Last night, as I got home from work, I was joyfully met at the door by my oldest son. As soon as I walked in the door, he began his chorus of "daddy hold me?!". Of course I obliged. After I gave him a huge hug and a ton of kisses, I put him down. At that moment, I felt a tinge in my lower back and I thought "oh no!". For those of you that don't know, I have a very bad lower back that tends to go out more than I do. Over the next several minutes of trying to move my back slightly to decipher whether I simply just had a pain in my back or if it was actua......BAM! I was on the floor and couldn't move and it was obvious at that moment that my back had gone out.
For those of you that have never had the joy of having your back go out, let me describe it to you. It is one of the most debilitating and helpless feelings. The slightest movement in the wrong direction causes you to exhale noises that you've never muttered before as the pain is incredible. There is not a comfortable position to sit or stand in. I ended up hunched over with my knees on the floor and my chest flat on our ottoman for several hours until the initial pain backed off a bit. Once I tried to get up, I literally could not pull my legs out from under me.
We take for granted just how much we use our back muscles when walking or even when we sit. Luckily, I have an amazing wife that was able to try to help up all 6' 3", 205lbs of me, she's 5' 4"...nearly a foot shorter. But having her right by my side really boosted my morale as she laughed uncontrollably at the sight of me trying to walk.
However, laugh all you want, but I found an easier way to walk when your back goes out, walk backwards! When you walk backwards, you're not using your back nearly as much; your glutes and your quads are more responsible for pulling your leg backwards, whereas when you're walking forward, your back stabilizer muscles assist your leg in the forward direction.
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2 comments:
Oooo...sorry about your back. I've never experienced my back going out. After reading your description of it, makes me thankful. Seems like so many people deal with some sort of back problem. Brad has pains in his back since the accident, and I've got curviture of the spine that causes aches and pains, luckily not too frequently. I'll have to remember about walking backwards, though knowing me (the klutz) I'd end up with more pain from running into something! (Just ask Brad...he gets a good laugh out of it.)
I hope your back is feeling better today.
Thanks so much! Yeah, back pain sure stinks. I am starting to feel better than I did last night, thankfully!
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