In the wee hours last Sunday, i woke up with an all-too-familiar and much dreaded ache on my right lower back. I knew I was going to be walking around like a 70-year-old that day and perhaps for a few days after as well.
Since "the incident" a few years back, when I came out of the gym shower, bent over to pick up my gym bag and my back froze mid-motion, paralyzed, which started 2 weeks of writhing in hell, months of physiotherapy sessions, crazy number of warm compresses and heatpaks, I have been rehabilitating my lower back with Pilates and I swear by it. Not only does it strengthen the core muscles that help support my spine, after years of practicing it regularly, I can now say that I am more conscious of my posture, the way I sit in the office, the way I walk, the position I adopt while doing chores, etc. When the pain returns as it sometimes will, I also have a ready supply of advil and bengay to get me through the day.
So last Sunday, after realizing that I could not turn over on the bed, I calmed myself down, started my pelvic clock exercises and I started to pray. I knew the relapse was due to the jumpboard class the day before. Fun at the time, but i had to pay for it later, it was too much for my back. Thanks to the stretching exercises i learnt in Pilates, the spasms were controlled and I got through the day without too much fuss. I couldn't sit for long periods of time, had to get up now and again to walk around or lie down to rest but i was still mobile, thank God! I even managed to get to a party in the afternoon.
By the following Wednesday, I was back on the range hitting some balls. My back was still not 100% but with enough stretching exercises and i was really careful with holding my core while swinging the lightest club I could get my hands on, my back didn't flare up.
You do not realize how many of our everyday activities require a healthy back until you've injured it. Even going to the loo was a chore. There is no cure for a bad back. You can only learn to prevent flare ups and be prepared with the right medication and exercises to soothe it when it does.
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