question bout low back pain

[Anthony Detomaso]

Ive had chronic pain on both sides of my low back for about a year it mostly hurts when i sit and lean on one side. About3 months ago i injured my right side real bad warming up on stiff leg deads so i took it light for a month and hurt it again squatting light. the pain was real bad it was painful to just walk around and stuff. its been 2 months and i havent squated or deadlifted and i still have the chronic pain on both sides that i had leading up to the injury. my question is if its a disc how long could it take before i can train again without re hurting it into excrutiating pain. ive read jesse had a L5 herniation and he recovered well. I dont have insurance right now so i cant afford a MRI but i will get one asap. also what are some symptoms of a disc problem if anyone knows id appreciate it thanks guys...

[craig kruse]

typically a disc problem will hurt with more flexion biased movements and positions. Bending forward, sitting, knees to chest, carrying things in front of you. It could or could not involve pain radiating down one leg. It depends if the bulge is central or lateral.

you should be doing a crap load of pressups- 10-15 per hour
alieve and ice will help also

[Anthony Detomaso]

it doesnt hurt to do knee to chest or carry things it hurts to sit and lean on it and it hurts to bend forward sometimes slightly... however when i initially hurt it was very very painful to bend at all... what are press ups?

[craig kruse]

lie on your stomach
hand at your shoulders like you were going to do push ups
keep your hips on the floor
using only your arms, push up and arch your back, looking up to the ceiling
emphasize forming a "C" with your neck, upper back, and lower back
repeat 10 times
this is stretching exercise for your lumbar spine. Not a strengthening exercise.
do a lot of these

[Kevin Klavetter]

Once your back has recovered I would also recommend wrestlers brigdes as a part of your pre workout warm up. Great for both flexibilty and strength of the spinal support muscles.

[Anthony Detomaso]

thanks guys i will do both... from the symptoms i described does it soiund like a disc? also are there any type of low back inury that can prevent me from every squating or deadlifting again?

[Amy Rachubinski]

also are there any type of low back inury that can prevent me from every squating or deadlifting again?
I hope not! At least I don't think very many things could lead to that end result, anyway...

Check your PM's Anthony

[jenn mills]

it defintaly sounds like a nerve related issue. I do massage therapy and i would also suggest doing that, it should break up some scar tissue. ice ice and more ice helps. Hopefully it doesnt hurt your chances of competing. ;)

[patrick w.]

It sounds like some nerve issues.....It could be a disk but you would need an MRI to know for sure, no can just make that guess. It could also not be a disc at all and be muscular or something like that.

Soft tissue work like a foam roller, ART, massage, etc....can be really great. I would look into that.

[Anthony Detomaso]

thanks guys for all the info... what do u mean by nerve issues though? im gona make a appointment for massage therapy

[Kevin Klavetter]

Nerve issues are typically due to something applying pressure to the nerve bundle. It can be something as simple a pulled muscle that is swelling and pressing on the nerve bundle, which usually can be resolved with ice. Or something serious like a buldging disk. As Patrick says the only way to tell for sure is with an MRI as this will show both soft muscle tissue as well as bone structure. Basically if the basic treatments of either ice/rest and massage don't help over time and you experience numbness to tingling, especially if it radiates down the legs, you may want to get an MRI. Just my opinion based on experience. I am by no means a doctor.

[Jeff Bach]

Sounds like your problems are different then mine. My back is a bit rough after years of abuse.

I use a Chiro when it really goes out. I use an inversion table daily and that really seems to help me.

[Mike Hess]

Last year my back was so bad that I had trouble picking up my 1 year old daughter. I read about press ups somewhere and decided to give them a try. I was so tight that I could barely lay flat on my stomach. I kept at it and what a difference. I try to do them everyday but if I forget my back quickly reminds me.....lol


Good luck

Mike

[Nicoman]

Hi I had the exact same thing about 6 months ago.....it is an ongoing process to heal it. I know you said you do not have insurance but the best thing is to go see a doctor. (DISCLAIMER) :) Ok now that that is said, get the inflamation down by applying ice and more ice till it goes down. If at all possible take some kind of anti-imflammatory drug like ibuprofen and then once the pain goes down start doing these.....

Press Ups....already discussed.
Light Rack Pulls...start above the knees.
Hanging from the pullup bar....use straps that wrap around your elbows if need be.....this will decompress your spine.....start slowly if you feel slight pain its ok ....if it is excrutiating then stop.

I now use a machine to invert me for decompression of my spine....I will look for a link...
http://www.relaxtheback.com/inversion-units-subcategory-1913

There you go...I hope this helps....I know what a sore back feels like and it is the reason I got back into working out. I was feeling weak and needed to do something because I was only 32 and I was feeling like I was 50.

Take care.

[Mandy Keefer]

Unfortunately I know what an lumbar herniation feels like. I am going through it right now. I'll try NOT to repeat what has already been said well by different members.

Typically any type of back pain is caused by a muscle imbalance of some kind. We all have them and the more severe cases will eventually cause pain (hence the exercises suggested~ will aid in recovery). However don't just deal with the pain (like I did for over 6 years), find out the cause of the pain.

The sciatic nerve tingling and pain can be caused by several things. Your symptoms might indicate a minor muscle tear/inflammation. Take the anti-inflammatories (previously suggested) and ice the area. If anti-inflammatories and ice don't help, then it may be the disc dulge/herniation. Then the X-ray and MRI would be needed.

I am trying several things to get out of pain and move on. I will let u know what works for me so that it may help you and others. It's hard to say since I'm an athlete not a doctor but having gone through this, I understand and wish you luck!! :D

[Scott Gonzalez]

My lower back is also messed up, its been that way since a few months now, mainly doing squat, deadlift and picking up heavy stuff, even bending forward sometimes, I was tired about it so I went to see my doctor and he told me it is probably because two vertebraes are too close because of too much pressure I applied on my back, it led to my lower back muscles always being contracted trying to get some space between the vertebraes...thats what I understood, not easy to explain clearly since english aint my first language...Im scheduled to have an MRI tomorrow to make sure he is right...

He advised me to work a lot on my abdominal muscles to decompress my spine and to stregthen the deep muscles around the spine altough I got no idea how to do that...he also told me about swimming...and I plan on gettin massages since it is free here when it is prescribed by your doctor :marv:

[David standifer]

My lower back is also messed up, its been that way since a few months now, mainly doing squat, deadlift and picking up heavy stuff, even bending forward sometimes, I was tired about it so I went to see my doctor and he told me it is probably because two vertebraes are too close because of too much pressure I applied on my back, it led to my lower back muscles always being contracted trying to get some space between the vertebraes...thats what I understood, not easy to explain clearly since english aint my first language...Im scheduled to have an MRI tomorrow to make sure he is right...

He advised me to work a lot on my abdominal muscles to decompress my spine and to stregthen the deep muscles around the spine altough I got no idea how to do that...he also told me about swimming...and I plan on gettin massages since it is free here when it is prescribed by your doctor :marv:
one that we do with our athletes to help is have the athlete lay on their back and bend the knees at a 90% and you will feel the lower back flat on the floor, to execute the movement keep legs at 90 and start to lower the legs while keeping the lower back flat on the floor at all times and then touch feet to floor and bring back up to starting point while keeping back flat, You will start to burn really quik. Another thing to keep from having alot of issues is to work the hamstrings from a bent knee postion (ex:leg curls or glute ham) and from a straight legged postion (ex:goodmorning or romanians). Make sure to stretch really good after workout especially the hamstrings.

[Scott Gonzalez]

one that we do with our athletes to help is have the athlete lay on their back and bend the knees at a 90% and you will feel the lower back flat on the floor, to execute the movement keep legs at 90 and start to lower the legs while keeping the lower back flat on the floor at all times and then touch feet to floor and bring back up to starting point while keeping back flat, You will start to burn really quik. Another thing to keep from having alot of issues is to work the hamstrings from a bent knee postion (ex:leg curls or glute ham) and from a straight legged postion (ex:goodmorning or romanians). Make sure to stretch really good after workout especially the hamstrings.


Thank you I'll give this a try