One year of back pain: anniversary edition

A full year has passed since I herniated a disc in my lumbar spine. I’d love to be able to report that my injury has fully healed and that everything is just as it was before, but sadly that is not the case. Instead, my back pain has been a constant companion throughout the year. But there is some good news too: although I can count the number of pain-free days on one hand, the pain has greatly decreased in both frequency and intensity. Most days begin with a stiff back, which I can treat with light movement and stretching. As the day progresses, I often get a mild but constant pain in my lower back muscles. I can counter this by lying down to rest my back. And then there’s the one kind of pain I dread the most: an intense, sharp, and stabbing pain that shoots through my entire back. Luckily, that one is rare – it occurs only occasionally, after certain movements (surprisingly, even sneezing the wrong way can trigger it). My journey to recovery hasn’t been a steady one either. Due to…