Back trouble? I'm not even 30 yet!

I have been going to physical therapy for the past three weeks.  It was then that my back started hurting me whenever I bent over.  I couldn't pick up Paul without being in severe pain.  I could barely walk without being in pain.  My doctor immediately recommended a massage therapist.  Seriously.  Since there are none nearby that I knew of, he said a physical therapist would be a good second choice.  The next day I was able to see a physical therapist in Demopolis.  My father-in-law was rehabilitated from knee surgery there, so I felt like this was a good place.  They quickly diagnosed me with an "SI Joint' problem.  SI meaning "sacro-iliac" or where the pelvis and the spine meet.  I was told that I had a text-book case: my ligaments stretched ever so slightly at that joint during pregnancy and hadn't tightened back up yet.


Now (and for the next 2 months) I wear a special belt tightly strapped around my hips - it's fairly comfortable and unobtrusive.  I have to wear it as close to "all-the-time" as possible.  I think it's supposed to help those ligaments tighten up.  Maybe it will help me fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans?  (Just hoping.)

Getting out of the house for two hours three times a week was a little bit of a change for all of us.  I hardly ever go anywhere without my kiddos!  We scheduled my appointments so they would coincide with naptime as much as possible. (And yes, Paul has quickly become a dependable sleeper, like his sister!)

Therapy mainly includes a variety of small exercises, always finishing up with some electro-stimulation therapy.  I do a few exercises at home, too.

I quickly started feeling better, and felt like therapy was doing little-to-nothing.  So, feeling like myself again, I went out and started hacking at some weeds with a hoe out in the yard.  Mistake! Within a little while, my back was hurting again -- not as bad as the first time, but bad enough to know I should stop hoeing.  I went back to therapy a little more sober and much more concerned about taking things easy long enough to "really" heal.   So, before I've even hit 30 I'm getting a dose of: you're not eternal, Erin.  I thought I was too young to have "back trouble!"

And if you've read this far, thank you.