Hey! Ive thrown my back out for the first time in my life and spent an agonizing Friday on client calls hiding the pain. As soon as the calls ended, I cut out a bit early and am now sitting on a heating pad. So... is this the 40s in consulting?

56 here and no, doesn’t have to be.

Find yourself a good workout and do core work, I do instructor led HIIT that beats my ass. Lots of weights lots of cardio.

2 years ago I installed a sub panel for my hot tub. It involved crawling over 100 feet through three attics in my hands and knees on two inch joists dragging 4 gauge wire, big thick stuff. My back was fine.

The human body is resilient but especially as you age, you need to be lifting weights and staying fit.

Start real mobility work. Not yoga, mobility. Strength work at the same time will also do you well.

I used to throw my back out at least once a year. Decided to get serious about my health around 38 and really focused on strength training (core work, back extensions, etc) and I’ve never had a problem again. In the interim, heating pad and TEMS will help, but after that initial stiffness in the morning has passed, I found walking to be super beneficial to help loosen things up and relieve pain during the day.

Only laughing because I’ve been there

Wait until you do it for months at a time

Maybe you need to get a dog so you can go on daily walks and stay flexible. I have twenty years on you and have never had any back, shoulder or knee issues. I just make sure I walk the dogs daily for 20 minutes and everything's going great. lol.

Time to invest in a TENS machine which will unlock the spasm.

😂 definitely listen to your body. Rest. You push yourself and hurt it worse, it may NEVER be back to how it was before. Could be dealing with that pain the rest of your life.

Dont tale back pain lightly. Still dealing with it 1.5 years later. See a doctor start PT. It only gets worse the longer you ignore it

Been there, a teeter inversion table really helped me and was a great investment

Shocker. I feel for you. I’ve ruptured discs twice, sucks. Once you’re through it, you’ll need to do more core exercises. But yes, getting old is hard work.

Nope- you can overcome! Truly though, others are right- strengthen your core and maintain flexibility. I am 57 and found that sitting on my butt so much during Covid took my fitness level way down. It took a while to build it back up though. You’re a lot younger than me so should still be in good shape!

There’s always OxyContin

40s in any profession, I’m afraid. Welcome to middle age.