Usual suspect No.1 : Traveling

Release clutch, press break, release clutch, accelerate, change gear, accelerate, break... daily routine for a person stuck in traffic with everyone else who is going to work at 8:45 am.

While your siting on the drivers seat with an existing back problem you start feeling as if every time you work your magic with the legs there is a slight reminder given to you by your lower back that it exists.
I had the grave misfortune of taking my car out 3 months post my slipped disk attack. It was horrible, painful and something that my back did not forgive me for.

I should have avoided it.

If you don't drive and take a bus, rickshaw or a taxi to the office then you might not be in a better situation.

It is universally known that the rickshaw has the worst suspension ever made by man. Every small pot hole on the road makes your back feel as if it were driving through the craters on the moon. An overcrowded bus on the other hand forces you to stand with your bag through most of your 40 min travel. While the taxi has a bad suspension it is still comparatively better.

The things that worked for me were:

• Carrying no bags to work. (Easy for me since I am a guy and mostly the female employees need to carry their daily supplies)
• Whenever I was required to carry things home, I tried to leave the not so important ones at work because, here is the important part, I believe that one should not take work home. 10 - 12 hours of slavery is enough. Don't you think ?
• While traveling in a rickshaw I made sure I moved a bit ahead so as to not touch my back to the seat when going over a pothole. It reduced the effect of the jerk. But if you have good company then just good cuddle can absorb the pressure. That way it is romantic while taking care of your back. :)
• If I have to travel by bus I made sure I stepped on the first step, which is generally higher, by putting more pressure on my knees. Also always kept my eye out for a spot to sit.
• Most importantly I always wore shoes which were good to walk in. I went to a party once at LSE and ended up dancing for about 4 hours. Not only did my feet hurt because the shoes had very bad balance, although they got me a few compliments :) , but they also made my back hurt a lot that night. I went the next day spent a few extra and got a good pair of sneakers.

So basically i travel light while wearing right. True story.

-Out

Living the wrong lifestyle

In a city like Mumbai, young professionals like me spend 6 days in a week travelling or sitting in front of the computer in an attempt to get their work done while staring at the 'targets of the week' pinned to their board right behind the computer screen and eating their lunch at the same time.

This typical scene has the basic ingredients which gave me 6 months of agony in '09 :

1. Long hours of travel everyday
2. Sitting at one place endlessly
3. Stress
4. Bad eating habits
5. No time for oneself

I will go into these a bit more in detail in my coming entries.

-Out

Back pain. A long term leech.

I was absolutely aghast to see a report today in DNA about a college professor jumping to death from a building because she could not bear her chronic back pain anymore.

Back pain is basically a lifestyle and stress related problem, which when contracted mostly never leaves the person. They suck the life out of your good years.

I am a 25 year old Mumbai man and I have had back pain since I was 20. It comes and goes but it is there.

I will attempt to give back pain short and long term relief measure's which have worked for me to control my anguish.

- Out



P.S: The news article. http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_unable-to-bear-backpain-professor-jumps-to-death-from-college-building_1568497