present buying a week in advance! Or get them delivered online.
On Monday evening, I lay down, propped on cushions on my side, to watch Main Hoon Na. This was great and took my mind off things. In retrospect, I should not have staid in one position for so long without sufficient painkillers. I could barely get up after this, I just made it into the living room where I collapsed on the floor. The pain did not go away, either. This was very bad. Up till then, a change of positon would alleviate the pain. But I ended up being stuck on the floor for close to an hour, frightened to move. A neighbour came by which was wonderful beause I was worried about the children getting spooked. Finally, the emergency doctor came, asked me to lean forwards and sideways and prescribed lots of ibuprofen and codeine. He suggested taking 3 times a day: 1 ibuprofen, 2 paracetamol, 1 codeine. If needed: one valium. I never took the valium.
On Tuesday morning, I got a walking stick. This was very helpful.
On Tuesday afternoon, we drove to Stansted and flew to Germany. The car journey was unpleasant; worst were the speed bumps and any sharp turns. My back felt like wobbly jelly.
On Wednesday afternoon, I went to an Orthopaede in Germany. This was a very bad day. He made me lie down and turn around and lie on my stomach; all of this was very painful. He located the exact spot of pain: to the right of the spine, at the juncture between lumbar and thoracic, about half-way up my spine. He did some stretching which was not painful. He injected some local anaesthetic (thearin) into the spot of pain. He bent back my ankle which, upon consultation of a health book at my sister's, I discovered was a test for sciatica. I did not have sciatica but he could not provide a diagnosis. The X-rays he did showed that there was nothing wrong with the bones but that my posture was very bent, but he said this was schmerzbedingt. He advised relaxation and moving about 'as normal'. (Yeah, right.) He changed the dosis of my medication to 3 x ibuprofen a day (of which up to two could be a double dose), 1 paracetamol, 1 codeine if I wanted, a valium when needed (he said it does not send all people to sleep).
On late Wednesday afternoon, my mother arrived who knows how to do foot masssage / reflexology. She found a spot on my right foot, corresponding to the pain in my back, and she massaged that spot. There was a sensation as if I had a small plastic strip inserted into my foot at that point, and her thumb kept zwirbling and knirsching across it. She could hear it 'click'. She did this twice a day over the Wed and the Thurs. By Friday, the clicking had stopped but she continued the massage until Sunday.
Thursday was the first day where I felt any kind of improvement. This was the fifth day after the first acute pains.
I went back to the Orthopaede on Thursday. He cost 219 Euro in total; I don't think I'll get this back on the NHS as I didn't obtain an EHIC before I left. He gave more injections up and down my spine and did another lot of stretching.
It was good to be at my sister's as I did no cooking or bending or lifting. I walked about gingerly with my walking stick. They also have Poduschen in their house, shattafs from Egypt, hoses attached to the side of the loo to wash your nether regions with. This was fantastic because it was painful to twist around to apply loo paper. Also, my belly ballooned out, perhaps because of the side effects of the painkillers (codeine causes constipation) or because everything just seized up.
I took: 2 ibuprofens + 1 paracetamol about 1 hour before getting up to help me get up.
1 ibuprofen + 1 paracetamol at 3 or 4 pm.
1 ibuprofen + 1 paracetamol before going to bed.
I stopped taking the codeine because the Orthopaede said it could cause excitement.
I also used the walking stick all the time. I also put a heat patch or two which was very soothing and good. At night, I had a hottie and pillows to prop up my back and my head and a flat pillow under my waist which I later moved to under my hip because of Druckstellen due to not moving much at night. I carried a little pillow around to prop my back up. A 'sausage' pillow was also helpful, propped vertically between spine and back of chair.
The flight back was much better. Today, I have twinges and must move slowly and gingerly. I pull myself up on things. Sudden movements must be avoided, and twistings. No bending at the hip, always go down with a straight back and bend the knees. I shall do online shopping and have it delivered. I had one more back spasm at one point but it went away quickly.
If this happens to me again: Advice to self:
- Use the walking stick.
- Take loads of painkillers immediately: 2 ibuprofen + 2 paracetamol + 1 codeine initially. Keep up the ibuprofen especially; take a double dose before getting up.
- Use a hottie. Get heat patches, loads of them. Use 1-3 per day.
- Ask around in advance for a reputable reflexologist in the area (I haven't always got my mother handy).
- As soon as I feel something, stop doing stuff. Don't go walking about town. Don't go to London. Don't carry suitcases. Take taxis.
- Avoid lying down and getting stuck in one position.
- In advance: buy a new expensive office chair. Get a comfortable easy chair.
- In advance: always keep the house well stocked with emergency supply of painkillers (ibuprofen especially).
- In advance: always keep emergency food in the house, in case I lose the capacity to cook, i.e. frozen pizza or somesuch.
- Make a note for emergencies and train the children to follow its instructions, in case of need.
- Never schedule things back to back. I am no longer 25!
- Avoid the pain. Do everything to relax. You cannot relax if in pain. Don't think 'oh, it's okay, I'll just do this'.\
- Go to the loo before you have to. It is not a good idea to be in a rush in there.
- Take care getting into and out of cars. Avoid twisting too much.
Thank you, everyone, who provided helpful suggestions and accounts of their own experience. Especially
ook, :-)![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-17 03:39 pm (UTC)And best of all, you have your preventive stuff all organized, just like FlyLady would want you too!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-18 11:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-18 10:06 pm (UTC)Piano is good, insofar that I'm playing a bit every day. It's rather difficult with the constant sniffling right now. The actual piano lessons are on hold until I get over this thing, because I would really hate to drip on my students. Besides, I sound so nasal, no one can really understand me!
When we meet, I fully expect to see you with a full set of wings! Useful for cleaning cobwebs and air vents that are too high to reach.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-17 03:56 pm (UTC)In most cases, combining conferences would be fine. But emergency food in the house is a really fine idea.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-18 11:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-18 01:20 pm (UTC)you're back and still in one piece. i was worried you wouldn't get to go to germany.
i actually read your whole post because i'm terrified of getting a bad back (how i slump, oy vey) and i'm curious to know what you learned. so i'm taking something from your horrible suffering, lobe! and also sending you wishes that it never does happen again.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-18 01:36 pm (UTC)