Sorry to hear about your injury!


I've had the pleasure of dealing with recurring lower back pain for most of my life. Assuming that you've confirmed that your problem is muscular (as mine is) here's what works for me. I'm not a doctor, so your mileage may vary.

Early on, I was lucky to find a Chiropractor that also does ART and Graston as well as PT, electrostim, etc. In other words, he as a lot of "tools" at his disposal to deal with this when I need his help. What works for me typically is starting with something that loosens up the musculature (heat + electrostim) and then a LOT of ART and Graston, not just on the lower back but also glutes, quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, etc. It hurts like hell, but after several treatments (usually 3x/wk foe the first couple of weeks) it usually sorts itself out. I'm not a huge believer in some of the other stuff (laser, ultrasound, adjustments, etc.) for lower back pain but that's just because they don't seem to do as much for me.

As far as activity goes, I usually take a few days totally off of S/B/R but do walk a lot to keep things loose. Definitely avoid sitting for prolonged periods. Once the worst of it starts to subside, I can usually get back on the bike on the trainer for easy spins - mostly to keep myself sane and keep things loose. I try to avoid any level of effort that would result in any residual soreness or tightness from the workout, as that would be counterproductive.

Again, that's what works for me. YMMV. Good luck!

 Bad back started in early 20s, almost 50 years ago. Primarily basketball player who ran lots of stadiums with leg weights. Long story short used Chiro, massage & even facet injections. Chiro would help but adjustments were temporary as muscle imbalances are the likely causes of most of my problems. Thank God for internet and sites like Mobility Wod, now ready state, and upright health.

Being a desk jockey tight hip flexors are problematic as are for many. Also add aero position where pelvic tilt from extension or flexion can strain proper spinal alignment. MRIs showed bulging discs. Later in life lots of trigger points.

What I have learned that despite lots of jumping from basketball and running and poor posture on bike and running in my early and middle years, they can be overcome largely with better biomechanics (plenty on web & get PT to analyze) and keeping muscles balanced, especially working on glutes.


But it does require almost daily maintenance. Slack off and problems will return for sure.

Walking is good rehab. If you bike a good bit already, i wouldn’t think that a big problem unless you pointed toe a good bit. Assume boot is now off.

You may need to roll foot on lacrosse ball to get those foot muscles some help. Each foot is made up of 28 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments, all of which work together to provide support, balance and mobility. Ready state website has videos for all sorts of issues.

GP - I know you're an excellent swimmer so I would suggest just swimming, including lots of kicking and flip turns. The flip turns may hurt at first but I bet your back will loosen up after a few swim sessions and eventually your back will be fine. I fractured my L1 vertebra in a bike wreck a few yrs back and it hurt like hell to do the flips, but I kept doing them and the pain gradually went away, totally away in about 4-5 months. My neurologist advised me to keep doing the turns, and I was very lucky that he just happened to be a former college swimmer. :)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

So as an update I moved the wrong way yesterday... a seemingly innocuous movement... and my low back completely locked up. Went to my hands and knees and it was almost an hour before I could get back to my feet. Anything beyond walking at a slow shuffle seems impossible at this point. Whenever I do get some functionality back swimming will be first on my list.

Wow, I am so sorry to hear it has gotten worse. On the positive side, you have swimming, at least once you can get to that point. I'll never forget that Amy Hall of The Race Club said "you have so much talent" for swimming. :)

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

How is your back today.

Sucks... I had an episode in July last year and it took me over a year before I was fully recovered. Every time I thought I was over it, I managed to re-injure it somehow. Along with a stubborn case of PF training for IMAZ last year through that was pretty draining mentally. I've haven't had a flare-up since April and was able to finally put together a consistent streak of training weeks over the summer and I'm finally at 2017 levels of fitness :) hooray

---

What's your CdA?

I disagree with the chiro, probably not a disc. It definitely seems muscular. Find someone that goes ART or some other soft tissue stuff. Don’t stop moving, pain is not the enemy as long as its not getting much worse. Maybe find a Makenzie institute practitioner.

---

ART, MDT, DNS, MPI, FST

Slowly doing better, I'd say I'm 15-20% better thank you for asking. Getting up in the morning is rough and so is getting out of my car. Actually, sitting in my car for any extended period seems to be the worst thing I do. Very mild discomfort while sitting in the car, getting into my car is not problem, but getting out of my car.... man. I basically have to use my left arm to do a partial pull up on the roof to take the pressure off my back so I can swing my legs out (mid size SUV fwiw). Takes me a little bit to get up to speed but once I'm walking I'm totally fine. No discomfort while standing either. I have noticed that my IT bands are crazy tight/inflexible at the moment. Very tight hamstrings too and this is coming from a guy who has, historically, always been able to bend down and put my palms on the floor.

So the Chiro does ART and he did some art on my back which was interesting in itself. His diagnoses was that a disc was slightly out of place and that the back spasms were my back protecting itself. I'm kind of not adequately explaining his diagnosis... let's see if I can recap it.

Based on past sports history (lots of golf when I was younger) I likely had several discs out of place but was asymptomatic and would have remained asymptomatic short of some sort of trauma.

Trauma was walking around for a week in a steel soled boot. That both messed up the patterns my muscles fired in and may have put a disc enough out of alignment to put pressure on a nerve and thus cause spasms making things even worse from a muscular standpoint.

I'll look up Makenzie Institute. I agree re moving. Back feels best when I'm up walking around. Feet are getting tired/sore but I guess I'll just deal with it.

Edit: also, I think ice is helping more than heat. Heat feels good when applied but when I first get up from having a heating pad on I'm actually pretty sore. I always seem to feel better after an ice pack.

A disc will almost always feel better seated, regardless of the diagnosis if what he is doing helps then by all means stick with him. Just don't get married to the diagnosis. Also if ice helps them keep icing.

---

ART, MDT, DNS, MPI, FST

Just throwing this out there, with sciatic problems over the years an inverse gravity machine helped me tremendously. I do full inveresion crunches or just hang upside down

There is no such a thing as a disc out of place. It may have bulged, or ruptured, or compressed/degeneraged, but it doesn't slide out of place short of a catastrophic injury - and if that happens you will have more problems than merely an out of place disc. You should fire your Chiro, he is feeding you BS.

Your problem is muscular, and it needs time, and PT. If it continues to bother you after a few weeks, go see a real doctor.

Ah, interesting. See, that’s why I post on ST :) Combined with TBB’s response above it seems it is not a disc.

I’ve had a similar problem for years. I’ve had reasonable results from PT, so-so from a chiropractor, and pretty good results from reading https://www.amazon.com/...k-Book/dp/1523502967 . Good descriptions of the anatomy and possible problems. The book does not promise miracles, and expects you to do specific exercises for the rest of your life.

Thank you for the recommendation

Just my two cents... I had similar problems 15ish years ago with my back. I was just locked up and the slightest weird movement set it off. Doctor prescribed pills but the only thing that actually worked was the chiropractor. He cracked my lower back by pushing down my hip then they put electrical stimulation in four places near the problem area along with a wet warm towel. Sounds crazy but I walked out feeling 100%. From then on I just went back to the Chrio for the same regimen whenever I felt symptomatic. Sitting still and letting it get stiff always made it worse. I think it's going to be different for everyone but basically you want those back muscles to let go. Good luck.

---

MLB

Go to a doctor who specializes in the column if you can, don't wait. Wish I had.

I had similar issues and ended up with two herniated discs.

For me it was degenerative dehydration or basically degenerative disc disease.

It sucks.

But I'm managing. Knowing what it is has made things easier to manage.

I tried to power through and wish someone had stopped me, your back is serious business.

Accepting your back is critical to day to day life is hard, but will help make better decisions.
I had my first DNF this year in a full but wow was the med tent proud of me, walked in and walked out and didn't reinjure myself. Made it to KM 5 of the run and was fresh enough but the back felt off. Back home doctor said it was the right call. (Add insult to injury, Garmin only gave me a 23 recovery period)

i've been completely effed for 4 days. i don't even want to talk about it. in bed typing right now. can barely walk. no ambulatory person of any age would lose to me in an all out 100 yard sprint right now. in fact, more like a 100 yard marathon

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Common issue with psoas or QL spasm. Could be a multitude of things that cause this but its something I personally see a lot with patients. Degenerative disc disease is a common and normal thing with aging, but current literature is steering away from disc related issues because of the prevalence of disc herniation and degeneration in asymptomatic patients.

If you talk to most chiros they will say you need an adjustment, most PT’s will say exercise and most surgeons will want to operate; they want to do what they have learned will help and also get paid. The special ones are going to be the guys that are more modern with there approach with multiple modalities and take a bit more time to explain the issue...not just “x,y,z are out”

---

ART, MDT, DNS, MPI, FST

My Chiro mentioned to me something very similar to what you are saying about asymptotic patients having disc issues and even mentioned that he himself had plenty of disc issues that most surgeons would “be able to buy a boat from”.

That’s about where I was last Friday. I get it. Never understood how bad back pain could be but... I get it now.

couple times a year i get this. doing nothing. i bent over. didn't pick anything up. just, wham. usually i'm good in 2 or 3 days. i think something bony pinches a nerve. but hell, i don't know. this time, it remains. 4 days later, no different. my actual biggest concern now is that i'm going to screw up my knees by the funky movements walking (like a crab), and trying to get out of bed. unnatural movements. the back will eventually clear up but i will have injured something else.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

https://www.mckenzieinstituteusa.org/method-providers.cfm#

Might be worth some of your time to find a doc close to you

---

ART, MDT, DNS, MPI, FST