Last weekend i was helping the gf out with some yardwork that involved a lot of shoveling. ever since, my left leg is REALLY tight. in addition, I have this really sore spot on my lower back that i think is related to the tightness in the leg. The sore spot can be found if you start at the small of your back and move about 2 inches to the left. It hurts if i try to put a lot of weight on it (running, walking up stairs), as well as if i press on it with my thumb. I have tried stretching and it seems to help a bit, but the pain always comes back. Doesn’t seem to hurt when i’m just sitting around. Do I need to get the gf to do some ART-type massaging? I’m worried this isn’t muscle tightness.
Take a look at my post from yesterday regarding the sciatic nerve. That is exactly where mine started and there was lots of good advice in the replies there.
Could be a Trigger Point. That’s a painful localized point in a muscle that results from it being in a contracted position for a while.
And it could definitely be b/c of the tight leg - b/c it’s ALL connected.
Try some heat - on the leg and the back. If you can get into a hot tub & put the jets on it - also good. Massage could help too. Probably ART could help, too. And some kind of muscle relaxer, like Alieve. Try to do several things to help it relax.
whineyass - I’m not crazy about internet diagnoses, but sounds like the pain could be coming from your sacroiliac joint (SI joint). The spot on your back that you describe is right over the SI joint and the SI joint can refer pain down the leg. Continue the stretching and if that doesn’t help get yourself to a chiro or PT that does manual therapy. If you start to notice significant issues, such as bowel/bladder incontinence, significant weakness in the leg, significant numbness/tingling get to your doc ASAP.
I wouldn’t get too bent around the axles with this one, just yet. It’s a fact of life…back pain happens. It’s a fact of back pain that 90% of all cases of acute back pain resolve within 4 weeks with or without treatment.
Thanks LD and to the rest of you guys/gals–I’m not too concerned at the moment, but don’t want to ignore something that I shouldn’t. I’ll continue to do a lot of stretching and icing and see what happens.