by I found this in another place, and fits in with my own thoughts about the benefits of Blogging, even if it's just a private little diary exercise which no-one else will ever read - it's an efficacious therapy all round, especially where one is experiencing, or has experienced chronic health problems. I started keeping my own personal regular diary at the time of my first cancer diagnosis, partly because at the time there were so many different medical professionals, hospitals and procedures involved and I found it necessary to keep my own record of dates, progress etc - as I found to my frustration that A simply did not communicate with B, C and D and hadn't got a clue what was happening outside of their own specialist department and (working at the time in a legal environment) always having known the importance of having things in writing, evidence etc.
It was only when going through my second diagnosis I found a forum with many contributors, writing down and sharing their own stories and experiences. Finding that there were other people going through the same sort of thing was a trememdous help, not just to me but also between all the individual contributors - we were able to help and support each other in a way that only the experiencer could really understand.
Anyhow, to get to the point of the post, this is taken from a forum called Scope, where one Blogger has started a thread there, encouraging others to join in and giving some the incentive to do the same, and create their own - thus spreading the healing process far and wide. There are so many people out there suffering in silence, who simply do not know where to turn or whom to turn to. If, by spreading the word, just one person is helped in doing so, then I think it must surely make it all worthwhile.
Visit the link at Scope to read the replies
https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/46700/dealing-with-back-pain
and more here from
Scope
It was only when going through my second diagnosis I found a forum with many contributors, writing down and sharing their own stories and experiences. Finding that there were other people going through the same sort of thing was a trememdous help, not just to me but also between all the individual contributors - we were able to help and support each other in a way that only the experiencer could really understand.
Anyhow, to get to the point of the post, this is taken from a forum called Scope, where one Blogger has started a thread there, encouraging others to join in and giving some the incentive to do the same, and create their own - thus spreading the healing process far and wide. There are so many people out there suffering in silence, who simply do not know where to turn or whom to turn to. If, by spreading the word, just one person is helped in doing so, then I think it must surely make it all worthwhile.
Dealing with back pain
Barbara is a successful blogger who writes about back pain, she has also released a book. Today she is giving the community tips as well as how she has benefited from writing.
Hi, I’m a 65 year old with two married children and a ‘grandog’, but hope for grandchildren at some stage. I took up blogging in 2007 and haven’t looked back since.
They say back pain affects 80% of the population at some point in their lives. Mine, started in my late 20’s with extremely debilitating low back pain. Treatment in the first few years consisted of physiotherapy and manipulation by an osteopath and chiropractor, but eventually surgery was the only option. It was my fourth operation and two life threatening incidents that soon made me realise that time is a gift.
Many a day I’ve felt despair, rage and profound disappointment that I could not do certain jobs. I looked like a question mark, bent like someone 20 years older. I felt like an object of pity, an old woman in black. Pain is introspective, it doesn’t give a damn about the rest of the world.
Then I took up writing a blog, I can escape into another world with my blogs. I write several of them, but my ‘Back Pain Blog’ is the one that I am most passionate about. I have awards for my ‘Back Pain Blog’ and I have been nominated for a Wego Health Award this year. I have made lots of friends through writing blogs and I truly think that ‘blogging’ should be included in the list of therapeutic therapies for chronic pain.
The simple act of writing my thoughts down filled me with a sense of purpose, to pursue my goals. I would read inspiring stories of people working from home and knew I had the ability to do something with my life. I have no paper qualifications, no special skills but a notion that I could write. I constantly scrutinized magazines for ideas and inspirations on what I could write about.
I love writing things down and have kept many a diary. Some diary entries would make me laugh with one such entry being this: ' Monday 21st January 01 – I really am lousy today. I don't suppose I can blame the discs in my back really, after all for the last 50 years they have been in the same place, at the bottom of my spine doing its job but today everything hurts. My chest, my neck, my arms, my bum. I hurt every inch of my body like I didn't know hurt could hurt but hey ….. the good news is I've lost half a stone. Maybe the power of positive thinking does work after all, or maybe it’s just my morphine kicking in'.
I took on numerous home-study courses on ‘pain management’ so that I could understand my body from top to toe. It has been a long, tedious and at times an expensive journey for me over the last thirty years to research and find help for my pain, but thinking positive is something I have always tried to adopt.
For me now, my pain is controlled by juggling with a gambit of drugs and injections as there is nothing else they can do (surgery wise) to help alleviate my pain so it’s down to me to pace and maintain it the best way I can. The surgeon who performed my first spinal surgery over 30 years ago said I would be in a wheelchair by the time I was in my late 50’s. I am now in my mid 60’s and nowhere near ready to end up in a wheelchair.
I must have a daily afternoon sleep to help me get through the rest of the day, but I don't mind. I've made my bedroom into a sanctuary just for me to enjoy (hubby doesn't mind) and after a couple hours of rest, I'm like a new person. I think one of the hardest things to deal with apart from the pain is the perpetual tired feeling which makes things more difficult for me, many a day I could go back to bed at 11am but I try to wait until after lunch. A healthy body is less susceptible to stress and the best treatment to help my pain is to channel my energy into my body to produce endorphins.
Why don’t you have a go at writing a blog? It’s completely free and there are numerous free online courses to explain how to get going. I personally use Wordpress for all my blogs and would highly recommend this platform.
Can you relate to Barbara's experience? What advice would you give? Let us know in the comments!
Visit the link at Scope to read the replies
https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/46700/dealing-with-back-painand more here from
Scope
by 
61-BLUES
