Monday, August 16, 2010

Snap, Crackle, Pop on a Life Saver

I feel like a giant Rice Crispie.

Without the milk.

Or at least my spine does.

We went boating on the St Lawrence River last weekend and it was a little rough at times.

I woke up the next morning with a fairly severe pain in my posterior and couldn't figure out what the deal was. I took myself off to yoga class where my Physio Phriend pronounced that I had likely jammed my back up. She even tried to manip me on the ground at the park but she couldn't get enough leverage on me to do it successfully.

So we completed our class with me avoiding everything that involved putting weight near the point of my tail bone.

The stretching seemed to help it alot and I thought I was getting better until Saturday.

My tooshie was even more tender at that point and by yesterday morning I was starting to hobble. So much so that my Physio Phriend noticed immediately when I got to yoga (which when it's not the sunny summertime we do in her physio clinic) and hauled me over to the dangerous physio bed (more on that bed later). And manip'd me right there on the spot.

I counted 5 or 6 snaps on the first manip and she got two more out of my back as well.

Thank God!

By then end of yoga I felt like a human being again and then by the afternoon I felt sooo much better.

Later that night I noticed my pelvis was clunking again and there was one spot in my back that went pop pop pop each time I moved. I can't figure out if it's in or its out but that is my bad spot and feels stiff right now so I'm sort of assuming it's not in the closet anymore. Then waking up this morning I felt at least 2 or 3 crackles in my upper back.

Frankly, I'm hoping they all were good cracks and I'll be back to normal.

I started doing my physio exercies this morning.... I know what they are. I spent 2 years in physio after 2 bad car accidents left my back as less than perfection.

But my big question is how in heaven did this happen????

Essentially my core is not as strong as it should be. Still not strong enough. Plus I'm horrified and slightly afraid to believe that I now am classified among those with a bad back.

But what, after discussion at yoga with all the girls and my Physio Phriend, seems to be the root of this incident is my lack of junk in the trunk. I have almost no bum. There is no padding there at all and that combined with the rough conditions and the boat slamming the waves a bit and me not concentrating on keeping my core strong in the boat seems to be enough to have sent me out of wack.

Apparently without enough padding, repeated banging of the tail bone can put your pelvis and back out.

So now I have come to the conclusion that I'm getting old and my back is never going to be the same.

What to do about the boat thing. I can't give that up. I just can't and won't.

My Physio Phriend suggested I take myself down to the friendly neighbourhood pharmacy and purchase myself and inflatable invalid ring to sit on. This should have enough cushiness to become that junk in the trunk I'm missing and save my tail bone from the repeated trauma that was the culprit here. It is essentially donut shaped - kind of like a life saver ring on a ship. She also advised me that since it deflates it is really portable and easy to stow and reinflate when needed. She though I should attatch it somehow to my clothing so it was always in the right position.

"Plus that way," she said, "If you fall overboard you can use it as a personal floatation device too."

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