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Back in December of 2011, my wife and I were having dinner at a local restaurant when she noticed I was having a hard time sitting still and she wondered out loud if I needed to go to the bathroom.
I explained that I had a bit of pain in my right hip and I was just trying to get comfortable by shifting around in my chair. I never suspected I’d be pretty much bedridden for the next three months.
I had gone on two trips in the two months leading up to that night at the restaurant and both of them involved a lot of golf and a lot of driving and, as I would find out, that’s a great combination if you want severe pain that starts in your back and radiates out to your hip and down your leg.
Since my last golf trip, I’d noticed some pain in my right hip but I thought I’d just pulled a muscle or caused some inflammation while playing golf or by sleeping on it the wrong way.
As it turned out, an MRI revealed the combination of golf and sitting in a car for several hours at a stretch had resulted in a ruptured disc in the lumbar section of my spine and that resulted in sciatica that rendered my right leg almost useless.
I like to think of myself as a pretty tough guy but, I was no match for the pain that just went on and on without letup and prevented me from sleeping even though I was taking more than the recommended dosage of the Oxycodone my neurologist prescribed. I told my wife the painkiller didn’t really kill the pain; it just made me not mind it as much.
Even though I thought the pain would never go away, I was back on my feet around the first of April after going through six weeks of intense stretching at the chiropractor’s office.
Since my ordeal – and it was an ordeal – I’ve become much more conscience of my lower back and I’ve taken measures to prevent another round of sciatica pain. I purchased an inversion table that allows me to hang upside down for five to ten minutes to keep my spine stretched out. I also walk more than I used to; I try to walk at least an hour a day; outside when weather permits or inside at the walking track at the athletic center just down the street from my house and I drink at least a gallon of water each and every day to keep the cartilage in my back as flexible as possible.
Take my word for it; if you don’t want to go through a couple of months of intense pain, take measures like I have to keep your spine healthy.
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