Back pain can slow one down. One would think that back pain is related to age. That’s what I thought up until a few weeks ago.
By Jeremy Barrick
Online Editor
Back pain can slow one down. One would think that back pain is related to age. That’s what I thought up until a few weeks ago.
There I was fresh out of school for the summer. Everything was great, with the exception of a bout of cold weather. I was jogging twice a week, and sitting out on my porch enjoying the mild spring evenings. Life was good at this point.
One morning it hit me; back pain. At first, I blew it off as a passing pain. Little did I know that the nasty pain would trickle down into my left leg. I did what was right. I made an appointment with my chiropractor, Patrick Kelly, a down to earth, modern chiropractor. Not one of those bone-crushers.
Kelly checked me out and his verdict was a herniated disc with a hint of sciatica.
Sciatica! What the heck? I am a young guy. How does that happen? I mean, I can understand the disc, but isn’t sciatica for old people?
Kelly proceeded to tell me that age is not a factor. Sciatica can happen to anyone at any age. I guess that I had a disc that had somehow slipped thru my vertebrae. It was so sudden. The human body is such a mysterious thing.
Sciatica is the longest nerve in your body. It runs from your spinal cord to your buttock and hip area and down the back of each leg. The term “sciatica” refers to pain that radiates along the path of this nerve — from your back down your buttock and leg, according to the http://www.mayoclinic.com. Symptoms of sciatica are: leg pain, numbness or tingling in the buttock and down the back of the leg, and weakness of the leg muscles. Guess I won’t make the football team as their new punter.
So here I am sitting at my computer desk typing out my pain. I have been laid up for the last two weeks missing memorial day weekend, and other activities I wish I could be a part of.
I can no longer do the ‘simple’ tasks that I was once able to: walk my dog, stand, brush my teeth (they have not fallen out yet), and sit (for long periods of time). Wow! I took those things for granted throughout my life.
I write this to not scare anybody, but to make one aware that back pain is in fact really intense. Some of the worst pain I have ever experienced. If one experiences any type of neck or back pain, please visit your local chiropractor. Letting pain go just brings on more complications in the long run. Early prevention may be key for a longer, healthier life.