I sustained a heck of a back injury while restraining a pt attempting to hit a pregnant peer. My peers dropped the patient on me in the struggle. I ended up with three herniated discs. Although educated with 11 years experience, I find it tough to find things in nursing I can do. UR, Case Management, Infection Control Practitioner etc. tried sucessfully although with pain in the "*(#&". It is now getting to me and now have to opt for surgery. ER and Psych are my fortes, so need some ideas from OR nurses. Ignore if you seen another area.
Have you tried exercising? When my back problems get the better of me I add abdominal exercises to my routine. It is my opinion that brisk walking and strength training is good for just about everything. Also I have tried red pepper; white willow is another herbal that supposedly helps. I have been an OR nurse for 10 years. I do wear a back support and that seems to help as well.
blt
If you would like short term help, try a Myofascial pain therapist or a trigger point therapist. They are usually massage therapist who specialize in those areas. I worked in an orthopeadic surgeons office who specialized only in backs and his wife was a LMT (licensed massage therapist) She did wonders for my sciatica and piriformis problems. You would be surprised how much pain can be relieved by this type of therapy. They can teach you specific exercises to help also. It depends on what part of the country you live in on whether there are any good LMT's by you.
Sorry to hear about your back. However, the OR won't be a good place for you. You would have to move the patient to the or bed and once surgery is finished help move the patient back to the gurney or bed. There is a lot of lifting and moving equipment around. Good Luck in your search and your new journey. There is a new technique out for backs that doesn't require surgery. The information I saw mentioned traction and pulleys. If at all possible avoid surgery. Try alternative methods first.
