I am proud to say that I live the majority of my days pain free., It has taken years of great manual therapy, prolotherapy and PRP, a great program of mobility, stability, and strength training, and KNOWING how to care for my body. However, when we have a significant injury and have endured damage, we often will always have a vulnerability that we need to care for.
I am in a season of heartache and have been extra nurturing to my heart. Painting and sketching with my youngest has been heart filling for me and him, as well as supporting our creative brain. We painted for a LONG time this past weekend, it was a beautiful afternoon on the front porch. I was sitting on the ground, hunched over and focused on my project. This was Saturday afternoon.
I noticed it Sunday morning, just little chirp, a twinge in my right low back. I know now, when I get a chirp of pain in my body that I’ve done something, something needs extra attention, and I need to be extra careful.
I went through my past 24-48 hours…what have I done differently. No heavy lifting, nothing different at the gym (though I did rush through my last workout and had missed a couple weeks prior), I have had my pillow in the car… Ahh, I sat really flexed and slumped for a couple hours. This, likely on top of a rushed workout off of 2-3 weeks out of the gym. As I rushed my workout, I likely did not support my alignment and stability as my body needed, which may have caused a bit of irritation that would normally have gone unnoticed, until I sat in a really bad position for hours, which created sustained pressure on a slightly irritated, injured in the past, disc.
The next day, my back chirped a little more. Then I began to feel it at my sit bone and the next day into the top of my thigh and shin. This is the typical pattern that I will experience when my disc is irritated. Three days later, my disc is still a little hot.
It happens to the best of us-but what’s most is important is realizing what happened, and how we take care of it to get things to settle down.
Knowing that the slumped sitting was likely the irritant, I am being extra conscientious to sit upright on my pelvis, with more of my weight on the front of my sit bones, not my tailbone. I spent extra time in the gym self treating, and working on my mobility and stability through my Engage Program, and slowing down in the gym. I know to NOT push my body, while my disc is settling down. I will be sure my SI belt is extra snug when I play tennis.
Back pain, and most pain, is not a mystery when you understand the why’s, the what’s, and the how’s.
The more you can improve and support the structural health of your body through a great home routine, great manual therapy to further restore healthy mechanics, and awesome body awareness, the more you can overcome old injuries and pain, the better you can feel on a daily basis, and have the knowledge and skills to keep your body healthy for a long time.
Pay attention to your body…it’s really smart.