Back, Necks and Shoulders

Its been quite a while since my last post here. I haven’t forgotten about this blog and its certainly isn’t abandoned. I started to find though that perhaps I didn’t want to talk about all my aches and pains every day. Some people have suggested to me in the past that we can become semi-obsessed with our pains and get more sensitive the more we think about them. There may be some truth as I know sportsmen use similar tricks, though there is one very serious difference – This training isn’t causing long term damage to the body, but instead deliberately causes short term damage in order to build new muscle. The sort of damage repetitive movements cause isn’t healthy damage and so I feel the old ‘ignore the pain and get on with it’ can only be used as apart of an overall treatment plan.

I have totally given up with my GP and the NHS. My GP seems to be only interested in patients whose solutions include shovelling pills down your throat or referring you onto to someone else. After going through that process, they just shrug and say “learn to live with it”. The thing is I was learning to live with it for the 5 or 6 years previously when the last time he ignored me. What changed in between was that there was a Carpel Tunnel operation available under the NHS which means GP’s get paid ALLOT for referring a patient to that service. I am very cynical about GP’s as I don’t see them as real doctors but instead just businessmen who are only on the look out for themselves.

The bit of physiotherapy that was available to me on the NHS was more like being taught how to correct my posture rather than much hands on stuff. There was sometimes sessions involving trigger point therapy, but most of the time it was just monitoring. It helped a little, but it was really slow to respond. As soon as the therapy stopped the RSI just reverted back to before.

I’m at the stage now where I can type a bit, but I am very slow and have to take lots of breaks. I’m not just slow in my typing (comparably speaking) but also in allot of things I do. I just can’t seem to think or move at the same pace I used to. Many things have changed, often supple in their nature that I find difficult to explain to other people. For example, my balance can be a little bit iffy whilst out walking or in the shower.

I have been trying to correct my posture by sitting up straight, walking tall and pulling my shoulders back. This has seen some changes in pain, but its just as bad as its ever been. Its just moved to different locations and sometimes its FAR worse. Since I am correcting the posture, the objective is to take the pressure off the upper spine by developing the lower muscles. The problem with this at the moment is now not only does the upper back hurts like hell, but now the lower back does to. The problem with the lower back is even causing my left foot to twitch entirely independently whilst I am in bed. My left foot even wakes me up as i literally kick myself in the night!

I do think fitness has a large part to play in any recovery and I do think the only time I would see a complete recovery would be if I could avoid using computers or driving all together. The problem is that the western society, especially work appears to be geared entirely towards being able to type for work despite all the adaptive technology that is available. There’s a zillion ways to set up a computer to accept input from other than keyboards which won’t mean that workers don’t get repetitive strain, but do UK businesses look into such thing, no of course not. Its much cheaper to destroy the lives of their employees after all and then get some new ones when they are knackered. I do regret getting involved with computers and would had preferred a life as a Fireman as its so much safer!