My Back Story

My Back Story

No, it's not a story about the details of another story. It's about my lower back problem.

About 25 years ago I experienced a bout of terrible lower back pain. I went to my doctor and took medications. It didn’t help. A friend recommended a chiropractor. I tried a few sessions, but it didn't help. Another friend suggested a massage therapist. I went a few times. After each session I would feel better for a day or two but after that the pain returned. At my last session with the therapist, he asked me to take him through my day to see if he could pinpoint something I was doing that would explain the problem. We did that. 

At the time I was running a software company. Unlike today not all my work involved using a computer. I had a desk and a computer table. The computer table was near my desk and to get to it I would push my chair (which was on wheels) over to the computer desk. When finished I would roll back to my desk. The distance was about 7 feet, and the floor was carpeted. When he heard that the therapist told me to get one of those hard plastic floor mats for my chair. I went to the office supply store, bought one, and put in under my chair. Within one week my back pain was gone, never to return. 

I realize that not all back pain is the same but sometimes it pays to look outside the box when trying to solve a nagging problem like back pain.