Hi, guys! Happy Monday to you!
Did you have a nice weekend? Ours was pretty low-key. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I hurt my back/hip about a week ago. I still have NO idea how I did it. I’m blaming a walking treadmill workout that I did the day before the pain started, but I’m sure it’s a cumulative injury – or maybe it’s all in my head! More on this in a minute! 😉
Here’s a photo of Murphy, looking pretty annoyed because that’s how I’ve felt for the past week.
I ended up going to urgent care for drugs because the pain was so bad. I couldn’t even walk at the beginning of the week. Ughhh, it was awful. Back pain is truly the worst. I actually did this same thing to myself two Christmases ago, which was WAY worse (I ended up in the emergency room), but this “injury” lasted longer. I couldn’t do everyday things, like walking or going upstairs. On Tuesday, I pretty much sat on the couch the entire day, which is NOT my style. I’m not someone who can sit still and relax. I was definitely a bit stir-crazy (and cranky) this past week. Anyway… I’m feeling MUCH better today, so I’ll tell you about that turn of events in a second.
We stayed in on Friday night because I was still in a lot of pain. I was moving better overall, but I needed to take breaks when the pain got to be too much. We made homemade pizza for dinner and watched a movie.
On Saturday morning, we visited Gather in Pembroke for breakfast. I had heard great things about it, so we finally headed down to see what it was all about – and it did not disappointment. I mean, freshly baked bacon maple mini donuts? Yes, please!
I ordered the Smashed Hash (without eggs), which was delicious. Mal ordered the Corned Beef Breakfast Poutine and couldn’t stop talking about how incredible it was! Gather has a “Sunday family dinner” that looks really great too – we want to check it out soon. It’s definitely a place we’ll visit again!
On Saturday night, we headed to our friends’ house. I was still in a lot of pain (and popping muscle relaxers and Ibuprofen 800s like it was my job), but I needed to get out of the house. Plus, I figured seeing our friends would make me feel better.
One of our friends has actually dealt with back pain in the past and recommended the book Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by Dr. John Sarno. He let me borrow his copy and, my gosh, it’s fascinating. I’m ALL about the mind-body connection, so I figured it couldn’t hurt.
I plowed through about half of the book on Saturday night and my friend sent me the “Cliff’s Notes” via Youtube video, which I watched on Sunday morning. I spent the rest of Sunday doing “Jedi mind tricks” to make my hip not hurt. The author actually says to go back to your workouts, so I joined Mal for a workout at the YMCA. My hip hurt, but not as much as I thought it would. It still bothered me on and off for the rest of the afternoon and evening, but I didn’t need to stop and rest or take drugs to manage the pain of everyday activities. It was a turning point for sure, and I felt considerably better!
This morning, I woke up 95% better, which is INCREDIBLE, considering where I was less than 48 hours ago. I haven’t taken a single muscle relaxer or Ibuprofen this morning, and I really think changing my thinking turned things around. If you struggle with back pain, you definitely need to check out this book. If anything, watch the video. It’s truly fascinating – and you’ll see that there’s a certain “type” of person who gets chronic back pain. I thought this was especially interesting considering my past experiences with various ailments. My brain is a menace!
Question of the Day
Do you have chronic back pain? Have you ever “Jedi mind tricked” an injury? What do you think of all this? Crazy? Crazy-cool?