People with Lower Back Pain: Unite!

Off Topic
1

So I have done the searches, read the threads, talked, complained and helped. All in the name over lower back pain.

I think there should be a thread where we can all come and read, talk, complain and get some help.

(This isn’t meant to replace a trip to the hospital/doctors office)

I’ll start a bit by giving my pain history.

June 2007: Done while deadlifting, rounded lumbar spine. That injury took me out of the game for a few months.

December 2007: Picking up 10lb puppy. Another month off.

March 2008: Done while stiff legged deadlifting. After not feeling ANY pain since about a week after Dec 07 injury; I felt it was time to progress. Guess not.

June 08: went to cressey performance, got my shit back on track.

Day after thanksgiving 08: slight twinge in same area of lower back after hitting a recent PR in deadlifting.

I plan on going to the ER tomorrow. For about 3 weeks I"ve gotten sharp pains down my hip/butt/legs and have just shrugged it off. Dumb. I know.

Will report more tomorrow; hopefully I get an MRI. Last time I went to the ER they gave me an xray (retards) and pain meds.

2

I had to be put on muscle relaxers and have physical therapy for over a month. I tore a meniscus in my right knee and have Chondromalacia in both knees. This combined with extremely tight calves is murder on my lower back.

It is better now and I have learned not to do high volume of dead lifts. Thanks to Sheiko for tearing up my lower back and knees.

3

[quote]B rocK wrote:
So I have done the searches, read the threads, talked, complained and helped. All in the name over lower back pain.

I think there should be a thread where we can all come and read, talk, complain and get some help.

(This isn’t meant to replace a trip to the hospital/doctors office)

I’ll start a bit by giving my pain history.

June 2007: Done while deadlifting, rounded lumbar spine. That injury took me out of the game for a few months.

December 2007: Picking up 10lb puppy. Another month off.

March 2008: Done while stiff legged deadlifting. After not feeling ANY pain since about a week after Dec 07 injury; I felt it was time to progress. Guess not.

June 08: went to cressey performance, got my shit back on track.

Day after thanksgiving 08: slight twinge in same area of lower back after hitting a recent PR in deadlifting.

I plan on going to the ER tomorrow. For about 3 weeks I"ve gotten sharp pains down my hip/butt/legs and have just shrugged it off. Dumb. I know.

Will report more tomorrow; hopefully I get an MRI. Last time I went to the ER they gave me an xray (retards) and pain meds. [/quote]

Welcome to the wonderful world of back pain.

I hurt mine when I was 18, laboring for a brick/block contractor. I’ve dealt with it for 24 years, and have to work around it. It sucks, because i’ve sneezed and my back would spasm, then it would tighten up.

Sometimes I just wake up and it bothers me. Listening to your body and not doing stupid shit while lifting, is very important.

4

[quote]imhungry wrote:
Listening to your body and not doing stupid shit while lifting, is very important.[/quote]

QFT

Today if I didn’t listen to my body and tried a 2nd pull, I’d be in the ER…no ego involved, and I’m doing alright tonight…

5

My condolences B rock.

My back pain started at age 22, and until I started doing straight leg deads, it used to go out (meaning I drop to the floor in agony) several times a year. I was usually doing something as innocuous as brushing my teeth or picking up a sock.

I bike a lot and that tightens my hamstrings unevenly. I initially hurt it doing cable rows, and now I avoid them. My doctor diagnosed it as a recurrent lumbar strain.

Straight leg deads stretch the hell out of the hamstrings so they don’t exert uneven pull on the muscles in your lower back. I don’t go higher than 225 on them though.

If I stop doing them for more than a couple weeks, I better have some muscle relaxants (diazepam - which is valium) nearby. Diazepam affects the muscles in the lower back whereas other muscle relaxants target the shoulders, neck or upper back. Be careful though it is psychologically addictive. Makes you feel stoned.

I have never had the pain running through my butt into my leg. That sounds like sciatica which is usually due to an inter-vertebral disk injury. Be careful with that! It’s usually inactive overweight old folks who get that.

Let us know how things go at the ER.

6

[quote]eric_lacrosse wrote:
My condolences B rock.

My back pain started at age 22, and until I started doing straight leg deads, it used to go out (meaning I drop to the floor in agony) several times a year. I was usually doing something as innocuous as brushing my teeth or picking up a sock.

I bike a lot and that tightens my hamstrings unevenly. I initially hurt it doing cable rows, and now I avoid them. My doctor diagnosed it as a recurrent lumbar strain.

Straight leg deads stretch the hell out of the hamstrings so they don’t exert uneven pull on the muscles in your lower back. I don’t go higher than 225 on them though.

If I stop doing them for more than a couple weeks, I better have some muscle relaxants (diazepam - which is valium) nearby. Diazepam affects the muscles in the lower back whereas other muscle relaxants target the shoulders, neck or upper back. Be careful though it is psychologically addictive. Makes you feel stoned.

I have never had the pain running through my but into my leg. That sounds like sciatica which is usually due to an inter-vertebral disk injury. Be careful with that! It’s usually inactive overweight old folks who get that.

Let us know how things go at the ER.[/quote]

“Diazepam affects the muscles in the lower back whereas other muscle relaxants target the shoulders, neck or upper back.”

Really? Why is that?

7

[quote]imhungry wrote:

“Diazepam affects the muscles in the lower back whereas other muscle relaxants target the shoulders, neck or upper back.”

Really? Why is that?[/quote]

I’m not sure why, but it works for me. Doc gave me pain killers first, they were no help and made me walk into walls. Then Xanax, another anti-anxiety drug like valium which also relaxes muscle. Xanax didn’t help.

It is the one that hits the neck and shoulders. Then he tried diazepam. That shit is the bomb! It kicks in in about a 1/2 hour and I sleep like a baby without waking up in pain.

I’ve read that people wear stress in either their GI tract and get ulcers, their head and get headaches, their neck & shoulders and get pain there, or their back. I think that’s why these anti-anxiety things affect the muscles. It’s a two-fold affect. Destressing you relaxes your stress-prone areas.

8

Reverse Hyper…check it out!

9

Started my back pain in 7th grade… super sharp pain so bad that I had many mornings I couldn’t move to get out of bed.

Doctors pretty much didn’t see anything wrong in the x-rays and wouldn’t prescribe me any pain medication. Took 2 years to get to a doctor who looked at the original x-rays, pinpointed exactly what was wrong and went about fixing it. Been fine in that regard since.

Recently I’ve been having lower back pain… what I’ve been told is that past gymnastics and not working my abs has contributed to being very lordotic and that some core work should start helping pretty quickly. A bit of pain doing squats because I can’t manage to not have a huge arch in my lower back.

10

Back from the ER, ugh.

I saw someone who didn’t really want to do anything other then give me pills. But that’s another topic for another time; pills vs treatment.

I got a 'script for vicidin and flexerol. pain killer and a musc. relaxant. awesome.

im gonna follow up with my primary on monday and hopefully he can send me for a goddam MRI.

in the past hour i’ve had 3 spurts of sharp shooting pain down my left glue/hamstring to the point that i take a knee.

i’ll report the findings w/ my primary.

11

I’ve just done something to my lower back. Hit a PR Deadlift last saturday then did my first strongman events session on sunday.

Had a slight twinge in my lower back but shrugged it off.

After overhead pressing on Tuesday It hurts even more.

Weird thing is, I feel it in the middle of my lower lumbar section and its worse if I “stick my arse out”. Ie, if I curve the lumbar section even more.

Giving myself 1 week off and if it’s still there, doctor.

12

They give you valium for back pain?

good times. lulz.

13

Brock how is your back doing? I have been having similar problems started going to a chiro to loosen things up. He said I was just out of allignment. Started doing mobility drills and warming up before deads but I’m still pretty tender the next day or two.

14

was doing rackpulls, my back was already sore.

went to do 455

got 2 and on the 3rd about a few inches up i seriously thought i damaged something, messed up a disc…i dont know enough about anatomy to even know what i coulda done, i just knew it hurt like fuck.

my back still isnt fully recovered and it was probaly a month ago.

15

I used to have a lot of back spasms in my 20s and early 30s before I realized the importance of keeping the hammies and hips flexible. Now, if I start to feel it tightening up, I just go into my stretches and it usually works itself out. Sometimes 3 Advils are needed just to get through the initial pain. Even so, my back problems are pretty done. Going into a deep squat and staying there for about a minute once or twice a day helps keep my hips loose. I see a chiro every few weeks too.

Of course, I don’t have any trauma injuries, which are a whole different ballgame and need to be treated by a qualified dr.

DB

16

[quote]swissrugby67 wrote:
I’ve just done something to my lower back. Hit a PR Deadlift last saturday then did my first strongman events session on sunday.

Had a slight twinge in my lower back but shrugged it off.

After overhead pressing on Tuesday It hurts even more.

Weird thing is, I feel it in the middle of my lower lumbar section and its worse if I “stick my arse out”. Ie, if I curve the lumbar section even more.

Giving myself 1 week off and if it’s still there, doctor.

[/quote]

This sounds like the exact thing that happened to me. The pain was constant and spasmed throughout the day. It did this for a week and then I went for an MRI. Turned out to be a disk herniation btween L4-5. That was two months ago and I haven’t done a single exercise that requires me to bend at the hips. Not worth the risk.

17

Brock and to all who have back issues- I feel your ‘pain!’

I spent 5 years in the Navy-4 of which were spent hauling paint buckets, lifting weird stuff, laying tile, and just standing for really long stretches( when you have watch or gate guard) all while wearing really big boots or really sucky dress shoes…

Then I popped out a couple kids and probably did too much after they were born…back has never been the same…

After my hubby prodded me to go get looked at, turns out I have 2 bulging discs…which basically means if I am on my feet too much at once, my back starts hurting…nothing you can really do about it!
When I wake in the morning, I’m pretty stiff(ya, that sounds bad) but I notice if I just sit around my back hurts too!

It’s kind of a use it or lose it type situation…you just have to be careful HOW you use it! :wink:

Brock- sounds like this may be the cause for you…here’s an article I found, although there are many more out there!
http://www.backpaindetails.com/pain/lower-back-pain/causes/lower-back-bulging-disc.htm

18

I’m a beginner but I seem to have a lot of lower back tension - whenever I bend over I can feel it crack a bit and i’m always stretching it out since it always feels tight. Clearly I really want to avoid injury, so lately i’ve been doing a lot of stretching and hip mobility work and just ordered a foam roller to help with that. Last time I deadlifted I also had a small pain at the insertion point on my left hip, which I’m chalking up to poor mobility.

Aside from the obvious lifting with good form, is there anything else in particular people would advise? Reverse hyperextensions?

19

[quote]B rocK wrote:
Back from the ER, ugh.

I saw someone who didn’t really want to do anything other then give me pills. But that’s another topic for another time; pills vs treatment.

I got a 'script for vicidin and flexerol. pain killer and a musc. relaxant. awesome.

im gonna follow up with my primary on monday and hopefully he can send me for a goddam MRI.

in the past hour i’ve had 3 spurts of sharp shooting pain down my left glue/hamstring to the point that i take a knee.

i’ll report the findings w/ my primary. [/quote]

That sounds exactly like what happened to me and it turned out I had stress fractures in my last 3 vertebrae.

A bone scan would be able to see if you have those.

For me I was in a back brace for a bit, did some IGF-1, and a ton of lower back work and I’m back to 100% these days. Looking back I would have done some GH instead but either way it helped me recover IMO.

20

I had lower back pain from around 26 to 32. At 32 I got a Select Comfort Airbed. The only time my back hurts now is if we go on vacation and I’m on a regular bed for more than a few days. I believe in these beds so much I’ve gotten one for each of my children as well as my wife and I.

If you’ve got a bulk belly you pump the bed up real high to give extra support. If you’re lean you keep it a little softer so that your heavier chest shoulders and ass and legs sink which pushes support to your mid section.

BTW, if you like my sales pitch, you better get one quick. I follow the stock of the company and it looks to me like they are going out of business.