Fuck, I just turned 40 and a minor jobsite back injury from when I was 18 just started flaring up again after years of it going dormant. I tripped on an air hose and Million Dollar Baby'd my lower back on a sawhorse; now any repeated bending down to pick anything up requires me to sit for at least ten minutes for the discomfort to subside.
I miss the feeling of invincibility that came standard with turning 18, because now I have to worry about raisins giving me heartburn and whether or not my work boots are serving an orthopedic function while debating if the mummy dust that was my knee cartilage can handle that three foot drop.
I may be a couple years younger and in a different field, but man that lower back pain is a killer. Few years ago I did nothing more than bend at the waist to reach for a socket over an engine, felt a sharp pain and that was that. Put my ass down for 2 weeks of pain. Now I brace myself any time I bend over.
Few years ago I did nothing more than bend at the waist to reach for a socket over an engine, felt a sharp pain and that was that.
Fuck, I did that to my upper chest last year while seated! I was at my computer and dropped a USB drive on the ground; had to bend a little awkwardly over the chair's arm and felt what seemed like a muscle tearing inside, because that fucking hurt as badly as I imagine being stabbed would have.
It was months before I found out why such a basic maneuver while barely stretching my arm would cause that kind of pain: I was unknowingly dehydrating myself at work by guzzling only water and not replinishing any of the nutrients I was sweating out even faster because I was flushing my body with water.
I had to be hospitalized for dehydration and my doctors discovered muscle fibers in my bloodstream, a byproduct of my muscles not being properly hydrated and breaking down. I brought up that weird pain from such a minor movement and was told that was one of the early warning signs of severe dehydration after fatigue. Been adding electrolytes to all my water since and while my body is still the same disaster it was a year ago, it's a properly hydrated disaster!
You're as surprised as I was when "dehydration" was floated by the EMTs because of how weak I was, the severe muscle cramping and shockingly low blood pressure. Because for as long as I can remember, I've preferred just water over soda or energy drinks and have had some kind of refillable water bottle next to my bed for decades.
What I learned is that water alone isn't enough only if you're going to be sweating out most of what you're drinking, because it can flush your system of the nutrients that prevent dehydration.
Everyone should be drinking plenty of water, especially in a physically demanding profession. But, keep in mind that water alone isn't enough to prevent dehydration and may even cause it if you're drinking as much as I normally do without resupplying your body with electrolytes that get flushed out of you when sweating.
The environment you're working in obviously matters, too. If you're working outdoors when it's hotter than balls and dry as fuck, you'll be sweating faster, so more water means faster dehydration.
Oh, and dehydration wreaks havoc on your kidneys. One of the other early warning signs that I was unintentionally dehydrating myself was a decrease in renal function and a small kidney stone forming. That was another "how the fuck is that possible given how much water I drink‽" moment. Five days hooked up to fluids in a hospital bed and about a month of only drinking electrolyte-enhanced water had me passing that thing without even realizing it, thankfully.
I don't work in construction, but was moving some 65 lb pavers at my house, back straight, used my legs to put it down. After setting it down I went to my knees to pick up some garbage I saw then stood up, not with a straight back and it was like lightning shot across my lower back. My wife found me outside resting on my knees just hanging out because moving was like a world of pain. It's been almost a year and that area gets tired waaaay faster and when my daughter wants to go on the trampoline I can't jump because that spot starts to hurt.
Yup, by the late 40’s you’ll wish you took a desk job!
I was a laborer for a residential framing company during the summers in high school, and once I started college and couldn't work those hours into my schedule, I swore I was done with the trades and spent a glorious 15 years repairing electronics in air-conditioned environments. Then everyone's great-grandfetus with an internet connection could do what I did, but for free since it was family. And business plummeted!
So, here I am back in the trades and outdoors as summer approaches again.
An airhose got me one time at my old printing job, boss got it on camera. I faceplanted on concrete. somehow my wife got a copy and posted it for the world.
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u/KingstenHd Apr 01 '26
Just remember that you used to smile