5 Simple Tasks Made Difficult with Back Pain

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If you are anything like me, even the simplest of tasks can be made hard with back pain.  In this post, I will demonstrate some of the actions, tasks, or other things that have become increasingly difficult to pull off with back problems.  Hang in there and let’s get to it and have a little bit of fun.

Photo by Shelbey Miller on Unsplash

For about 20 years, I have been dealing with back problems.  It all started in 1999 when I started to have shooting pain down my right leg.  This went on for months, and then I was left with surgery as my final option.  Reluctantly, I went under the knife.

Over the years, I have continued to have back pain, mostly sciatic nerve pain.  I have good days and bad days, but hey, life must go on.  People who don’t have back problems often just can’t understand how debilitating it can be and the things I talk about in the post may come as a shock.

#1 Getting dressed

Absolutely one of the most embarrassing aspects of sciatic nerve pain has been my inability to dress myself.  Whether it’s putting on my underwear, or shoes and socks, at times my pain has been so severe that I had to have help getting dressed.

My wife used to work nights and would come home in the morning when I was trying to get ready for work. There were times when I would be waiting for her to help me get dressed so I could go to work.  Our kids were pretty young then, but occasionally I would have my son help with my shoes and socks.  I had to get really creative at times, or just fight through excruciating pain to get myself as dressed as I could.

#2 Sitting

Yes, sitting can be an awful experience for people with chronic back pain.  I often times cannot just sit on the couch with my family when we watch a movie.  I have to lie on my back on the floor, or sometimes the best place for me is just in a hard straight back wooden chair.  It’s pretty funny that a cushy couch or chair is the absolute worst place for me to sit.

I have a sit-stand desk at work, and at home, so I don’t have to sit all the time. Even with this, sitting is something I do way too much of!  Of course, there are still times when I do have to sit, like the commute to and from work.

#3 Sneezing

This one really scares me, and I take sneezing seriously.  I don’t just up and sneeze when I feel it coming on, I have to brace for it.  During the times in my life when sciatica has been really painful, sneezing really sucks.  When I was recovering from a back injury in 2016, my chiropractor told me that a sneeze could set me back weeks if I wasn’t ready for it.

#4 Doing laundry

This is a pretty simple everyday task, except for my teenagers.  All kidding aside, doing laundry requires me to make sure I am using proper form to lift the laundry bucket and carry it close to my body while I make the trek to the laundry room.  Moving the laundry from the washer to the dryer involves some bending and twisting, which done wrong can be painful.

Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash

I have to be very aware of my movements and try to keep my spine as neutral as possible when I make these types of moves.  So yes a mundane and boring task like doing laundry can be a real chore for someone dealing with back pain.

#5 Driving

Driving with a bad back, specifically sciatica, for me has been very hard over the years.  There was a time several years ago that I was not sure if I would be able to make the 45-minute commute to work.  Honestly, I don’t know if I should have been driving under those circumstances, but hey, we do what we have to do.

I find myself continually fidgeting while I am driving, trying to find that sweet spot where I don’t have any pain, and I can just carry on with my drive.  I will adjust the seat or do whatever I need to do to find a comfortable position.  This whole process can be such a pain (pun intended)!

Conclusion

There are many more things that could be added to this list for sure.  These are some of the mundane and simple things that have been challenging for me over the years dealing with back pain.

I should add that it’s not every single day that I am in excruciating pain; I have done a good job in recent years of toning down my activities so that I can live a somewhat normal (subjective term LOL) life.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this read, and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  You can also contact me directly anytime.

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