What would u do?
 

Yesterday I worked at the property, with Joe. I was lifting bricks encased with mortar, pounding the mortar off them, pushing a wheelbarrow with de-mortared bricks about 15 feet them dumping them. I did this for about 4 hours.

My hands hurt last nite, but they seem fine. This is not the first time I've done this, been doing this and similar activities for about 2 weeks.

Today I woke up with pain in my upper left back around my shoulder. The pain aint excruciating or anything, but it twinges up to about a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 and it is bothersome and I want it to go away.

I can afford the $30 copay, I have plenty of sick leave. I'm at work. I plan on not lifting anything heavy today but should I seek medical attention?

I don't want to be out of commission, we have lots of things to do. Should I make an appointment to see my usual doc, who I don't know well and will probably tell me to rest it, maybe pain pills, which will only zonk me out.

See a chiropractor (could it be a pulled muscle?) or an acupunturist, my good friends swears by them, or just grin and bear it, or wait and see if it gets worse.

I don't want to be out of commission (as far as working on the property), would seeing someone prevent this?

Probably a muscle strain. Try Ibuprofen or Tylenol and see if you get any relief.

Okay Fred, we have an ER bag in case we get a natural disaster, I took 8 ibuprofen out of it and will see if they help. They don't touch my headaches but maybe they will do something for this!

Ibuprofen never touches a headache for me either but often gives me relief from achy muscles. I create my share of those.

Most smaller injuries heal themselves in about a week. If you're having trouble sleeping or working that would be cause for a doc visit, but otherwise ibuprofen and get some ice on the spot and it will help. 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off.

If it lasts longer than a week see a chiro/rehab specialist. Make sure they do rehab work for sure... just plain chiros really can't do much for you.

Ibuprofen should hopefully help. If not definitely try Naproxen. Naproxen is amazing. I agree with putting ice on it then alternate maybe a heating pad as well in there. It does sound like a pulled muscle or pinched nerve, which are both things you should hopefully be able to deal with at home so you can save money. If it comes down to it I would go to a chiropractor. They work wonders on these kind of issues.

some rub-on ibuprofen, like Reflex Gel would work wonders for that. Maybe a bit of yoga? If you've strained your muscle some gentle stretching could really help. Also, if you have access to one, a hot tub or jacuzzi, soak that pain away http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

I'll pick up some Naproxen tonite Anita thanx. We don't have a hot tub but I do put the sprays on the showerhead turned onto the muscles that hurt real focussed. Will do that again tonite.

Once you get through this pain..... and are feeling 100% again.... Warm up before you start to work.

Stretch and bend. Take breaks and drink lots of water too.

Hot and Cold, Heavy on the cold to relieve the inflammation.. Hot to relieve the pain and relax the muscle so says my therapist.. And Aleve ( Ibuprofen ) alternative for the pain.. Not sure if its over the counter in the US but it is in Canada and works wonders.. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif