I hurt my lower back lifting a wet twenty-pound-bag of fertilizer on Satuday.

I knew I’d hurt myself when I felt the snapping “ping” of an internal cello string, but the injury took five minutes to blossom. Then, aaaarugh, I crawled to my Victorian hat box of homeopathic remedies, drawing out the vials of Arnica and Hypernicum, which I alternated every thirty minutes. Then, just as I was thinking, “Hey, crawling is an undervalued mode of human transportation!” I realized that I couldn’t rise from a kneeling position without holding on to the wall or pushing my right hand hard against my lower back for support. So I had to resign myself to napping flat on the floor for two hours.

Now I know what every other back pain sufferer has been talking about. Did you realize that Americans spend about $50 billion annually seeking relief for their lower back pain, and that injuries of this nature are the leading contributors to missed work? Here’s an article that says if we all did just three minutes of spinal warm-ups every morning, these injuries would not occur as much as they do.

My Mother’s Day was super enlightening because I couldn’t do any of the tasks I am accustomed to doing, and I realized that–surprise, surprise–about one quarter of my life is spent picking things up. I had to repeatedly ask the kids to run down to get the laundry, move the lawn-‘n-leaf bags of garden clippings, take the dishes into the kitchen, etc. They took excellent care of me, for the most part, and today, I’m feeling somewhat better. But I’ve made an appointment with my osteopath in hopes that he can take the healing home.

Injuries of the lower back are often related to a weakness in the muscles in the front of your body, yep, I’m talking about those infernal ABS! Here’s a web page that explains this most common lifting injury and recommends a simple exercise that will keep your lower back in shape. And here’s an interview with rehabilitation specialist Loren Fishman, MD,
who believes that yoga exercises and abdominal toning are key to healthy back maintenance.