The Downside To Snow
Posted on | November 30, 2004 at 10:53 pm | 9 Comments
One of the reasons I like living in Colorado is the cold, snowy winters. It almost makes up for the hot summers. I don’t think I could ever live anywhere where it never snows. There’s just something about snow that I’ve always found magical or something (awwww….)
However, the past couple of days make me reconsider. On Sunday, I got into an automobile accident caused by someone sliding on the ice, not making their turn, jumping a median, and slamming into the front bumper of my car. Luckily by the time they had reached my car, it was not moving very fast and I just got pushed backwards a bit. Minor damage to my car, but the other one had a broken axle. The other driver’s insurance is going to pay to fix my car, so no big worries there. It’s a hassle though.
And then on Monday morning while shoveling the snow, I somehow threw my lower back out (gradually though, not all at once, so I didn’t know to stop when I should have). I’ve had back problems before, but none this painful. I briefly thought it might also have something to do with the accident, but the doctor didn’t think so when I finally went to see him. Simple muscle pull, no disc problems – I was the fourth snow shoveling casualty he’d seen this morning. I went to work Monday and today, which was a mistake, but I was Primary OnCall and had a lot to do. I can barely stand or walk – it’s extremely agonizing and I look like a hunched-over old man with my body contorted in odd directions. The doctor said I need to rest for three days, and after clearing my plate at work today and foisting off my responsibilities, I can actually hopefully start doing that resting thing tomorrow. The worst part is that I have to keep moving around – can’t stay in one position too long (especially sitting) as that makes things worse when I do move. He prescribed some good drugs too, but I’m loathe to use them, as muscle relaxants tend to knock me for a loop.
I’m just not used to being this incapacitated. I don’t like feeling my age. And now I probably won’t be able to run again for weeks, so my muscles will atrophy even more and it will be harder to start up again. Yeeargh.
So, I’m willing to move to Hawaii now if someone wants to shower me with big bucks.
Latre.
Comments
9 Responses to “The Downside To Snow”
December 1st, 2004 @ 12:18 pm
Rog,
Believe me, I feel your pain. I wrenched my back about14 years ago while simply reaching across my desk to turn off a radio. I was in pain for weeks. In fact, the first two weeks afterward I couldn’t get out of bed each morning without help from my wife, and when she pulled me up I yelled (and I have a pretty good tolerance for pain). I’m sure half of downtown Welch, West Virginia, heard me. Very embarrassing.
All that heart bypass business last year was NOTHING compared to the back pain. And that’s no exaggeration.
At least you were smart enough to go to the doctor and get some good drugs. I tried to stoically (if not quietly!) ride it out, taking Tylenol, and I suffered every minute. Hot showers aimed directly at my lower back helped a little, especially in the morning before work.
Good luck!
Dan (still getting off on "Love Is So Annoying", btw)
December 1st, 2004 @ 2:01 am
Sorry to hear it bud. It’s amazing how involved your back is in day to day activities. In addition to seconding the hot showers on the affected areas proposal, I’d also suggest lying on your side and sloooooowly moving into a fetal position (About half an hour to an hour from straight to curled is about right, if it starts to hurt a lot you’re moving too fast). Also deliberately tensing your stomach muscles and forcing your breath out from your abdomen repeatedly will strengthen the front of your abdominal wall, and take some of the load off your back and get you back to some semblance of normal a little quicker.
December 1st, 2004 @ 11:53 am
Thanks for the sympathy and advice, guys. The regimen seems to be working and I can move around a little bit better today. I think it will be awhile before I’m back to 100% though.
December 1st, 2004 @ 1:22 pm
Gotta second the abdominal advice. Strong abs help support the lower back. When you’re healed from this most recent injury, you may wanna think about learning Pilates or working with a good yoga video.
Sending warm, cozy, back-a-licious thougts your way.
December 1st, 2004 @ 2:04 pm
I definitely need to get back into yoga, Paula. I’m sure that I haven’t been stretching adequately enough before/after exercise. My body ain’t too limber these days, and I bet that contributed to the problem.
December 1st, 2004 @ 5:52 pm
I can vouch for the importance of stretching once you’re past your 20s – especially if you’re exercising. I don’t know why it’s promoted as a way to prevent muscle pain (thus, if you don’t feel sore, you figure you can skip it…) – turns out that muscles, especially in your legs, can get bigger and tighter at the same time. This pulls your lower back out of whack, and if you (for example) drive with a wallet in your back pocket, it can also end up out of alignment.
My wife (whose back problems we need not go into here, but she’s the same height she was at age 11…) has found a good chiropractor, and he told me about a lot of this. I rarely have back problems when I sleep in the right position, but that’s often not possible. A chiropractor can help temporarily, but he told me I really need to stretch my muscles more for long-term results. I haven’t touched my toes since I was probably 10 years old… so, it’s something I’m trying to work on.
December 1st, 2004 @ 8:59 pm
oh man….i feel for ya….ever since i started this job thing my back has started acting up again….its constant now…anyway if i see ya saturday i will show you the stretches i usually dont do but if ya do they work fine and dandy….
December 1st, 2004 @ 9:28 pm
Ouch. I hate to be all suburban and gas-guzzling, but, uh, "snowblower"? For various reasons, we have to shovel the whole area of the alley that runs behind our house (not just half of it), and it’s almost impossible to do with a snow shovel, cuz there’s nowhere to put the damned snow. Snowblower’s pretty damned essential there. But certainly it helps to not mess up the back.
The worst thing I ever did to my back is, I stupidly attempted to do a pratfall a la Chevy Chase to "entertain" some people…and lost my balance and actually fell. Whump! on my right side, on a hard stone floor. Luckily, I didn’t break anything…but man, my back was screwed up for months. This was about two days before the Wire show in 2000 in Chicago…I went, but I was wincing the whole time. Just getting out of bed was a major chore. I think, preventively, I should follow some of the advice some of the folks above suggest.
December 1st, 2004 @ 10:34 pm
My driveway and sidewalk area is so minuscule as to make a snowblower somewhat wasteful and useless. Heck, it had only taken me about 10-15 minutes to do the whole thing (snow was maybe 5 inches deep). There wasn’t even much lifting going on. I’ve shoveled heavier, deeper snow in the last few years with no problems. Usually my arm gives out before my back does. I’ma justa growin’ old, I guess. Or maybe my back has been messed up from the jogging (which is a fairly new thing) and it just took something like this to bring it out.