PAIN

[taimatsu]

Dear lovely internets,

I missed my seminar this morning partly because my back hurt. Ok, I was running late anyway, but I would have got there about ten minutes late. But I started walking and five minutes in, my right shin was hurting down the front and my left lower back/hip area was excruciatingly painful, with something going on down my leg to my knee. This has happened before, but it's never been this bad. I figured it had something to do with my appalling posture in my chair at home (it's too low, and I curl over, and it's all kinds of bad) but seriously, I had to stop three or four times in my walk and take off my rucksack (which was heavy but not excessively so) and stretch and bend and rub my back, and then start off again. This took quite a while.

Other things which might contribute to this: I wear cheap shoes; I don't exercise much other than the walking to and from university; I spend a lot of time hunched at my computer.

I'd be really interested to hear if anyone has thoughts on this, because right now I'm at university and I'm rather afraid of trying to walk home because I'm so worried it's going to hurt that much again. It was really bad.

Comments

[barakta]

Poor posture can cause a scary amount of pain. The usual medical advice these days is moderate activity (keep moving regularly and take breaks), OTC painkillers (I can recommend cocodamol and nurofen plus alongside paracetamol and ibuprofen - titrate the four to pain levels). Hot bath/shower can help loosen off tense muscles and help you relax. Hot water bottle can do the same.

A lot of the time the fear of back pain can make you tense up more than the cause of the pain. If you can reduce the pain and detense that can help a lot. Can you replace your chair/computer setup, or improve it in any way? If not, then take regular breaks.

If the pain is still a problem in a day or so - you may find not trying to walk a long way, or do everything you'd otherwise do helps; then go to your GP and ask for advice on exercises for your back ...

[diffrentcolours]

Workrave can encourage you to take breaks from your computer if you're spending long periods of time doing that. You might want to look into buying a new chair from Argos or something and having them deliver it.

[taimatsu]

My father claims to have an office chair to give me, but when I'd get that is anyone's guess. I find I can get a nice sturdy adjustable 'mid-back manager's chair' for £30, which looks like it would be appropriately supportive without being too huge. I will go for that if free chair is not forthcoming. Thanks for the thought - I had imagined such things would be way out of my price range.

[emperor]

Co-codomol is paracetamol+codeine and neurofen plus is ibuprofen+codeine; Be a little careful when mixing them with straight paracetamol and ibuprofen that you don't take too much, particularly of paracetamol.

[ludy]

Meep! that is very not good. All those things could be causeing back pain but it sounds a litle extreme to be just them - have you seen any medcial-type-people about it?
barakta has already given you all the best advice - all i have to add is maybe try to find someone who can give you a massage

[taimatsu]

I've arranged a GP apointment for tomorrow, so hopefully they will be able to give me some advice :)

[juliet]

Osteopath? You may find one that operates a sliding scale (the one I saw in Oxford did).

[taimatsu]

Hmmm, I think I'll see my GP first, but this is an option. I used to work at the Oxford Brookes teaching osteopathic clinic, which at the time was the only osteopathy school outside London. They did treatments for £17 a throw, which is at least half-price. :)

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

When did you last have a bra fitting?

Old/poorly fitting bras can actually contribute to bad posture/shoulder & back pain...I wouldn't expect it to causde problems with your legs directly, but if you're walking badly to try and take it easy on your back, you could be doing funny things to your leg muscles!

Shoes/feet problems could be causing a similar problem - my mother has problems with her feet and needs to wear orthotics (clever custom-made medical insoles ;) in her shoes to adjust for it - I remember her getting chronic back pain & her feet heading bunion-wards when I was much younger, before the doctor recognised the problem.

In short - posture is a bloody weird thing that can cause pain up & down the body, so keep an open mind for solutions....

[taimatsu]

Bra fitting: about a year ago, at Oxford Bravissimo. I think my Bravissimo bra does fit pretty well, so I hope it's not that; my others don't, but I wear them much less! I have ben wanting to go back and get fitted again, because I need some new bras, so if I have leftover money in the Easter holidays I could give that a shot :) Thanks for the thought.

I've always worried about my shoes - I never have the money for decent ones, and I don't know how I'd work out if they were damaging my feet. again, I'll bring it up with the GP.

[yvesilena.livejournal.com]

Oh no, you poor thing, no thoughts but tons of cuddles... eergh. *cuddddddddddles*

[goodqueenmolly.livejournal.com]

hmmm I don't think I can add much more than other people have said. I suspect a better chair would help a lot, I find that chair in your room very uncomfortable indeed. I am happy to help with the cost of a new chair. :-) Hope it goes well at the doctors

[medland.livejournal.com]

I found that my shoes made the biggest amount of difference to the level of pain in my stupid ankle. (I tore the ligaments last year and they refuse to heal properly). Birkenstocks are the best thing for it, cheap very very flat shoes with thin soles are horrible. I think that's your problem. Also maybe stress builds up in your back? I hope you feel better soon.

[spaglet.livejournal.com]

Seconded. The way people learn to walk in shoes requires good support the cheap shoes aren't giving you - you'd probably do better off without any shoes at all, or anything more than moccasins: we're not really adapted for heels that aren't our own. (http://anthropik.com/2007/06/learning-to-walk/)