Pain Relief Or Sleep...

[MightyMouse]

Quick vent... I couldn't take my low back pain tonight, and for the first time in probably a year, I took a pain killer, which always makes me hyper and have racing thoughts. Well, as usual, my pain is improved, but at the cost of no sleep. It's 2am and counting. Here's hoping slumber is in my very near future.

Now, I'm going to try to find Wilbur, who's roaming the house--he's not allowed to do that when we're sleeping b/c he's notorious for getting into trouble. So, wishful thinking on my part that once I shut him in to the bedroom, we'll BOTH be snoring soon. (his snores are hysterically funny! )

Nina

[mkoven]

Hi Nina,

Sorry to hear about your back and reaction to meds.

Any idea what you may have done to your back? I have different strategies, depending on what structure I think it's coming from. I can feel when it's my cranky discs, as it goes into my legs and feet, vs my sacroiliac joints (dimples in lower back).

When my si joints are out, I"ve learned to put them back in, and I usually get instant relief-- till they slide out again!

But as we've discussed, I"m also a member of the loosey-goosey spine club- complete with clicks, clunks, pokes, and stabs.

In all instances what's helped my back immeasuarably is figuring out how to release my hip flexors-- the muscles that cross the front of your thigh, your abdomen, and then hook onto your lumbar spine. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...al%26sa%3DNWhen they are tight, my lower back feels really squished. When they're released, I feel three inches taller. It may not be something you'd want to address right in the middle of a flare, but it's one of my new discoveries.

Hope your back settles down and you can get some rest.

Michele

[MightyMouse]

I did sleep a little from 3:30am to about 7am, when Wilbur started licking my hair--for those new to the forum and think I have some kinky boyfriend, Wilbur is my one year old cat. There are photos somewhere in the chit chat section of the forum.

I'm pretty sure I did something either my lumbar spine (disc out?) or something else in the immediate area--and if I had to hazard a guess at how I did it, I had to do a hold with a student almost as big as me (he was trying to kick another student in the face). I didn't hurt in the moment, but by the time I got home that day, my back was throbbing.

I'll take a look at the link you sent b/c my PT was shocked at how tight my hip flexor muscles are despite my otherwise stretchy areas.

Nina

[mkoven]

I'm not the type to get on an informercial soapbox, but I could write an "ode to the my hipflexors"! They are major culprits in my chronic hip, pelvic, back pain.

I roll them over a a styrofoam roller once a day, and do some very gentle stretching. I also use a theracane to get at some tough spots. My pt also works on them. It's no fun, but HUGE improvement in pain. I could go on.

they don't get a lot of press, but they should!!!