The story of my back
2009
Tony Clark shares his experience.
It wasn’t until my mid fifties that I realised that I had a back, apart from a few people slapping me on it, when in my younger days I had managed to score a few runs or some small sporting success. Up until this point I had taken no notice of it and it was, as memory serves, when my bus pass days were coming over the horizon that I began to feel some discomfort in my lower back after some little exertion.
As time passed the pain gradually increased to such an extent that I sought medical aid. I was given painkillers and was told by my Doctor, and I quote “strange things would happen to me at my age” but an x-ray could be arranged which was unlikely to find anything amiss. I declined the offer.
The pain increased so much it would wake me up in the early hours of the morning.
I would lie in a mixture of pain dreading the coming of the light and another day when I would have to somehow try to get out of bed and carry on with my life with the least possible discomfort. At this point I sought out the help of my local School of Osteopathy who offered reduced fees for treatment in return for being treated by their students. It was here that I first received any treatment which made a difference and practical advice regarding posture, some exercises to strengthen the back and the recommendation that I take a regular dose of glucosamine with chondroitin (ensuring that it is marine based and thus contains a high percentage of the active ingredient). I was advised that the cheaper tablets advertised invariably contained such a small percentage of the active ingredient that they would make little or no difference.
Through receiving and reading the magazine Talkback, I was able to hear the voices of others living with pain
By this time, I had reached such a level of pain and disruption to my life I could think of little else. The pleasures I had hitherto enjoyed such as outings in the car were now curtailed as I feared that sitting in the driving seat for any length of time would increase my discomfort. It was at this time, whilst searching the Internet for any miracle that might alleviate the pain, I stumbled across the website for BackCare. At last I had found a source of information and advice from other people who understood my problem. Through receiving and reading the magazine Talkback, I was able to hear the voices of others living with pain.
Whilst all this was taking place I officially became a carer as my partner was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis. Unfortunately she was considerably disabled and immobilised and needed my help to get out of her chair, in and out of the car, bath etc as well as help with walking. The Carers Association arranged for me to attend a day course to provide me with training to correctly help my partner to stand and support her so that less pressure was placed on an already painful back.
After talking on the telephone to the caring people at BackCare I started to realise that my attitude to my discomfort was making matters worse. I know this sounds strange but in my case it was true as possibly I am an introspective person and tend to dwell on things. From then on I felt more confident and was able to try to return to my former active pursuits. Whilst the pain did not disappear, I certainly felt better in myself and developed a more positive attitude. While I have no answers for any person in a similar position I can only say there are organisations such as BackCare that will give help and advice and make life with back pain easier to accept and move beyond.