Excruciating back pain (night/early morning) out of nowhere

Triathlon Forum
1

Hello everyone.

This past Friday I went for a run and felt my back tight but didn’t think too much out of it. I was coming back from a two week vacation and was getting ready to start my training plan on Monday (today). That night, I woke up at 2am in a lot of pain. Took an Aleve and eventually fell back asleep. But when when I woke up on Saturday morning, the pain came back. During the day is not too bad (I’m taking pain killers only at night), but every night/morning is the same. Last night I tried some hot compression and was able to sleep much better until 5am without any issues, but once again, the pain came back in the morning.

The pain is on my left side, right in the middle of my back. I can touch the muscle and it’s very tender. I think the culprit is the 50lbs luggage I brought upstairs on Thursdays night with one hand. I can’t think of anything else that could have cause it.

I’m in a bad mood for two reasons: 1) the pain can be excruciating for a little while 2) today is the beginning of my training plan (after two weeks of very low volume of just running). It’s probably not a good idea to start training with this back pain, but after this vacation, it feels like I’m losing my fitness by the day.

How long should I wait before going to the doctor because of the pain? Has anybody had something similar to that?

Thanks,

2

You’re describing fairly typical onset of mechanical LBP. Assuming you have a clean medical history and are otherwise healthy, people in your condition typically find most relief from seeking out a PT. One trained in MDT (McKenzie method) will get you the best result quickly. In general, back pain is at its least when you are moving around. Pain killers and bed rest don’t typically improve anything. As well, for the time being avoid forward bending or pulling your knees to your chest- especially if you believe the mechanism of onset was from lifting and twisting. Good luck.

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agree. another PT here (assuming the other poster is as well). Get to primary care and then to a PT.