She's in bed with her back.

Bending down is bad

It’s been months. Perhaps I’ve mentioned it before? I may have even grunted and winced if required to bend down and pick something up. I have avoided buying shoes with laces preferring the slip-on variety. Sitting. Standing. Walking. Lying. Hiking. Running. Yoga. Pilates and Zumba have been accompanied with a dull ache. Yes doctor, it’s my lower back.

Dull Ache

It has not been a dramatic and excruciating sudden on-set of pain. But a constant drag of dull ache in the lower back region. It has been ‘there’ but not ‘that’ bad but it has been ‘there’ and I’ve been aware of it for far too bloody long. I am not one to just put up with ailments, believing that doctors can fix bodies. And as I am fully committed to preserving my bones and everything that covers them I have given myself over to a variety of methods to make the dull ache go away.

Hobbyist

I took up a new hobby called Going to the Physiotherapist. The definition of hobby is ‘something that is pursued during ones leisure time for pleasure’ and perversely I did pursue this activity in my leisure time. I can go into the pleasure/pain part another time! But this wasn’t the only hobby I took up in my commitment to ridding myself of the dull ache. Going to the Osteopath and Going to the Chiropractor were also pursued in my leisure time. The appointments and travel time to the various clinics around town had to be organized like a military campaign in order to fit in ordinary life. In between the appointments my time was taken up with reading about lower backs. Watching You Tube video clips by DIY back experts about back exercises. Of course each practitioner sent me away with back exercises to do so these have to be fitted into ordinary life too. More conventional hobbies have been taken up too. Yoga and Pilates have become regular event in my weekly agenda.

Expert Medical Advice

Throughout the past few months when the dull ache has nagged away at me I have taken expert medical advice from many and various medical experts in different areas of expertise. All of whom have done their best to help me rid myself of the dreaded dull ache and throughout all of these hobbies and gathering of information as well as the stretching exercises and slip on shoes, the bloody bastard bollocky dull ache has persisted and each morning I’ve woken up with the bloody bastard bollocky dull ache still present.

The Vet

Then I met a vet over a Thai meal who, quite tersely, offered his opinion about why the dull ache was ever present. The question I needed to answer was “How old is your bed?” and after taking off my socks and shoes (slowly because it was hard to bend down because the of the dull ache) in order count up the years, I am too embarrassed to even expose the length of time I had owned the mattress suffice to say that it took nearly all fingers and toes to do the calculation.

New Bed

It was definitely a consideration and one I hadn’t considered before. A Saturday afternoon was taken up testing out various mattresses and a decision was made. The new bed arrived on Tuesday. I have now had four sleeps on it.

This is the moment for Handel’ Messiah Hallelujah to be blasted at 11 while I offer my thanks to the Vet who so wisely pointed out it was my old bed that was causing my problems.

Hallelujuah