This is my first . since starting my exercise routine regularly, and it's a doozy. I've been getting fairly bad lower back pain for a few days once a month since I've had an IUD inserted, and I have a question about it.
I skipped a few days of exercise because my back was just too stiff for me to do it comfortably. Today the pain is more than an annoyance, but not severe enough that it would keep me from working out at all.
My question though is that even though the pain I feel is not related to exercise, overuse or injury, should I push my body and work out? I'm a little concerned that because I'm in pain, would I cause more pain, or be more prone to an injury if I push myself to exercise anyways? Or should I listen to my body, and just take it easy til the pain subsides.
I know I have a few days of back pain every month, but I've been doing so well so far keeping up with my exercises that I don't really want to just skip it (which would be so easy to do since I'm PMS'y and crampy anyways), but I also don't want to ignore my body telling me it hurts, and end up doing any damage that might force me to end up missing more days in the long run?
How long have you had the IUD? I wasn't exercising when I first got mine, but it took about two months for all the pains and cramps and everything to even out and settle down.
Depending on how the lower back pain is, I'd suggest trying some yoga. I regularly have stiffness and pain in my lower back and hips, and there are a few yoga moves that really seem to help me out like sun salutations.
All the yoga I do is with the WiiFit, but when I do it regularly, I almost forget how much I hurt normally.
Thank you for the quick reply. I think I'm going to go do some yoga and then see how I feel. If it's not too bad I'll add in some cardio. I guess I'm just a little paranoid because the other day when I tried to break out the Wii, my roommate scolded me and told me not to push it.
How long have you been exercising regularly? After I had been exercising on a regular basis for about a month, I can tell when it's been a few days. I start to feel a little achy and stiff. Maybe you could try walking, just to keep yourself a little more limber?
I've only been exercising regularly for about 2 weeks now. I lead a pretty sedintary lifestly (hazard of being a video game junkie) but I got myself a WiiFit and a few "games" to work out to, and I've been enjoying it immensely.
Guess I'm a bit afraid of "breaking my stride" if I take too many days off because of my back. And also of any potential injuries.
I'm out of work right now, and an ER visit with no health insurance is not quite in my budget.
Since you have the Wii Fit, I can tell you the ones that really help me. Back in the end of Jan/early Feb before I fell off the Wii wagon, I was doing several of the yoga moves every morning starting with the side bends (I don't remember what it actually calls them) then sun salutations (love!! when you bend over, just relaxing and letting your upper body hang can really help stretch out the hips). I also do the bridge and the sideways leg twists (next to the bridge). The leg twists were AMAZING when I first started doing them. I could really feel the stretch in my hips in a way that just felt sooo good. After doing those regularly, I could really feel an improvement in my hips and lower back.
I have some tension in my right knee, in the muscle on the front above my knee, so I mostly use the bridge to stretch that area. I recently looked at the demo for the dance pose, and I've been doing something similar to that for the fronts of my thighs lately, but I can't do it on the Wii board. I have NO balance. I need like three stable objects around me just to get my ankle in my hand. The part about that move that I like but never realized before is how much more stretch you can get just by leaning your upper body forward.
I do feel a little better now that I've stretched out a bit. Back is still pretty sore, but at least I have a bit of flexibility back. The bridge felt awesome. I may do that a few times during the day if I feel like I'm stiffening up again.
BTW. I've had the IUD for over 2 years. And (when I did have health insurance) the doctors assured me that the lower back pain had to do with a degenerative disc and nothing to do with the IUD (though it ONLY bothers me when I'm about to get my period). It's bothered me every month since, but not nearly as much as when I first got it.
Question for the girls :Exercise and that TOM
