Tuesday 8 May 2018

Injured

So you may have realized that the content in this blog lately has not actually included riding my horse. There's a reason for that. Kachina is sound and healthy, but unfortunately I am not. I injured my upper back a few weeks ago and I can't seem to shake it. There's no serious damage, my spine and spinal cord are intact and functioning. Best diagnosis we can come up with is that my back was tight from my computer job and then when Kachina jerked her leg in a certain way while I was cleaning her foot it pulled the muscles and made them angry (super scientific anthropomorphism, but that's basically how my physiotherapist explained it). If it was just muscular I should have been good in a couple days, but my nervous system got involved and so I have nerve pain when I move but also when I sit or lie down. It hurts when I do too much but it also hurts when I do too little, it's really hard to find the right balance. Some days are better than others but it's not going away completely yet. I had to miss a couple days of work when it was really bad and there were some days I couldn't go anywhere (partially because I couldn't drive if I couldn't look left). Some physio treatment and some kinesiology tape have helped, especially with improving my range of motion but it seems to a certain degree I just need to wait it out. I'm physically and mentally exhausted from not getting good sleep for the last two weeks (night is the worst, I just can't get comfortable in any position). Suprisingly enough, running 10km felt easier on my back than sleeping. Since activity isn't bad for it, riding isn't 100% off the table but even I recognize that it's hard to protect myself from another unintended jerk when working around such large animals, so I've mostly been steering clear of the barn and not doing a whole lot when I am there. I'm trying to treat this right because I know way too many people with chronic back pain and I don't want to join that group. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon, yesterday was a good day so fingers crossed. Has this kind of injury happened to anyone else?

11 comments:

  1. Ouch- poor you. It sounds like you did piss off your muscles. I hope that things get beter. There's nothing worse.

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    1. Thanks, it finally seems to be improving a bit, let's hope so!

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  2. Definitely take the time you need to heal (I foolishly did not do that after a car accident and am still paying for it). I did find that osteopathy helped me quite a bit after my car accident, might be another thing to try if you aren't having good results! Hope you are 100% soon :)

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    1. I'll keep that in mind, osteopathy has always struck me as a little too pseudo-sciencey but I have to admit that I haven't actually looked into it too closely so maybe I'm judging unfairly

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  3. My work desk combined with Bridget bucking did something similar to me a couple of years ago. I changed to an adjustable sit/stand desk and I find it helpful. Hope you're feeling better soon!

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    1. I actually do have a sit stand desk, which does help, but I still need to spend a lot of time sitting and my desk/chair doesn't adjust quite enough to be truly ergonomically correct

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  4. Hope you feel better soon! Massage and chiro can help if you are one to use that type of modality in care. Also there are amazing lasers out there for this sort of thing. I use them in my practice all the time and they work miracles. Look for a chiro with a MLS laser near you.

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    1. Massage might help me at this point, but early on any pressure felt like torture

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  5. I don't have that specific back injury, but I do have many others. I will say, Surpass works really well. Also heating pads. I live with a heating pad on my back any time I'm sitting down at home.

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    1. I haven't tried Surpass but I definitely like heating pads! That's the only way I could get to sleep on the worst days. Thanks for the suggestions

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  6. Oh no! That sucks, I hope you are able to get some help soon. I have chronic shoulder pain - stretches, ibu, ice, topical ointments, and a tens unit are all my favorite things to turn too.

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