Hurt My Back
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (123976)
Gainesville, Florida
April 23, 2025 11:02am CST
I hurt my back yesterday at work, and I was in extreme pain all day long. And this morning, I could barely get out of bed and move around. Sadly, I wasn't even doing anything strenuous when it happened, I'm pretty sure I was just bending over to pick up something from the ground. This, unfortunately, is my life these days, some of which I chalk up to getting old, but mostly due to my back being toast from a series of auto accidents I had a half a dozen years ago. And add on top of that the strain I put my body through playing tournament paintball, and it's a recipe for disaster!
Luckily, I see a physical therapist on a regular basis. I made a call this morning and will be able to get in to see her later this afternoon. In the meantime, I am doing stretching exercises as much as I can to keep my back loose. The pain is pretty intense, so it's not easy!
Do any of you seem to hurt yourselves/get hurt basically doing nothing? I've heard many older people say that they get hurt just sleeping at night, or trying to get out of bed in the morning. I feel like I'm getting to that point! LOL
12 people like this
13 responses
@Ineeddentures (647)
•
23 Apr
I can relate to back pain big time, and it seems to happen when doing the most innocuous things.
Bending over picking things up, moving furniture, Etc etc.
Getting older seems to be part of the reason this happens. 64 I am and I can testify that it happens a lot.
Sleeping at night can be painful too. Oh yes, age catches up with us all.
Paintball sounds fun.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Apr
I worry about what fits my back is gong to give me when I get much older. I'm only 55 now, and I'm already having lots of issues. But, I have no one to blame but myself, as I live a very active lifestyle and play a sport that is not good for any of my joints and muscles.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (647)
•
23 Apr
@moffittjc
I totally get.that.
At 64 I can no longer swing a golf club properly.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Apr
@Ineeddentures I used to be a scratch golfer, playing three times a week. I haven't golfed in years. I probably couldn't swing a club very well now, and not even because of my back. I also have a nagging shoulder from an old rotator cuff injury. I'm going to be a walking mess when I get to old age, I just know it!
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (46089)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Apr
Hope your back feels better. Being in pain is not fun.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Apr
Thanks. My one saving grace is that I have daily stretches and exercises that I do to help my back, since I've had back problems since 2019 when I was in three auto accidents within a 6-month time. The stretches/exercises help me manage any back pain, but sometimes I have flare-ups that need a professional to help me with. That's why I see a physical therapist on a a regular basis. She helps keep me feeling good, and helps me recuperate from times like today when my back is in lots of pain.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
@lovebuglena My mattress is fine. It's pretty new, I think I've had it for about a year now. I sleep like a baby on it. I have a memory foam mattress, but it's a firm one. I always sleep better on firm mattresses.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (46089)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Apr
@moffittjc glad what you do helps. How’s your mattress? That can also affect your back.
1 person likes this
@kareng (73117)
• United States
26 Apr
@moffittjc I am glad to hear you are feeling better. I've been on bed rest this week with sprained foot and about to go batty!!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
I was almost in tears the pain was so bad, but luckily my physical therapist was able to squeeze me in for a session yesterday and today, and I'm already feeling much better. My issues are muscle related, I just have naturally tight muscles that cause my back to tense up.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Apr
@kareng I was improving with each passing day, and then this morning I woke up in extreme back pain. I think I slept wrong last night. Oh, the joys of getting old! lol
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (53188)
• Canada
24 Apr
@moffittjc I will go to a chiropractor when my back goes out.
They can make adjustments to have it go back into place.
I have learned how to put it back which works some of the time.
I had a bone mineral density test a couple of hours ago.
I have had them done in the past, but this is a brand new machine, and it is a bit intimidating.
The scanner comes right over your head down towards your knees and is only slightly above your body.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Apr
@Juliaacv That does sound like it can be very intimidating!
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@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
I fractured three vertebrae in my neck many years ago when I was at college, I've always been worried that it would affect me negatively in my later years. But, thankfully, I've had no issues with my neck or upper spinal region. All of my issues have been lower back, and it's been muscular and not spinal. But either way, any terrible back pain is horrible for people to experience.
What do you do to help relieve pain when you have a slipped disc or nerve pain?
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (146705)
• United States
23 Apr
I hope your back feels better after you see your physical therapist today.
I rarely get hurt like that. The last thing that happened with me is the sciatica that happened two weeks ago and I don't know what brought that on.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (146705)
• United States
24 Apr
@moffittjc Sciatica is a stressed nerve in the right or left hip. It only happens part of the time when you're standing up or trying to sit down... It can also hurt if you try to cross one leg over the other.
Mine felt like an electric shock shooting from my left hip down my left leg and made me jump when it happened. I went to the chiropractor and he popped my hips and back and it hasn't hurt since then. (For a few days after he popped my hips, the meat of my hips and lower back swelled up and ached but the electric shock feeling was gone.)
I hope you're feeling better now.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
Does it just come and go, and what do you do to relieve pain with sciatica?
Thankfully, my back issues are muscle related and not spinal related, so it can be treated fairly easily through my physical therapist. I just have really tight muscles, and when they tighten up unexpectedly, the pain is so intense I feel like I damaged my spinal cord or something.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Apr
@DaddyEvil I am doing much better now. Thanks for asking. I've been going to physical therapy every day since I hurt my back.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
I think that's basically what happened to me. I just bent over--nothing strenuous, nothing hard--and my back felt like it seized up. Luckily, I was able to get an appointment to see my physical therapist yesterday and she did wonders on my back, so I am feeling much better today (although there is still some lingering pain). I have really tight leg muscles, and because of that it affects my lower back quite more than I would like it to.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Apr
@JudyEv Funny you mention that, after I destroyed my right knee in a paintball tournament and had to have surgery, my therapist told me the hardest thing after that would be going up and down stairs. I had specific exercises I had to do to help with that.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (351887)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Apr
@moffittjc I read about exercises to help the 'elderly' (that's me, not you) manage stairs more easily. I'm going to start doing them or it won't be long and I'll be battling to get into a bus.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (115172)
• Marion, Ohio
23 Apr
Not too much yet.
Hope you feel better soon
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
Thanks! I'm already feeling better. I hope you never have to deal with back issues. They are the worst.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
Thank you. I am already feeling better. I was able to see my physical therapist yesterday and today for treatment. I still have lingering pain, but I have stretches and exercises I can do at home to help keep my muscles loose and my back feeling better.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (84398)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Apr
Luckily have not hurt myself lately. I hope your back will be all right and the pain will go away, Maybe a hot water bottle right on the painful spot?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
I have a big heating pad I use for my back that definitely helps, but there are also specific exercises and stretches I have to do to help keep my back muscles from seizing up. Sometimes, though, it gets so bad that the stretches and exercises I do at home is not enough to relieve the pain, and in those cases I have to go see my physical therapist. She uses electrical stimulation and ultrasound, along with stretching and massaging, to get my back muscles to loosen up and relax.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (20457)
• United States
29 Apr
I have been having back pain when I bend over for a long period of time and sometimes when I do my walking. I walk 2,200 steps from the guest room to my bathroom. My mother says it's because of me being top heavy. lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
10h
Oh goodness, how far away is your bathroom from your guest room? That's a lot of steps LOL
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
Does your back still bother you to this day, or have you been pain free since that injury several years ago?
@MarieCoyle (43168)
•
23 Apr
I hope you can feel better with the therapy. I had to nurse my ex through two back surgeries, which wasn't fun as he wasn't a nice patient. Then my son was in that wreck, and he has had two back surgeries and one in his neck and arm...he has two steel rods now. It's not fun. Take good care, Jeff.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
Oh goodness, after hearing what you've been through with your ex and your son, my back issues seem like nothing!
I've done two sessions now with my physical therapist, and I'm already feeling much better, although my back is sore. Most of the time, I can loosen my back muscles up with stretches and exercises at home, but sometimes it gets so bad I have to have my physical therapists tackle the pain.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
@MarieCoyle For sure my back issues are worse because of paintball. Which is why I have a physical therapists to begin with! lol
I've heard and read so much that says that back surgery is really a crap shoot, and the success rate isn't as great as they make it out to be. As much as I hate having back pain, I would rather seek every other alternative means of therapy before I would consider the surgery option. But that's not to say that surgery shouldn't be done, it's just that it is not always the cure they want you to believe it is.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (43168)
•
24 Apr
@moffittjc
Just because you haven't had to have surgery doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I can honestly say that everyone I know that has had to have any form of back surgery, expects their pain to be totally gone, and it really never is. The back is just too vital, we use it with every movement, and we all need to take care of our backs. It sounds like you are being helped by the therapist...your issues probably get very aggravated from all of the paintball games! Take care, Jeff.
1 person likes this
@Duwayn123 (6)
• Singapore
24 Apr
I am only gonna be 36 this year but already am experiencing back issues . Whenever I bend forward there is a sharp aching pain in my back until it gets so bad to the point that my mom has to help me to straighten up coz I cannot do it on my own.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (123976)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Apr
That was how I felt a couple of days ago when I hurt my back. I was in extreme pain, and if I tried to bend over, I couldn't straighten back up on my own because of the pain. Thankfully, my back issues are muscle related, and not spinal, so it can be treated with stretches and exercises.
Have you had a doctor examine you to see what the source of your pain is?
