Monday, June 2, 2014

Do It Yourself …

I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis some time ago. My doctor thought it might be bilateral sciatica, but no. It’s just my spine squeezing and causing some numbness in the feet, and other “discomfort” in my back, butt and legs. Stretching helped but, but it was an every day thing, with some days better or worse than others.

Fast forward to last February. I was carrying a load of laundry down the stairs and when I was two stairs from the bottom I, for lack of a better description, fell off the stairs. I don’t know if I tripped, or caught my foot, or just put a foot down wrong, but I landed in a heap with a twisted ankle at the bottom of the stairs. This was one of those where your brain says “GET UP NOW” while the adrenaline was flowing, so I got up. The ankle hurt, and was sore, but I could walk on it. Nothing crunched, or felt like I was getting stabbed, or collapsed. As a matter of fact, the more I walked on it, the better if felt. Ibuprophen, elevation, and a beer also helped.
The next day I wrapped it and spent the day at a gun show. Other than swelling, and a little bruising, it was just sore, and each day it was measurably better.

Why do I bring this up? Ever since falling off the stairs, my back has been pretty much fine. Still a little stiffness at the base of my spine, and I still have some numbness in my feet, but this is the best my back has felt since I started paying attention to it. I don’t sit with one foot tucked under my butt anymore and long car trips don’t make my butt go numb.
I certainly don’t advocate DIY chiropractic, and I realize how very lucky I was, but I’d go through that to fix my back again in a heartbeat.

7 comments:

  1. Wow..I suffer from the same diagnosis. Stenosis, back pain, trauma, with stretches of fairly minimal back discomfort. Then flare ups for a few days or weeks. Not sure I want to try your method of self correction. I would probably break my leg...

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    1. Let's just skip the do it yourself acupuncture, though.

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  2. 'DIY Chiropractic' ... you rule!

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  3. This makes me think of an episode of the Simpsons. The one with the barrel. (I suppose there is a Simpsons reference for most things.)

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  4. Butt numbness is best treated with extensive massage. I'm just saying.

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  5. I've done that a time or two myself. For me it feels good for about a week, then I do something and screw it up again.

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  6. Based on family history, spinal stenosis is somewhere in my future. I think I'll defer on the DIY chiropractic.

    I'll only say that you should have added ice to your treatment. For your ankle, not the beer. Just saying.

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