Torture with no let up unless I took some Neurofen, but that was just mild relief after a while. I managed to get to the chemist and he gave me over the counter Ibuprofen and Cocodamol. The combination helped but cocodamol is not recommended beyond 2 weeks. I tried to get a GP appointment but gave up. You had to be up and ready to ring in for 9am to get a GP over the phone appointment. My sleep pattern was all over the place so I missed that 2/3 days in a row and realistically what can the GP honestly do? I had no red flags (serious pathology) and he would just prescribe the same meds I managed to get from my local chemist.
Coping with Bback pain requires patience, you actually feel like they are getting worse before you get better. You just have to hold onto the positivity that's somewhere in the distance!
So you may ask. What did I do to help myself, because everyone thinks you can fix the problem in a few days because you are a physio!
I undertook a regime of 3 -4x per day lumbar/ hamstring stretches in the lying position. I went on walks (tell you about that in a minute). Booked 2x per week deep tissue massage, weekly acupuncture with heat therapy and occasional ultrasound for the palpable inflamed area of the right upper lumbar muscles, and I received some treatment sessions at work from the director (I think she could no longer look at me walking around like a 86year old).
Walks were a joke - initially getting out the car was a task and a half then I literally had to keep walking. On one occasion I sat for a 20 -30 min coffee break as it was a nice day and I wanted to just look at nature and not think about my back pain.
Anyway when I got up to leave I was in deep trouble. My back had seized up. I didn't want to draw attention to my self so I had to get up in stages leaning fully on the table and just standing there in one spot waiting for the spasms to die down. I actually pretended I was on the phone in mid conversation just so I didn't look strange. Then I slowly took some short steps again pretending to be in a deep serious conversation - lol! I then walked very slowly away from the cafe talking on my phone to no one. Got back to my car and nearly cried from the pain.
That was a really low day. I really thought this is it. I am doomed to stay like this forever. It was a mix of feeling I was being over dramatic and then saying to myself, no, no, you really have injured your back. Stop trying to diminish you pain. I am not one to feel pain and just stop everything. I can normally keep going treat myself and then I am back in action. Not this time.
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