A pain in the back and side!

It's been a few days now since I did the heavy lift job with the maggot ridden diabetic collapsee, and my lower back on the left side hasn't been the same since.

When trainees start this job they spend the first few weeks in training school learning all the correct lifting & handling procedures. This is done to prevent staff from damaging their backs but it also is undertaken to minimise the high number of sick days taken by staff suffering from spinal ailments.

The lift undertaken the other day was with my colleague, a Clinical Practice Tutor - someone who knows a thing or two about the challenges of lifting the equivalent of an 18stone lump of jelly. We couldn't have done the lift any more safely. And yet, my back is buggered.

The pain isn't too bad when I'm up and about, moving (Doh, that means I can still work). It's after I've been lying still for four hours that the pain starts. Every night this week I've had little more than four hours sleep. Not good for someone who needs his beauty sleep.

I've tried various pills and lotions including pain relief cream and slow acting Ibuprofen, all to little effect.

As they say, 'Back pain is an occupational hazard, in a hazardous occupation'. Try telling me that 4.00am in the morning...