Is my pain caused by my mattress or lack of proper exercise?
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The short answer is, in most cases, probably a bit of both. We all know that a bad mattress will cause back problems. But how bad does our mattress have to be before it causes back problems? My wife of 52 years stands 5' 2" and weighs 115 pounds. She has slept on a Serta innerspring mattress for over 10 years. It has served her well but is beginning to break down in the middle. This is one of those older type mattresses that you can flip. It has a pillow top but it is very thin, not like pillow tops we see today that they call non-flipable. The point is she sleeps very well on it and has no complaints. I on the other hand do no like it at all. I would not live with it. But that's the difference between she and I. My wife attends regular exercise classes and plays tennis as often as she can, usually 2 to 3 times a week, even in the winter, if the weather will allow it. I on the other hand I spend most of my time, since I have retired, and my knee gave out and I had to give up tennis, sitting in front of the television or the computer. I will walk occasionally and when the weather permits ride my bicycle about 3 miles per day. But I'm the one with the bad back and the one that is sensitive to a mattress. Recently, as I have reported in this forum, I stretch my back and the pain migrated to my hip joints. Recently installing some hi-fi equipment I did a lot of squatting behind my television cabinet in a quite low and strained position. This hip pain came on quite strongly. Had I been a person that believed totally in a mattress causing pain I would have been changing layers in my FloBeds on a daily basis. I knew better than this so what I did was get into some stretching exercises and had my wife massaged my hips with a big old vibrator that I purchased many years ago. This squatting proposition started a week ago tomorrow and went on for about three days. This is Tuesday the 23rd day of February and the pain is almost all gone now. But I did change one layer in my FloBeds that I had been thinking about changing anyway to a firmer configuration on one side, leaving the other side the away it had been since the beginning. My point in this long dissertation is simply this. I believe it would behoove all of us, over the age of 21, to begin doing some kind of regular gentle stretching exercises. Get out and walk more. This is one of the most natural exercises known to humankind. If our mattresses are truly not properly configured, or breaking down, then fix it. But I think we would do ourselves a great disservice by avoiding the obvious. We humans need to get up off our backs sides and become active. The good Lord engineered us to live that way. This post is in no way intended to chastise anyone. I am probably more guilty than most at spending to much time sitting "in as motionless a position as I can" and avoiding proper exercise. But this most recent experience with my hip pain has taught me the advantages of proper stretching and exercise, a lesson that I have been avoiding for too long. A good nights sleep, and a healthy and enjoyable life to everyone, is my most fervent wish!  This message was modified Feb 23, 2010 by eagle2
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Re: Is my pain caused by my mattress or lack of proper exercise?
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Eagle2 My wife got us a Family YMCA membership for Christmas. (They even offer a senior membership 62yrs & older) They offer great Tai Chi, Gentile Yoga (Silver Sneaker version for older members), Aqua Fit (exercises in the water), swimming and plenty more. This is great for us Upstate NY’ers who get snowed in too much. You should investigate |