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Backache while walking/standing

meadowlark

Senior Member
Messages
241
Location
Toronto, Canada
I thought I'd ask if other members experience backache while walking or standing. My ability to walk is usually ten to fifteen minutes a day of trudging (very slow, hardly lifting my feet). At that point, I not only can hardly lift my feet again, but my lower back pain is so bad that I have to double over. Does anyone else experience this ... and why does it happen?
 

caledonia

Senior Member
I have experienced this. It comes from too much sitting. You need to stretch your spine the other way. Try doing the Cobra yoga pose or a modified easier version of it, such as lying on your stomach or propping yourself up on your elbows. I do this in bed several times a week and it helps a lot. I went to the chiro for 2 years before discovering this and now I don't have to go at all.
 
Messages
2
Location
Ireland
What kind of pain is it? I had sharp chronic lower back pain exclusively on the right side and was referred to a physiotherapist. She came to the conclusion that my lack of activity had weakened my core muscles, and along with the fact I have mild scoliosis, this left me susceptible to backpain. This proved to be correct as my ME has improved quite a bit in the last 8 months or so which means I've been able to do more, and that pain has eased considerably. So it may be a catch 22 situation for you where it's you're inability to be active which is causing it.

However, I get a different type of backpain which I know is actually a symptom of my ME, it's more like an extreme feeling of fatigue which aches and encompasses my whole lower back, and I get it on my bad days when simply standing on the spot. It makes me feel like I need to collapse in a heap. Is this is kind of pain you experience?
 

meadowlark

Senior Member
Messages
241
Location
Toronto, Canada
Yes, Mollie, that's the pain. I also get it from sitting up straight. However, I've wondered if the stretching I do on the floor needs to include some arching of the back. At this point I can't do yoga, caledonia, as after my ten minutes trudging I am bedbound for the rest of the day and have been for about two years. But perhaps lying on the floor and arching my back will help. Many thanks for the advice!
 

meadowlark

Senior Member
Messages
241
Location
Toronto, Canada
I should add that I am obviously a bit clueless about the need to keep muscles in shape, but unlike many with this illness, I was not particularly active before I got it. (As a child, my idea of outdoor exercise was leaning against a tree!) But it strikes me that my doctor has never suggested the practical suggestions Mollie and Caledonia gave me. I am thankful I have a sympathetic doctor, but sometimes I think she feels entirely helpless about my problems ... to the extent that an obvious, practical solution to immediate problems eludes her.