Stopped In My Tracks

Pain can do amazing things, and it stopped me in my tracks on Wednesday. I awoke with severe pain in my lower back and moving, just walking or even sitting, was extremely difficult. After trying to ignore the pain I gave up and decided to skip the gym and try to feel better by the end of the day. It actually took two days but I'm finally back to a pain-free life once again.

There is still a ghost of pain in my lower back, but it's WAY
better than the past two days. Swimming is supposed to be
an excellent exercise for lower back problems, so it's back
to the pool for me today. 

Although it could have been a muscle strain, I think it was a pinched nerve. I spent a little time on-line researching - just trying to see if this was something urgent or if it would go away on its own. The various websites seemed to agree that usually it would go away on its own after 6-12 weeks and recommended some pain management. So Thursday I bought a home-use TENS electrotherapy system and took a sick day. By the end of the day, using the TENS several times, I was back to just a mild discomfort and I'm feeling pretty good now, writing this before I head out for my morning swim.

TENS is electronic pulses that block the pain from
being received by the brain, allowing everything to
calm down. I chose to try TENS because I didn't want
to deaden the pain by taking drugs. It really worked well. 

Isn't there an unwritten law somewhere that I should never feel my age? LOL The past 48 hours brought me back to feel pain at a level that I haven't experienced since the late 1990's and hoped to never have again. It was a reminder that I can still be brought down and betrayed by my own body - I can be my own worst enemy. I'll be catching up on the posts I've missed over the next few days, but it's good to be back. Have a great Friday and if we don't connect again until next week, enjoy your 4th of July.