Backpain is a very common problem – one small move and that can be you out of action for weeks. I’ve been dealing with daily back pain since my late 20s so I thought I’d share a little about it and how I deal with it.

I never had any back problems until I had an accident – I got thrown off the back of a motorbike (I wasn’t driving!) which was doing 60mph at the time. The road had a bend in it, the driver wasn’t concentrating and by the time the bend was noticed it was too late. All along the road was a stone wall but luckily I was hurled through the one gap which had appeared in the wall, not so luckily I landed in a field, on a huge boulder, on my back – and my life was changed forever. I was told I had fractured or broken 5 transverse processes in my lower spine – they are the little wings you see sticking out the sides of the vertebrae which muscles attach to. This was after they x-rayed my pelvis (“females riding pillion always fracture their pelvis”), saw it wasn’t broken so gave my ibuprofen and said I could go home! It was only when I tried to get off the examination table, they realised something was wrong.

Pain killers are always an option but I save them for really bad days – like today! If you saw yesterday’s post you will know I did a lot of work on the allotment and it was one of those jobs I couldn’t really leave half done so I kept going, bent over for most of it, for nearly 3 hours. Today, I’ve had to adjust my plans!

I had planned to do the cleaning in the upstairs today – that’s changing the beds, dusting and hoovering the bedrooms, the landing, bathroom and stairs. I also take Scooby’s bed out of our room and shake it outside to get the hair off. The plan was then to do the downstairs on Thursday. However, instead I have done a couple of loads of washing, changed our bed, helped Dearest Son change his bed and cleaned the kitchen – still productive and much less bending.

When doing laundry I can carry a few things out to the line at a time – I don’t carry a full basket if I don’t need to! Standing for long periods of time can get a bit achy but that’s a good excuse for a coffee break. Dinner was a quick meal – one pan on the stove which I didn’t need to stir all the time. I didn’t attempt the bed changing till later in the day when things had settled down a bit and after walking Scooby, as a good stroll helps both back and hips which took a battering all those years ago!

Other things that help is doing jobs sitting down when I can or need to. Folding laundry can be done seated, I’ve even done the ironing sitting down in the past – tricky but it got done! The weekly shop was done online last night and delivered today so I didn’t need to go out and do that – I find the ‘self-service’ checkouts they want you to use are far too low so I usually avoid them and ask for a staff member to open a till (they don’t like that but tough!!).

A few months ago I purchased a new vacuum cleaner as our old one was so heavy it made cleaning the stairs something I dreaded and avoided! The newer one is lighter so I can carry it up and down the stairs more easily and I can reach the top of the stairs with the attachment – while the vacuum cleaner stays downstairs! The reach is incredible.

The only time I really get ‘bothered’ is when I’m sleeping – that sounds strange to type but it’s true. I like to sleep on my back but I get stuck! Every time I want to turn over I half wake up so I can grab the headboard which is one of those metal types with bars (thankfully!) – then I can pull on the bar and get myself turned. I’m quite used to it now! When I get up however, the old back feels pretty stiff for around the first half hour so I know if I drop something it will stay there for a while! Once I’m up and moving though it’s pretty plain sailing – as long as I’m careful.

So that’s how I ended up with a dodgy back and how I deal with it. I hope this doesn’t come across as moaning because that is not my intention at all. I can do everything I want to do and need to do (pretty much) so I’m not complaining, I’m rejoicing!

Image by Jochen Pippir from Pixabay