My journey with back pain and what it taught me
Over my life I’ve also been fortunate to have only experienced a few minor injuries and niggles. It’s fair to say, that I mostly have felt ‘bullet proof’ and have always relied/trusted my body to be there for me both during exercise and for ‘life’ in general.
On a recent weekend a slightly ‘tight’ upper back progressed to debilitating pain over 48 hours leaving me almost unable to move. Over the next 2 days, basic tasks such as getting out of bed or getting dressed felt near impossible which was pretty confronting for someone who had always been very physically able. I felt extremely concerned about my situation as there was not an obvious ‘event’ which caused it to happen and I couldn’t see any logical progression.
Following some fantastic care from Russell Hanna and the team at Smarthealth (thanks for the referral Michelle Colley!), I now know that I have a bulged disc in my upper back. I feel much better now and am pain free but have still needed to limit the amount of load I lift and the amount of cycling I do in the short term which is teaching me patience!
Pain is both a powerful motivator and teacher and I wanted to share some learnings that I’ve had from my experience –
- Investing in preventative health now is a much better (and less painful!) option than dealing with significant health issues in the future. During this recent ‘health challenge’, there is not much I wouldn’t have done and no amount of money I would not have paid to be back in good health and free of back pain.
- Regular exercise or movement is critical for our brains – mental clarity, mood and ultimately prevention of cognitive decline. If you need some recent evidence of how a (lack) of exercise impacts mood, just chat with my wife Tanya!
- Greater compassion and understanding of the challenges faced by those with chronic pain and the role of movement in both preventing and treating pain.
- As we age, not all of our exercise can be ‘harder, faster, heavier’. Spending time on areas such as posture and mobility are of equal importance to our health and should be part of a balanced exercise program.
- The importance of having a high quality network of health professionals around us as we age who know our bodies and can help us to navigate through the challenges that we may face.
-Kristin Lewis