Back problems are everywhere, and after suffering
through my first one ever, this fall, I thought I would share what I am doing
and will continue to do to keep my back healthy.
I went my family doctor who determined I did
not have a herniated disc or other serious spinal problem. My ailment
was acute sciatica, due I was told, to abusing my back for too long. I
then found a chiropractor that I really like, a woman about my age who
understood that I rode long distance and shoed horses, and that I HAD to get
better before I flew out to ride Bryce Canyon! I went to her three times a
week for two weeks, started to feel better and got a new very firm
mattress.
In the mean time I spent all day at Borders
bookstore and read all the books on back exercises over several cups
of coffee! Most of them were common sense stretches and easy to understand
and implement. I started them twice daily, before bed and first thing in
the morning.
So far so good, but I have quit shoeing - I am not
interested in feeling like I did, if I can avoid it.
BTW, my mom is 80, has been doing her own version
of pilates yoga for 25 years and works like a dog. One day I drove in to
find she had filled all the potholes in her 1/4 mile gravel driveway with a
shovel and wheelbarrow- at 79!!!. We should all be so lucky, but it is
worth looking into the yoga!
