Falling Flat On the Back

[Gale Hawkins]

Acupuncture is every other week normally now but was doing it a lot more. Got in two treatments this week and will get two more next week but then she will be in China visiting parents for two weeks but that is cool as long as I stay on my feet ok.

KY just started permitting acupuncture 3-4 years ago I think. It is not magic but if you need it then is can seem like magic.

Did get a couple miles of road side bush hogged OK and sprayed out 15 gallon tank of round up at church and in our drive. Twisting and turning the golf cart while spraying with the other hand sure had my back popping in places that did not pop in a long time before the self adjusting move last Sunday morning (the fall). It may all lock back down but I am going to keep moving as much as I can. The popping/clicking actually most of the time feels good.

As others have noted people do die from falls all of the time. We had a long time equipment dealer slipped going home from the shop after closing at noon. He hit his head and past in a few days. I am thankful I was on dirt and grass.

My fall was very hard on the wife and kids. The kids know I hurt all of the time and for me to be hollowing in pain they knew I was really hurting. The moved the grazing ring this afternoon after letting the horses graze for about four hours.

I have been told it is going to take weeks for the muscles to recover from the trauma of the fall as some of you have mentioned as well. They have me on something similar to aspirin that I have to take with food but I am sticking with my plan to leave off foods that are processed and or have sugar added. Man once I started looking I found one jar of chocolate peanut butter the daughter got that had more sugar than nuts. At this point I am not sure a lot of my arthritis damage is not due to my body response to sugar.

Life goes on but I do understand I could have died along down in the field last Sunday morning. I was just going for an 8 minute walk and made that side stop. The kids are walking with me more now. Can not believe I forgot to take my phone at time.

 

[dstig1]

Ouch! Watch yourself out there!

 

[Wagtail]

Gees Gale! You take care, I'm thinking of you way over here on the other side of the world.

God bless.

 

[ultrarunner]

Let you body set the limits and keep active is what the best spine doc I know says...

He's a great surgeon and than...only as a last resort.

Glad to hear you're keeping your spirits up and that you are on the mend!

Has anyone suggested hydo therapy or even a hot whirlpool?

 

[PhysAssist]

Hi Gale,

I'm glad you weren't more seriously injured and are improving at a pretty good pace. Do continue to be careful to avoid reinjury.

Take care,
Thomas

 

[luvmexfood]

Remember way back in 88 I went through the Police Academy. In gym every morning at 5:30 for PT. On the first day we had to set on the floor with legs stretched out an feet flat against wall. Then you stretched your arms out and tried to touch the wall. I lacked about 6" with my finger tips. Each morning we did stretching exercises with a partner. You would get in a certain position and your partner would stretch your muscles. ie lay flat on your back and lift your leg then your partner would keep lifting and push it back till you couldn't stand it plus stretching for back etc. After 8 weeks we did the wall thing again and I could easily take my hands and put my palms against the wall. Wish I had stayed in that shape. Long story short try and find some stretching exercises. It really helps with preventing pulled muscles etc.

 

[luvmexfood]

Speaking of accupuncture was in the vet's office one day with my dog. A woman came in and asked if they did or knew of anyone that did accupuncture on an animal. Thought it was the craziest thing I had ever heard of till they told her a vet about 45 miles away did it.

 

[Buppies]

Hope you get to feeling better very soon. As we age our balance is not what it used to be. Have no back problems myself but can relate to falling. Take care

 

[LJH]

Really glad to hear you didn't bust anything! I'll echo everyone else and say, take it easy, give yourself time to heal and don't do that again!

The battle cry here at the Haphazard Homestead is "Gittin' Old Ain't Fer Sissies". The balance goes, the depth perception goes, the stamina goes, the good looks ... oh wait, I've always been ugly ... at least I've still got that.

Hope you're better real quick!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

All are good points.

I think part of the issue was due to having lost 25 pounds of my 75 pounds of spare fat. It kind of like taking the fluid out of the rear tractor tires and still keep traction.

Actually I have built a lot of strength in the process of loosing the 25 pounds since July and just need to learn how to slip the clutch to keep from spinning out.

 

[sodamo]

As I say to my wife from time to time,
"Ah, to be young and agile, instead of mature and fragile."

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[Firemanbuck]

Gale, glad to hear you're feeling better.

My story is that I slipped on ice at a structure fire a couple of years ago as a volunteer fire fighter and fell straight back onto my air tank on concrete. Again, as others have said the x-rays showed nothing to be broken, but it still gives me fits to this day.

Don't laugh, but I've found yoga to be very helpful in stretching the muscles that want to be difficult. It helps with overall flexibility and balance, too which we tend to lose as we get older, and it's done wonders for my skiing in the winter. Bikram or "hot yoga" is even better to get things loose.

 

[dmccarty]

...

Actually I have built a lot of strength in the process of loosing the 25 pounds since July and just need to learn how to slip the clutch to keep from spinning out.

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Do not forget to adjust the slip clutch each spring!

The wifey and I have back pain from time to time and she has had two shoulder surgeries as a result of a car accident. We have a couple of TENS units that really do help the pain. Ice and OTC meds help as well.

At least you hurt your back doing so Manly Man Work... :thumbsup:

I split .25-30 of a cord of wood on Saturday with my Fiskar axe/splitter. There is more wood to split but what I have been splitting is dry enough to burn right now. Anywho, I split all of that wood and not a pain to speak of. :thumbsup:

Sunday, I smoked/cooked a pork loin. The wifey was in the kitchen washing dishes and I was in the kitchen getting my BBQing tools ready to take outside. I grabbed a set of tongs and the Devil grabbed a hold of me. :shocked:

There she was, wearing shorts and her back was to me...

Those tongs were in my right hand....

The Devil Made Me Do It!

Yes, yes, I pinched the dear wifey's rear with those tongs! :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

So that sad part about all of this is NOT that our youngest beat me up for being "mean" to mommy nor that dear wifey flung a bunch of water on me! :shocked::laughing::laughing: No, the sad part is that I pulled a muscle on my left shoulder even though my right arm was holding the terrible, tush, touching tongs! :laughing::laughing::laughing: At least you were doing mainly stuff when you got injured, I got hurt touching a tooshie with tongs!

Later,
Dan

 

[Pilot]

As others have said, I'm glad you are improving.

I suggest seeing a physical therapist. They treat those muscle problems, will work you over a little and teach you some exercises to do at home. Insurance sometimes pays for PT.

Don't put off treatment. I injured my back 21 years ago mishandling a 28 foot ladder that tried to fall over on me. Doc said it was sciatica, & it would go away in awhile, use ice packs & anti inflamatories. Didn't go away, but I improved to a tolerable level. But over the years it slowly got worse. Neurologist diagnosed neuropathy as the cause of pain from foot to hip and basically said take these pills and go away. Physical therapy helped a little & a spine specialist recommended a chiropractor. Didn't trust chiropractors, but I did trust the back doc, so I went to a chiro he recommended. Much improvement, down from 8 pills a day to 2. If I had been more aggressive and assertive with the docs in '92, I am sure I would have avoided years and years of pain.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Well this morning I decided to toss the old pair of shoes that I was wearing when I fell last week. In fact I had planned to do so for some time but due to the dew they got soaking wet every morning I was 'saving' my other better pairs.

Bad move on my part. I knew the soles were ran over and they were bad for me.

On close inspection the right heel/sole was separating from the rest of the right shoe. Perhaps when I was walking backwards and the fence moved easier than I expected it may have been the tall grass hung in the heel that was separating from the upper part of the shoe.

I can not be 100% sure this is what happened but expect the shoe hanging in the tall grass was at least a factor.

In tall grass I will now try to wear shoes good for walking forward or backwards.

 

[Bob77064]

Well this morning I decided to toss the old pair of shoes that I was wearing when I fell last week. In fact I had planned to do so for some time but due to the dew they got soaking wet every morning I was 'saving' my other better pairs.

Bad move on my part. I knew the soles were ran over and they were bad for me.

On close inspection the right heel/sole was separating from the rest of the right shoe. Perhaps when I was walking backwards and the fence moved easier than I expected it may have been the tall grass hung in the heel that was separating from the upper part of the shoe.

I can not be 100% sure this is what happened but expect the shoe hanging in the tall grass was at least a factor.

In tall grass I will now try to wear shoes good for walking forward or backwards.

Sounds like something that I would do, I hope you are feeling better.

 

[nc redneck]

57 YO and have had (2) slipped disks surgeries over the years, might say I have been rode hard and put up wet from running my own business for 25 years. Some days I can put out 4500 lbs of lime that I just did by myself. Other days I can pick up a pencil and that will put me on pills for 3 days and not much work, truly sucks when it happens. Seems like the older I get the the easier it happens. I have exercises to do that really help. But who has time for that.

 

[tcreeley]

In my forties I used to have some terrible aching backs- but after joining my sons' martial arts classes (had to hang around- looked fun) my back aches went away - many push ups along with the rest of the training. Using your back, muscles, exercise is the best thing for you.
About 6 years ago I fell flat on my back on the ice coming back from the barn. My hat protected my head. Breathing was almost impossible at first. I just lay there and slowly got to my knees and stayed there before I could raise myself to my feet. I never went to a doctor, but I think I cracked a rib in my back. It ached for weeks. I learned to respect my body a bit more and be more deliberate, and careful- especially on ice. My arthritis today makes me use a cane. I have one special cane with a steel tip just for ice.
Bodies are useful- but they need to be functional!
Take care!

 

[NativeSon]

When I get out of bed in the morning, I have to sit about 10-15 seconds on the side of the bed. If I go from flat to standing, my back muscles tighten up and almost bring me to my knees. Five minutes later, it's like nothing was ever wrong as the muscles go out of panic spasm and everything is cool. I know one of these days it's gonna not quit hurting, but I sure am glad that for the present, it doesn't last very long.

Gale, I suspect you overstressed something as you were going down. The worst spasm I ever had was when I was drying off after a shower. I reached down with the towel to wipe the water off the tub lip and went to my knees. I couldn't stand up straight for the next week. It doesn't take much to put a hitch in the old sacroiliac.

Jim- I'm like you when I first get up, I have to stretch all the kinks out before I really get moving. Some mornings it sounds like Rice Crispies with all the "Snap, Crackle and Pop" going on.

Charlie

 

[oosik]

Well, years & years ago when I was 61 or thereabouts I fell out here on the homestead. Nothing broken but an awful lot of pinched nerves and cramped muscles. I had always thought physical therapy was kind of like voo doo but I hurt so bad I finally went. After about half dozen sessions thing loosened up and I've felt good ever since. I've also learned to be a little more careful. The body is never as young as the mind thinks it is.