One thing I have in my arsenal to combat the headaches is heat pads. Last year I used them with my bout of lumbago and they really did the trick. I also have been using them in my neck a fair bit. However, there was one area that I hadn't used them on yet: my middle back, where most tension seems to gather.
During the week I am fine with short and long shifts alike. We have decent enough buses that have enough give in the seats to absorb some of the hits and knocks I get from the road. During the weekend however, we drive buses that seem to have concrete seats. No give at all. Which means that shorter shifts are best for me.
Saturday started fine and I felt I could forego the pads. It was a short shift and if I stayed moving after my shift, I should be okay. And I would have been too, had it not been for those famous circumstances changing. Instead of my 5 hour shift, I ended up working for closer to 12! But, the back and the head were fine.
On Sunday I had another short shift and this time I did want to use a pad, just to be on the safe side and to remedy the day before. I put it on, put my bra on and left for work. The shift was five hours and remained five hours (yippee). When I got home I removed the pad in my neck, which is always bugging me, but the one on my back stayed on. And on.
Late at night I realised my bra was starting to 'work' a bit. Anybody who has ever worn a bra that may not be exactly right, knows what I mean. So, I took it off. And the pad as well. It hurt. When I looked in the mirror, I saw blisters, one of which was open. In a spot I would never be able to reach as I am not a contortionist!
I thought at first that the blisters had come from the bra. In a way they did as well. However, the heat pad caused most problems. I was warned about it on the box as well: too long on too thin skin... And covering a pad with a bra strap was just asking for trouble. Pressing the heat pad down into the skin. At least the blisters are in a neat row.
But: NO HEADACHE, which was the goal!!
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteCrikey - do you mean heat blisters - or reaction to the material of the pad??? Either way, worrisome in another context. Still - I quite understand that being the minor issue over the headaches and that they pads succeeded in that regard. So yeah - woohoo!!! YAM xx
Heat blisters. Not sure whether I will be using those pads on that spot again. At least not until the whole thing has healed up.
DeleteDo you have access to a whirlpool in your area? It might help -- not with the blisters, I mean, but with your general mid-back problems. Or massage therapy?
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear that. Lesson learned! Hope they are healing okay.
ReplyDeleteYou have to be careful with heating pads. Ouch! Hope you don't have to drive those buses with the uncomfortable seats again.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I work on the weekend (five out of six weeks) we get those buses. But with the shorter shifts I can manage it.
DeleteOh yes!
ReplyDelete