The Chiropractor’s Back Pain Diary, Part 3
Welcome back to Mike’s story of how he dealt with back pain. If you want to go back and read Part 1 to find out how we got here, use the links below:
What Was The Outcome?
If you’ve already read Part 1 and Part 2 of the Chiropractor’s Back Pain Diary, thank you and well done for making it this far! You’ll already be intimately familiar with all the comings and goings of my latest back pain episode, so read on to find out what the outcome was. If not, click the links below to go back and read:
How quickly did you get better?
This one is both easy and not easy to answer. As I write this, my episode started five days ago, and this morning I ran 7k and I won’t be skipping work tomorrow. So my pain is gone then? No. There are still positions and movements that my back definitely doesn’t like. And every morning, it feels like the whole thing has taken two steps back from the night before. But when I compare like-for-like, there has been no stage at which my back feels worse or less capable than it did 24 hours before. So for me, that is constant progress. I’m not aiming for perfection, I’m aiming to be a bit better than yesterday.
Which thing helped the most?
Of the six things mentioned previously, honestly… I don’t know. I don’t think anyone gets better WITHOUT moving in some capacity, so maybe that’s the most important component. As I said, the first time I slept comfortably with the belt on definitely felt like a big moment too, although if I’m being completely fair, there’s no way to know if that sleep might have been just as restful without it. That nap also came after a very uncomfortable drive to Topsham to receive treatment. The trip was exhausting and a real challenge for my back. Maybe the challenge was good for it? Who knows.
What’s the long term picture?
Now that I’ll be confident facing a full day of work (belt in back pocket of course!), I have enough headspace to consider how I got here, and what might need to change going forward.
My back pain appears to be… Getting less serious?
Firstly, the good news. With the exception of this latest one, the episodes that I have seem to be getting less severe. I also seem to be recovering quicker - this latest episode included. To be back running on Sunday would have been unthinkable on Tuesday. I put this down to a few things:
Being in better health generally
Like a lot of people, I let things slide during the lockdown years and the addition of children to the mix has not helped when it comes to getting back into the routine of exercise. However I am taking better care of myself than I have been. And like so many things in life, it’s not one thing; it’s everything. Sleep, hydration, alcohol, vegetables, stress, exercise… All these things and more have an effect and maxxing out on one thing won’t undo the harmful effects of neglecting the others.
“We are what we repeatedly do”
This is a part of Point 1 really, but I do think it’s worth its own point. Consistency trumps everything. In fact this series of posts was originally meant to be written after a previous episode of back pain, and one of the notes was “I have learned that consistency is king, and I have none!” Since then, many of the things that affect my health have become more consistent. My diet is better… Consistently. My exercise levels are higher… Consistently. As high as I’d like? No, but consistently getting closer. If I want to be serious about being healthy into middle and older age, that’s not a part-time endeavour.
Repeated recoveries “teaching” my body to relax sooner
I am of the opinion that taking positive steps to recover and show your body that “hurt is not harm” sets you up well for the next episode. And make no mistake: there will be a next episode. Whoever said that the three guarantees in life were death, taxes and back pain weren’t kidding. I’d only be lying to myself if I thought that somehow I’d cracked the code and could live blissfully free of the fear of a back spasm from this moment forth.
OK, great, pat on the back for Big Mikey on the “coping with back pain front”. But there’s precious little else to be happy about really, because here’s the bad news:
My back doesn’t seem to be building much resilience
The things setting off these episodes aren’t as a result of ill-advised ridiculous feats of strength or jaw-dropping acts of endurance. I could live with that. I have to face up to the fact that my back is an intolerant, hypersensitive mess when it wants to be. And the cause and solution can both be found in one very familiar word: exercise.
I refer back to Part 1, where I talked about the difference between my current exercise regime and that of my relatively recent past. For me there are 5 different factors that contribute to our body’s readiness for exercise:
Consistency - doing the same thing week after week for a year or more
Volume - “time on feet”, accumulating as much movement as possible irrespective of the intensity
Intensity - get back to doing higher intensity forms of exercise
Variety - incorporating different movements and types of exercise so that my back is ready for anything
Recovery - getting enough downtime and sleep for my body to properly recover and rebuild
I could go into depth on each one but I think they speak for themselves. I have less of every single one of them than I did a few years ago, and getting back to feeling bulletproof has to start with planning to get more of each.
What’s The Plan?
More walking
Walking is the best way to build a fitness “base”. Finding excuses or reasons to walk rather than drive and make sure that every day I get in some amount of walking (“time on feet” as described above). This helps to work on both Consistency and Volume.
Prioritise sleep
Sleep was described by a chiropractic colleague of mine as “the best anti-inflammatory that money can’t buy”. Getting more good quality sleep can either be the thing that separates good athletic performance from great, or if your lifestyle is more like mine, sleep can cover a multitude of sins. It’s when our body repairs, grows, rebalances hormones and deals with all kinds of other gremlins and the importance of getting enough sleep can’t really be overstated.
My own failures where sleep are concerned are partly out of my control (children) and partly within (scrolling in bed!) I’ll need to take advantage of every opportunity to supercharge my Recovery.
Make changes to my routine
This is the big one and the crux of the problem really. If I want to make time for exercise and rehabbing my body properly, I need to be better organised with work in particular, and draw more robust boundaries around when I fit exercise into my routine. My current thinking is that once I’ve built enough Volume on a Consistent basis, I can start to increase the Intensity. I’m planning to add Variety through Pilates at first and get back to some kind of cross training later.
Make visits to chiropractors the norm again
It’s been striking how helpful the visits to my colleagues have been. It’s so easy to fall out of the habit of maintenance. I haven’t been seen on a regular basis for a long time, but it is a key part of the Recovery jigsaw. No excuses!
Sounds easy, right? It’s the same plan I’ve been trying to implement since having children! However, taking a step back and understanding some of the factors that cause episodes like this helps me to navigate and even if I suffer a setback, it helps me to understand why it’s happened. It’s so important not to start thinking that “I’m just getting old” or “I have my dad’s back” or any of the other “thought viruses” that can frequently pop up.
How’s that working out for you?
I have to hold my hands up here. It’s been a couple of weeks since I did the thinking and planning on how I would recover and build myself back stronger than before. Sticking to the plan has been tricky at best! Believe me when I say that “I know how you feel” when patients are sat in front of me.
Numbers don’t lie so I will be tracking my exercise on Strava to keep me accountable. I’ve always liked the saying that we overestimate what we can achieve in the short term, and underestimate what we can achieve in the long term. If I can commit to a small increase in what I’m doing week-to-week, it will pay dividends in 12 months - and that time will pass anyway. I certainly won’t be making the mistake of wholesale changes now, only to burn out in 6 weeks.
And that’s it I suppose. I will be posting a sequel to all of this, but if this feels like an anti-climax… Getting better usually is! The pain has all but gone but I’m not overjoyed, and also not fooling myself that I’m “fixed” - there is still a lot of work to do. Let’s summarise the key takeaways:
Don’t panic
Get professional advice
All pain is different and personal to you. Whatever works, works
Movement is essential to recovery, but not always pleasant
Rest is essential to recovery
Staying better doesn’t happen by accident - you need a plan
Taking care of yourself pays dividends to you and your family
Change and sticking to a plan is hard - be kind to yourself
Will there be a Part 4? Almost certainly. There usually is. But if I can take my own advice, hopefully it will be later rather than sooner!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you! If my story sounds like yours and you’re ready to make the change, book an appointment or contact us to find out more.