Friday, October 21, 2011

Back pain strikes again.

For the last couple of days I have been having pain in my lower back again. Since Tuesday it's been especially bad, bad enough that I am having difficulty walking from my sofa to the bathroom and back. Which is a big problem. I have classes I need to get to and sit through, house cleaning, errands to run. Needless to say I don't have the time or luxury to be stuck on the sofa with ice packs. 

Previously I've gone to the doctor and since I can't afford an MRI my doctor can't say for 100% certain what's going on. However, based on the pain that I have described, where it's located, and so forth she's pretty sure that I have a herniated disk in my lower spine. I cannot afford physical therapy either so she gave me a book with back exorcises to do. I haven't been following them to the letter every day but I have done a few of them off and on. I have been working to lose some weight, actually a lot of weight, but I can't lose it all over night though I am making some slow progress.

Still, it's not enough. Pain pills and muscle relaxers only get me so far and I hate taking them. I don't ever want to build up a tolerance. So, I have been trying to figure out what's aggravating my back and come up with ways to help myself so I do not have to rely on pills.  

The very first problem is, of course, how I sleep. I'm mostly a side sleeper but I also sleep half on my side and half on my stomach and very rarely on my back. So to help, I put a pillow between my legs to help stabilize my hip. It doesn't always stay there, but for the time that it's there, it helps a little. I do need to start sleeping on my back a little more and I've read that putting a pillow under my knees will help as well.

The second problem is the chairs at school. My classes run 4 hours long with two breaks. However, the chairs are hard plastic and I always find myself bending forward, over the table to take notes. I need to be sitting straighter and possibly take a pillow to class to sit on.

Another problem is how I sit on furniture at home. I tend to sit leaning to one side or the other. That needs to stop. I need to sit straight. My posture standing isn't really a problem, I stand straight.

Most of all I need to keep moving. It's so easy to get caught up in watching movies, sometimes two or three at a time. When I do homework, I'm often at it for hours at a time with almost no breaks except to go to the bathroom or get a drink. I need to get up and move around a bit.

I have also been looking at some spinal decompression. While I can't afford to go to a doctor to do it or invest in those over priced home machines or equipment, I can do a few little exercises to help. There is one where you lie on your bed to the floor on your back. You have your knees up and move them from right to left. But if you move them to the right, you push up with your left foot so your left hip comes up off the floor and vice versa. I hope I explained that well enough. If not, there are some videos on youtube that will explain it better.

I am hoping that sleeping on my back tonight with a pillow under my knees will help me, even a little. Tomorrow I have a midterm I have to take and can't miss.

3 comments:

  1. I dropped by to check out your journal :) its been a while. *reads*

    Ouch ;__; that sucks, and I know all about back problems and herniated disks. They are just the WORST. Losing weight does alleviate it some. If you are looking for a way to lose, you can always make an account on Myfitnesspal.com to help you out. I am VisualFish on there :)

    That's what I did, and I only jotted down about how much I ate a day, how much physical activity I did and all that to get a general idea how much calorie, sodium and carb intake I should have a day.

    Surprisingly, in my case, I wasn't eating enough, which caused my metabolism to slow down a lot coupled with it already being slowed due to my thyroid problem @_@ So I really do recommend you to check it out. It is totally free too, so that's fine.

    And you shouldn't do heavy duty exercise. You should just focus in changing your diet a little at a time, nothing so drastic. It takes time to gain the weight, and it takes more time to lose but don't let that discourage you. Just small steps. Focus on a day, on a week, and if you slip up you can make up for it the next day.

    MFP really helps with that.

    I wasn't allowed to do much exercise because I am pretty heavy myself and my body was getting hurt with my Tae Bo and jumping jacks XD the doctor said if anything just mainly focus on doing a lot of walking if possible and move about a bit. I can start on actual running, jumping and crazy activity stuff when I am lighter.

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  2. I also want to say, do take your time losing it. If you lose too much all at once you wont be able to keep it off and gain it all back again.

    You will also find some really inspirational stories on MFP. This one lady was like 600 lbs @__@ but it took her years and now she is down to her 200s. It was real cool to see her before and after shots.

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  3. Okay, I will check that out. I'm not doing anything too strenuous, mostly walking and when I can I swim. My back exercises are stuff I can do lying down on my hands and knees and don't take too much effort.

    I am definitely taking losing weight serious and slow. LOL. I'm not eating as much as far as proportion size and eating more often. I've also really been pushing healthier meals rather than junk. But I am also not denying myself too much lest it backfire on me and I go on a binge.

    I really love that the site is free. People keep suggesting weight watchers and stuff like that but that stuff costs money. Worst of all, there all this counting involved. I hate math, I have too many formulas from school running around in my head and that I have to try to remember I don't want one more number related thing in my life, at least if I can help it. ^.^

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