The Tale of my Back and Shoulder Pain
For awhile, I had an aching back. Just a mild ache, so of course, I tried to disregard it, until I couldn’t.
So, I went to the Doctor. It was Friday afternoon, and I really didn’t want to spend the whole weekend in agony. The Doctor was good. She looked at me, asked me some questions, made me turn my head this way and that, had me move my arms around (by the time I went to the Doctor my shoulder and entire arm hurt as well), sent me for X-rays, and gave me a prescription for muscle relaxers. Her diagnosis was muscle spasms.
I filled the prescription, and went home. I read the instructions and warnings for the prescription and after supper, I took a pill. It took about an hour to take effect, and the effect was that I felt as if I’d just drank one beer. I don’t remember whether it affected the pain or not. Saturday and Sunday, I took one pill in the morning and one at night, which is within the ‘up to three per day as needed’ guidelines of the prescription. Monday morning, I almost fainted in the shower, so I decided that I should not take anymore of the pills. Fainting was a listed side effect.
The Doctor’s office called with the results of the X-rays, which didn’t show any problems.
It was time to face the truth that this one of those things that I would have to accept responsibility for and resolve on my own. I opened up Take Care of Yourself, and read that the muscle spasms were probably caused by stress, and that home treatment included aspirin or other over the counter pain relief, a heating pad, and mild exercise.
Stretching seemed like a great way to start exercising, since I didn’t want to hurt myself. This is a great book because it is written in a nice conversational tone, the focus is on feeling good, and it doesn’t require expensive equipment. You can buy the book and go home and use it. The stretches I started with were the basic back stretches, which are done on the floor. Later, I added some shoulder stretches and they felt pretty good. I felt better.
For pain relief, I decided to test out different pain relievers. I read the directions on each type and took a single dose in the morning. One day, I took aspirin, another Tylenol, tested out Aleve, my sister-in-law shared a Motrin. They may dull the pain a bit. Maybe not.
My husband bought me a swell heating pad from Walgreens. It has four temperature settings, and nifty little lights to tell which you’re using, as well as auto-shutoff. That does feel good, and the cat likes it, too. I use it at night, right before bed.
Ben-Gay helps as well. It smells nice and feels good.
Some mornings, I was so uncomfortable, it was difficult to put my clothes on, but I did. I noticed yesterday that getting dressed was easier, and I was generally more comfortable through the day and able to sleep more at night.
There are some chores that you just can’t avoid and shovelling is one of them. I was able to clean up my parents’ driveway, and shovel ours (which is big and long), without feeling any negative effects. That confirms the suspicion that this is not a serious issue.
Movement helps the most. Limiting computer time and taking frequent breaks at work are extremely important. Vacuuming, folding laundry, loading and unloading the dishwasher, baking (especially stirring), changing the linens on the bed all seemed to contribute to improvements.
It will probably be a few weeks before the pain is all gone, but I think I can work through it.
If you’re suffering the same pain - go to the Doctor, and be ready to take control. Good luck.
About a month later …
I feel better. The numbness in my hand is subsiding, I can move almost normally. My arm still hurts, and my wrist hurts, but I can throw the toy for the dog and sleep through the night. I’m not taking any medication and I put away the heating pad. I still do my stretching exercises and I’ve added more from the same book to focus on my shoulder. I’m grateful this is a minor issue and it will probably resolve without complications.