Those who know me, know of my long history with back pain and my determination not to let it restrict or rule my life. Well, one Monday morning my back kicked back.
To give a bit of back ground, I have suffered for over 30 yrs with back pain brought on by child birth. In order to help with this I started to exercise at this point I had no idea what I was doing, but I was moving. It was many years later that I trained as a Personal trainer. So, in my forties I started running, teaching high impact aerobics classes upped the weight training I was already doing to take part in a Body building competition.
The back would occasionally give me a little shot across the bow to let me know it was still there and I would ease back for a day or two. I was also teaching Pilates, but I was teaching to large classes and giving the clients want they wanted and not what they needed. I realised one day after looking around a class of 30+ people that for the majority of people in the room this was the wrong type of exercise and I could be actually hurting them. (Light bulb moment)
So, I found the best Pilates course I could. I upped my knowledge changed the way I taught so as people would feel safe in my classes and formed a team with local Osteopath www.tomlinsonosteopaths.co.uk.
Whilst doing all this, building my business looking after other people’s back issues I forgot about myself, I failed to follow my own advice.
So, consequently whilst doing a simple task, bending forward I felt, what I can only describe as a tear across my lower back. It was enough to make me stop and readjust, and then, in usual Gill fashion I just carried on teaching for an hour and then doing a particular demanding PT session with one of my favourite clients. Ignoring the discomfort in my lower back.
In my lunch hour I took a stability ball and lay over it to stretch my back, it felt quite nice until I tried to get up!! I was stuck, now, I know many of you would pay a fair amount of money to see me stuck on a stability ball, indeed there are certain family members still wiping tears from their eyes. But, for Michelle and Taira my two lovely work colleague’s it caused quite a bit of anxiety.
They eventually rolled me off the ball and on to my side on the floor, on to all fours and then up on to a chair, with lots of grunting and gasping from me.
I was incredibly lucky, I had two amazing people with me who I trust with my life, my husband who dropped everything and drove home to look after me and Tomlinson Osteopaths who, fortunately for me had just had a cancellation and could see me within the hour.
That was the important one, getting treatment, Steven Baines at Tomlinson realised my back from spasm using acupuncture. So the day after, I have no pain, my back just feels fragile, but I am aware that if I bend forward it could happen again.
So, no one knows more than me how to move correctly to prevent the onset of back pain, Time to practice what I preach.
Instead of leaning forward I am hinging, I teach this regularly in class. I am now hinging to pick stuff up from the floor, I am hinging to put washing in the machine, I am hinging to sit down. When I am finished hinging I am walking around the house and then talking periods of rest, I will be back at work by next week If I keep practising what I preach
