My Back Talks Back

Posted on by Joyful2bee
Herniated Lumbar Disc
Photo of bulging lower back disc

When we are between our teens and mid adulthood, we often think: “I am invincible! I can do anything. I am strong. I have unlimited energy.” After all, usually nothing happens (that we can see) when we participate in risky activities at that age. It takes getting older before we realize, “I screwed up!”

Where Did My Youth Go

When we get older and feel the wear and tear on our bodies from all of our abuses and extreme behaviors, we start thinking in real time. We slip into the “not so invincible; not so all powerful; not so energetic; and not so young.”

Back tries to talk to us, “What were you thinking? I wish you had known about that! What did you do to yourself?” We finally realize that we are no longer “spring chickens.”

Did you know that your back talks to you? I do! Back has spoken loudly, clearly and eloquently. Back gave me my first warning.

Upper Back Said, “Less Heavy Work!”

The messages started when I was a nurse trying to keep a confused patient in bed while the rest of the staff was in a Code Blue emergency. As I struggled to loose the patient’s vise grip on the bed rails, which he was trying to throw his legs over, I felt a sharp pain between my shoulder blades and numbness down my right arm almost immediately. Neck spasms followed quickly.

An MRI revealed two mildly bulging discs in my neck. I was placed on sick leave; given physical therapy and healed after about three weeks. But I soon discovered those discs were only temporarily healed.

The exercises did strengthen the neck and shoulder muscles to support my upper back. But soon there was another injury to my neck. After a second failed recovery period, my supervisor told me my neck could not handle the work in ICU/CCU, so I had to find another less intense unit to work in.

Back and my supervisor were telling me what I had refused to hear from my neck’s first warning. So I worked in an outpatient pre-operative area with much less pulling, turning, or lifting. Things went well. Then my family moved.

Lower Back Says, “Warning!! Be Careful!”

After several years of floor nursing I developed a few flare ups of back ache and rare, slight, left leg pain. For several days I would rest my back; apply ice and heat; did physical therapy and some yoga stretches. The back pain got better over a few days’ rest. And then I went right back to work. My back was talking to me, but I wasn’t listening.

Back Yells, “SOS!”

Later I started home health nursing. While helping a family member lift a client up in their chair, I discovered that the patient was not helping (like he said he would) and I promptly had pain in my lower back and down my left leg.

A lower back MRI showed I had not only two slightly bulging discs in my lower back but a bone spur and degenerative changes!! After physical therapy and back rest, the doctor released me to return to work.

The doctor even told me that people with worse bulges, and degenerative changes than mine, could lead normal lives after the initial healing period. So why should I worry, right? Wrong, not in the long run!!

Back, “Don’t Get Cocky!”

So I continued to do floor nursing on the telemetry floor. I almost always had help, the patient assignments were closer together so there was less walking. Everything seemed better.

Back: “Whew! Finally, Warning Understood!”

Finally, in 2010 at the age of 59, after 37 years of nursing, my two lower spinal discs revolted. Back started with a whimper and progressed to a scream. I noticed that when I sat for any length of time my posterior started aching. This discomfort became a burning, aching pain.

Soon, I couldn’t sit or stand for more than 15-30 minutes without great discomfort. I couldn’t walk on concrete floors without having numbness and pain down my left leg, or in my left buttock after just 5-10 minutes.

Back Sighs, “A Reprieve!”

I went to the doctor with records in hand. Physical therapy did an assessment and studied the reports. The doctor told me that with the bone spur and the bulging discs, that I should not lift over 20 pounds of weight. Bone spurs are the result of vertebrae rubbing against each other because of a protruding disc in the opposite direction from the spurs or scoliosis, which I also was developing.

When I gave my supervisor the doctor’s note, things changed. The hospital could not risk my having a workplace injury, or being libel if someone fell and I couldn’t catch or help them. I was placed on long term disability for two years. (Thankfully, my husband had suggested that I sign up for long-term disability insurance! Which I did!)

“AHH, Retirement”

While on Long Term Disability, through my hospital, in hopes of having a light job for the future, when disability expired, I applied for several jobs. I was honest about my restrictions. No one hired me. Wonder why???

I really understand “why.” From an employer’s point of view, it would be risky to hire a person with so many potential problems and so close to retirement. What if the employee calls in sick a lot with back flare ups? She could be or become a drug addict on pain medicines.

So I retired early. I have had some flare ups which required physical therapy. I started a photography business for three years. Soon after this, the editor of our small town newspaper hired me as a photojournalist for two or three years until it closed.

I could do these jobs because I could work at my own pace, rest, get up and down anytime I needed to.

A Changing Back

Until that last October, after four different therapists, exercises, some weight loss, and after three different chiropractors, I had only occasional back aches. Things were going pretty well for 9 years

Back Demands, “Help”

When I had my physical, I was surprised to find I had lost an inch in my height in one year! Soon after I was waking up with severe aching across my lower back, and pain from my left inner thigh to my knee. I saw a neurologist.

He ordered an X-ray which showed more severe changes with very thin discs between the lower vertebrae. The bone spurs were more pronounced and there were disc protrusions or “spurs” from scoliosis! I knew I had a slight scoliosis or curve of the spine, but it looked much worse now. So that’s where the inch of my height went!

I wanted to share this in case anyone else had similar problems. I wonder what my back would have looked like if I had continued to work as a nurse on the floors. I was right to retire early. Things could have gotten much worse much faster.

“Thank you, Back. I appreciate the warnings.”

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90 thoughts on “My Back Talks Back”

  1. It sure pay’s to listen to what our body is telling us. I haven’t learnt yet, can do one days gardening, next day needs to rest, back and hip too painful to bend, still will go and do more gardening later in the week.
    Who’s going to weed it if I don’t?

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  5. Ah…the Back. What a beautifully, complicated thing it is. Think about a spine and all of the separate vertebrae. How on earth do we stay upright?? It’s kind of miraculous. So happy that you listened to what Le Back was telling you and that you have made peace with it!

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  6. I’m only 34 and my back talks to me! I’m of a petite build, and 2 pregnancies were rather stressful on my poor back. I now have flare-ups of sciatica and severe lower back pain whenever I am going through a stressful situation (like now, for example, renovating our kitchen). Thanks for sharing your experience!

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    1. Hi, thanks for commenting. I am about to go out of town to a nephews wedding but I would love to follow your site. I am a very open minded Christian who has one son, (biological) who i8s pagan and my second adult son, newly adopted with grandbaby on the way< who is Buddhist. I am amazed at the help these two have received from their respective religions. I totally accept them and their beliefs. zi hope to learn more from your posts too.Thanks!!

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  7. I can soo relate. Never understood about back pain until recently. But you are right! You only get one back! So right on!Thanks for this post!
    Hey by the way when I click on your gravatar by your name to send me over here to your site-
    I get this message:

    This connection is untrusted
    You asked to connect securely to joyful2beeblogs.com, but we can’t confirm that the connection is secure due to a problem with the website’s security certificate.
    Such problems may indicate an attempt to steal your information.
    Close this webpage
    Show advanced

    But when I click on your picture under my LIKES it sends me here to your page. Just wanted you to know in case you wanted to check on it. So weird!

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  9. Thanks, Joyful2bee, for your comments and suggestions on my post about sciatica issues. That brought me to this helpful article – thanks for sharing your experiences along with very wise advice! I’ll be BACK to browse around further 🙂 Best wishes!

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  10. Pingback: A Pain in the Butt: Redux | chez Hildegard
  12. Pingback: Listen to Your Body #healthcare #wellbeing | SpookyMrsGreen

  13. I really liked how you said we need to listen to you back and that our back basically communicates to us- this is so true. Excellent article. I am new to this. If you have time could you look at my sight and comment- physicaltherapyinjury.com. Have a great day. jon PT

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  15. The back is such an integral part of our body system, carrying nerves and message throughout the body. I have a curvature of my spine that runs in my Fathers family and I have had it all my life. Fortunately I do not have pain from it. Riding a horse, especially doing dressage where we sit the trot causes a lot of people back pain usually in the lower back. I am fortunate that I have not had too much back trouble with my back. I have great sympathy for you with your back issues. You have done well to soldier on!

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  16. Wow, thank you. You are a brave soul! Are you afraid of the pounding your back’s discs take when jumping? Won’t the disc’s get thinner faster? Thanks. I hope your back stays healthy.

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    1. Thank you, Kihyon. I am a believer in acupunture. I was receiving weekly treatments when Covid started. But the therapist only had one room and when asked admitted that he had customers who didn’t wear masks. So I stopped going to him. I will look for another therapist soon when Covid slows or disappears. Thank you for reminding me! I hadn’t thought of acupuncture in over a year.

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  18. Kihyon, thank you for your concern. Actually my back has stabilized since I lost 30 pounds over three years. I try to stay active and keep moving. I do take Glucosamine and Chondroitin, Vitamins and Fish Oil too.

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  19. This is such a great post. Thank you for sharing your story! I see this happen so much at the gym, people ignore what their body tells them and they just keep pushing on and they wonder why they have knee, hip or back issues down the road. I stress to my clients all the time to listen to your body, because it’s not lying! I hope you’re feeling better and you’re still enjoying photography!

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  20. Pingback: My Back Talks Back – Baileyfitness.pei
  22. Pingback: My Back Talks Back – BACK PAIN BLOG UK…

    1. Thank you, Eliza! I took care of patients with broken hips long ago and never did I expect to need a hip prosthesis, for a head of the femur that had eroded over 10 months! Experience in both cases is an excellent teacher. Appreciate your comment!!

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  27. Pingback: My Back Talks Back

  28. When your body tells you you are hurting a lot, it becomes the incentive to do something about it. We want to believe we can handle the pain or “it will get better eventually.” The trick is to “nip it in the bud” and get it seen by a doctor. Treatment or/and rest are the best healers for minor pains. Some people don’t want to look weak or scared; believe me when it gets worse, they will be scared. Pain has a way without words. See a doctor if the pain is persistent.

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  32. Pingback: My Back Talks Back – Raju Raj🩷
  33. Pingback: My Back Talks Back – Great Feeling

      1. Amen. Oil and wine 🍷. For educational purposes. Oil we change in our cars. But we don’t maintain our backs. Through exercise, stretching, and diet. Wine. We don’t rest enough. We don’t take the time to rest; we’re always going, going, going. Wouldn’t you agree?

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  39. 🙏 Your story moved me deeply. The way you’ve carried pain, listened to your body, and adapted with grace is nothing short of courageous. You didn’t just endure—you transformed, and that takes immense strength.

    👏 Hats off to your resilience. From ICU battles to photography and journalism, you’ve shown that healing isn’t just physical—it’s about finding new purpose, new rhythm, and honoring the wisdom our bodies whisper over time.

    💛 Sending heartfelt empathy for the struggles you’ve faced, and deep admiration for the way you’ve turned those challenges into insight. You’ve not only survived—you’ve inspired. Thank you for sharing your journey. It’s a gift to all of us walking our own paths of healing.

    #RespectYourBack #CourageInPain #HealingWithGrace #EmpathyAndStrength #LifeAfterNursing

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    1. Thank you, Rohitash. I am so very thankful that I grew up in a loving family. I feel close to the Creator and am enjoying my life, making friends in my new home for senior citizens. My back is quirky but keeps me standing up. I enjoy my family of two married sons, their wives, their three grandchildren, and one golden retriever. I am thankful to have my cat too. Thank you for your kind words.

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  42. Pingback: My Back Talks Back – psychology magazine

    1. Thank you for the note to see the Source Post. Sorry, I didn’t see it first. You can erase my comment if you wish to. Glad that you shared it. Maybe it will help others.

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