Man, I am always the 38yo guy who feels bad for all those other folks having the aches and pains of getting older. I seem to have come through 30yrs of sports w/o much damage…until yesterday!
I had gone on a 40mi ride in bitter cold on friday. I hadn’t done much in a couple weeks…some easy swimming and a couple runs. I was fine Saturday…just an easy 40min swim in my pool. I got up Sunday AM feeling fine…got the kids going, grabbed some Java, read the paper. Then , I bent over to get something out of a low cabinet and <BAM!!> somebody stuck a knife in my low back.
I hit the floor and was unable to get up. With some assistance I made it to my living room floor where I spent 6hrs yesterday…on my back!!
I am now on NSAID’s and muscle relaxants…using a heating pad. My wife took this opportunity to stand over me and say “…now, I know this is not the time to say this, but if you would do yoga and stretch once in a while this wouldn’t happen…I have told you you can’t act like you are 20yrs old anymore…blah, blah…”
I don’t have any sx’s that would make me think a disc problem. I think my paraspinal muscles went into spasm and seized up on me…
Anyone out there had this happen?? I thought i was going to DIE! I couldn’t move.
There are a number of possible reasons for acute LBP. Another persons experience may or may not be helpful to you. You may have a new and acut injury or you may have a chronic condition that is suddenly symptomatic. An analogy might be a tooth with long standing dental caries that was asymptomatic and suddenly began to ache. Your lower back may have silent, degenerative changes that have been asymptomatic. If it were my back I would start by ruling ‘out’ causes through examination and differential diagnosis. Lots of different avenues here, but a thorough examination to include x-ray is probably a good idea. Absent acute injury (fx // blown disc. etc) someone as young as you are will probably feel better no matter what you do, but that’s not the point. If there is an underlying problem it would be nice to know it. Then you can wrestle with the issues and options of how to best treat or manage the condition (ROM, core strength, PT, manipulation, pelvic unleveling, foot and leg issues, equipment issues, training routines). The list of things to consider is should be comprehensive. Good luck!
Unless you have medical training, i would not be so quick to rule out a disk bulge. You are about the age where mine started creeping up on me. Core and flexibility are crucial but some exercises could aggravate a disk issue.
At 38 you are not old. “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.”
My wife has used that exact line…“I know this is not the time to say this, but…” and I chuckled reading your post. Good to know we are all the same. But having said that, your old lady is correct, start yoga or other comprehensive flexibility/strength program ASAP. Stay away from drugs or surgery.
Just wait 10 more years, and you may be like me. Both my Plantaris tendons have ruptured within the past three years, and now I have a questionable soleus tear that prevents me from running more than 1.5 miles slowly. I have to rest it from running completely for probably weeks, maybe more than a month to give it a shot at recovery. Elbow extensor origins hurt like a mofo. Neck is very stiff, but, thankfully, the aero position on the bike is comfortable enough for my neck that I can do long aero rides. Old age ain’t for sissies…but as much trouble as old age seems to cause, it sure is a popular thing…
Yep…have hurt my lower back about 3 times in the past 5-6 years. Each time it seems to get worse. I even injured it myself, trying to stretch it out…so be careful with the stretching. Last time it happened I couldn’t run for 7 weeks, but was able to bike after about 2. It would stiffen up everytime I sat down for any length of time, and upon standing, would take 5 minutes or so of walking around until it loosened up. Until then, I would list to the right about 15 degrees, completely unable to stand up straight. It totally sucked, and my back is still not completely right. I’m going to work hard on my abs this off season, and also try to find some good back exercises to try and strengthen my lower back muscles. Good luck dude…
My greatest lesson as a chiro was to have acute LBP myself. I was sure I had something catastrophic like compression fracture, AAA, or disc herniation, unstable spondylo… but no, it was simple joint fixation and a whole lot of reactive muscle spasm. To this day, I can’t believe how badly that hurt.
Good luck getting things resolved. You already know how much internet advice is worth… but I’d re-think the heating pad for an acute injury likely very inflammed. Ice is nice.
By the way, your signature line cracks me up absolutely every time I see it. Maybe mine should be, “Professional Spine Wrestler”…
Periodic symptoms of LBP, absent trauma or specific aggravation, and accompanied by an antalgic posture (antalgic posture refers to a
posture assumed by the body to avoid or lessen pain) is often a sign of disc derangement. The body sometimes attempts to move pressure off of, or away from, nerve root impingement. Always nice to rule out a disc if you can.
I’ve had back spasms twice in the last 5 yrs, both caused by mundane lift & twist motions. The first was reaching for a towel after a shower in Vegas. I finally had an opportunity to use the phone in the restroom although it wasn’t the “Honey, I’m naked and need you” call my husband had hoped for!
I’ve been doing yoga, stretching and core work and feel that the core work is particulary beneficial.
The biggest reason for these things is weak paraspinus and trunk muscles. They often happen when you have been working out and the muscles are on the verge of being sore. You bend just wrong and BAM! the muscle goes into spasm. In this case the ride in the cold often makes the back tighten, the rotation from the swim and a couple of weeks of reduced exerciese preceding that and the wrong movement. I had it happpen once wading out to do some body surfing in cold water…jumped up as the wave passed and WHAP! Bending over to pick up a kid–Wham.
The studies don’t support any preventive effect of stretching, but strengthening of the paraspinus muscles and the rest of your core clearly helps. Yoga is great for this, as is pilates. If I remember Brian Dorfman has some good excercises for this. Also, Cousin Elwood has a bunch of exercises that he says will keep the back pain away.
I have had back problems since college. I’m now 54. I also bend over kids all day long. Weight training focusing of my trunk has prevented almost all of it. But, I really do want to get into Yoga dn Pilates to further enhance my core.
My back first “went” at age 28 or so. Was doing shrugs w/ a 225lb bar, used too much oomph and bounce, and POOF that was it. Waddled to the ER. Couple days later and I was good.
The next big episode was right around Sept 11, 2001, ~ 35 years old, doing stiff-leg deadlifts. 245lbs on the bar, and I twisted slightly on my way up. POOF. That one took a few months to get even reasonably better. I was sure I destroyed everything, but an MRI showed disk degeneration that was 10 years+ old. Eventually got back to full health and seriously re-thought my lifting workouts.
Three times since, I have had it go out. Once I was just walking. Took me out for days.
These are not spasms. There’s just something in there that gets pinched and stays thoroughly annoyed for a variable amount of time. Common stuff. Toughen up your midsection, both the abs AND low back, and definitely get flexible in the hammies at the very least.
This reminds me, straight-legged deadlifts seem to keep my back pain away. I only use a little over 100 lbs., and do 3-4-sets of twenty after warming up and stretching. But, as long as I do them at least once every couple of weeks, my lower back stays pain free.
hell, I threw out my back when I was 20. Back knows no age. I couldn’t stand up0 for a week. Doctor had no idea how it happened, just said, “It happens.”
