*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?
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?
18 comments:
hmmm, interesting.... cannot wait for part two...
It's like reading a thriller... I hope you didn't further injure anything!
Just updated this, no reading the last line first.
Hello Grimmly, interesting experience, thanks for sharing. I guess my worry with painkillers is that one might become too dependent on them. But of course one can argue: Some yogis are dependent on coffee to get them on the mat, others are in some sense "dependent" on salt baths and the like, so what's the problem with painkillers? I don't know; there's just this nagging uncomfortableness.
Here's my personal reason for not taking painkillers: I think pain, as unpleasant as it may be, is a very important feedback mechanism. It is the body sending us certain messages about our selves and our practice. If I use painkillers, I shut off this valuable source of feedback. But this is just my personal reason. Might not apply to other people.
I have the same concerns Noble, though not of getting addicted to them. I like being able to feel what's going on in my body during practice, this is like practicing blindfolded. The lighter painkillers are not so bad, just take the edge off.
Now that is interesting. I know exactly how you feel about the painkillers. I guess it depends on what the injury is. Funny I've drafted a post advocating avoiding all painful asana until getting better. But in my case it was an irritated tendon, rest was the only doctor. And being in Japan, I did eventually go to the Doctor, but not for a cure, but to test out my theory on what the problem was, they are sensei right? I wanted to be taught about the shoulder, and he was most obliging and pulled out books and models and taught me. Wonderful. Hasten to add it wasn't a busy hospital ; ) Glad this has worked for you. I think if you use them as a healing aid it's not necessarily cheating....maybe.... that is a tough one!
ooops, meant rest was the only cure according to the doctor. But I did keep moving it within pain free limits to ensure good blood circulation, and of course lots of onsen.
Some people use Paramol as muscle relaxants and the ibuprofen for anti-inflammatory purposes, so that probably helped you with your practice. I got kind of nervous there because you tend to do such advanced postures. I forgot that a lot of my athletic friends take these things like they're vitamins. Actually if you take them too often what happens is they stop working for you (you'll need stronger doses or stronger drugs). While it's not necessarily "bad" for you it means you'll have fewer tools to beat future pains.
Hi エスタ Loved the Japanese medical system, seemed to be an ok balance between public and private, what was it again, you pay a third right. I had my gall bladder taken out, great doctors and nurses with the time to spare for you and as you say hospitals that aren't like a war zone. I had every type of scan imaginable, supposedly they were fascinated by the size of my gaijin bones. Onsen! that's what I need.
Difficult to know which injuries to back it off of, tendons I agree need rest and I thought the same about my back avoiding all forward bending last week, came across this by accident. Kind of like the idea of the yoga curing even though it probably caused it in the first place.
hi Yyogini, sorry I got you all worried there. I'm seeing this as a VERY temporary measure, a kind of experiment. I want to see if the yoga, Primary and 2nd series ashtanga will iron out the problem. The drugs are just allowing me to go fully into the postures. I think one more week then I'll stop taking them. The paramol aren't as effective as the nurofen, managed Primary this morning and could get fully into everything but it was still painful. It hurt but felt like it was a good thing, kind of like how it hurts when you work with a physio after an injury ( my old knee problem) and are trying to get full mobility back. Sitting here now, the back feels pretty good.
Makes me wonder though, do ashtangi's resort to painkillers that much, secretly, kind of like your athlete friends. We know about the salt baths and caster oil obsessions, after this I can see why they might be tempted, lots of aches and pains in Ashtanga...might explain the Ashtangi irritability too, "Get off my mat godamnit", "Don't swan dive in your Sury's next to me" ' Quit with the water spray already!!!" " don't come into my shala with your fancy lululemon whatever"
And what about the birkram crew in their competitions, is there a performance drug issue I wonder.
: )
I don't know what paramol is, but you have to make the distinction between anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen) and painkillers (paracetamol). In my view there's no point to taking a simple painkillers which could mask signals you need to feel. But an anti-inflammatory is a muscle relaxant and actually removes the source of the pain (like if (maybe) your quadratus lumborum is in spasm). Big difference! It all sounds familiar, by the way..
'no point to taking a simple painkillers'.. hmm, maybe I should go to bed!
Grimmly, dear fellow. Long time since posting, but I do read you regular like.
Have to say my recommendation would be: go find yourself a good osteopath or chiropractor. Chances are one can work out exactly what you have done, which muscle, tendon, or joint capsule is inflamed and possibly help free it up.
I get lower back trouble and it is always because two vertebrae higher up have stopped moving against each other and the transfers all the work to some lower down which start to aggravate the disc and thus nerves at a lower level. My man just frees it up. It doesn't feel any different and I wonder if he's making it all up - but the next morning I can practice and the problem has disappeared.
Best wishes, Mike
Ji Mike, been a while. Thanks for the suggestion, bit uncomfortable with Chiro's and Ortho's knew a couple who were doing the training who weren't that bright which was a little worrying. Sure there are some excellent ones and though I'm suspicious of the cureall claims I imagine for certain things they are ideal. Might come to that, see how it goes, thanks for the suggestion.
I think when you feel pain, you should restrain to practice that is fitting your physical (or even mental) capabilities.
I've rediscovered some basic practices through this approach, and it was quite interesting.
Thank you for your comment Louis. That was my first reaction too, back off and work around the injury using vinyasa Krama. As I mention though, I found that IN THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE ( blocks to emphasise not to shout : ) practicing with full expression of the poses seems to be helping the injury and the painkillers just allow me to do that.
POLL RESULTS Sample =100 votes
No : 71%
Once or twice : 22%
Regularly : 7%
perfect size! interesting... I am in the 22% group and had an idea it would be a bigger percentage, you ask you learn...
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