Oooooogggg.....
Apr. 12th, 2004 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Whimper.
I have had back spasms for two days. I have never had anything like them before. Occasional small aches, usually from the tireds or too much heavy lifting, but this is a new thing.
Major stress reaction, beats a heart attack or a stroke, and really I can soldier through pain, but I have horses to feed. And that involves a lot of walking and stretching and lifting and bending and pulling. And moving fairly fast sometimes, if one of them needs to be snagged and redirected, or corrected.
Forget Easter dinner. No way I was driving 40 minutes one-way. Parentals came here instead, bearing food, which I ate eventually, and Drooogs, which I leaped on immediately. Just advil. Works well for me.
Horse corrals were not cleaned today. (Bad me. I clean them daily.) Horses have been fed and watered. Was feeling enough better this noon that I was able to brush out a couple, not very well but it's the principle of the thing. I even made a necessary phone call and did a necessary e-mail. Aren't I virtuous. I still must Write Pages--good news there, mip came to the other night and is up and staggering again. And feed horses again. Also, dogs. Which involves hauling a 50lb sack of kibble in from the shed. I'm in denial over that, for the moment. Cats' sack is only 20lbs and I managed that earlier. It's not lifting that's getting me, it's standing up. And walking. Spasms keep knocking me off my stride though not yet, quite, off my feet.
Gee, you think I'm stressed? According to a certain person, I have no excuse. Tell that to my back muscles, please.
I have had back spasms for two days. I have never had anything like them before. Occasional small aches, usually from the tireds or too much heavy lifting, but this is a new thing.
Major stress reaction, beats a heart attack or a stroke, and really I can soldier through pain, but I have horses to feed. And that involves a lot of walking and stretching and lifting and bending and pulling. And moving fairly fast sometimes, if one of them needs to be snagged and redirected, or corrected.
Forget Easter dinner. No way I was driving 40 minutes one-way. Parentals came here instead, bearing food, which I ate eventually, and Drooogs, which I leaped on immediately. Just advil. Works well for me.
Horse corrals were not cleaned today. (Bad me. I clean them daily.) Horses have been fed and watered. Was feeling enough better this noon that I was able to brush out a couple, not very well but it's the principle of the thing. I even made a necessary phone call and did a necessary e-mail. Aren't I virtuous. I still must Write Pages--good news there, mip came to the other night and is up and staggering again. And feed horses again. Also, dogs. Which involves hauling a 50lb sack of kibble in from the shed. I'm in denial over that, for the moment. Cats' sack is only 20lbs and I managed that earlier. It's not lifting that's getting me, it's standing up. And walking. Spasms keep knocking me off my stride though not yet, quite, off my feet.
Gee, you think I'm stressed? According to a certain person, I have no excuse. Tell that to my back muscles, please.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-12 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-12 03:55 pm (UTC)I learned a Trick from the back guy last time in PT. Lay on your stomach on the floor -- or the bed, if you can't get to the floor -- put your hands flat on the mattress/floor right under your shoulders. Push up, keeping your hip bones on the floor/mattress. Hold for a count of four/five/six, lower yourself and do it again. Three times together. Four if you feel brave. A couple, three times a day, in between Being Sensible and not cleaning out stalls and schlepping grain sacks. I was *astonished* how well -- and how quickly -- this works.
Feel better....
no subject
Date: 2004-04-12 04:36 pm (UTC)Thank you.
Mary, no hot tub or masseuse, alack. But a heating pad I've got. Took hot shower but standing up that long was Not On. Maybe a hot bath later.
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Date: 2004-04-12 06:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-12 05:31 pm (UTC)I get back spasms with some regularity, thanks to that lovely sprained lumbar I had a few years ago. Heat tends to work well for me, whether hot bath, shower or heating pad. And Advil. LOTS of Advil.
Gentle stretching is good if you feel up to it. One I did a lot in physical therapy was to simply lie on my back and very gently pull one knee up to my chest. Hold for a second or two, then stretch the leg back out. Repeat with other knee. I do that whenever my back acts up and it seems to help.
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Date: 2004-04-12 06:09 pm (UTC)I've found that the occasional icepack helps. The cold slows down the wonky muscle/nerve signalling, I guess. Warmth feels better, imho, but cold packs work better.
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Date: 2004-04-12 06:31 pm (UTC)If you get up here in July, it would be a Good Thing if you made an appointment with St. Bobbi the Sadist for a massage. She'd be happy to do it in Santa Fe... and believe me it would help.
That doesn't do you a damn bit of good right now, though. I'm sorry!
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Date: 2004-04-12 07:39 pm (UTC)Ashley, what does she charge? Because there will be a bunch of us, and we'll have been sitting in hard chairs all day, and several people might want to play.
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Date: 2004-04-12 08:16 pm (UTC)I have very loose ligaments, and my shoulder tendons slide out of place. Bobbi puts them back in, shifts ribs back where they're supposed to be--all kinds of stuff. It can hurt like hell when she's doing it, but the relief is exquisite.
And I usually end up a complete puddle at the end!
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Date: 2004-04-12 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-14 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-14 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-12 08:33 pm (UTC)Two Hersheys kisses have been consumed in your name.
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Date: 2004-04-12 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-12 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-13 08:45 am (UTC)I have lung problems and all that did was start me coughing. I couldn't sit at the computer, couldn't walk straight, had trouble breathing. All seems to be almost better now.
Of course 7 more boxes are due today.
sigh.
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Date: 2004-04-13 11:32 am (UTC)I'm wonky this morning. Could be the 50lb bag of dogfood I womanhandled yesterday evening.
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Date: 2004-04-13 10:36 pm (UTC)Speaking of dog food, what is your dog and cat population now? (names please)
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Date: 2004-04-13 10:46 pm (UTC)Dogs: Shadow (Dobie, getting on in years), Kaz (Kismet Kamikaze, Cardigan Welsh Corgi)
Cats: Taminy (big orange three-leggedy guy), Trouble (little tortie polydactyl kitty), Hillary The World's Most Perfect Cat (white with orange spots--in horse neep, a sorrel tobiano), and the Maine Coon Brothers, Tenshi (grey tabby and white) and BT (classic brown tabby--looks like a lynx with a big plumy tail). There are dissertations written on "BT: Myth or Legend?" He's shy. Sightings by visitors are rare. Tenshi is a Samurai Cat. He's one tough customer. BEEEEG, too, though average for a Coon Cat.
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Date: 2004-04-14 10:26 am (UTC)(I think I even have a shot of BT)
Thank you.
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Date: 2004-04-14 09:12 pm (UTC)You're welcome.
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Date: 2004-04-13 11:28 am (UTC)There's a fabulous book called Stretching by Bob Anderson, well-illustrated, easy to follow. It's been around forever -- this is the 20th anniversary. You can find it here. As I recall, there's also advice on how to put together a stretching routine that's right for what *you* need. Mike Gray, my fibro doctor, highly recommends it, and he's right -- when I do it, it makes all the difference in the world -- I'm not doing it now because I don't have the book here with me and I'm too fibro-brained to remember the full routine.
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Date: 2004-04-13 11:34 am (UTC)Thank you.
One thing that is helping is riding-type tension release. It really helps when I'm in motion. Kind of like martial-arts centering, then draining the knots away.
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Date: 2004-04-13 11:50 am (UTC)Hope it may be of use to you.
I'd think those riding-type tension release exercises *would* be of great use, yes, indeed. Maybe a combination of everything will be just the ticket. Do you have a garden tub in your bathroom? Maybe using those little hand roller-ball massagers in the tub on the shoulders or other area that was knotted might be of use when you were soaking, too. I do a lot of self-massage, but of course, can't reach much of my back.
Oddly enough, I, too, am getting back to writing. There must indeed be something in the air.
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Date: 2004-04-13 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-15 12:13 am (UTC)