Self-Care for Lower Back Pain | HealthInfi

It must have been that super-strenuous spin class I took last week, when my mind fooled me into believing I was 35 but my body stubbornly acted its age. Energized but exhausted, I continued this self-deception by joining a friend after class in some challenging new ab work. She showed me new moves she’d recently learned. I struggled to keep up with her, but my body protested until I graciously bowed out.

What happened the next day wasn’t pretty. The minute I got out of bed I knew something was wrong. Pain shot through my right leg and then the leg buckled, threatening to throw me to the ground. And at frequent intervals throughout that day, that strange sensation threw me into fits of grimacing and grabbing onto the closest thing within reach to steady myself. Fortunately, I was in my house working, and no one except my dog could see my twisted expressions (and it didn’t seem to faze her one bit”she’s old; what can I say?) Except, that is, when hubby returned from work that night. “That’s just not normal!” he said, the first time he witnessed my sudden near-collapse. “There’s something wrong!” he insisted.

I figured I’d injured myself the day before and this is what I got … but then I guess his worry became contagious and suddenly seized my more sensible thoughts. Nasty contemplations ran through my head: A blood clot? Some rare neurological disease? A bone/circulation/muscular disorder?

I called my doctor the next day and described what was happening. “It’s most likely your lower back,” he said. That’s common. I decided to wait a few days for it to improve. And the next morning, when I got out of bed, my lower back was sore”but the leg only buckled once or twice. And by the day after that  voila! My leg stayed as steady as the proverbial rock.

I’m sure you can relate to lower back pain; if you can’t, you’re in the minority. Up to 80 percent of us experience it at one point or another. It’s so prevalent that it is estimated to cost Americans at least $50 billion each year in the quest for relief, and comes in second (behind headaches) as the most common neurological complaint in the United States.

Fortunately, I’m pretty much on the mend now, my back feeling (almost) back to normal. But I realize I’m lucky: many lower back aches take much longer to go away. Mine was caused by a sports injury, most likely pushing myself beyond my limit for that day, or positioning myself incorrectly on the bike. Others might experience back pain after lifting something too heavy, gardening or an event as innocent as sneezing, coughing or just turning around too quickly. Or a degenerative condition like arthritis may be to blame. And then there’s always another cause”that “A” word. Aging. Our bone strength and muscle tone elasticitydecrease with age; discs begin to lose their cushioning fluid and flexibility.

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