Back problems
justlearning: I used to sit for more than 12 hours continuously. I also used to be the default "mover" for my friends.i have had back pain for last 5 years and never knew it. Twice a year, I would have lower back pain and I would take rest for couple of days and pain seemed to vanish. Last year, I joined the gymn to do some weight reduction focussing more on cardio, less on weights. At some point(i think i picked more weight than I could munch) my lower back gave off(not literally). There was no pain. Couple of days later, I felt some pain in my left calf, which I passed as musle pain. Then the intensity of pain increased and my butt and thigh started to ache. Hey but no back pain!!So off I went to meet a doctor-to ellaborate my story- I love US doctors-I explain my emergency and all they had to say is "oh wait, if you have an emergency, you'd better go to the emergency to this hospital i am affliated with, hmmm but I think you'd better take an x-ray first"; I say "doctor- i have no broken bones.no" doctor"i understand, but if i don't go thru procedure, the insurance won't pay me!!!!"
So I bore the pain for a week and took my blood-test/x-ray! and meet the doctor. Obviously nothing to see there. So now he says "Hmmm, why don't we don't I refer you to a specialist- would you prefer a neurosurgeon or a pain specialist" I say "You're the doctor? no?" AND he refers me to the neurosurgeon.3 weeks have passed- Still I have no back pain-but to put in words, you take a needle and poke it the part where your butt meets the spine. poked? now remove it and run it down the rear thigh, calf and stop near the ankle and then run it along the outer part of the feet and stop at your little finger on the foot - all the while applying pressure. When you reach there, poke once more - just for fun. This is a bit of what I was experiencing.I could go on and on - but everyone here is busy- I had to go thru the loops of the neurosurgeon too - this time on 1 week on pain killers and another on testing my muscles(i forget the medical term used) and finall after 2 months - an MRI - something that could have been done the first week. MRI showed that I had two ruptured discs on my lower back. I was "threatened" by the doctors for an operation to which I said "f@k you" in a more subtle way.In the end, accupuncture helped ease the pain. I also tried the Indian style - Ayurveda - something that revealed the spiritual part of life to me.The funny thing at the end of all this is not posture that caused pain to me in the first case. It was constipation. Once my bowel movements were (made) normal along with medicated oil massages and few other things (include enema of oils)The treatment/healing made me consider my revaluation of "east" vs "west" in many ways and varied thoughts about modern medicine "industry" considering the threats of operation vs what doctors perceive vs doctors as businessmen etc.Oh! one more thing - Swimming helps!
I can jog for a few minutes beside the sea, a privilege for me now!