Monday, December 18, 2006

Being short didn't save me from looking like Quasimodo

A friend of mine, also a mum, had been having terrible problems with her back recently. It was so bad for about a week that she couldn't even look after her own 19-month old son. She's able to stagger about now, but apparently it's going to be 4-5 months before she's "better".

All my life I never had back pain. I could do high-impact aerobics without shoes on and not get shinsplints, and I could use my back like a crane and never experience a single twinge of discomfort. I'd always put this down to being short, because most people I knew with dodgy backs were tall.

Lately though, it seems that every time I put my back under any sort of strain whatsoever (getting the buggy around the narrow porch, over the step and through the front door is a prime asking-for-it example), my back responds with acute pain and sometimes the inability to move easily for several minutes at a time. In the evenings, the boy gets his massage thumbs out and finds knots the size of golfballs on either side of my spine.

Perhaps, in my old age, my body is finally paying me back for all those times I pogoed in my extraordinarily heavy Doc Martin shoes.

4 comments:

Watson Woodworth said...

I've heard otherwise, but as an overweight factory worker (when I was overwieght)with bad feet, I swear by the Docs. But they are heavy and swing when you walk.
I have a work pair (the high ones because I also have bad ankles) that I've worked in so long it looks like they're back from the Kabul and three low ones.
I've always pogoed in a pair of Chucks so it wouldn't hurt if I stepped on anybody.

Angela said...

Ouch! Back pain is no fun. After I had my son I got terrible knots in my back. I was not able to sleep on my sides.

Anonymous said...

It's probably just TLM related. Hope it clears up soon..

Violet said...

nigel: I've always liked Docs, though they're really expensive in NZ - about $200 a pair - though at least if I bought a pair now there'd be little chance of damging my back by dancing in 'em.

angela: ah that's terrible. If I can't sleep in whatever position I feel like, I can't sleep very well at all.

happyandblue2: I really must stop blaming everything on TLM though. I'm sure she won't appreciate it when she's older...