something i don’t really talk about much is the chronic back pain issues i’ve experienced over the past 7 years or so.

that’s largely because it’s something that comes and goes and 90% of the time it’s totally manageable.  but every so often, for no apparent reason, it comes back with a vengeance.  i felt the first twinge of it two days ago and it’s just gotten progressively worse.  i don’t think i can remember a time when it’s been worse than this.  i can barely walk.

i sorta alternate between these two different kinds of back pain.  for years i’ve dealt with a pain in my middle-back that occurs only when i’m lying flat asleep.  i think this largely stemmed from years of sleeping on floors and couches and other weird places while touring.  now that i sleep in the same bed all the time, it’s largely gone away.  every once in a while it creeps up, but it’s not so bad.

the far more brutal back pain that i deal with (and what i’m currently dealing with at the moment) is known as sciatic pain.  basically this giant nerve in my lower back is being pinched or something and it sends shooting stabbing pains down my left leg.  tonight it was particularly brutal and getting up the stairs to my apartment was total agony.

i’ve seen doctors, specialists, chiropractors, and physical therapists and no one can find any clear cut cause for any of this pain.  so i try to do stretches and do things that encourage a healthy back, but sometimes this shit just happens.

so i’m back home in richmond, but stuck in my house without the ability to really walk.  does anyone have a spare cane they could loan me?  i’ve always thought the dr. house look was pretty hip, so i think i might need to try it out here in RVA.