Pain pain go away!

After some soul searching yesterday, I started to realise something, something quite important. I think that the downturn in my mood and energy is because of my lower back pain. It started years ago when walking, I would get severe tightness in my lower back and glutes, and find it hard to bend down to undo my shoes after getting home. Having instead to slowly stretch it out before I could bend again.
When I got really active early this year, it went away for a bit, or maybe was masked by other aches and pains from running, training and riding. Either way, its back, and with vengeance!
Yesterday while walking the dogs I really struggled to keep going. The sensation transitioning from discomfort to pain. Cutting the second walk a little short in fact. Later in the morning I was in great discomfort just walking up a flight of stairs. Again, just the lower back area, but now travelling into my hips.

This morning, waking in discomfort, I walked the dogs, took some pills and went back to bed for an hour, just so not to have to put up with it for the next hour.

So this got me thinking, and subsequently realising... It is my lower back, and the problems with it which is affecting my mood. It makes me not want to get up in the morning, spend a lot of time not moving, and as a by-product of that, leaves me eating convenient food, as both easy and comfort. So that really puts my mind at rest a lot. Automatically takes the pressure of me, worrying that it is all a mental state, when looking at it from afar, it's clearly not.


The big question now is, what the hell is wrong with my back?
Having seen a physio a few times, and checking for basic nerve issues, muscular issues etc, there is nothing alarming immediately presenting itself. A little relief is found from massage and releases, but the root cause of it all doesn't go away.
Laying on my left side, I can't have my right leg in front of me, as it irritates my glute / hip area.

My thinking on it is it can't be anything other than a soft tissue issue as it subsides with certain stretches. If it were joint of skeletal there would be no such relief?
Ibuprofen regularly helps control the discomfort levels, so again points to inflammation of something soft. At the end of the day, I think what all this means is, I am going to have to go through the long process of seeing my GP, and possibly being referred for investigation.

As much as I want to avoid going to a GP these days, I am getting to the stage now where I have to get it under control. Strangely however, if I run or cycle it's fine for the duration and some time after.  All very strange.

I am left battling myself now, is it the reduction in activity which is making me ache. Would returning to being very active help? Or is it the activities I have been doing over the past months, which has aggravated the area to this new level of pain and discomfort?

Whatever the case, the feeling is making me miserable as hell, and I want it under control. Preferably sorted rather than numbed with strong pain killers. Depending of course if there is a solution for it. Hopefully nothing too back, and something a specialist can bend, crack and knock out of me!

Really is amazing how your physical and mental states can affect the other. And once again I am grateful to having the calm state of mind when needed, to sit back, consider all the aspects of what is going on, and realise the truth (eventually) rather than constantly beating myself up about how I feel.

Thanks to Sarah for the chat this morning and making me think a little harder about why I am miserable, thanks for noticing too lol.

For now, until I can get an appointment sorted, I think I will try and increase my activity levels a bit, and spend some more time with stretches and weights to give everything a good workout and shake down. With some more sporting events just around the corner, I have to get able bodied enough to get my groove on.

Here's to getting my back sorted and under control once and for all.

Learning to walk again

For once, not a metaphor.
Following years of pain in my feet, mainly in my Achilles tendons, I finally decided to go to see the doctor about it. Coinciding with a flare up of gout, and with pain in the same region being hard to differentiate, I needed to know what was what. So as the gout subsided and the pain remained in my Achillies, I got the doctor to check them out. The diagnosis, Achillies Tendinopathy, aka a swelling and stiffness in the tendon, causing pain and difficulty walking. Anyone who reads this blog a lot will know, I LOVE walking! It is a huge part of my daily routine, and of course needs to be with the dogs.

One referral to the physios at Lewisham Hospital later, and I was examined, and given a series of exercises and stretches to do daily.
We went through a series of tests do check the distances the tendons moved. Measurements taken on day one showed quite a large difference between my left and right tendons. The right has always caused me the most pain, but the left plays up too.
After the first appointment I came away with a positive mindset that something could be done about the situation, and got stuck into the routine of following the program I had been given. Much to my surprise I started to notice a bit of a difference, and by the next appointment I felt like I was getting somewhere with it.

Unfortunately I was starting to get pain in my lower back and glutes now. Transference of the issue to another point. By the time of the second appointment I had a new physio with a new idea and checks. On mentioning my pain she checked the strength in my glutes by doing a side leg raise, then pushing the leg back down. Now she is only a little lady, so on the good leg she probably could have hung off it without it moving. But when we got to the right side, I was shocked, I lifted my leg fine, but it just collapsed as soon as she put any pressure on it at all. Truly shocking as I have never felt  had any weakness in there at all.

By all accounts, while I have been subconsciously managing the pain in my right achillies, I have in fact avoided using my right leg a lot, and because of this the muscle strength in that side has deteriorated quite badly. Cue the addition of more exercises to bolster strength in the right side. Side leg raises, and one leg stand to squats.

By the third appointment a few days ago, things have improved remarkably, and the balance between left and right is slowly equalising. The strength returning to my right glute and quads, and the pain when walking disappearing by the day.

And finally I reach the reason for the title of the entry. Learning to walk again.
Since realising there was hope, and taking health seriously again, I have decided to make my own contribution towards the fight for recovery, and made some changes of my own.
The main one being, teaching myself to walk in a different way to how I have done so for 40+ years.
I have always been a powerful walker, able to average 4.2mph a few years back (GPS measured) long strides, good endurance, and able to chalk up 10-20 miles in a day without worrying too much about it. In recent years my goal has been 10 miles a day, but the flare up of the tendinopathy has really dented that goal, with some days me not even wanting to walk the dogs.
However it was time for change.

Just a quick note, so powerful are my downward thrusts with my feet when walking, that I am prone to slipping, so as I push off with the leading foot, the foot will slip on the surface as I roll onto my toes. I also wear through trainers at an alarming rate!
So, with all the progress being made with the physio, I decided to give my feet a second chance. Consciously walking with less vigour, taking the pressure out of the strides, smaller steps, a more upright stance, and trying to block out the goal of time or distance, and instead concentrate on my strides and keeping them smooth.

Amazingly it seems to be working, I can do a full 5 mile walk in the mornings now with no ill effect on my achillies or any other part of my feet really. Maybe a little tightness in the toes, but I guess that is all down to a transference of impact from one part to the next.

The last time my tendons were measured, and the test done on my glutes, the improvement was huge. Greater range and motion in the side leg raises, surprising the physio somewhat as the leg carried on rising into the air almost out of reach for her. As well as an improvement in the strength too, able to resist the downward pushing much more. As for the elasticity of the tendons, the lunges I can do now are massive compared to when I started, even causing the physio to suggest easing off on stretches for the stronger left side, as otherwise I will be doing the splits next time I'm in.

I am really grateful to the NHS for providing me this physio, they take a lot of stick, but at times like this, they are a god send, and very competent at what they do. I can feel the changes happening as I do my stretch routine daily, so know it is playing its part.

The tough part for me now is to stay focused enough to continue with both aspects of the program, and maintain my determination to learn to walk again, but in a way which is beneficial to my body and health, and caring less about getting somewhere quickly, and being the fastest person on the pavement.  Changing the way you walk at this time in life really isn't easy. I realise there are other people out there overcoming much greater challenges with their walking, but from this small experience I have learned to respect them even more.

Just to add, I am familiar with changing how I walk regularly in the past, with flare ups of gout causing me to improvise, it be immobile. From those short spells alone, you soon learn about weight and pressure transference, and how it impacts other parts of the body.

Anyway, after a long  morning of walking, training and physio stretches (3 hours to be precise) its time for me to have breakfast.... Or is that lunch now?