Angry Worms, Sparring, Back Health and Kung Fu
This Blog post is about how I went from excellent back
health to sitting in a chair with my mother-in-laws heating pad, hopefully
anyone reading this can avoid this fate.
It all started when I needed to move one of my vermiculture bins to get
at the one below it. The upper bin had shrunk to about 2/3 full as the worms
had eaten their food, so I didn’t think it would be too heavy. I had Sherri
lift the other end of the bin, as I did know it would be somewhat heavy and
awkward. The plan was to use my right hand and lift the bin away from the
corner, while Sherri lifted the open end, moving it far enough forward that I
could get both hands on it. We did the lift, but I felt something in my back “give”
as we did so. The rest of the lift and the worm feeding went as planned, and I
moved the bins away from the corner before lifting (with both hands) the top
bin back in place. The next morning (Saturday) my back was a bit stiff, but not
too bad, and Tai Chi class felt like it helped. I took some muscle relaxants
and sat in the Hot tub that night and Sunday, and things were getting better. Sunday was official Chinese new years, and I
took it easy, only doing 600 modified push-ups and crunches before calling it a night. Monday night was sparring
class, and the already weakened/aggravated muscles rebelled, pulling my sacrum out
of place. Tuesday I was in the Chiropractors, Wednesday I missed class, and
Thursday combined massage therapy and chiropractic treatments finally put it
back in place. Friday was the first day since Tuesday that I could walk upright
without pain, but extended sitting at work was still uncomfortable. Saturday I
helped with the silent auction, loading/unloading material, helping with setting
up and supervising during the event. Despite being very careful, the hours
spent standing up on concrete had their toll, and today I am again babying my
back. Tuesday I have another chiropractic appointment so I hope to be able to
be mobile for Wednesday’s class. I am a walking warning though about pushing
too hard on injured parts, and taking longer than the fastest recovery because
of that. I am going to be working on “cane” form for I Ho Chuan, but may need
to add in a “walker” form as well.
Dennis Donohue
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