Therapy

My back started hurting early in the year. I was told that bad posture, stress, and poor physical fitness is the main causes of back pain so I'm pretty sure the stress and the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season contributed greatly to it. But it wasn't until I drove 6 hours to Bolinao one day and then back again to Manila the day after that my back started hurting pretty badly. I thought it would go away after some (lots of?) rest but the pain kept flaring up every so often that I decided to see an orthopedist.

My orthopedist looked at my x-ray results and thankfully, there wasn't anything wrong with my spine. He did tell me that at my age (ahem), back pain is quite common and it is supposed to be the leading reason for people missing work. He suggested I start doing exercises for my back and he also recommended that I get therapy which was thankfully covered by my health card. So on six separate occasions over the last few weeks, I went to the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Makati Med for the following treatments: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator, Ultrasound, Host moist pack, and Lumbar traction.

I completed my sixth session earlier today although I did notice that after the 3rd session, my back pain started abating. I now just need to continue with my exercises to help strengthen my back and prevent or reduce further pain and I need to start exercising again. I do have to say that I pay a lot more attention to my posture now and I am trying to follow the recommended way to get out of bed when you have back pain. Gosh, I feel so old!