Tuesday, August 16, 2011
OW again, dammit
Why I'm in 'brief fucking comment' mode this week: Back pain is back. I made the mistake of digging in the yard again, and got duly punished. (Not exactly a mistake; I'd been raking and digging fairly often for 6 weeks without any further problems. For unknown reasons it caused a problem this time.)
Random observations:
(1) Seems like the pain and spasms depend mainly on the gamma feedback system, responding primarily to accelerations instead of steady stretch. Wonder if a drug or technique that mainly suppresses the gamma receptors would be especially helpful?
(2) A tiny house with lots of furniture is good. Not exactly 'Universal Design', but there's always a table or desk nearby to pull on, to boost your way past the acceleration point.
(3) The trunk muscles seem to know what they can get away with. They allow moves and positions that won't hurt, and they simply prevent some moves and positions that will hurt. This causes one icky and hard-to-discuss inconvenience: Properly wiping after a dump apparently includes a slight automatic twist of the pelvis, on the totally reflexive level. The stiff trunk won't allow this twist, which makes it hard to reach all of the requisite area. I developed a workaround, but it's still unhandy.
(4) Couple days later: This set of exercises on Youtube definitely helps. Recovering faster than before by using these tricks. The exercises don't look nearly as good when I do them, but still work. ¶ 4:46 AM
Why I'm in 'brief fucking comment' mode this week: Back pain is back. I made the mistake of digging in the yard again, and got duly punished. (Not exactly a mistake; I'd been raking and digging fairly often for 6 weeks without any further problems. For unknown reasons it caused a problem this time.)
Random observations:
(1) Seems like the pain and spasms depend mainly on the gamma feedback system, responding primarily to accelerations instead of steady stretch. Wonder if a drug or technique that mainly suppresses the gamma receptors would be especially helpful?
(2) A tiny house with lots of furniture is good. Not exactly 'Universal Design', but there's always a table or desk nearby to pull on, to boost your way past the acceleration point.
(3) The trunk muscles seem to know what they can get away with. They allow moves and positions that won't hurt, and they simply prevent some moves and positions that will hurt. This causes one icky and hard-to-discuss inconvenience: Properly wiping after a dump apparently includes a slight automatic twist of the pelvis, on the totally reflexive level. The stiff trunk won't allow this twist, which makes it hard to reach all of the requisite area. I developed a workaround, but it's still unhandy.
(4) Couple days later: This set of exercises on Youtube definitely helps. Recovering faster than before by using these tricks. The exercises don't look nearly as good when I do them, but still work. ¶ 4:46 AM
