I wrote a brief article about gardening & back pain a few weeks ago after a number of clients turned up to class with aches, pains and stiffness in their backs.
Now, you would think, being a Low Back Pain specialist that I would head my own advice……..but no, I thought I was invincible 🙂
So, when we had all this wonderful weather, the flower bed in front of my kitchen & dinning room window grew like mad! I really do mean like mad, it just exploded with growth & within days my kitchen window was blocked & it was fast blocking out all the light from my dinning room window. Drastic action was needed and I decided (with the help of my partner) to dig out some HUGE trifford like plants, chop, cut, weed and on it went…..for hours! then there was the loading of the debris into the wheelbarrow & making an enormous pile ready to burn.
Now, with all that constant flexing, my back was feeling a little stiff, the next day it was worse and it did keep warning me that it simply was not happy! Still, I ignored it, I wanted to make sure I finished the job and I had others lined up, so on I went. I now had a constant ache, but I had worked so hard, I didn’t really give it much thought. When I got up the next day, the sun was still shining & I thought perfect weather to go for a run……..only a little one 2.5 miles, down by the river – lovely 🙂
Came back & was aware that my low back was even stiffer, but was running a little late, so got my things together, jut about to leave, bent down to pick something up of the floor (without moving from my hips!) and BANG! A belt of excruciating pain across my low back, that made me swear a lot (!) & made my knees buckle.
Not pleasant at all, luckily I knew straight away that my back had gone into a protective spasm, that the amount of pain you feel does NOT relate to the amount of tissue damage done! That is a really important thing to understand as having back pain like that can be very frightening!
That’s the first thing to remember “Pain doe not mean Harm”, so here’s what I did, I sat on the edge of the settee so that my spine was in a neutral position, definitely not flexed, or I could have laid flat on my back, I waited literally 10 minutes for the big spasm to subside, when this happens, you’re left with a very stiff back that feels vulnerable, it feels like it you bend forward it will just ‘go’ again – it most probably will! This is where you listen to your body, it is clearly warning you that you’ve flexed (forward bent) just once to often, so avoid it for the time being.
I stood up and started to move slowly around, keeping my spine neutral & moving from the hips if I needed to pick anything up. It settled down, but when I went to slowly bend forward it gave me another warning, too soon! I was very careful that day, took a couple of anti inflammatories and the next day had a hot bath to ease my stiff muscles. Now, I know that if things are inflamed you need to get the heat out of them i.e cool them down, but when it comes to backs, most backs prefer the warmth, so if a hot bath works for you – do it.
I did a couple of non loading mobility exercises, like hip rolls, pelvic tilts & then on to all fours & my ‘series of 3’ back exercises, I repeated these every day, made sure I moved from my hips and avoided forward bending and by the end of the week it had all but gone. I was stiffer than I am usually and it took two weeks before it felt almost normal again 🙂
Next time when I get the warnings signs, I will listen to them, take my own advice & be kind to my spine!!!