{"id":101463,"date":"2009-12-20T19:59:43","date_gmt":"2009-12-21T00:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc8012e88330120a767156c970b"},"modified":"2009-12-20T19:59:43","modified_gmt":"2009-12-21T00:59:43","slug":"hit-with-a-triple-punch-all-in-one-week-a-cold-disabling-back-pain-and-a-cold-sore-what-worked-what-didnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/101463","title":{"rendered":"Hit With a Triple Punch All In One Week–a Cold, Disabling Back Pain, and a Cold Sore. What Worked? What Didn’t?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Cold-The Back Pain-The Cold Sore<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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If you are receiving this post via email <\/span>click here <\/a>to get to the web version.<\/span>
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Can’t remember the last time I had a cold.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What people describe as: “My back went-out” or “Disabling Back Pain”.\u00a0 It’s never happened to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can’t remember the last time I missed work because of illness.
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And I’ve never had a cold sore or fever blister in my life.
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That is until the week of December 7-14!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s what happened to me–the week I turned into the Very Unhealthy Librarian<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 First I got a cold<\/strong>, because I ignored the early signs and was too busy to do anything about it.\u00a0
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Don’t do what I did.<\/strong>\u00a0 Read and pay attention to my mostly-no-fail-cold-prevention plan. <\/strong>My Research-Backed Advice on How to Prevent Colds – Knock Them Out Quickly – or Shorten Their Duration.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

At the first sign of a cold–don’t be lazy like I was.\u00a0 Make the time to use a neti pot (I use Sinucleanse), take Zicam Cold Remedy RapidMelts or Cold-Eeze<\/a> (my fave Zicam nasal gel is now off the market), and get plenty of sleep!\u00a0 Even though I waited for my cold to surface before I did anything about it, luckily, I still managed to knock it out quickly with this method.<\/p>\n

Or avoid the cold in the first place by paying attention to: Advice From the Experts on How to Protect
\nYourself From Colds and Flu. How to Boost Your Immune System and Avoid
\nGerms. What Foods and Supplements Will Help the Most?
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2. Then my back “went out” <\/strong>and I quickly learned what it feels like to be disabled. Thankfully, I only missed a day of work, but I soon realized that you can’t do anything when you can’t move your body.\u00a0 What good is a day off of work when there’s nothing you can do?<\/p>\n

Don’t do what I did.\u00a0 Read and pay attention to my post:<\/strong> <\/span>Why Sitting In A Chair Hurts Your Back – What You Can Do To Prevent Back Pain.\u00a0<\/a> <\/p>\n

I made the big mistake of sitting in a chair for over 5 hours straight without getting up, tightening up my hip flexors and twisting my torso to the left for way too long while I worked on my computer. <\/p>\n

“Sitting all day is the worst thing in the world you can do for your back, ” said Dr. Joel Press,<\/span> the medical director of the Spine & Sports Institute at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.<\/strong><\/font> <\/p>\n

Then I went off to a spinning class where I continued to tighten up my hip flexors as I rode for a hour in a crouched-over-the-handle bars position.\u00a0 Later that evening, when I bent down to unload the washing machine–bingo–“my back went out”.\u00a0 Seriously, “out”.\u00a0 I could barely walk up the stairs, get up from the toilet, get in and out of bed, get dressed, sit in a chair, or do anything that involved moving my body.\u00a0 I had instant empathy for anyone with an incapacitating injury or disability.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Then I got a cold sore\/fever blister for the first time in my life.\u00a0 <\/strong>Not such a big deal, but it’s ugly, embarrassing, uncomfortable, and to make matters worse, I couldn’t wear any lipstick–and I always wear lipstick. I\u00a0 didn’t want to contaminate it.
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Don’t do what I did–I ignored the tingly, prickly feeling in the corner of my mouth.<\/strong>\u00a0 The first sign of a cold sore. That’s how it starts.\u00a0 I never paid any attention to it until it was a full blown rapidly growing yellowish pus pocket in the corner of my mouth.\u00a0 My husband suggested I just pop it–like a pimple.\u00a0 Big mistake. Do not do that!<\/p>\n

The whole embarrassing ugly mess could have been avoided all together if only I had known the symptoms, paid attention, and dabbed the corner of my mouth with Abreva<\/a>–the miracle ointment that will nip a cold sore in the bud.\u00a0 At least that’s what everyone tells me–friends & relatives who were once plagued with unsightly painful cold sores–before Abreva<\/strong> came on the market.\u00a0 To read more about the causes, the symptoms, and preventive steps for cold sores, check out what the Mayo Clinic and WebMD have to say.\u00a0 Click here for Mayo.<\/a> Click here for WebMD.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Besides using Abreva<\/strong>, I discovered a great lip balm at my hospital pharmacy, called Carmex<\/strong>.\u00a0 Click here<\/a> to read more. It kept my lips comfortable & moist, and I could squeeze it out of a tube–and apply with my finger–rather than contaminate a lipstick-type balm.<\/p>\n

So how did I get a cold sore?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Impossible to know.\u00a0 Initially, you catch it from someone else–and it’s highly contagious.\u00a0 Afterward, an outbreak is often triggered by lack of sleep, stress, a cold, the flu, the sun, or any of the usual suspects that lower our immunity. Some of which happened during the days before my cold sore surfaced.<\/span>\u00a0 Who knows, maybe the virus had been lying dormant for years–or maybe I just caught it.
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How I “Fixed” My Achy Breaky Back in Twenty-Four Hours<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

1.\u00a0 I acted quickly.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 I immediately took an anti-inflammatory.\u00a0 In my case I took a Celebrex (a prescription anti-inflammatory that doesn’t irritate the stomach).\u00a0 Ibuprofen is irritating to me, and thanks to my husband we had some Celebrex<\/strong> at home.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 As uncomfortable as I was, I managed to get on the floor and do some very gentle hip flexor stretches. This helped to stretch out my super-tight hip flexors that apparently had irritated my piriformis muscle.\u00a0 Fortunately, my niece Jamie, a 3rd year physical therapy PhD student, had previously shown me some good stretches to do–so I was prepared! <\/p>\n

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“One muscle which is often thought to be the cause of pain when sitting is the piriformis. You have two piriformis muscles, running horizontally from the lower spine to the top of each thighbone (femur). The piriformis runs over the sciatic nerve, and when the muscle becomes tight or spasms and places pressure on the sciatic nerve. This can cause pain in the lower back and\/or pain that radiates to the buttocks and down the leg. Pain is often made worse by sitting.” Rakel. Integrative Medicine.\u00a0 2nd ed.\u00a0 2007<\/strong>
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