Back Outta Whack

It turns out I got a little more out of my tumble down the stairs than a new collection of bruises on my leg.

Yep. I went ahead and hurt my back. Again. Pretty badly, in fact, if the daily trips to the chiropractor are any indication. Don’t get me wrong, I love my chiropractors, but the necessity of seeing them every day is a real pain in the neck.

And shoulder.

And lower back.

And I’ve got a headache.

And my hip’s been acting up a bit.

See what I mean?

The pain I’m in is my own gosh-darn fault. I probably should have known bouncing down the steps wasn’t good for my back (not to mention the other battered body parts) but didn’t really think anything of it at the time. By Tuesday I began having daily headaches that I blamed on either my TM-Jaw or the remaining vestiges of the cold that refused to go away. I went for my regular chiropractor manipulation on Friday — and then went back Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and tonight. It actually wasn’t until after my adjustment on Tuesday that I really began to think that my problems were probably from the staircase mishap and not from shoveling half a foot of snow from my drive and walkways.

You’d think after four spinal manipulations I’d be feeling almost right again but a) I really did a number on myself (which is something I’m known for) and b) this has not been a very good week for the care and keeping of Joy. Not only has it just been busy with the holiday season but work has been a bit on the crazy side and I’ve been very tensely sitting at my desk all week — a couple of hours later than I should have been most nights.

I have high hopes that work tomorrow won’t be nearly as distressful to my myriad sore bits (because, when my back’s out of whack, the rest follows) and, hopefully, I can spend some time relaxing this weekend and allow my body to repair itself from the damage inflicted. Of course, as discussed in previous posts, I have a hard time letting that lesson sink in: taking care of myself always ends up as such a low priority in the not-so-grand scheme of things and then I end up paying the price. As it is, I'm already in a considerable amount of pain just from sitting here on the couch (your back’s worst enemy according to one of my chiropractors) and writing this post to a Web log that no one reads.