A cautionary tale of back injury and recovery

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins

updated 1:31 p.m. ET March 18, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It’s the midway point of the city’s annual marathon, 13 miles to go, when I detect a slight tightening in my back.

I quickly add the sensation to the list of twinges to monitor: possible blister on left middle toe, ache in left hamstring.

I liken this midrun analysis to absentmindedly absorbing those quirky sounds the car makes and ranking them in order of concern. Click. Ping. Clank.

As almost every adult American experiences at some time or other, back pain is the clank. It’s the pain you fear may never go away, the one that plagues you sleeping or awake, the problem that can stop you in your personal and professional tracks.

For me, the clank came four years ago, out of the blue and debilitating beyond belief. What I went through during the long and painful months that followed is on my mind now as I run past the appreciative crowds watching the marathon in downtown Columbus.

The day before Christmas 2002, I could barely take two steps.

Back surgeries on the rise
Studies show that eight of every 10 people in the United States will suffer from lower back pain at one point in their lives.

Back pain is the leading cause of disability in people under the age of 45 and the third-leading cause in people older than that, after cancer and heart problems. It’s the second most common reason after the sniffles to see a doctor.

Back pain: Leading cause of disability According to numerous researchers and medical journals, back pain is: — The most common type of pain reported by adults in the United States, with more than one in four reporting some back pain lasting at least a day in the past three months. Eight of every 10 people in the United States will suffer from lower back pain at one point in their lives. — The most common reason injured workers file for workers’ compensation claims, accounting for about one in every five U.S. claims for workers’ compensation. — The leading cause of disability in the United States military. — The leading cause of disability in people under age 45 and the third-leading cause in people older than that, after cancer and heart problems. One study found that two of every three people aged 20 to 60 reported some type of spinal pain in a given year. — The leading cause of missed work time or doctor’s visits after headaches and cold symptoms. Source: The Associated Press

Back injuries are the most frequent source of workers’ compensation claims nationally, accounting for one of every five claims, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance. The average cost of each claim is about $13,300.

Surgery for back pain is also on the rise, leading some doctors to question whether they’re seeing an epidemic of back pain or an increase of back pain complaints and treatments.

“We’ve come to expect with advances in science and medical technology and what we see on TV that there is a cure for whatever ails us,” said Dr. Anna Stowell, a psychologist and pain researcher at the University of Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Whether the spike in treatments is a result of an increased number of sufferers or more complaints, researchers agree that a more sedentary lifestyle combined with the country’s obesity problem isn’t helping people’s backs.

Americans are also staying active longer, which puts new strains on old backs.

“A lot of people think about herniated disks and some sort of serious trauma,” said Richard Deyo, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington. “The truth is, it’s just the result of aging and wear and tear on the disks, and bad luck.”

My problems began on a ski trip to upstate New York in February 2002. At the end of the day my back was sore.

A month later, a stabbing back pain hit during a run and soon it was difficult to stand up straight.

My doctor prescribed pain pills and back-strengthening exercises and suggested an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen.

The pain slowly diminished. I did the exercises — most of the time — and started running again, though I rarely took any pills.

About to turn 41, I didn’t do my back any favors.

From back pain to leg aches
I started mimicking the front flips I saw kids doing at the pool. I would swim into the shallow end to toss my 7-year-old twins in the air a few times — “Air Daddy,” we called it. I did my best to ignore the almost imperceptible twinge in my back each time I lifted them up.

As I learned too late, this type of repetitive activity is one of the leading causes of back injuries. Among male workers, carpenters have the highest incidence of lower back pain; among the major occupations of women, it’s the nurse’s aides — people lifting patients all day.

“It’s sort of like taking a paper clip and bending it over and over,” said Dr. William Marras, executive director of Ohio State University’s Institute for Ergonomics.

I stopped doing back exercises and my right leg started to hurt.

By October, I had stopped running and was having a hard time walking more than 100 yards without stopping and resting my aching leg. It was especially disheartening for someone who’d been running for more than 30 years.

My doctor, Columbus osteopath Tom Peponis, diagnosed the new problem quickly: a herniation in which the soft material inside the disk bulges out and puts pressure on nerves running down the leg.

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