Back

One thing about having chronic back problems is that it’s like joining a club.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple annoyance or requires surgery, you suddenly join a group.  It’s a pretty crappy club though.

We don’t have secret handshakes but we do have secret ways to shimmy our way to the bathroom in the morning.

The thing about having a bad back is that it is all consuming, and I don’t mean just physically.  An ailing back can damage even the strongest of pysche.  Let me give you an example:

Often when my back acts up it doesn’t really hurt, at least not yet.  The best way I can describe it is like an anxiety attack.  You can’t get comfortable staying still, it’s uncomfortable to move, and it’s a constantly building pressure of awkward annoyance.  Over the course of several hours it drives me to such distraction that I want to cause great bodily harm to my own person.

If you also have had back problems, I could simply shrug with a grimace and you would nod complete understanding.  The rest of you think that since it doesn’t really hurt, per se, that I should just take an aleve and get over it.  I’m not being hyperbolic about how aggravating this scenario is, by the way, if anything I’m selling it short.

There is also the indescribable feeling where you can feel that your back may end up going out, but you aren’t sure yet.  It’s frightening.  But to the uninitiated, you simply wonder why I’m acting strange if nothing is wrong yet.  Woe be to the fool who ignores the warning, because you will suffer.  But when you’re careful and the next day your back feels just fine?  Epic.

So yeah, you’re going to suffer from back ailments, but at least you aren’t alone.  Unfortunately, nobody in the club will listen to you complain because they know their turn is coming up soon...