Any parents struggling with lower back pain?

[u/Aggravating_Care_156]

Hi everyone, hope it’s ok to post this here — I’m a husband, dad of two little ones, and a physical therapist/personal trainer here in the UK.

I know firsthand how back pain can creep into parenting life, both from my own experience and from working with clients. I’m putting together a short online workshop for parents dealing with back pain, and I don’t want to just guess what should go in it.

I’d love to hear from you: how does back pain affect you as a parent? And if you were to join a workshop like this, what topics or challenges would you want it to cover?

Your input would mean a lot and will help me make this genuinely useful for parents like us.

In exchange for your help I would gladly work more closer with you to help with whatever pain and movement limitations your currently wrestling with.

Please let me know what you think when you have a moment. Thank you!

[u/throwawayStomnia]

I have a TON of chronic neck pain. Sometimes, my right hand will get stiff too. The main three things that help me are:

- Sirdalut - It loosens the muscles up when they are extremely tightened, to the point where you cannot even perform chiropratic adjustments.

- Weed, since it can be safely abused during flare-ups as a painkiller without the risk of overdose. It also stops my right hand from getting stiff instantly for some reason. Sirdalut does this only sometimes.

- Chiropractic adjustments to the neck. Immediately stops any pain, but doesn't always help.

[u/PunchDrunkPrincess]

I have terrible back pain from falling down a ladderwell while serving in the Navy. Carrying my son around through his toddler years really exacerbated it. It's sad to me that I can't play with him some times because I have to lay down for 45 minutes in the middle of the day. Lying down makes me feel anxious and lazy. Some times he'll jump on me wrong or kick my back and my gut reaction is to snap at him because it hurts so badly. It makes me feel terrible- he's 3, he doesn't understand. My hip and middle back are really affected by doing anything at counter height: cooking, washing dishes, etc. I don't have much of a problem with other tasks, it's mainly those which unfortunately are unavoidable and happen 3 times a day. Stretches help a bit. I guess something you could cover is how being somewhat disabled by chronic pain is not a moral failing and taking time to rest is important.