I am sorry to hear about your back. I have written a description on how to use a scythe that other people may find interesting. It's at
http://scythephotographs.weebly.com/...pe-scythe.html
This type of scythe is quite common in Ireland.
The European style one is different to the scythe that I have described and is maintained in a different manner and it is the European one that is shown in the video mentioned in earlier posts by Recyclist.