My legs are killing me
December 5, 2023 5:30 PM   Subscribe

What can I do to make sure my legs survive 2 more days of standing all day, after day 1 made my legs/knees feel like they are going to crumble and my back like someone used me as a punching bag?

Due to being laid off, I've needed to pick up some last minute work which requires 3 days of standing/walking around for 12-15 hrs (as a PA on a film set if anyone is interested).

Day 1 was today. Day 2 and 3 are tomorrow and the day after. I'm not young (40s) and I'm not terribly fit or conditioned for this (though I could be worse I guess, I did make it through a day already). My feet, knees, and lower back are burning/sore. I haven't had to be on my feet this much since I waited tables in my 20s.

I do not have time to go pick up ANYTHING including inserts/orthotics or topical creams or meds.
I'm wearing the most supportive shoes I have.
I took an advil this morning, then another advil tonight and an epsom salt bath.

I guess I'm looking for stretches or self-massages (I don't have any devices or rollers) that I can do tonight and before the beginning of my day tomorrow that could help. I have an electric heating pad and some ice packs in the freezer--not sure what would be best?

I currently have 9 hrs before I have to go back to work, at least 7 of which I need to use for sleep! So whatever I can do in the remaining 2 hours to help myself? Please no 'you need to take time to sit during' bc I did that as much as I was able but it was for like 30 seconds at a time if I was lucky, and I used that time to stretch and loosen up as much as possible.

Thanks!
posted by greta simone to Health & Fitness (20 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Stretch, and wear different shoes tomorrow, then switch back to the today shoes on day 3. Old waiter trick, probably won't stop the pain but will lessen it.
posted by vrakatar at 5:42 PM on December 5, 2023 [15 favorites]


I've used a gatorade bottle as a foam roller before. I think a water bottle would work as well. Regarding massage tools... toys (for dogs, kids, grownup). Otherwise, I'd look around your home for possible tools (what's in your kitchen drawer?)

If you've done yoga before, I'd look up an xx minute yoga routine on youtube.

You can do most of these spinal decompression exercises at home.

The NHS reccomends these post workout exercises.

If you are feeling brave an ice bath (or a cold one).

Tomorrow bring a change of socks (or two) tomorrow to the worksite. Leave a second pair of comfy shoes in the car. Consider bringing a towel (or jacket) that can be used to add padding to your seat.
posted by oceano at 6:16 PM on December 5, 2023 [2 favorites]


Do you have a tennis ball, a golf ball, an onion that you don't particularly care to use? You can roll your feet on that to help you massage the many muscles in your feet. Or go outside and grab a smooth-ish rock and just put it under your feet and rock weight on and off it, and then move your feet around to address different parts of the foot (like: right side of heel, left side of heel, right side of ball of foot, left side of ball of foot, etc).

Maybe a hot bath or shower would be a good option if that's available to you? Epsom salts are great for this, if you've got em, but no worries if not.

Yoga with Adriene has a "yoga for the service industry video" which is less than 20 minutes - definitely worth a try!!

For the next two days, try to change positions as often as possible - weight on one foot, then the other, then both evenly, rock back on your heels, then maybe squat for a minute or two, etc. Keep your eyes on the prize, you can do this!!
posted by carlypennylane at 6:21 PM on December 5, 2023 [6 favorites]


Lay on the ground with your butt right up against a wall and put your legs up at a right angle on the wall. Stay that way as long as you’re comfortable.
posted by MadamM at 6:36 PM on December 5, 2023 [15 favorites]


Rolling pin or wine bottle out your legs tonight? Use your vibrator on them if you have one? Hot bath? Good luck!!
posted by latkes at 6:36 PM on December 5, 2023 [1 favorite]


Oof. If this were me I'd be relying on my (normal drugstore-bought) back brace to support my core. That makes a huge difference to taking strain off my legs. And if I didn't have time to pop into CVS and get a backbrace, I would basically make one by wrapping something (even cutting a sheet into a strip maybe?) pretty tightly in a few layers around my lower back in a way that supported my core as best as I could.
posted by ojocaliente at 7:00 PM on December 5, 2023 [2 favorites]


(tl;dr - lots of deep breathing and focus on letting your muscles relax)

I do not have time to go pick up ANYTHING including inserts/orthotics or topical creams or meds

If you know anyone who might conceivably possibly go get such things for you, I'd ask them (my recommendation is compression socks, kt tape, and salonpas pain patches, or something similar like tiger balm or icy hot). Some things might be available with same-day delivery from local stores or even Amazon (maybe they can be delivered to a friend or neighbor if you're not at some remote filming location).

Other than that:

- do as many gentle stretches of your legs, hips, neck, and neck as you can.

- if you have any kind of tennis-sized ball around, lie on top of it/lean on it against a wall and move around a bit to get a very deep massage. Look for the really painful points and literally lean into them. Alternatively, just lie on top of it in different positions while breathing very deeply; sink into the ball, and let the rest of your body sink into the floor.

- if you don't have a tennis ball but do have a water bottle or similar, fill it like 3/4 of the way up and freeze it so you can use it tomorrow night.

- lie flat on the floor and let your body weight sink into it more and more (breathing deeply helps with this). Then do some progressive muscle relaxation, where you slowly tense up some muscle, hold it, and then let go, rest, and move on to the next muscle. Try to breathe deeply throughout (e.g. breathe as deeply as you can, hold for a few seconds, and release very slowly, maybe while making a kind of "sssss" sound). An epsom salt bath might also help with muscle relaxation.

- while standing, roll your shoulders backwards and forwards a few times. Then push your shoulders down as far as you can, hold, lift as high as you can, hold, and let go. Repeat a few times. Then look straight ahead, twist your whole upper body to the right as far as you can without pain, untwist, do the same to the left, untwist, and repeat a few times. You can do this one during the day, too.


During the day, if you're sitting for a moment and your legs feel like they can't go on, try some trigger point massage: starting at the beginning of some muscle (I like starting getting the back of the ankle), press down very firmly on the muscle, let go, move very slightly up the muscle and press again, and so forth, working all the way up the length of the muscle. If you hit a point of "exquisite pain", back off for a second, and then work that bit again. If you're getting a sore neck or headache, you can also try this (more gently at first) with your neck and shoulder muscles, including the sternocleidomastoidand trapezius.

Also during the day: Check your posture whenever you can. Ideally you kind of want your shoulders and hips and knees aligned such that your muscles can relax as much as possible because they don't have to maintain some difficult alignment. If you can, take a deep breath and imagine your body sinking down into the floor (while you're still standing up). Or just take a deep breath, hold it, and relax your muscles when you release your breath.

Personally, I both am very impressed with your Advil restraint and would practice less of it. (Do remember not to take it on an empty stomach.)

Good luck!
posted by trig at 7:23 PM on December 5, 2023 [3 favorites]


If you are really in pain, it seems like one Advil twice a day is a very low dosage. If you are using 200 mg tablets or capsules, an adult dose is more typically 400 to 600 mg every 6 - 8 hours as needed. Of course, taking food with the medication is important to protect your stomach, and I wouldn't suggest taking this at that interval for days on end, but for 3 tortuous and important days I would go for it. Make sure you are well hydrated, too. Hydration can make a tremendous difference in how your muscles feel.

Keep in mind that you can alternate with acetaminophen (Tylenol) if you want to give your stomach a break.

And good for you for taking on such a demanding job! Maybe it's the start of a new career, if you discover that you like it.
posted by citygirl at 7:36 PM on December 5, 2023 [6 favorites]


Yep, echoing others: you want 600 mg of Advil, every 6 hours, around the clock. (With food!)

I'm a former PA and I do not envy you, my friend. I endorse previous recommendations for different pair of shoes tomorrow, changing socks & shoes at lunchtime, elevate your legs tonight as much as possible.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:54 PM on December 5, 2023 [6 favorites]


Ice your feet and elevate them, including all night while you sleep.

If you can think of a product that would help, you can use instacart to get it delivered.
posted by potrzebie at 7:55 PM on December 5, 2023


Any kind of canned food you might have around can also be used as a foot roller.

When you're standing, check that your knees have a very slight bend. Springy knees help align your hips and back better and takes some pressure off your knees vs locking them.

For yoga stretches, cat/cow and child's pose are my favorites for lower back pain, and there are seated variants of them, if being on the floor on your knees sounds completely wretched right now. The torso twists mentioned above are also good for helping keep my back from locking up.
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:12 PM on December 5, 2023 [1 favorite]


Up the advil and pre-game with it (don’t wait for it to wear off, take it preemptively.)

I would not bother with much massage right now; unless you are practiced in it you are liable to just bruise yourself or strain a different muscle trying to work on an awkward spot than actually get relief. Stretches are good though, so is elevating and icing. Tomorrow do warm up stretches before work so you aren’t pushing through cold tense muscles on the job to start, and make sure you stretch your whole body, not just your legs and hips, because you will be compensating for the pain in those areas by tensing others, even if you don’t consciously realize it.

Your most padded pair of socks tomorrow, maybe with extras to switch out, and a different pair of shoes. If you have compression socks or exercise garments like running tights wear them underneath for support. A supportive bra can also help if that is relevant to you. Stretch after any breaks.
posted by Mizu at 8:20 PM on December 5, 2023 [4 favorites]


When you have a few moments when you are standing but not walking, look for something to put one foot up on. The seat of a chair is good, but even something like the inside of a cabinet, or a single stair, or a cinder block is enough to take some pressure off your lower back. Also, legs up the wall as someone described up above, is a really great way to rest your lower body.
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:53 PM on December 5, 2023 [1 favorite]


There are suggestions to bring extra socks and this is a very good idea. If you do find yourself with a 10-15 minute break or a lunch break or whatever, when you sit down, take your shoes and socks off and, if possible, elevate your feet. Change your socks partway through the day. (If you have someone who can go get them for you, have them pick up some merino wool blend socks - Walmart typically carries them. Merino wicks away moisture very well, cotton retains moisture, and if your socks are retaining moisture, they're going to make things uncomfortable on your feet. Think of how you might wet a finger to help open a big or count money or things like that, because it gives you grip. Now imagine moisture on your feet doing the same thing with your sock. It isn't a good thing.) Also, as long as this doesn't pose a medical risk to you for whatever reason, take two 200mg Advil/ibuprofen every 6 hours. Take the first ones before you start work. I try to avoid ibuprofen unless I need it - this is a situation where I would consider it needed.

Also, do your best to stay hydrated, and have some salty snacks to keep your electrolytes up. All of these tips together probably won't solve your pain problems, but can hopefully take the edge off and keep it down to a dull roar. Good luck.
posted by azpenguin at 9:26 PM on December 5, 2023 [1 favorite]


10-20 minutes of legs up the wall is my go to after a day on set. Also changing socks and/or shoes midday.
posted by justjess at 5:05 AM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]


Keep in mind that you can alternate with acetaminophen (Tylenol) if you want to give your stomach a break.

You can take the maximum dose of both ibuprofen and acetaminophen at the same time or spread out however you'd like. They not only work via different mechanisms there is a synergistic effect where they work better together.
posted by Mitheral at 5:27 AM on December 6, 2023 [4 favorites]


Instead of more advil consider tylenol. One kills your stomach if over used, the other kills your liver. It would be safer and probably more effective to take one of each rather than two of either of them.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:44 AM on December 6, 2023


A couple of two minute breaks lying down flat can make an enormous difference, as can stretches where you raise your feet as high as you can.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:46 AM on December 6, 2023


Consider ordering some #yoursize, green-model or low-profile carbon model superfeet insoles on instacart delivered to the studio.

I was going to suggest a seated figure four stretch but that's not always appropriate:
"Well, to get a proper diagnosis, you'll probably want to talk to a physical therapist and make sure you really should be stretching your hips. You definitely do not want to be stretching anything that's already unstable."
https://www.rehabandrevive.com/post-1/the-figure-four-stretch-is-hurting-you-do-this-instead
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:58 AM on December 6, 2023


Be very careful when putting on your socks. A wrinkle in the wrong spot can turn into a very painful blister after a few hours.

Every time you take a bathroom break, check and make sure your socks haven't slipped.

It might also be helpful to lube your feet up with whatever lotion/vaseline you have on hand before putting on your thickest socks.
posted by Jacqueline at 11:16 AM on December 6, 2023


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