Thoughts On Chronic Pain…
Short Story…
In late October 2011 I was having some pain after running and it wouldn’t go away, pretty sharp pain in the top of my lower back and deep in either ass cheek. I ended up taking a pretty light month in November running but it wouldn’t go away and turned more dull. I did a few sessions with a Chiropractor that helped but didn’t make time to see a doctor as I was heading to Central/South America. Plus I figured I could just run through it combined with rehab exercises and stretching. And it turned into a pretty solid 24/7 dull pain with spikes of further pain from time to time.
I took January 2012 off to just give it a rest since I believed at that point that inflammation was pinching my sciatic nerve. It got better but not great, and I was back to running in Feb and just trying to live with it. I never really thought about seeing a doc in south america as my spanish sucks, and plus the wine in Argentina is AMAZING. And then I got to Australia and had gotten used to it.
So what the hell caused it?
I went through a lot of testing but I’m 90% sure at this point it was due to a change in my work environment. My normal work environment is a standing desk + a HM chair I’ve had for 5+ years. But with me going abroad for a few years I had moved that into storage and had been sitting in a broken chair which was pulling a lot of muscles off + I was now staring down at the laptop screen (pulling all my neck and back muscles up). And then while traveling I never had my screen even with my eyes until mid way through Australia. And I just kept inflaming the same muscles and never game them time to heal (16+ hour flights don’t help).
Summary: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid (don’t do this).
What I noticed about 24/7 dull pain:
– It turns me into even more of an asshole. For the first 4 to 6 months of it you get really frustrated since its preventing you from running and other sports. And it makes you cranky and you lash out way quicker.
– You get used to it, after 6 months its just there. That is nice since as you get old you will only be an asshole if you really are one or for short bursts as you get used to increased pain levels. So that is nice to know.
– Ibuprofen is an amazing drug.
I woke up a few days ago and the pain is a mere 1% to 5% of what it once was, which is awesome. I attribute this to a better work environment the last few months + a foam roller + a lacrosse ball. And maybe a little magic?
And of course I made a doctor appointment now with a sports doctor now that the pain is so much better. I just forgot before :).
PS. I’m sure I will look back on this post when I’m old and laugh my ass off thinking I even knew what chronic pain was like. If I make it that long. My brother tells me its cancer, and he is almost a doctor.
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