“I can’t believe I did that” is a common statement heard at the Northside Interventional Pain and Spine Care Center. Of course, we cannot wait to hear what comes next! Here are a few stories:
- “I was walking to my mailbox and since it was so icy, I was walking very slowly. Next thing I knew, I was looking up at the sky with a severe pain in my lower back.”
- “I was reaching over a few wrapped gifts placed under the tree to pick up the heavy one in the back. As I lifted the box, I felt a severe pain in my back. I couldn’t move!”
- “The assembly instructions in the box seemed easy enough. But after a few hours attempting to put this complicated toy together, my back locked up.”
- “We drove for 12 hours straight so that we could spend the holidays with family and now I can barely walk!”
Sprains, strains, and fractures are all common around the holiday season. The question is, how can we enjoy the holidays and avoid injury?
Let’s face it: If we don’t have time to move a box out of the way, we certainly don’t have time to spend a full day in the emergency room!
The holiday season can be stressful. When we are tired, anxious and stressed, we don’t pay attention to our surroundings and may rush to complete tasks.
Our physical health, age and lifestyle can predispose us to problems. As we age, our bones become more brittle and can potentially fracture. We are possibly not as flexible (or as in shape) as we would like to be.
There is hope! Use an ounce of prevention to avoid a pound of cure.
- Be aware of your surroundings. Getting the mail can wait until the ice melts or you can put some salt on the area.
- Move items out of the way to avoid reaching in awkward positions. Lift with your legs while facing the item to be lifted.
- Try not to get stuck performing a lengthy task in uncomfortable positions. Set an alarm for 10-15 minutes to change positions.
- When driving long distances, stop at every rest area to stretch and take the pressure off your spine. Or, let someone else take a turn driving.
- If you do suffer a spine-related injury, it is important not to panic. Ice the affected area, take anti-inflammatory medications (if there are no contraindications), and try to rest.
“Red flag” issues for which formal medical evaluation is necessary are:
- loss of bowel or bladder function (emergency),
- inability to walk or control the extremities (emergency)
- pain that radiates to an extremity,
- pain that will not go away in a reasonable amount of time,
- mechanism of injury that may have caused a fracture,
- anything that does not “feel right”
The most important preventive action to take is to be mindful. Be “in the moment.” Take a deep breath and relax. Do some light core muscle exercises and stretch throughout the day. Get the blood flowing. Flexibility exercises take some of the pressure off the spine.
If we are mindful, we can potentially avoid actions that can lead to injury. More importantly, we will be less task-oriented and have the ability to clearly notice the people around us and have the ability to recognize the true meaning of the holiday season.
Learn more about Northside Interventional Pain & Spine Care.
