Dear Princess Celestia ...

[athelind]

Dear Princess Celestia:

This weekend, I learned some very important things about back pain.

First: don't touch your toes to "work the kinks out", and most especially, if you have trouble touching your toes, DO NOT I say again DO NOT push yourself until you CAN.

IT JUST MAKES THINGS WORSE.

Second: if you're tempted to skip a shower because your back hurts, DON'T GIVE IN. Hot water does everything that touching your toes to "work the kinks out" DIDN'T.

Third: the evidence seems to suggest that using an exercise ball as a part-time office chair causes more problems than it solves.

Your faithful student, Athelind Long

Comments

[archteryx.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're on Celestia's mailing list? You're moving up in the world, Storm Dragon. :>

(And apparently are a brony as well! Good for you! Lauren Faust and Jayson Thessien deserve an Emmy for what they did with that show).

[mocha-mephooki.livejournal.com]

The heat is CRUCIALLY important to help in back pains... and some light stretching after heat is ok, but you don't want to overdo it.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Phookis are all about the stretching!

I think I've discovered a possible culprit, alas -- the nice new bed wedge I got, ironically enough from the "Nice Things for Your Back" store. It's long enough that it puts pressure right on the lumbar region that's all hurty, and, well, the discomfort started building shortly after putting it on my bed a week ago. I left it on because, when I WAS hurting, stretching out with my upper body elevated felt so GOOD ... but last night, after most of the pain had gone away, I was keenly aware of the pressure, and sure enough, this morning, I've got aches again.

I'm going to yank it and go back to the Pile O' Pillows tonight. If it seems like it's the major culprit, then I'll return it, and possibly get a SHORTER back wedge instead.

(I started sleeping elevated because of reflux issues; now that those are properly medicated, I've found that it's Just More Comfortable.)

(Except when it's excruciatingly painful, evidently.)

[mocha-mephooki.livejournal.com]

I understand that... I alternated a wedge pillow off and on every other nap when I strained my lower back two years ago... if I had it there every time, it hurt like heck when I woke up.

These were also 2 hour naps, or so... a full 6-8 hours would have been SO painful...

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Going through old journals -- almost two years down the road, the above-mentioned bed wedge is the Most Comfortable Thing Ever. The recurrent back strain largely vanished after figuring out ONE simple isometric exercise: when I take a walk (which I try to do at least once day, I tense up my abs.

That was surprisingly exhausting at first -- that's a lot of beer belly to hold up! But now it's second nature.

But yes, bed wedge. The only downside is that, between Wedge and the pillow under my knees, my bed looks really lumpy when it's freshly made.