The part of me that is injured:
And another good illustration. Finally, a good article about sacroiliac joint dysfuntion which describes my symptoms perfectly.
No one at my company takes this seriously. I am going to forward these articles to my boss. I am STILL in pain ALL the time.
Fuck. Right now it’s my lower back. I just. Can’t. Sit. No matter how perfect my posture. And I can’t fucking stand up all day either. I probably should go on disability, but guess what? I can’t. Because the other person in our team of four just left to go give birth for the next four months. How wonderful and special for her. I guess I will just have to wait until I can no longer walk. Maybe I should get pregnant too! That should do wonders for my back pain. And my company will take that seriously.
I know, drama. But seriously. What the fuck.
I have physical therapy tomorrow. I am going to require answers from them. I do my stretches twice a day, I try to sit correctly and move around and use the heating pad. I want to know WHEN this will STOP.
Drugs.
As I said in an earlier post – I had a similar lower back/shooting leg pain last Spring. It was exacerbated by sitting through the 4 hour long summer classes I was taking. I blame this crappy but cute orange office chair I use at home.
Drugs sucked because they put me out of commission for a month – I was a total space cadet. But they fixed my back almost completely. The vicodin allowed my back & butt muscles to stop clenching & spasming from the pain; the muscle relaxers, taken an hour or two before bedtime, allowed my muscles to relax further and made the PT exercises (especially the bouncy ball ones) more productive. I think the muscles relaxing and falling into the right place helped the joint realign itself. <- This is my (not) highly technical and (not) educated guess.
I think the key is not being tough about it. I only got prescribed drugs because I went in for a bee sting reaction and the doctor saw me squirming around in my seat and making a face when I bent down to tie my tennis shoes. I told her what was up and said it was annoying but I was doing yoga and she told me it was more than annoying if I was making those sorts of faces unconsciously. Both of my parents are nurses, so I tend to “buck up” and not admit when things hurt. I think in this case it’s important to COMPLAIN about the pain and let them know it is really disrupting your life.
Okay, enough mom-ing. 🙂
Re: Drugs.
Thanks, Jen. I just sent a very stern and informative letter to my boss. I am taking a copy of it to my physical therapist today and am going to ask her what I can do as well as what pain meds I can get, DAMMIT.
I have had problems with my SI joint for years. Although I am not usually a fan of chiropracty, it helped me a lot with the joint issues. This is exactly the kind of problem chiropracty is good for.
Poor Ginger. I saw you sitting rather uncomfortable-looking last Monday, I wished I could have done something. But I am no doctortician, alas. But since I will be soon be a good Californian, I will wag crystals at you and say odd incantations and make it all better if I can!
And look on the bright side, doesn’t knowing you have something as pretty-sounding as a “sacroiliac joint”, hurt as it may be, make you marvel in wonder at the hooman body? Or at least our capacity to find pretty names for injured things?
desperately gouging for silver linings, here
I agree with the drugs recommendation. It sucks, but, well, it might be the thing to allow you to heal.
You might even consider the cortisone injection. I ended up going that route when I had plantar fasciitis–I had been on vioxx for 3 months, but that started to kill my stomach. The cortisone reduced the inflammation, reduced the pain, and allowed it to heal.
I just found a great article on how sitting in chairs contributes to hip/back injuries and inflexibility – it reccomends sitting on the floor as much as possible – I was already planning to copy it and send it to you.
Did you get the package I sent??
ARGH I’m such a jerk! Yes, I did, and I totally meant to write to you but then I forgot, but I will say that the magnets are right now on my fridge and thank you SO much! Soon they will adorn a refrigerator in a new kitchen for me and Brian.
Are you coming to visit soon? Sasha is huge, and darling.
Thanks for the advice on sitting. The more I read about it and think about it, I realize that sitting in Western chairs is highly unnatural. I am even tempted not to get a sofa for the new apartment at all…
Glad you liked them! I am addicted to making them.
I’ll copy that article for you and send it.
I am coming in August – probably late August? I don’t have dates yet, I look forward to seeing you and brian and kitties!
Ugh. Sorry to hear youre’ still hurting.
Seems like the sports medicine guys know a bit about this particular injury. Have you considered a sports doctor? Call Barry Zito’s doctor! Maybe you’ll run into him in the waiting room!
SI
Back=Chiropractic+PT+muscle relaxants (PM) and antiinflammatories. Take it from one who has been there, except mine is more chronic, neck, shoulder AND hip. As a matter of fact,I need to connect with a D.C. to straighten out my latest stressor. (35 years of dental hygiene does that to you). But I swear by Tizanidine and Etodolac used prophylactically at night to keep me “on my feet”. I did have massage once a week for four months last year which also helped straighten things out.