Workshop Wednesday (Belated) - No Slouching

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When you're a kid, the adults in your life are always worried about your posture. Stand up straight. No slouching. Put your shoulders back. Pick your head up. It's all about appearances, isn't it? That's what we think, in our little kid-minds, because we don't understand how the way we walk, stand, sit could be of any importance.

Flash forward to the debilitating pain I'm experiencing at age twenty-seven, and all those admonitions make sense.

Okay, so, I wasn't a slouchy kid, but I've been pretty slouchy the last few weeks, as the pain in my upper back, arms and neck continued to worsen. I stupidly didn't seek medical help, because I was convinced I'd pulled a muscle or something. Lifting a heavy feed bag, being jerked around by Viktor, something. I'm young, healthy, active - how could I have back problems?

I finally broke down and went to the chiropractor yesterday because I was in tears with the pain. Even now, standing at the counter to type this post is very uncomfortable. I wish I'd gone to see the doctor earlier, because it turns out I don't have a pulled muscle or a pinched nerve, but a loss of curvature in the vertebrae in my neck. He showed me my X-rays (spooky-looking straight neck I've got) and said I looked like someone who'd been in a car accident. He then explained the unevenness in my shoulders as mild scoliosis (thank you, high school backpack). My neck needs to be realigned - one adjustment already, and going back Friday - and then I'll have to implement some lifestyle changes and religiously go through my neck exercises. I'm going to have to start living a more ergonomic life; the techniques I'm going to share here, as they are prescribed, because it was startling to see what can happen while you're just sitting still. My damage is cumulative, from years of sitting improperly at a desk, and from working and straining and taking tumbles at the barn.

Have I bored you to tears yet?

This week was a workshop for me; I was the one getting the lesson. Writing can be dangerous! Haha! So make sure you're not slumped over a laptop; it will save you a lot of pain. I'm going to have to retrain myself to write in a more supportive position. And then hopefully I can stop whining about how much my back hurts!