Saturday, November 27, 2010

Back Pain

Let me start this post by saying that I have been moving patients for 25 years, on and off.  I have NEVER injured myself moving a patient - until now.  I was helping to move a patient yesterday and I pulled a muscle in my back.  It hurt immediately - quick spasms that made me gasp and go sit down as soon as we had the patient positioned.  And it's hurting still.  Here's the stupid part - I was just moving the patient's head.  To be sure, it was a rather large head, but still - just a head.  &^#$@#!  I'm so mad about this that I could scream!!!!

The pain now is localized between the 7th and 8th rib on the right side of my back.  It's all muscle pain - there isn't any evidence (that I can feel) that I've done anything other than irritate the soft tissue in that area.  I'm not a believer in lying flat on your back with back pain, so I've continued most of my normal activities for the last two days.

I hadn't planned a run on Friday, so that was a rest day anyway.  I ran a slow three miles today - found that if I kept an 11:00 - 12:00 pace my back didn't bother me much, but when I increased the speed I could really feel it.  So, that's a bummer, because I did want to get in some speedwork over the next couple of weeks.

On the other hand, I don't have a time goal for Disney - it is all about fun and character photos for me (and a trip with the hubs - ALONE!) - so I suppose it really doesn't matter.  My goal for signing up for Disney was to force myself to continue training with reasonable intensity during a month when I'd really rather hibernate, and I can still do that even if I don't worry about speedwork.  

If it doesn't ease off in the next week or so, I'll go ask my doc for a referral to a physical therapist and see if there's anything I can do to strengthen some of those muscles to keep this from happening again.  In the meantime, if you see a short, stocky chick with too much gear on running VERY slowly, give me a wave, will ya?  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


9 comments:

  1. oh no! sending painfree vibes your way lady! hopefully you can get into PT, it worked wonders for my back pain. although hopefully the pain goes away before you need that referral

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  2. Thank you! I hope it does, too!

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  3. I'm so sorry! That stinks. Chances are it will go away in the next few days- I hope it does! Take it easy in the meantime, especially no laundry (all that lifting!)

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  4. Oh no Terri! I hope it feels better soon. Is that something a massage therapist could help with? It works wonders for me...

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  6. Boy can I relate. Hope it is much better soon.

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  7. So sorry about the pulled muscle in your back. My husband is having back issues too, very difficult. Hoping you feel better soon! :)

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  8. yikes!! Hopefully it's short-lived and will work itself out as quickly as it came to visit. Fingers crossed!!!

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