UPDATED with Poll : Practicing on Painkillers, Hmmmmm

*Just added an anonymous poll on the right hand side on this topic

So Tuesday morning I came across an old pack of Nurofen and decided to take the last two. My back was stiff and painful, it usually is in the morning at the moment (due to this injury) but practice, even my reduced and modified one, tends to loosen it up a bit. Tuesday, being my day off, I'd decided to practice in the afternoon.

So mid-day comes around and I get on the mat, Sury's are feeling better than they have done in a long time and by the end of the B's I'm folding deep head to knees. Head reaches the floor in the Prasarita's in fact everything is going along swimmingly. It's only during Kapo that it strikes me why, the painkillers are still working. I carry on through practice, trying to take it easy but it feels so good that's it's hard not to get carried away.

After practice I fish the pack of Nurofen out of the bin and notice they are high strength SR (slow release). I'd bought them back when I had that root canal a couple of months ago, no wonder, practice was so easy, so pain free. The packet said they would last 8 hours, I had another couple of hours before they wore off. Given how I'd just practiced, how deep I'd gone into poses, I was kind of dreading it....to be continued (wrote this at lunchtime and broke off here)..

Continued

Now I should mention I don't tend to take painkillers, it's got to be pretty bad, headaches I'll just put up with and wait for them to pass. I don't like to go to the doctor's either, much to M's annoyance and, at times. exasperation. I'm English, we don't like to be a bother, the doctor's probably busy with people who are really sick. I was once doubled up in agony for a week before I called NHS direct and found out I had Kidney stones. Another time I walked around with frozen peas strapped to my knee swollen up to the size of a basketball for, again, a week before finding out I had tumors on my knee and needed an Operation, as I said, we don't like to be a bother.

So the painkillers wore off and surprise surprise, no back pain, the day passed and still no pain just a little tightness. It seems that practicing, going deep into the forward bends again, had somehow helped my back pain.

A note of caution here, all back pain is different, going back to full expression in practice as I mention in this post is helping me , but it might be the worst possible thing you could do for your back pain, modifying your practice or resting up completely might be the best thing for you, it's individual.

Yesterday I decided to try again, there was another pack of Nurofen in the first aid box, again half empty, sitting there god knows how long. Took those as soon as I woke up, (still a little stiff but not as bad as I have been this week) to make M's lunch and by half five they had started to kick in, First couple of Sury's a little stiff but by the B's no pain at all, sailed though 2nd series ( did miss out the Leg behind head poses though, not a complete idiot). Same thing again, the drugs wore off and I was fine all day, no back pain to speak of, a mere hint perhaps.

This morning I went for something lighter, Paramol. They didn't kick in as quickly as the Nurofen and I had to delay practice until gone six but it was OK. Could feel some pain in the back but not so bad. Actually I kind of preferred it, the drugs took the edge off and I could flatten myself in paschimottanasana etc. but there was enough pain there in the background as a reminder not to be stupid.

So there you have it, somehow I injured my back doing long deep forward bends a couple of weeks ago and have been walking around and practicing like an old man avoiding all forward bending. And yet now, with the help of some painkillers, I return to deep forward bends and it seems to be ironing out the problem...

Yoga giveth and the Yoga taketh away.

Tomorrow, being Friday, I'll take the Paramol again and do a full Primary with all it's forward bends and see how it goes, then I'll take a Saturday rest day for a change and reflect.

Thing is I'm a little uncomfortable with all this, the yoga seems to be doing it's job, sorting out back pain naturally but not without the help of some painkillers. For some reason I'm fine with salt baths and caster oil but an aspirin feels like... I don't know... cheating.

Isn't the pain telling me to back off and yet with the help of the drugs I'm ignoring that and pushing on but that, in turn, seems to be helping....

What's that all about.

POLL UPDATE
I've closed the poll after a hundred votes. I asked ...

Have you ever taken painkillers to get you through a practice ( excluding LH )


RESULTS


No : 71%
Once or twice : 22%
Regularly : 7%


Surprised?

Injury Watch: Modified Ashtanga 2nd series

Got away with a Vinyasa Krama modified Intermediate this morning. (Reminder: Back injury/strain above right hip that's hindering forward bends).

The Vinyasa Krama Sun salutation has a squat after the forward bend before kicking the legs back onto chaturanga so in my Ashtanga Sury's I went for a very shallow forward bend, all hips, 'till my fingertips touched the mat then squatted and carried on through and then doing the same in reverse for the exit.

Side bends are not problem and the prasaritas are all hips anyway. In UHP I just took my leg higher so less of a bend forward. Ardha baddha Padmottanasana is my secret weapon, the arm wrapped around my back allows me to bend all the way forward and comeback up again without putting any strain on my back.

Pasasana was OK just but I still a little stiff and approached it with a lot of caution seems OK, same with Krounchasana.

Took a detour through the Vinyasa krama Bow sequence as it's a nice gentle build up to Ustrasana, Laghu and Kapo, 'though it includes Viparita Salabhasana and Gandha B but for some reason backbends feel fine, Kapo was nice and deep.

Carried on through 2nd to Ardha matsyendrasana then cut out all the 'Leg behind head' and tittibhasana poses. Instead I took another Vinyasa Krama detour through some Asymmetric poses, maha mudra and ardha badha padma paschimottanasana vinyasa then added a long baddha konasana and some Kandasana work to make up for the missed LBH hip openers.

Karanda was fine, mayurasana fine and one of my best ever Vatyasana's very straight stable and tall in the pose, go figure.

Again side bends are fine so no problem with Parighasana

Missed out on Supta urdhava pada vajrasana, probably would have been OK with the arm bind for support but decided to be cautious, was a bit sweaty and didn't want to risk losing my grip on my toe and lose the supportive bind at the wrong moment.

Seven deadlies (headstands) were no problem, nor were the dropbacks, in fact finishing is OK, inverted forward bends seem fine although halasana and karna pindasana aren't as deep as usual.

Then of course Pranayama and Meditation which I appreciate even more because they're unaffected by injuries although I suppose a simple cold will play havoc with your pranayama.

So a nice practice, no real problems, easy to modify where necessary and just felt like a pretty regular Intermediate think I'll stick with it for now with just a modified Primary on Friday.