Yesterday had a horrifying shock in store for me. I wok e up with no clue to what was going to happen in a few short minutes. I saw my friend off to work, brushed and shaved and went to take my bath. The water was hot so I bent to pick up the mug to mix some cold water, and it was then that it happened. An excruciating bolt of pain went through my lower back, as if somebody had driven a knife deep into my flesh. Uh-oh, a muscle catch, the kind we often sustain while climbing a bike, I thought. It would go away if I changed my posture, I thought and proceeded to do the same. Only there was more pain and more bolts of pain. I was seeing orbs of different colors swimming before my eyes. I thought I would black out. With great difficulty and in a lot of pain, I grabbed a towel and woke up my other flat-mate who was fast asleep and told me what had happened. I lay down on the bed and the pain just refused to go away. My friend brought a water bottle filled with hot water and put it on my lower back and started kneading gently. It felt better and I tried to move a bit to the side only to get hit by another bolt of pain. I gritted my teeth and just lay down. It pays to have two doctors in the family, I thought as I remembered my sister and brother-in-law, both practicing doctors in Bangalore. I asked my friend to get my mobile phone and I dialled my sister. I told her about my predicament. She fired the regular queries: Had I been lifting anything heavy or doing anything strenous? I replied in the negative and gave her the low-down about how it had transpired. She thought that it could be a case of a muscle spasm, but it might just merit further investigation. She prescribed a muscle relaxant drug to be consumed and a topical gel to be applied. My friends went to fetch it. I applied the gel and settled down into bed, after calling up my senior at work and informing him about my inability to turn up for work. After about an hour, I had some wheatflakes and milk, served by my flatmate, bedside. I slipped into a near delirious sleep, the kind I have never slept and continued sleeping well past lunch time.

When I woke up, the first thing I did was to try to move slightly. The pain was still there, but it was not like knives this time. I ate the noodles that my flat-mate had prepared, still in a lot of pain. I had to take three to four breaks as I could not sit up continuously. I fell back into the bed and slept. When I woke up again, it was late evening. I moved around in bed and found that I was able to actually move! I was even able to get out of bed. The stiffness was still there but I now had mobility! I saw that I could sit on a chair, get up and even go down on one knee, and this to me, was a lot. We take things like walking, bending, sitting, getting up and moving for granted but when our ability to do these simple tasks are taken away from us, it is hard not to feel a sense of panic. It is times like these that triggers our love for life, love for physical fitness. The one year I spent at Mumbai without getting much of exercise came back to my mind. How I wish I had taken better care of my health. I do realize that it is still not too late. I intend to take better care of my health now.

I took another dose of the medication (its a five day course) and slept after eating dinner. I woke up this morning with a lot of stiffness, but no pain. I still have limited mobility, but after the horror of yesterday, I’m happy to be able to move. Happy is an understatement. My sister has told me that the pain and stiffness will take some time to completely disappear and that I must take better care of myself. She has also advised me against cycling for a week. In the meanwhile, if any readers of my blog have any suggestions of herbal remedies especially something that can be locally applied instead of consumed, I’m all for it.
Health is really wealth and I remind my fellow bloggers the same and also urge them to ensure that they give physical fitness as much importance as they give their jobs, if not more.
Take good care,
Prash.