A few days ago I managed to strain my lower back simply by bending over. I can hobble around now, but I’m still in pretty significant pain, and I can’t envision working out in any fashion anytime soon. This has never happened to me before, so I’m not quite sure what to expect. How long does it take to get back to normal? I’ve got an A race coming up in just under two weeks that I’m concerned about; is there any chance I’ll be able to compete in it? (And yes, I did see a doctor, I’m just looking for input from people who have been through this before.)
On top of that, one of my eyes has been **extremely **bloodshot for the past couple of days, but with no pain or itching; if I did something to cause it, it must have been while I was asleep, because I don’t remember it. I haven’t been to see a doctor on this one yet, but I probably will in a day or two if there’s no change. Assuming it goes away on its own, is it generally considered safe to swim as soon as the irritation has cleared? Even if I hadn’t temporarily crippled myself, I don’t think I’d swim with it in its current state.
If this is what getting old is like, I’m really not thrilled so far (I just turned 33 a week and a half ago).
About 1 month before my 33rd birthday I woke up one morning with a big red spot in the white of my left eye. I had no idea how it happened, it just appeared overnight. It wasn’t there when I took my contacts out the night before. Called my eye doctor and they said it’s just a burst blood vessel and not to worry about it, wear my contacts, go swimming, train, do whatever.
It will go away in a few weeks, you’re not falling apart.
you’re not falling apart; perhaps you just need to stretch more, recovery better, or stop trying to have sex while hanging from the ceiling fan.
see? it’s all logical.
from here, take it one day at a time. stress and worry will not help your injury.
epsom salt baths, heating pad, go see your chiro, etc etc etc. just take care of it. if you need to choose another A race, then do that. but since you don’t know, just take it one day at a time and see how it goes. if you can do the race great. if not, there are others–more than you can do in a lifetime. just get better so you can get on with your life. deal?
Sounds like the old “throwing your back out” problem. Seems like almost everyone does this now and then. I’ve had it 5 or so times, a few years apart each time. They’ve lasted from 1 to 6 weeks before more than 90% gone. You just never know. Good luck. Ice, anti-inflams, etc., don’t seem to make much difference either. I recall it has to do with the low blood supply around the discs. One other thing, physical therapy now begins as early as 3 to 5 days after the injury. So consider getting active again sooner rather than later, but see a physical therapist.
I had a stretch last year where I had piriformis, a sore knee, sore achilles, and a sore shoulder from swimming. It all gets better eventually.
I think I have that beat: achilles tendinitis, broken hand, broken toe, dislocated rib and sprained shoulder. Each was a separate injury (well the rib and the shoulder are related somewhat) and only the achilles tendinits was from overuse, the others were accidents. All in the first 1/2 of 2007. I almost forgot the 2nd degree burns on the bottom of my feet. I used to never get injured. Hopefully that’s it for a long while.
Get a reccomendation from people you know about a good chiropractor in your area. Repetitive movements (bending over) can cause a disc bulge (I’d put money on that in your case) easily w/ no real straining. Example, my dad blew his disc while putting a screw in w/ his hands above his head. If you have any questions about the chiro thing, PM me, I’ll be glad to give you as much info as you could ever wish for.
I did the exact same thing last Saturday night by getting out of a car. The pain was exquisite. I couldn’t get out of bed for two days and today was the first day I had no pain, although I am still “tight”. I popped NSAIDs (naproxen/ Alleve) like candy and had two visits with a sports massage therapist/physical therapist (on Tuesday and Thursday). I also immediately iced my back for a few hours per day immediately after the injury. The PT said I most likely strained the ligaments running from my spine to my pelvis and pulled the muscle running along my low back between my pelvis, spine and lower ribcage. Most of my pain ran from my spine to over my kidney on the right side of my lower back just above my pelvis. I haven’t worked out since the injury and hope to slowly start easing back into a tomorrow or later this week. I planned on running today actually but decided against it after my back felt tight (but not painful).
The PT recommended increased stretching for lower back, hamstrings, psoas and trunk. Also, strengthening my core (which I thought I had been doing). The PT also blamed my job … I’m a street cop and spend a considerable amount of time in a car while wearing 25+ pounds of gear around my waste.
Good luck. It sucks. Bad. For me, the recovery has been fairly fast. But not fast enough.
Absolutely no heating pad – ice. Get the ones for coolers that are big squares that you can freeze and just lay on them. The back goes numb pretty quick and its not so bad. The Spousal Unit is the squat queen and she pulled her back tonight (what is it with these classes where you do reps for like 5 minutes at a time – weird) and after listening to her whine for about an hour I finally just gave her the block and said lay on it - of course she didn’t - so I took advantage of her disability and put her on it against her will. 3 minutes later she was okay.
By the way, 33 ain’t old – I have at least one shirt that still fits that is 40 years old…..
I threw my back out for the first time in December doing squats. It was the strangest thing; one second I was doing my regular strength routine, the next I was on the floor, crawling up the stairs and into my car. I don’t recall exactly how long it took to get back to normal, but I think I was back short distance, slow and easy running in about a week and ran a marathon in May. I’d do the ice thing, get a massage and take it easy. Two weeks sounds awfully fast for any kind of race-ready recovery, but who knows. Your body is going to tell you whether or not you’re ready. Unless your doctor says otherwise, you will recover from this; I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who replied. I got extremely busy at work right after I posted this, and I haven’t had a chance to followup. My back’s still not 100%, but nearly. I’m going to go ahead and race this weekend, but the bike might be uncomfortable. It’s only an Oly, so I should be able to put up with it, but I have had to adjust my expectations downward. Last week was supposed to be my last big week of training, and I spent most of it in bed (and not hanging from the ceiling fan).