Our backs hurt, hers and mine.

She said hers hurt down low, and came from being on her feet all day. She asked if mine was hurting the same way. 

Though I had been standing for a couple of hours, and had just taken a seat, I answered that mine was in the center of my back. Concerned, she suggested I might need to have it seen about. 

I’ve pulled muscles before, three in my back, and I know what it feels like when something like that happens. I also know what this felt like — arthritis in my spine.

I’m in my early 50s. If you’re younger than me, you probably think, “Of course you have arthritis. You’re old.” If you’re older than me, you may think I’m still too young to have “real” problems with arthritis. No matter which camp you’re in, you’re probably wrong — at least somewhat.

I inherited degenerative joint disease, and have done my best to bring arthritis on full-tilt, as well. Osteoarthritis began to develop in my left knee just a month or so before my 14th birthday. It came about after a knee injury in the single season I played of high school football. 

A few years later, I broke some toes, and it began to develop there. Over the next several years, then decades, I have had injuries to my back, neck, both shoulders, both knees, both hips, both ankles, and my left elbow, wrist and hand. “Arthur” has made his home in all those places.

Some days the arthritis is hardly noticeable. I’ve grown accustomed to the aches and pains, and on those days it may slow me down only slightly, if at all.

Other days, it’s like Arthur is angry and wants his presence well-known and amply felt. I may have intense, persistent pain and difficulty with mobility in multiple joints. Most of the time, some anti-inflammatory meds help. The pain can be intense and limiting, but rarely does it keep me from doing the things I need to do. A brace, cane or walking stick often is enough.

I am very aware that my issues with the disease are mild compared to many people I know. My wife has rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks the joint linings. She also has lupus, another autoimmune disease that attacks healthy tissues. 

My mother has osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as fibromyalgia — a chronic condition that causes widespread musculoskeletal pain. I don’t know how she knows what’s causing pain at any particular moment. 

My ex-wife has rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. My daughter-in-law has fibro-. These are painful diseases that can make it very difficult just to make it through the day. 

So very many family and friends have all these problems plus so much more. So my point in sharing my issues is not that I have it worse than someone else. In fact, my point is exactly the opposite.

When my friend and I were discussing our back pain (this is what we do when we get older, isn’t it?), I told her that I was glad my arthritis problems started when I was a young teen. Because I have learned how to deal with it in the best ways I am able. I am not just recently having to learn how to handle pain, discomfort, et cetera. It’s not a new thing.

Thanks to other “happenings” along the way, I know what it’s like to have deep, excruciating pain. If God could bring me through that — and He did, by the way — then He certainly has no problem helping me deal with joint pains. 

So as my back hurts today — as well as most of my other joints, honestly — I hope it reminds me to thank God that although pain can be persistent, His love and provision is much more persistent than it.

Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.