My Back's Kinda Back

It happened around 3 weeks ago.

I had just  gotten up was preparing some tea in my kitchen. My son came running and I bent down for the customary 'Good Morning darling' and 'Attack'. I got this sharp feeling in my lower back. A sort of jammed effect. I tried straightening and an electric jolt went shooting up my spine.

The doctor gave me some pain killers and I expected that I would be back to normal in a couple of days and that I would be dancing like Prabhu Deva. But after completing the entire course of medicine, there was no effect and I was still moving around in close similarity to the poor elephants in the circus when they walk on just two legs.

Sitting on the couch was impossible and the floor was not much of a help either.The worst part was, when I tried to get up after sitting for an hour at a stretch. There was no way I could stand straight leave alone walk. If I lay down flat on my back it was not so bad. Getting up from that position was again as easy as mountain climbing!

All my activities right from looking after my son, to my office work got impacted and I was feeling miserable. Blogging got affected two fold. Sitting at the computer was tough and my brain went on an indefinite strike refusing to give ideas or words.

People who saw me thought I had fractured my leg or something as I was limping. Who does not like attention? I wasted no opportunity in explaining that I had sprained my back and was having a bad time moving around.

In this information era , the internet and other modes of communication have given us a lot of exposure to all the illnesses that exist on this planet. Complete knowledge would make you a doctor. Total Ignorance gives you a sort of innocence like the poor illiterate people in some parts of our country.These folks would not try to figure out anything by themselves and would religiously follow the words of the doctor and would trust every word of his. There is one category in between these two.  People like me who harrass their drained intellects in figuring out what could possibly be wrong, with the limited knowledge it has. 'Hmm, May be the bone has degenrated or something, whats that called? Or a muscle tear? Or one of those diseases we are scared of uttering the name? Oh my God! Let me check ' and there, the usual http://www.google.com/ and some random searches trying to fathom the reason for all the discomfort.

The XRay center took three whole days to send a two word report to my doctor. Wondering how they managed to achieve that amazing speed.

I looked at the XRay under the tubelight. If I knew what it was showing, instead of sitting here and typing this at this moment, I would probably be mending the bones of some poor kid that cracked them after falling from a mango tree.

The doctor pointed to the section between two of the spinal discs and said that the cartilage has slightly thinned, what they called as mild spondylosis. 'Thats very normal. Nothing to worry. Its due to aging'

What an evil statement to tell me when I was already depressed about my thirty first birthday that was around the corner.

'Aging? I am just thirty'I groaned.

'Well, medically you start aging at 20' he declared . Blatant Flinging Of Horrible Facts! I hate doctors!

I was directed to a physiotherapist. This gentleman ended up being my guardian angel.


After more than two weeks of no change in my condition, I had no expectations. My mood was in its worst best. I was sporting the expression  of Narasimha Rao in his saddest hour. In fact, I was a teeny weeny bit scared.

After examining me, he uttered a sentence 'Nothing wrong in your XRay. It would be the same for anyone in your age.What you have is some weakness in the muscle and that can be corrected with some exercises'. To me that was SP Balasubramaniam singing to A.R.Rahman's tunes . I was almost dancing like Prabhudeva , Almost!

He did some physiotherapy twist and massage, put me on traction and taught me some exercises to be done everyday. It was magic.

Within two to three days my pain went down considerably and for the first time in three weeks I was able to stand straight and carry on with my  routine without turning to all those ointments and balms that bring instant relief ONLY in television ads.

We do not take enough care of our bodies when they continue to adjust with all the roughness and  toughness we subject them to. When the body finally cannot take it anymore, it begins to show and then only we realize how important it is to stay healthy. This is my take-back from this experience.

I had carried some really heavy weights after shopping one day which seems to have caused this.

My request to all those reading this - Please respect your physique and take very good care of it. Do not take it for granted. Have a healthy and balanced diet, exercise as much as possible , and find ways to destress. It is very very important, if not for your own selves, for your loved ones atleast.

Well, since the entire length of this post is about the back, I would like to share some tips that I was given

1. Do not lift heavy weights. If its necessary hold them close to the torso. A backpack is anytime better than a one sided bag in case you are carrying a laptop.
2. Regulary do some exercises that stretch your back muscles.
3. When you need to bend to pick something, do not do so with your legs straight. Bend at your knees to go down and then pick it up.
4. Do not remain seated for long. Take a break once in a while and walk a little bit like to the washroom or to drink some water.
5. Try to maintain good postures while sitting, sleeping etc.

I wanted to blog about something as it has been more than ten days since my last post. This bad-back episode had taken entire control  and no other ideas seem to appear in my head when I sit down to write. Words are also not flowing like usual, kind of like a clogged pipe!

Even now, when I get up, there is this slightly knotted feeling in my back. Hope to be completely okay before the next physiotherapy appointment. Take Care Folks!