oww- my back - please pity me (and tips would b good)...

[bigmouthstrikesagain]

You may not not know me from eve - but please feel my pain I put my back out yesterday in the local shopping centre and it bloody hurts!!!!

I was with my 1 and 2 yo dc's and only one buggy (dh was having eye test) and I was trying to find a bra in M&s. unfortunately ds who is 2y 10m decided he needed to sleep and so I picked up dd 14m and thought I could carry her while ds slept (I should not have ignored the twinges I had been having in my back) - should have used the double buggy!!

Anyhoo - dd weighs over 30lbs and likes to wriggle out of her parents arms and run around now she is geting used to walking so I strained (or tore) some muscles in my lower back.

Have been prescribed some painkillers but not the full monty as I am still breastfeeding. It will take a month to heal... how am I supposed to avoid heavy lifting for that long?? Can't be done with 2 toddlers to look after bloody nightmare... any tips on how to manage ... poor dh is on a weeks leave but it isn't going to be qite as we had hoped

apologies for poorly written op - I have heard of punctuation honest.

a gentle bump so as not to hurt my back

I have permanent back pain which can't be cured and the drugs don't always but it and a 1 year old - so not two I'll grant you, but I have some experience!

It's blinkin hard work and the only thing that's of any real use is accepting help left right and centre. Bribe the kids to do things like climbing the stairs (favourite toy/bottle of milk works for DS) etc. If you have a booster seat rather than an up-and-over highchair use that as it's less straining. Sit on a low stool rather than the floor to play. Take as many breaks as you can and apply heat. Get someone to help you put the buggy in to and out of the car - I frequently lynch complete strangers to help these days. If you are meeting friends ask them to meet you in the car park to get the kids out of their car seats and also put them back in again later - this is a big killer. Etc, etc, etc.

I really do sympathise, I hope you recover soon.

so sorry, back problems are horrid. Just use the double buggy as much as possible and think before you pick up.

Sorry if dh can't help much.

heat pads
you can get them in boots

like giant plasters, they are brilliant

Physio. It was a miracle. I had struggled on for weeks with rotten pain, unable to sit etc. and 2 sessions sorted it. As I said, a miracle!

top tip though. wear nice underwear....

It hurts like hell, doesn't it? I put my back out bending over with ds in my arms to put him on the changing mat. It was one of those comedy-style back problems where it just 'went' and I couldn't stand back up again. Fortunately dh was still at home, just opening the door to go to work and I could call him back. I was lucky and it healed up very quickly, although I couldn't walk at all the first day and couldn't really lift ds for a couple of weeks.

I put a mat down on the floor and sat there with ds for meals so that I didn't have to lift him into the high chair. The changing mat was on a sofa in ds' room and I would walk him into his room and sit on an office chair, then give him a hand to climb up onto the sofa and change him while I was sitting on the chair so I wasn't bending much. If I had been a bit more dextrous and ds had been less wriggly I would have changed him on my lap while I was sitting on a chair. I left his cuddly toy reins on when we were out and about as he was teeny and I'm fairly tall so it was a long way down to grab him if I needed to.

Also, I bought one of these to help with a previous shoulder injury and it helped to strengthen my back too.

Let me know what you find the hardest, and I'll see if I can remember how I got around it. Hope you feel better soon.

weegle - I am feeling a bit rubbbish moaning about my few weeks of discomfort in comparison to your lifetime of back pain!- you are doing an amazing job managing so well

Thank you very much for your symapathy and those are top tips - I am finding not being able to pick up dd really hard but she and I will have to get used to it over the next few weeks... I am really bad at asking for help and easily embarrased so it is going to be a bit of a learning curve for me. However it is a good job dh is around as otherwise ds would be naked as I am totally unable to go through the farce of chasing him around trying to lasso ds with his t-shirt and trousers etc... as normal - I will have to think of some bribes

Rememebr if you do need to pick anything up, even a sock off the floor - bend at the knees so you squat and pick it up. Don't bend over at the waist to get anything. It makes a big difference.

Physio, heat pads, long soaks in the bath, tens machine.

Thank you I will bend at the knee - I would like one of those litter pickers for all the bits of food and crayon I am constantly removing from floor b4 dd tries to eat them!

Bran I put my back out in that 'comedy style' last year I was flat on the floor for ages - but a hot bath sorted me out - or so I thought - clearly I am going to be someone with a dodgy back for good. I have got a prescription for codydramol and some ralgex which has helped alot - wearing off now though - time for next dose....

oh please don't feel bad - that wasn't my intention! Just wanted to empathise as someone who truly does know how horrid back pain is.

And I don't always cope well, but you have to grow a thick skin and think "my pain levels and my children's well being comes before my embaressment". Hence I, politely, ask people to help me when out and about. You just have to choose who you pick - other mums are good (just not the harried looking ones), or complete families ask the dad, or single blokes. And just briefly say "would you mind giving me a hand to lift this hefty pram in to the car, I have a bad back and I'm suffering today, I'd be so grateful". I'm so experienced!

Also get some Voltarol (diclofenac) gel from a pharmacist. It's expensive (about 7 quid) but the bees-knees.

Message withdrawn