Francis Berger
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Might Be Down For a Short Time

7/26/2019

10 Comments

 
I suffered some sort of strange and incredibly painful lower back/sciatica nerve injury the other day when I was out for a jog. At first I did not think much of it, but the pain increased steadily until it literally knocked me off my feet. I spent the about ten hours lying on a ceramic floor writhing in pain yesterday before I finally asked my wife to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital. 

At the hospital I was given some painkillers, but the doctors could not provide an exact diagnosis of the injury. In the end, they chalked it up as a pinched nerve and sent me home the next morning. I am now at home again, but I cannot walk too much and I cannot sit at all. In light of all of this, I may not be up to blogging in the coming days. Then again, I might get so bored being at bed staring at the ceiling that I may blog significantly more! The next two or three days will determine what happens. In the meantime, I am having a little unexpected rest as well as some unexpected reprieve from the blistering summer heat. I hope to be back on my feet soon. 
10 Comments
John Fitzgerald link
7/26/2019 15:52:20

Enjoy your enforced rest if you can, Frank. You never know. It's sometimes when we have no choice but to lie down and do nothing that our most fertile thoughts come. Get well soon anyway.

Reply
Francis Berger
7/27/2019 05:55:58

I appreciate the get well wishes, John. And I agree - I might just have the chance to do a little deeper thinking over the next few days.

Reply
William Zeitler link
7/26/2019 16:37:52

I'm dealing with something like that myself. M.D. was useless for me also. Likewise chiropractor. What finally really helped was a 'sports massage/therapy' place. This is what they do all day long: muscle pain, pinched nerves, etc. in athletes. I'm no athlete, but after even one session I went from hardly able to walk to dramatically better. I've been going once a week for a couple months now. It is no fun -- she really digs into the inflamed spots. But it really works and addresses the underlying problem, instead of just prescribing some pain-killer band-aids that don't. Something to consider!

Reply
Francis Berger
7/27/2019 06:11:03

Thank you very much for the suggestions in your comment, William. I certainly will take them into consideration because I have a feeling painkillers and rest might help in the short term, but they certainly will not be enough in the long term. It is good to hear the sports therapy is working for you.

Reply
Bruce Charlton
7/27/2019 18:09:21

Very sorry to hear this. I did something similar shovelling snow, and the pain was extraordinary for some weeks.

Reply
Francis Berger
7/27/2019 21:07:07

Thanks, Bruce. Snow shovelling is a common source of pain and misfortune for many. I am not sure how I injured myself, but I think it was the jogging. I may need to downgrade to walking for exercise from here on forward. In any case, you will be happy to hear the worst of the pain is over, and I seem to be recovering quite nicely. Tomorrow I will attempt a post.

Reply
William Wildblood
7/28/2019 20:15:33

Having been laid low with a similar complaint a few times in the past, I sympathise. There are various exercises I still do on a daily basis such as lying on my back, raising my legs an inch or two from the floor and pushing out my heels but that might be quite wrong for you so I would check with a specialist what is suitable. Good luck!

Reply
Francis Berger
7/28/2019 20:53:13

I appreciate the sympathies, William. I am going to visit the specialist soon. Hopefully, he will be able to provide some guidance regarding exercises/therapy that may help me recover.

Reply
bookslinger
7/29/2019 22:36:36

If jogging did it, do you land on your heels? That was a problem for me. The jarring affected my lower spine, the sacrum/pelvis junction.

Danny Dryer's "chi running" was recommended to me, and I learned it on his Youtube videos. It greatly improved my form, and efficiency. Each heel strike takes away from forward momentum. By using the Chi Running stride, the improved mechanical efficiency made me noticeably faster for a given level of exertion. All my lower back soreness went away.

Foot strike, body posture, counter-rotating the pelvis vis a vis the shoulders, cadence (strides per minute), arm swings, all play a part.

If you experiment with it, do get a cheap electronic metronome, and slowly increase your cadence (ie, reducing length of stride) as he suggests. I used a metronome app on an ipod touch, and sometimes a separate metronome with ear phones.

Also, stretching and warm-up (walk and then slow jog) before workout. And cooldown (slow jog, then walk) after workout.

good luck.

Reply
Francis Berger
7/30/2019 08:51:42

Thanks, Bookslinger. I have not considered that before. I will make sure to look into the information you have so kindly provided for me. Cheers.

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