Once upon a time on usenet songbird wrote:
~misfit~ wrote:
...
Thanks for the kind words. A sit-rep of my disability below, feel
free to not read it.....

much sympathy, it's no fun, that is for sure!

Thank you. Indeed it's not fun.

my chiropractor has helped me a lot. and i've
done a lot of studying to see what is going on and
what might help the most. right now i am stable
and fairly pain free (off and on again problems for
37 years). i am not restored to perfect function
though so i do have to be wary of certain things
and pay attention to when my back has had enough.

Yes, as do I. Good to hear that you are fairly pain free these days

unfortunately, most people are not taught how to
take care of their back in health class or on the
job training (along with proper lifting techniques).
i wasn't.

for some jobs this training should be mandatory
along with a basic fitness test (to make sure your
abdominal muscles are strong enough and lifting
techniques are proper).

the morning is the most likely time to blow out a
disc because they get recharged at night and the fluids
in them make them stiff until you can get them
limbered up (gently).

Mornings are worst for me these days as, during the day my 'tenderloins'
subconsciously bunch up and semi-immobilise the injured area. Late in the
day they feel like hard rubber and I'd have difficulty moving my disc-less
area if I wanted to. However they relax as I sleep and, during the early
part of the day I feel very vulnerable and take great care not to twist my
lower back.

if you are doing any kind of garden work or heavy
lifting or even bending in the morning it is always
a good idea to warm up first.

Very much so.

most of the injuries to my back could have been
avoided had i known such things. it's always a bad
idea to take someone and throw them into heavy
work without conditioning and training. had i been
given such i think i could have avoided most of my
troubles and the injuries i did have would have been
much less troublesome over the longer term.

My injury was a freak occurance and, while I'd never put myself in a
situation where it could occur again it wasn't something that could have
been avoided by education. That said most back injuries *could* be avoided
if only people were given more information and bosses were made to stick to
a code of conduct with their workers.

living some place i could swim in the ocean on a
regular basis would be really nice and the most help.
around here i try to take regular walks and of course
keep active in the gardens when the ground isn't
frozen.

Swimming in the ocean would be nice - as long as there wasn't too much surf
to put pressure on my lower back. However I now live on the cheap side of
town and going for walks is almost inviting trouble so my excercise is
limited to gardening and (careful) lawnmowing.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)