What a Pain in the Neck. No, Really.

Pain. The kind of searing, sudden pain that makes you wince and sweat a little bit. That's what hit me yesterday afternoon when a nagging ache in my upper back/neck area turned wrong. Very very wrong. The kind of pain that makes a hypochondriac like myself worry that she's doing permanent spinal cord damage just by turning her head too quickly. This isn't something new, but it's something I haven't encountered for several months now and had all but forgotten could be a problem. How quickly the memory returns with the recurring pain though.

The first time my back bothered me like this a couple of years ago, I went to a chiropractor on the recommendation of a few friends at work. Won't do that ever again. Too much forced popping and cracking. I gained my range of motion back but felt weak and damaged for days afterward. The second time it happened, I went to a physical therapist who was able to realign my back with gentle massage, electroconvulsive charges attached to my muscles, and isometric exercises. That was all well and good, but my health insurance which was supposed to cover the costs . . . didn't. Eight months after leaving the company that provided said insurance and I'm still fighting them over it.

So, this time around, I'm just taking it easy, spending a lot of time lying flat on my back on the floor, icing, taking ibuprofen, and wearing a neck brace (which has me feeling much like Joan Cusack in Sixteen Candles). Has kind of put a damper on the weekend because we were supposed to go to a party tonight and I'm just not up to it. If things aren't better tomorrow, it means missing out on my first trip to the beach this summer too. And worst of all, horror or horrors, it means less time sitting at the computer indulging in the Internet. And, with that . . . I will bid you adeiu until I'm feeeling better.