Last month I injured my back. Or should I say, reinjured. It was silly and all my own fault. I was doing a new workout program with weights that involved some dead lifts and I thought I was being careful and starting gradually, but I was also rushing to get the workout done before I saw patients that morning and I strained my lumbar spine. I did not feel it at the time, but the next day I was uncomfortable standing and lifting at the Food Bank and the day after that I was in agony! Turning over in bed was torture and I had to muffle my gasps so as not to disturb Jane through the night. This went on for several days. My consolation was that I could use it in my wellness newsletter- some helpful tips of what to do when you have an acute injury… so you’re welcome!
Here are some lessons I learned on my healing journey. The first lesson was that my attitude and perspective were an important factor in my recovery. It wasn’t helpful for me to bemoan my situation, feeling sorry for myself or berating myself for my rushed workout that led to the injury. When I accepted it and recognized that I would not die, (though I felt like I might) and that I had to give my body the time it needed to heal, it allowed me to move forward.
Which brings me to the second lesson- be patient with your body as it heals. There is no point in comparing how fast you heal compared with someone else, or even how fast you heal compared to yourself the last time you had the same injury- it takes as long as it takes. In the meantime, there were things I could do without aggravating the injury and prolonging the recovery time.
I knew my body needed rest. It became my mission to find comfortable positions and then spend time in them. I could catch up on some Netflix shows I had wanted to watch, read, and even get extra sleep, since my nighttime rest was interrupted by spasms every time I turned over in bed.
It became clear how important movement was within my comfortable range of motion. Not moving is not beneficial- the body will start to seize up. It is important, when you have an injury, to move what can be moved – gently and with intention. I had started doing a morning lymph flow / fascia release routine several months ago. I continued to do it each day with my injury, but modified my movements so as not to aggravate my lower back. (By the way, if you want to learn about this, click here.)
In the Bible, Paul compares the Corinthian church to a body, and says that “when one part suffers, every part suffers with it”. While this is true within a community, I also felt the truth of this statement in my physical body! Though I’d injured my lumbar spine, other parts of me started to hurt as I favored my lower back. My neck got sore and one shoulder tightened up. My knees started to ache from the extra strain they experienced with the bizarre gymnastics I performed to get up from the bed or the floor or the couch while trying to not strain my back or stomach muscles. I ended up wearing knee braces (which is the reason I wore long pants one day in the office during the nice September weather!)
With the injury, I recognized I had to accept help. My daughter put my socks on for me so I could go to work that Monday. I was barefoot most of the time, which ended up being helpful, as I could use my toes to pick up things from the floor and avoid bending!
I did get an extra visit with my chiropractor at his first available time, but I had to recognize that he did not own a magic wand that could magically fix me. I needed to allow the time for my body to heal, doing “the work” of my breathing exercises, resting and eventually doing gentle stretches.
I recognized that I had been slacking off on doing core exercises, which is one factor that led to me straining my lower back, so I returned to my friendly “dead bugs”. (Click here to see our article and video on core work).
The experience reminded me, again, about the importance of self-care. I am happy to share my “learnings” with you. I created some more videos on the best way to rest my lower back (click here) and the best way to get up from lying down. (Click on the picture below.) Because this article also applies to an acute neck injury, I made a video with the best way to rest with a neck injury as well (click here.) All for your viewing pleasure, to help you if you hurt yourself as I did. And call the office when you do! Network care won’t magically fix it, but it will help you move through the injury more quickly and I can give you advice on other exercises that can help your progress. Injuries will happen, how we respond will affect how they impact our lives!
