Back Spasm Blues

I have written a lot about injuries over the years, but I feel like out of the "common injuries" (the somewhat serious injuries that aren't quite serious enough to send you to the hospital or keep you out of action for too long like ankle sprains, achilles strains, pulled hamstrings, etc.) a lower back strain is by far the worst. Most other injuries can be worked around or favored or something. Because it's in your core, when you have a bad back literally every movement (or lack of movement) affects it. You're driving and you turn your head to check a blind spot...ow. You roll over in bed from one side to the other...ow. You stretch your arm to grab that one plate or whatever that is just within your reach in the top cabinet...ow. Your back isn't like other parts of your body. If your arm, shoulder, ankle, or whatever hurts, then that's what hurts. If your back hurts, your back hurts, but if you are doing something with your arms or legs (like lifting, running, jumping, or shooting a basketball) it hurts then too. One of the worst parts about having a bad back is that one of the "activities" that aggrivates it the most is simply sitting. So, for anyone who spends a decent portion of their day sitting at a desk at their job or during class (not to mention driving), this sucks. While stretching and walking can help, the best thing you really can do for a bad back is to just rest...and apparently even resting too much can have a negative effect! According to WebMD, too much inactivity can cause a bad back to be weakened.

Anyway, the obvious reason why I bring this up is because my back spazzed-out earlier this week. We had played football on Saturday and basketball on Sunday, and my back was a little stiff come Monday morning, but I didn't pay it much mind. Later in the afternoon while sitting at my desk at work, I leaned forward to get a better look at something on my computer, and it took all my strength to not yelp in pain in the middle of the office. I guess this illustrates not only how painful back injuries are, but also how delicate your back is, as it only took the most subtle of movements to basically turn me into a 70 year old man. I spent the rest of the day trying to be as productive as possible while simultaneously trying to move as little as possible. The spasm had set off some type of physiological response as well, as I pretty much sweated through my shirt the remainder of the afternoon.

That was Monday, and today is Thursday. It's improved slightly each day, but it's still there. I've been in a work training all this week though, and the 8 hours of sitting a day hasn't exactly been my cup of tea. Yesterday, I gingerly tried to work out, and my back seemed to hold up ok. Still, I don't think I've messed my back up this bad since high school, when I took a charge against some guy on Dematha who was built like a middle linebacker. That time, my back didn't get better for about 2 months, but that was partly of my own doing...the injury happened in the middle of basketball season, and instead of taking a week or 2 off when it happened I instead tried to tough it out. This allowed me to play through the season while only missing a game or 2 (as well as a half dozen practices), but I wouldn't doubt that it also prolonged my injury. This time, hopefully I can rehab at my own pace, and this back pain won't drag on too long.