I've had this happen a few times over the last few years. Its totally debilatating. They gave me those same drugs. Ice also seemed to help a little, but stay away from the heat, that always made it worse. The only thing that helped was rest and laying flat on my back on a hard surface. It usually took 3 or 4 days to get better. The last one caused back pain for pretty much all of 2004. I finally started going to a chiropractor about 8 weeks ago and I haven't had hardly any soreness or muscle tightness since then, which is totally wonderful.

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- Steve
http://bailey.sts.winisp.net

I second the chiropractor advice. I had a real bad muscle strain in my back that cut my last college track season in half last year. the chiropractor help a lot and after I would feel sore for a little bit and then a lot of the pain would go away. I would ease back into it slowly, I took it too fast and it just got worse. I also seen a massage therapist and that seemed to help in much of the same way as the chiropractor. Also the drugs are good, real good, make sure you stay on them because your body will need them to reduce inflammation, which is a big part of that type of injury.

First, I think squatting is totally pointless unless your legs/hips are *extremely* weak. And I lifted as my primary source of exercise/recreation until I started riding again 1.5 years ago. I loved squats.

Second, did you do this ROUNDING your back or ARCHING it? Arch is generally OK, so long as it's not excessive (the ideal is a natural flat back). Rounding, or curving forward, is very bad, and a sure fire way to blow apart your back FOR LIFE unless you have seriously robust joints and discs.

I wrecked my back deadlifting once, twisted to straighten out a lift that was going off at an angle. Doink! I'll never be the same. Don't make the same mistake.

As for treatment, when I pinched my low back more routinely (i.e., picking up something poorly, arching my low back doing shrugs, etc.) I would barely walk to the car and into the ER. All it takes is time, ice, and rest. Anti-inflams barely work in the low back because blood supply is rather thin here (around the spine, not the lumbar muscles).

When you feel better, I would spend you time in the gym doing stuff that helps prevent this rather than encourages it. Do more (weighted) core stuff like ab machines, bent-leg raises, weighted crunches, and of course, back extensions. Some prefer reverse back extensions (I do) where you put your arms where your feet go and hang your legs off the front instead. Then lift your legs. Many think this is excellent for the low back, and with little stress (much less than regular back/hyperextensions).

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Too f@ckin depressed from various injuries to care about having a signature line.

Sponsored by Blue Shield PPO.

When I was younger I had a severe muscle spasm episode about once a year. As I get older they are less frequent (although I had one earlier this year that came hard and wentaway quickly - from hardly being able to walk on Monday to a race on Saturday)). My advice:

1) Drugs won't help recovery, but they may help relieve the pain in the first few days. I have tried every type of muscle relaxant and now use no drugs.

2) Stretching a spasming muscle can help stop the spasms. My best strech for my spasms is to lie on my back and pull my knees to my chest. If the spasm is bad this won't be possible at first.

3) Use lots of ice.

4) Keep moving - I like walking. The worst pain is when I am in bed and not moving.

5) Stay away from heat, especially hot tubs. They feel great at the time but can draw a lot of blood into the muscles and re-start the spasm (in my case, anyway).

6) The good news is that recovery for me is alway 100%.

There's a huge difference between a nerve issue (pinched/irritated) and spasms. And still different are muscle tears, ligament tears, etc. Don't forget herniated (aka bulging) disks. Treatment may differ for each, as will the behavior before it's fully better (go ahead and do what you can if you just have a pinch, but torn ligaments are another matter).

So, figure out what you REALLY have first.

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Too f@ckin depressed from various injuries to care about having a signature line.

Sponsored by Blue Shield PPO.

I am going back to the doctor later this week for another evaluation. His first thought was only muscle no disk problems. He was concerned though about how fast the extreme pain came on (immediately)

Thanks for the good advice, I was doing squats because I have really skinny legs, and I am a weak cyclist. I am a stong runner/swimmer but the bike is my limiter.

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Striving to have sex more than 66 times per year

My experience with muscle spasms is that the pain comes on really fast. I have gone from being mobile to immobilized in minutes. I have also found that doctors do not understand backs. There are good books on backs, although they all have a disclaimer that "backs are complex and we really don't know how things work..."

As a veteran of a lower back mucle problem that kept me out of running for 7 months in my final year of high school (I injured it hurdling those big nasty wooden steeplechase barriers that are not very forgiving when you hit them), my recommendation is to go to a physio or chiropractor with a great deal of sports injury experience. I went to chiropractors, massage therapists, and doctors that gave me hope but didn't produce results. I finally ended up seeing a specialist who told me that I would have to give up running (that was 20 years ago and I can still run pretty fast!). What finally worked for me was a physio that got me some muscle relaxants and then went to work on trying to fix the problem with the muscle. I still have my backsoreness as my early warning system since it gets sore and tired whenever I start to overtrain which is actually pretty useful :)

I had major lower back issues in 2003.



What fixed it:

1) Lots of stretching

2) Acupuncture (didn't believe in it 'til it fixed me)

3) Omron Sports Massager

Hope this helps.

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http://www.Felipe-Bastos.com
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Blog: felipebastos.blogspot.com
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Actually, that does suck. I hope you feel better.

Good luck & Hope you are getting better. To get off the real pain killers try over the counter alieve, but take it spareingly. If you have access to a hot tube it will help.