Pain is complicated
I’ve lived with chronic pain my whole adult life. And it’s complicated.
It has always been related to my low back and sciatica. I’m my 20s I had several flare ups where I couldn’t walk, and I had to be carried to the emergency room to get a painkiller shot and I was prescribed pills for pain and muscle relaxation. I would wake up at night crying with pain (sometimes painkillers didn’t work). I took hours of physiotherapy. I still have memorized series of physiotherapy stretching exercises I used to do.
When I was 28 years old I moved to another city and started seeing a different orthopedist doctor. It was the first a doctor asked for an MRI to investigate my problem. It turned out that, yes, I was born with a slightly different configuration on my lumbar vertebra that was being overloaded with impact. This doctor told me to start swimming. And so, I did. Three times a week, I would wake up at 5:30am to be in the water by 6:30am. I did it for 9 years.
After one year of swimming, the doctor recommended me to start some strength training. So I did that as well. I started going to the gym every morning, to either swim or train. I did my stretching exercises every day, in the morning and before bed.
For the first 3 years after I started swimming, I still had flare-ups and sometimes I couldn't finish a class. But I could notice that my body was slowly getting stronger, and I started having less and less pain.
To the point where I started running! It was a huge achievement for me! I'm not talking about training for marathons or whatever, just running for 10 minutes, then 15 min, then 20 min... Every little step counted. Until I could run 5Km and 10 Km and also do Yoga! And also bike!
So why am telling this story?
It's just because I've been hearing colleagues, friends and bloggers mentioning chronic pain lately and wondering what to do. And my answer is: “I’m sorry, it's complicated”. But also, exercise is super important. And stretching is important. And strengthening the core is even more important. Mental health and managing stress are also important. My answer will never provide quick fixes because it was not easy for me. It took me years to recover and be active again. It was a combination of discipline, physical strengthening, diet adjustments and mental health care.
I don’t swim anymore. But when I tell people about my routine nowadays (which includes yoga, running, hiking, stretching, weight training, meditation, journaling) they ask me how I keep motivated. And my answer is always: “I don't want to feel that pain again”.
I still have some pain, if I pick up something the wrong way or overstretch or stay seated for too long. But I always go back to the basics. If I'm having a tough week, and I have some pain, I stop running and do more core exercises (like Dr. Stuart McGill’s “Big Three” Low Back Exercises). And when the pain is gone, I am grateful for being pain free, even if it’s only for a day.
Everyone will have a different experience. This is mine.
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By Noisy Deadlines
Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.