As some of you may be aware, due to having 2 young kids keeping me up at night, my sleeping position can be described as “sub-optimal”! Last week, after another disturbed night, I bent over to get dressed and felt something twinge in my back. I felt that dreaded “click”, pain and heat spread slowly and this got progressively worse as the day went on. What did I do? I often give advice about self-management tips to my Osteo patients. This was an opportunity to test my own advice and these are the strategies that work best
– Keep Warm – First thing I did was get the Fisiocream and lather myself in it. Heat pack, hot shower – doesn’t matter which. Just keep the area warm.
– Keep Moving – While you may feel like lying down or lounging on the couch, this is a trap! Whether it’s an easy stroll, gentle stretching, or whatever movement you can manage without hurting yourself – just keep moving! Take it easy – i wrote a post a while back about how sometimes the best thing you can do is to not hurt yourself more – this is one of those times! While keeping moving is very important, make sure you aren’t doing too much either. The less you aggravate the injury, the quicker you will be back on your feet.
– Anti inflammatories – i find neurofen gives me a lot of relief but this is personal preference. If you are considering taking anti inflammatories – make sure you don’t have any health conditions which may prohibit you from taking them. If you are not sure, check with your GP – make sure there are no known interactions with other medication you may already be taking – take them with food and follow the instructions on the box relating to dosage and frequency.