Mrissa Got (Painful) Back.

[mrissa]

My back had been misbehaving for awhile, but I got into the "I have too many other things to do" mode and had not scheduled a massage. Until last night, when timprov could see the problems with my neck. Umm.

So I went in today for the most painful massage I have ever had. I do not confuse painful with harmful: I think this was a good thing and good for me. But it was drastically overdue, and...yah. Could be better, is what I'm saying. I muddled my way through dinner and then took some Advil, and I've been drinking water like I'm taking a trip across the Sahara next week and have to make sure my hump is full. And I feel like my brain needs rinsing in a rather more literal sense than usual. I just feel muzzy and hurty and weird. I can roll my neck without anything going crackedapop, so that's a good thing. Just...tension headache.

And also I'm drinking so much water and slathering on so much lotion because our humidifier doesn't work just now, and the furnace/humidifier people aren't coming out until Tuesday. And I totally support the idea that they should leave time for people who don't have heat right now. I just wish my eyes didn't feel like someone had been pointing a blow-dryer at them for an hour.

One of the quirks of my physiology is that I have very clearly defined "buttons" on my back. The "separation of body and brain/mind" thing is not one of my characteristic mistakes, because there is a spot one can press on my neck to make me feel like a decent human being with warm, positive qualities. (Most of you mayn't press that spot, but one can.) On the other hand, having a painful knot there is a very quick way to get me to feel as though I am a worthless excuse for a primate and should not be humored even a little bit. I also have a knot "button" for "do not eat food ever again because it is a horrible idea" and other fun stuff.

The hardest part of this stage after a massage -- the more intense, the harder -- is not clenching my jaw, scrinching my shoulders, and using other stressy, bad ways of dealing with/ignoring pain and thereby undoing the work of the massage.

Moral of the story is: do not put off self-maintenance, even in the form of things that look like relaxing. It will just be worse when you do get to it. I'm going to schedule a massage for next week just to follow up on beating this nonsense into submission, and then I'll schedule another one for the week before Christmas.

One of you-all on the friendslist was saying that she didn't have a big goal for December, just to get herself some rest. And I thought (and said) that that sounded like a big goal to me. Not that I'm giving up on it, mind. Still, a couple of short stories sounds easier from this perspective.

Comments

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

re: no humidifier--
have you considered putting a big stew pot full of water on the stove to boil? I really have no notion of how practical it is at making humidity (yes, I know that's not really English), but it's what my mom did when I was a kid... she also put in a few drops of peppermint or clove oil, though I think you might not care for that at this point.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ah, no, clove oil and I have parted company until we get this dysosmia thing fixed.

Anyway, our house is kind of big, which results in two problems: 1) trying to humidify the space I'm using via the kitchen does not look practical to me, and 2) the pot could easily boil dry without me noticing, unless I was willing to hover.

[laurel]

You mean one's neck isn't supposed to always make crackles and pops when you roll it? D'oh!

Hope things get better for you and scheduling more massages sounds like a Good Plan.

I've never had a professional massage nor have I seen any chiropractors or anything even though everyone who has ever given me a shoulder massage has remarked on just how incredibly tense I am. I should investigate options now that I have health insurance and stuff.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

My chiropractor is on fifty-mumble and Chicago. She isn't nearly as good as my chiropractor in California was, but she's all right, and she doesn't push me to schedule appointments more frequently than I need them.

I find that chiropractic work is good for misalignment, and the rest of the time I should just have a massage, because chiropractic helps the sore muscles not to have funky bone placement to get inflamed about, but that doesn't cover every sore muscle problem. I don't think I could manage very well without both massage and chiropractic.

(My back was injured in a car accident some years ago.)

[kythiaranos.livejournal.com]

Back problems are no fun. I hope today is better for you. (A massage sounds wonderful. Or I could lie on the floor and let the baby jump on me. *g*)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I realize that babies and dogs are not the same thing, but I have to say that letting the dog jump all over me did not feel much like my massage.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

I hope this morning the back is in better shape.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yes, thank you, although it's still tense and weird.

[blzblack.livejournal.com]

Me, too. I think mine's getting better, though. Feel free to share advice with us on avoiding back pains.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

1. Do not get in car accident.
2. Do not buy a house with a 70-degree pitch to the driveway.
3. Do not have the same genes as the women in my family.

Oh, wait. Did you mean useful advice? Well, then:
1. Move around.
2. Lift with your legs.
3. Ask for help.

[blzblack.livejournal.com]

Hey, I may have similar genes. My folks have back problems sometimes, but then they're older than I am.

Seriously though, thanks for the tips!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

"Women" was not an accidental word there. Other people may have different genetic causes for back problems that you might want to avoid, but you almost certainly do not have the same one(s).

[blzblack.livejournal.com]

Ah. You had particular genes in mind. But you haven't seen me in awhile so maybe my chest is bustier. It isn't and, knock on wood, I hope it stays that way.