adventures by me

So I made a terrible mistake Monday during my work from home; I stood up and my back decided enough was enough with that kind of bullshit (standing, apparently?):.

Short version: Agony, called my doctor and made a telepointnment for Tuesday, got worse, got worse, called the triage nurse, who called an ambulance when I started sobbing, who came to check my vitals and recommended heavily I not go to the hospital unless there was no choice.

(They were awesome btw; they were really clear without saying outright 'COVID and you may be lying there for hours like this before someone sees you not kidding. Your doctor will see you today somehow so try that first.' And yeah, they were right.)

When I called my doctor's office back, the nurse listened to roughly thirty seconds of my probaly not entirely understandable babbling, then apparently spoke to someone, so they fit me in twenty minutes later. It was literally a ten minute video appointment since my doctor's office went digital and she'd read all through the drama with the nurses and ambulance and was ready with a muscle relaxant, an anti-inflammatory, and some kind of gel. Then mom and Child (somehow) packed me into the car to stay at mom's house for a couple of days because I literally could do nothing but not move to avoid agony and that times ten if I got tense. As you can imagine, not being tense was pretty much goddamn impossible.

Verdict: I strained my back and possibly a disc but very unlikely. By...standing up too fast from a cross-legged seated position on the couch with poor back support and poor posture, something I literally do every day for work so yeah, this was coming.

The muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory finally fully kicked in this morning, so I could move provided my back didn't. On the upside, I now understand entirely what people mean when they say 'lift with your legs and not your back' by dint of horrifying pain every time I used my back.

There are two comfortable positions: "hunchback of notre dame" and "broom nailed to back" and I can't do much in Quasimodo mode so I'm coming out of this with much better posture. So far I have mastered: standing up (mostly, with a convenient table or Child in place, sometimes on my own!), sitting down (can do on my own!) and walking, provided I keep my back straight (or alternate: Quasimodo, but nothing in between those two or screaming). The hardest part is remembering when I stand up to check my posture before taking a step (or agony), and checking my posture again before I sit down (see: agony). If I'm not straight, I feel it from my back straight down to both achilles tendons; talk about effective classical conditioning.

I honestly has no idea how many movements connect to a three inch area of my goddamn back and for that matter, how many alternatives you can learn so very fast to avoid that.

I am glad I have been sleeping in two-three hour intervals instead of full nights the last two weeks. Sleeping does stiffen everything, but I notice a big difference between a one hour nap and a three hour sleep and do not want to even guess what six hours would be like. I am going to set a couple of alarms tonight just in case.

One day, I'm going to have a fun adventure.

Comments

[malkingrey]

Ugh. Deep sympathy, not from the heart so much as the lumbar region of my spine.

[seperis]

My thanks. I have to admit I've played fast and loose with my normal seating and posture for a while and this was probably a light warning compared to what I know others go through. I mean, it's only been two days and I'm fairly ambulatory as long as I'm careful and think before changing positions or walking.

And one benefit: I always had trouble understanding physically about how not to use your back for lifting or stretching; now, I feel it like whoa. When it's not pure agony I'm going to work on translating that into body memory before I forget how to feel the difference between my legs/abdomen/arms and my back muscles. This problm, by the way, dates back to seventh grade when we were taught squats in the weight room. My coach would literally make me stop and physically pull my upper body straight so I'd use my legs (and I'd go right back to bad when he wasn't there). I never could tell I was doing it wrong--until now.

So my back is probably getting revenge for 7-10th grade twice a week workouts in the weight room. Talk about a long game.

[nestra]

They told you how to turn over in bed without hurting yourself, right?

[seperis]

No, that probably would have been useful; I went about working out how to move using the "OH GOD" method. However, I did discover how much upper arm strength I have under duress. I haven't laid down at less than 45 degree incline or been more than half the length of my thigh from the edge of bed or couch since Monday.

[nestra]

In case this helps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnnLc41Fa4o

[seperis]

Thank you! That's pretty much exactly what I needed to see someone doing, not just imagine via text.

[out_there]

Oh, sympathies. I've heard disc strains are incredibly painful and man, you never really appreciate your body until you can't do the basics, like standing / walking / breathing without pain. *hugs*

[seperis]

I had no idea how many parts of your body use your lower back that just weren't all that obvious.

[jesse_the_k]

From grim experience, I know they are many many parts!

Sending sympathy, empathy, and ice packs.

[azurelunatic]

Owwwww! I'm glad you were able to get prompt medical attention.

[seperis]

God, me too. I just wish I'd realized how bad it was faster; I really did think at first I'd just walk it off or nap it off and---wow, that was a bad idea. Terrible.

[timespirt]

Oh hon, feel better please. Not going to the hospital at all costs is a good thing.

"HUGS"

[seperis]

I feel so bad for the ambulance guys; they were trying so hard not to say "HOSPITAL BAD NO DON'T UNLESS ORGANS FALLING OUT OR SOMETHING" without saying that and it took me way too long to catch on. I do appreciate how much effort they made talking around that to get it across to me in the state I was in.

[timespirt]

I do too hon. It is really bad out there and a hospital is the last place anyone should go if they don't have the virus. I don't know if you should even go if you have the virus unless you can't breath.

"HUGS"

[raine]

I'm sorry that happened to you. I've had whiplash three times too often so I have to see a chiropractor at least once a month and stretch regularly or my neck and shoulders seize up like nobody's business. It sucks. I hope you get to feeling better soon. Also - if you aren't already, drink more water; it helps a lot with lubricating joints.

[seperis]

Oh God, I'm so sorry! I now can almost imagine what that must be like.

And thanks. I think I'm going to look for some easy yoga on youtube.

Re: too much whiplash

[raine]

Yeah, I joke that I've sacrificed enough vehicles to the car gods that it's the reason my parking karma is usually good, but it's not a really a joke - I've had two cars totaled and one maxi-scooter rear-ended, and that's just the major stuff since I moved to Seattle.

But yeah - definitely yoga, or at least moving from a sun salute through warrior pose and back, because that's a good overall body stretch. :-)

[thornsilver]

The one time I actually ended up in the hospital with the pinched nerve in my back it was because I was putting a coat on. Backs are defective.

[seperis]

Holy. Crap. The design process when backs were invented was obviously flawed.

[green_grrl]

Oh god, I did this in January. I was sick for the entire Christmas break. The first day I felt better, I was, “Yay, I’ll actually go out for a sandwich.” I lifted my leg to put on my pants and oooooow. Worst back muscle pull of my life. My friend identified it as the psoas muscle, which is basically used for EVERYTHING.

The first week it was excruciating to move, and I had to use my arms to lift my hips up to even roll in bed. The second week I could move a bit, especially with a naproxen sodium, though still painful and still using my arms to push myself up, keep upright, etc. A 12-hour pill really helps for sleep, too. I started the year doing work from home, lying on my side in bed with my laptop sideways. It was good prep for the current situation....

It can feel like forever with no improvement, but healing really does happen eventually. Once it starts it goes faster. Hang in there!

[ratcreature]

So much sympathy. I've had that happen when my back objected to me opening a window. Worst pain of my life (until it was topped by scalding my hand very badly). I'm crossing my fingers yours will get better quickly.

On the upside, I don't think you missed out on anything constructive by having to skip the hospital due to the pandemic, because unfortunately modern medicine seems to be able to do very little for back pain agony, especially stuff that isn't caused by traumatic injury but just random failure.

[princessofgeeks]

OH NOES

[mrshamill]

Speaking from experience, I say "OUCH!" and I hope it's 'just' muscular and will go away soon. You don't want back surgery, especially now. Take it easy (as if you couldn't) and get well soon.

[grammarwoman]

Sciatica sufferer here - *waves*. Backs, and the whole freaking meat bag of a body, are so poorly designed. Hope yours gets better soonest!

[silverflight8]

ow!! I'm sorry to hear that! I'm glad you were able to avoid the ER though.

[erika]

Good luck and best wishes for a quick recovery! I get to keep a muscle relaxer prescription around as my body interprets "menstrual cramps" as "make the lower back spasm" and everything locks up.

Also, I've struggled with bad constant lower back pain and then, years later, knee pain; my two rounds of physical therapy have really, really helped.

[sage]

oh eep. I'm still dealing with a pinched nerve in my neck. Tilt my head, my whole left arm goes numb. At least the shooting pain through my shoulder has calmed down, but...yeah. WHY ARE SPINES?!

I hope you heal up fast!

[the_shoshanna]

Agh, all the sympathy. Been there (almost as bad), done the whimperscream. Possibly bipedalism was a mistake.

[lilysea]

I have first hand experience of lots of different back pain and lots of physiotherapist visits: let me know if you would like to hear suggestions, I don't wanna be unsolicited-advicey.