At the tail end of a really great fina cycle (isn’t that always the way…2 steps forward, 1 step back), I suffered a low back strain doing seated rows. I’ve had two herniated disks in the past, but this injury is troubling because it’s been a week with little improvement (I still can’t go through the agony of putting on socks!). My chiro is pretty certain I didn’t herniate again; he thinks its merely a sacral tendon strain.
I’m doing all the right things–rest, ice, anti-inflammatories–but was wondering if there’s any good topical applications that can help me get past this acute stage as quickly as possible. Suggestions??
Sacral tendon?? Do you mean ligament? Where is the pain? Do you have any hip, leg or foot symptoms? Topicals really don’t do a whole lot. Just in case your injury is disc related, spend some time prone (on your belly) propped up on your elbows. This position tends to push disc material forward away from the nerve roots. Have your Chiro look for and rotations in your pelvis which can also cause SI pain and is quite common with perfomance of cable rows because of the way most folks intiate the exercise. Post more info and we’ll see if we can help you out on this forum.
My bad…the doc probably said ligament, but I misheard him while writhing in pain.
No leg or foot pain…when I herniated the disks last time I had terrible pain/tightness through my butt and down my hamstring. Nothing this time. Just extremely localized pain that gets worse when I attempt to twist, stretch, etc.
Youch. And at the end of a good cycle. Is your chiro old school or new school? I hurt my back terribly when I was installing windows as a summer job. My genius of a boss dropped a bay window on my sholders. I went to a chiro, and he said something along the lines of ligament strain. The usual steps and hooha didnt do didly. So I went and saw my fathers crazy old chiro, this guy is like 80. He pushed around on my back a little, scoops me up, and pops the hell out of my back. It felt fantastic from that point on.
I am not saying your chiro is dumb, but you may want to get a second opinion. Just a suggestion.
My advice would be a good ART practitioner (search T-mag articles) and as soon as you can, start on very light reverse hypers on an actual reverse hyper machine. Best of luck to you. Midnight
one thing that you are/were doing wrong is you were using steroids. I am not against roids per say, but they do increase the strength of muscles at a much quicker rate than they do of tendons and thus you are (for a time) more prone to injury.
Newest update…my chiro (who’s very sports oriented and has treated me well for over 6 years) now thinks an MRI is needed since my recovery seems slow for a mere strain. Keeping my fingers crossed I didn’t herniate again…
Thanks for all the input, and BTW I bought a used reverse hyper last year ($100 !!). Better get going on it.
Post the result of your MRI ASAP. The more info, the better to help you. Keep in mind (and you probably know this from your history)that herniated discs are not the end of the world. Actually, many resolve with proper rest, exercise, meds for pain/inflammation. Keep doing what you can. I think the fact that your pain is very localized is a good sign. Also, get another opinion from direct exam by MD (with physical medicine backround) and then PT.