My Mazamet

Life at № 42 by E.M. Coutinho

All I want for christmas is- not a back injury!

heatherkramersred

The heather (Erica darleyensis (x) ‘Kramer’s Rote) for the driveway border on the west wall arrived yesterday. 20 plants, 20 holes. It was all going so well until the last hole- then suddenly something went wrong and it felt like I had a belt compressing my entire mid-section. It’s nothing terrible, definitely only muscular, but I can’t rotate my upper body at the moment.

It’s happened before so I know I’ll be fine in a couple of days. Meanwhile I get to walk around as if I were strapped to a wooden board. Anyway, despite the pain I managed to plant all the heather. The plants are small right now, but I think by next winter they’ll look fantastic.

25 comments on “All I want for christmas is- not a back injury!

  1. Arkenaten
    December 25, 2015

    Have a soak in a warm bath full of herbs and salts and what have you.
    Then have a couple of whiskeys and you’ll feel ten times better. 🙂

    Happy Xmas, Pink, to you and Mike.

    Ark

    Liked by 2 people

    • Mr. Merveilleux
      December 25, 2015

      I’ll try that. Happy holidays to you and your family too! What sort of cake was on the menu???? 🙂

      Like

  2. inspiredbythedivine1
    December 25, 2015

    If you can get one, I find morphine drips help with back pain. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  3. makagutu
    December 25, 2015

    Get well quick

    Like

  4. Hariod Brawn
    December 25, 2015

    Sorry to hear about this Mr. M. – hope you can sleep?

    Liked by 1 person

  5. tildeb
    December 25, 2015

    Ah… the spirit of Christmas: give, and you shall receive. Muscle relaxants cost extra. Don’t you just love gardening?

    Three back surgeries later and I’m now deeply attracted to ground covering.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Mr. Merveilleux
      December 25, 2015

      As in covering the ground with concrete? 🙂

      Like

      • tildeb
        December 25, 2015

        Oh, no… as in different kinds of moss and Elysium, Ground flox, Woolly Thyme, different sedums, and so on.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Cara
    December 25, 2015

    I’ve heard wonderful things about Demerol…don’t know where you can get it where you are, but if that fails there’s always percocet

    Liked by 1 person

  7. acflory
    December 25, 2015

    -hugs- Love the plant, sorry about the back. Merry Christmas anyway?

    Like

  8. karenjane
    December 25, 2015

    Oh dear – I’d suggest a long soak in a hot bath, but when I did something similar to my back recently, I had trouble getting out of the bath afterwards, so make sure Mike is nearby to help you if necessary. xx

    Liked by 1 person

    • Mr. Merveilleux
      December 25, 2015

      I considered it, but not only do we have deep roll top baths- but I know Mike well enough to BE CERTAIN, he’d wander off and completely forget me until it was dinner time…

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Helen Devries
    December 25, 2015

    I use a horse liniment made in Columbia sold as Flexogan.
    Active agents
    Fenilbutazona, Salicilato de metilo
    plus
    Alcanfor, Lanolina, Essencia de Trementina and Vaselina.

    You might smell of the stables, but it is first class stuff, does no harm to human skin and gets you moving again in short order.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Mr. Merveilleux
      December 25, 2015

      I’d recognize that formula anywhere. When I was a boy and very into showjumping, it was called Calminex. It worked wonders. Any idea of a French equivalent?

      Like

  10. Helen Devries
    December 25, 2015

    None whatsoever….I couldn’t find anything as effective when I lived in France…but things move on.
    What about trying your pharmacy to see if they have anything using that formula, or, failing that, the vet.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Curious and Curiouser
    December 26, 2015

    I also suffered a back injury recently: I’d driven for eight hours and then went for a long jog. At forty five, I now know that I need to take warm-ups a bit more seriously.
    The pain shocked me a little. I felt old . . . I was prescribed valium, which worked wonders but I made the doctor promise not to write me a repeat script ;-). Yoga and time helped with the rest. Valium does help a lot with muscle spasms, and I recommend it if you’ve got a less addictive personality than mine.
    I wish you a peaceful, pain-free New Year, whatever method you use!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Mr. Merveilleux
      December 26, 2015

      Pain shocked me too. I’m in countdown mode, 27 months to 40! The idea of ageing itself doesn’t bother me, but I’m not loving the creaking and squeaking.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Kalamain
    December 26, 2015

    I’m going to upset everyone and suggest not hurting your back in the first place. Instead I would suggest supervising like my wife does. She never gets a bad back while working in the garden. (A glass of wine helps!) B-)

    Seriously though. A hot bath, as hot as you can stand and let the muscles relax, but make sure you get out before the water cools. Then get some Deep Heat and use that. Make sure you wear something at all times. Even in bed. The worst thing you can do is to let a pulled muscle get cold. That is where the real pain comes from!

    The reason many people say ‘walk it off’ is because the damaged muscle can seize up when cold. Oh… And try to walk normally, even though you want to hunch. You will strain other muscles and so transfer the pain elsewhere.

    Other than that there is actually little you can do. If you do yoga then carry on but do a gentle set… Don’t push yourself too far.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. So sorry to hear that. Volterene is abut the best human pain cream you can get to rub on it. My dad always said that most back injuries come from twisting. Say you had a shovel full of dirt and you twisted to throw the dirt off the shovel, instead of repositioning your feet and turning. Ever since he told me that I have ben very careful not to twist, twisting while lifting something heavy (either lifting it up or setting it down) is the worst.

    You know what they say, time heals all wounds. Feel bad for you.

    Like

  14. foolsmusings
    December 28, 2015

    Welcome to old age my friend, we’ve been awaiting your arrival 😜

    Liked by 1 person

  15. theoccasionalman
    December 30, 2015

    Poor dear. I hit Like to show favor for the optimism, not the injury.

    Liked by 1 person

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This entry was posted on December 25, 2015 by in Uncategorized and tagged , , , .