Pain, anxiety and healing

[Meladjusted]

I hurt my lumbar/SI joint 4 weeks ago.  It's improving so slowly I can't work, I can't sleep and I am exhausted.  I just don't know what to do.  I should be healed by now, or at least able to push through it. I feel so useless.  I wonder how much is my brain protecting me and how much is physiological pain and why can't I get my brain to stop being so stupid.

[indigo22]

Hi Meladjusted,

I see you have been a member for a few years, but it looks like this is your first post, so glad you decided to reach out.

That must have been quite painful when you hurt it. I looked it up and see it is just above the tail bone so there could be pelvic involvement also. I wonder if perhaps there is some nerve pinching or even some pelvic misalignment from favouring one side or another when it first happened.

If you have a rehabilitation centre near you, they may be able to help you loosen everything up to improve the circulation and speed up recovery. At the very least a physiotherapist should be able to pinpoint what the issue is.

It is common for the body and mind to go into protection mode, which is usually a good thing as it stops us from causing more damage while healing, but perhaps in this case it has gone into a sort of hyper vigilance. Have you tried anything to help you sleep? Lack of sleep would not be helping the healing process either. Could you talk to your GP about something to knock you out for a couple of nights so you get some good sleep?

Try not to be so hard on yourself, sometimes healing doesn't happen in the time frame we expect but that is not a reflection of something you are at fault for, it is however frustrating I know.

Please feel free to continue the conversation, we will support you through this.

indigo

[Meladjusted]

Thanks Indigo for replying.

I have been seeing a physio and have just got new meds to help with the inflammation.  I'm just so drained.  It doesn't help my mental health that my family is putting pressure on me like I'm doing nothing about it.

[indigo22]

I hope the new meds help, it's understandable that you feel drained. Being in pain for weeks would bring anyone to their knees, especially with the back as it is used so much more than we realise until we hurt it.

It's really unfair for your family to be putting pressure on you, it suggests that you are not doing all you can to get better and would not be helping the healing process either. If it were me (I am pretty forthright), I would tell them outright to back off and give you time to heal without having to think about their unrealistic expectations in the process.

Just take care of yourself for the time being, psychologically, physically, emotionally and let them deal with things that you normally handle for a while. It will be good for their growth to see that you know you are just as important as they are. There is a natural product that I have found really helpful with inflammation (it works fairly quickly to give some relief) that you can find by searching "Organic Turmeric" (which is the name of the website) and look for the product called "Turmeric x".

If you need to vent, I will be here to support you.

indigo