deboratibi Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 I hurt my back a few days ago, whilst doing some heavy house work. This could easily have been avoided if I just took breaks and didn't rush, but oh well. It's taking me a long time to recover (probably because I suffer from lordosis and I'm also not athletic in the slightest), and I'm bored out of my mind. I haven't been able to play a lot of Neo, because I can't sit down for very long. So I've spent most of my time in bed. I'm actually in bed right now, posting from my phone. My mom says that staying in bed too long isn't good for my back either, but I don't know what to do? Sitting down hurts, standing up hurts, but lying down doesn't (well, not as much). I'm taking painkillers every 8 hours and I use a heat compress when I feel like I need it. At first I felt pain all over my lower back area, but now it's concentrated to the left side. I'm upset that I missed most of scores galore, I was excited to earn lots of NP from games :( Mouseykins and jellysundae 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellysundae Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Can you lie on the floor and support your head? Not on the bare floor, especially as I imagine your South American floor is tiles? But on something less squashy than your bed? Would doing something like lying on the floor and elevating your feet (like putting them on your bed or a chair) relieve things do you think? You could rest your laptop on your stomach, so the heat from the fan cooked you . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balloongal247 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Do you have the option of going to a chiropractor? Also, if you could figure out a way to do wet heat, that might be better, but I'm not sure that's possible outside a chiropractors office. My chiro didn't know of anything a regular person could get that was as effective as their heat pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rntracy1 Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 20 minutes ago, jellysundae said: Can you lie on the floor and support your head? Not on the bare floor, especially as I imagine your South American floor is tiles? But on something less squashy than your bed? Would doing something like lying on the floor and elevating your feet (like putting them on your bed or a chair) relieve things do you think? You could rest your laptop on your stomach, so the heat from the fan cooked you . . . OMG! You are so funny at times. "I imagine your South American floor is tiles?" Like you are saying, Your South American shack is a dirt floor with tile overlay. LMAO. I think their "3rd world country" might have some regular houses now. LOL. I am just giving you a hard (tile) time. As far as moist heat, I take a face cloth or towel, soak it, and pop it in the microwave. Now, you have to be careful of uneven heating and burns. I can't believe I have to say that, lol, but as a nurse, you have to cover all of your bases. Someone sued Dr. Oz because, get this, they didn't know that a hot pack could burn you!! Now he has to have disclaimers that say so. And with diabetic neuropathy, the lack of sensation can cause them to not feel the heat/burn so they need to check the area. Anyway, if your back pain is indeed caused by overdoing it, then it is probably muscular, and nothing to worry about. In that case, mom is right. Lying in bed too much is not good for you no matter how good it feels. You have to get up and get moving around. The muscles will tighten up more as you lie around, and spasm more as you get up and move around. You have to keep them moving. If you haven't seen a doctor yet, I would do so, to rule out something more serious such as sciatica or a disc injury. When you say that it has moved over to your left side, does it radiate down your leg at all? Zafie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zafie Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Ugh back pain is the worst... The best solution I can say, is to not lay down throughout the day but to try sitting and not moving too fast. A pillow against your back could help and also maybe applying a cold & hot patch to ease the pain. I love them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deboratibi Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 lol I understood the tile thing as something along the lines of, "it's very hot in South America, so you probably have tiled floors", which is actually true. Even the bedrooms have tiled floors! In our old apartment we had hardwood floors and carpets, but we have tiles where we live now. Tiles are very common here because of the heat (and they're easy to clean). Anyway, I don't know if lying on something flatter would help, but I could try. I used to have a yoga mat, but I'm not sure if I got rid of it or if it's hiding somewhere. I've never been to a chiropractor, but I'm not sure if my insurance would cover that. I guess probably not, but I'll check. I didn't want to go to a doctor because I'd have to sit in a waiting room for a very long time only to have the doctor prescribe me some painkillers which I'm already taking. And I am getting somewhat better, it's just taking me longer than I expected. My mom did wonder if it might be sciatica, but the pain isn't radiating to my leg. And of course, I don't actually know this, but I do have a feeling that it's muscular. How long would you heat the towel in the microwave? I've been using a hot water bottle. Oh, I might look into those patches! Thanks for all the advice, everyone! Zafie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellysundae Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 5 minutes ago, deboratibi said: lol I understood the tile thing as something along the lines of, "it's very hot in South America, so you probably have tiled floors", which is actually true Yes, that was what I meant, lol. I've seen enough house tours on Apartment Therapy to know many homes in hotter countries have tiled floors, often really lovely ones if it's an older building. I don't think Deb lives in a mud hut, @rntracy1 It's good to hear it's starting to get better. If it was sciatica you'd know about it, I had problems with that for years when I worked in a refrigerated factory, that sudden sharp pain stabbing the centre of the butt-cheek, and then shooting down your leg if you're really lucky! Yeah, that's hard to miss, certainly not sad that I've had hardly any problems with that since I quit that job in 2007. Have you got any heat rub stuff? I have this tin of stuff, that dates back to my cold factory days, it's like the napalm of heat rubs. Not tried the cream, never saw that, and the ointment's no longer sold in this country, but it might be available in yours. If you can find some it's worth trying out, just start off tentatively with it or you'll be wanting to lie on your cold tiled floors to relieve the burning once it gets going! But it really is amazing stuff. deboratibi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angeló Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 as a Radiologist i see lots of muscle spasms esp. in the back ... Voltaren ointment (or any other Diclofenac based) + Muscle Relaxant tabs (2 together twice daily) ... Massage (let a family member rub your back with the ointment thus massaging it) Stretching .. yes it might hurt at first but it'll loosen up the muscles Cold + Hot compresses ... alternating ... and if nothing works .. well i don't know how it is in Brazil but here you could go to the Pharmacy and the Pharmacist will give you an IM injection made with a special mix of pain killers and muscle relaxants ... that'll work much faster than pills and ointments ... you can do a course of three or four ... once daily ... until you feel better (you will need to incorporate a PPI as well in the injection to avoid an upset stomach) deboratibi, Zafie and jellysundae 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseykins Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Awe Deb! Lower back pain is the worst! Usually for me a hot shower helps, so you might try that too. Anything heat related helps. If you're laying down on your side try putting a small pillow or a folded up towel between your legs. This will keep your hips in a better position and might help. Also regular chiropractor appointments help, but as you said that may not be an option for you. In addition to your painkillers depending on what you're taking you can use the piggyback method. Lets say you take acetaminophen and it's not really helping. About 2-3 hours later you can take ibuprofen and in another couple of hours your previous acetaminophen has worn off so you can take more of that. I use this method with my lil one when her gums are bothering her and when A had a couple ear infections. I hope you feel better soon! deboratibi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzanoberle Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 I swear by IcyHot. It also comes in a cream (not as good) and as a stick that you roll on like deodorant. I tried the capsaicin-based ones and they didn't help, but Icy Hot is very reliable. Plus it's not expensive--just a few bucks for relief. Zafie and deboratibi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deboratibi Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 @jellysundae lol I love the packaging! I've never used anything like that, at least not containing capsaicin. I looked up what we have here, and I could only find one product. It's kinda pricey, so I won't get it, but I'll tell my mom about it because she often needs this kind of stuff! She used to buy an arnica based one all the time. @Angeló I tried stretching and I used a Diclofenac spray... The pain isn't gone yet, but I feel a lot better! I also didn't stay in bed all day, I alternated with sitting and standing up. I don't think I can get injections here without a prescription, but that probably won't be necessary anyway! @Mouseykins Thanks, Dawn! I've been taking hot showers for the past two days, but today I just couldn't, because the weather was exceptionally hot, lol. The pillow is a good idea! @suzanoberle I couldn't go out today, but tomorrow I'm totally getting some of those! Thank you so much, everyone! Zafie and jellysundae 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellysundae Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 So glad you're definitely on the mind! Got to be an extra level of misery in a hot country when one of the easiest ways to get relief from muscle pain is submersing yourself in hot water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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