Sorry to hear about your injury. The good news is that most of these do respond very well to routine treatment (no surgery needed). I'm hoping (and betting) that your back will recover completely and you will be able to move without pain. You only have to remember the limitation your body just expressed, and respect it in the future. No more 'heroic', extra- heavy lifting for you.
I've had minor, lower back pain for about 10 years now. It rarely kicks up any more, yet on one occasion I woke up with so much pain I could barely get out of bed. I had overworked on a job the past week. Couldn't bend at all and had to 'finger walk' my way up the wall to struggle out of bed that morning. I really doubt I have any messed up disks- never had x-rays. What I learned was that when I felt the back pain coming on (related to over working the back), I would hammer it for a day or so with a slight overdose of Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin etc. 3x to 4x the dose limit of 200 mg). Many times, back pain is mostly related to severe muscle spasms in the lower back, and the strategy is to use a muscle relaxant, in many cases Ibuprofen being quite adequate. BTW many doctors will tell you this is completely safe if limited to a week or two. They even make 600mg 'horse pills' of Ibuprofen. I have some. You can get them at a pharmacy, not over the counter. The sooner you can get off the opiates, the better! Ditto for Percocet, Percodan, 'Hydrocodone' and such (Tylenol + Codeine). Staying on any heavy duty pain meds for extended periods puts you at considerable risk of developing a dependency (addiction).
Once you get it all sorted out as to whether you have any messed up disks, you may find that you sustained no permanent bone injuries. In that case, the good news is that just paying better attention will keep you safe. One other thought- it is very, very common that people with back problems turn out to have very poor abdominal muscle tone. I know that was my problem. That's why the injuries in the first place- the back has to work extra hard due to the flabby abdominal muscles. If you don't use a gym regularly, this is a very real possibility.
Hope you have a speedy recovery. I'm betting you can make a complete recovery, too. Now stop being a hero- heh! Get some help, and cut those logs a lot shorter.
>still get help or cut into manageable sizes. I learnt a valuable lesson on Saturday. It really sucks being helpless.
), this will be a great day. Second, it is very easy to do it again once you have done it once, be careful. Not to jump on your thread, but has anyone used a back brace?
