wellness tips

I’ve had back pain before. I had an annoying little SI joint problem that made my back ache. Nothing severe – more an annoyance that I was happy to eliminate by learning how to connect properly to my deep stabilizing muscles. Particularly my right multifidus wasn’t working. I had a hole where I should have had a muscle. Once I got that one working my back pain disappeared, and I haven’t had a problem in about 8 years. I then went on to teach others about the magic of the local stabilizer muscles and help others eliminate their pain too.

However, last week I severely strained my SI joint in the gym picking up a weight wrong. (I know better!) I actually heard something tear which scared the daylights out of me, and instantly my back hurt a lot! Then after being very sore all day, to my astonishment, I woke up completely fine the next day. I counted myself very lucky.

Then yesterday we had a fabulous day skiing at Whistler, but I’m not too good at using my legs as springs when I go over those moguls, and so the forces just carried on right up into my injured joint. My back was sore again by the end of the day.

Today I couldn’t get out of a chair. I’m walking around like an old woman, and practicing everything that I’ve been preaching. I’m connecting to my transversus, multifidus and pelvic floor. I’m straddling things I have to pick up from the floor, and keeping my spine in neutral as I use my legs. I seem to be dropping everything from keys to pencils today – annoying – so I’ve had a lot of practice! I’ve taped my back. I’ve done superman and horse stance exercises. I am now really understanding the desperation people with back pain must feel. I can’t imagine living with this for a long time. One day at a time. I’m hoping I’ll be able to manage work tomorrow.

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