I need to stop back pain. They say that growing older is a privilege and while I understand that, when I wake in the morning it can feel more like a curse. In truth, I may look younger than my age, but my back acts like it belongs to a crotchety old hunchback who eats children.
If I hear one more doctor tell me “it’s all just part of aging,” and everyone has back problems “at your age,” I’m not sure I can restrain myself from cursing obscenities.
I once asked my orthopedic doctor what I could do to stop the degenerative disc pain and he recommended I strengthen back muscles by taking walks with 40 lbs. of rocks in a backpack. Instead, I started working out with a trainer doing extra core and back work.
Another suggested hanging myself upside down to relieve the pain and let gravity help create some space between vertebrae. I bought an inversion table and do that a couple times a day. (I don’t look anything like the serene lady in yoga pose).
And of course, there are all the friends who insist I go see their favorite chiropractor, physical therapist, masseur, acupuncturist, Pilates/yoga instructor, Rolfing practitioner, or voodoo high priestess. One insisted I start taking medical cannabis.
I have to pass on most of these suggestions, but I find it interesting that everyone has a different solution to back pain. So I asked myself, “Is there anything one can do to really help stop back pain?”
You see, I’ve already had one surgery and for ten years, the titanium pins did a fine job. Since then, however, each year has brought more intense pain involving more vertebrae. And not one doctor has had any solutions that work. They always prescribe anti-inflammatory and pain meds.
Here in Mexico, they don’t prescribe anything opiate-ish. Which is a good thing, because I’d be one of those addicts. Their strongest pills make me more constipated than I usually am. (I suppose if diarrhea was my problem, those pills would be great.)
A New Old Solution: Stretching
Good news! I am actually finding relief in some pretty basic and well-known stretching movements. I’m reading a book that makes so much sense—even though these solutions aren’t new—I’m hearing them like for the first time. What’s better is that I’m actually implementing them daily.
I don’t believe that my lifetime of bad posture habits are going to be fixed in 10 minutes a day, like the author suggests. But thinking of these movements as simple and easy to do, helps doing them a no-brainer.
The book is:
End Everyday Pain for 50+: A 10-Minute-a-Day Program of Stretching, Strengthening and Movement to Break the Grip of Pain by Dr. Joseph Tieri, an osteopath physician.
You’ve probably heard that as you get older, you are guaranteed to have more muscle and joint pain. That’s simply not true. These chronic ailments arise from years of decreased activity and poor posture—not aging. End Everyday Pain for 50+ presents a complete 10-minute-a-day program to correct previous damage, develop healthier joints, and stay pain free at any age.
I’d write more about which exercises are really helping to stop back pain, but sitting at a computer blogging makes me want to go hang myself upside down. More about this later.
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