lower back pain

[turnipmonster]

this morning I was doing decline presses w/dumbbells. instead of dropping the weights to my side like a normal person, for some reason I decided to sit up while holding the weights.

I seemed to have pulled something in my lower back, as it hurt a lot immediately afterwards. at first it hurt to walk, now it just hurts to sit up and down and go up/down stairs, walking is ok. it seems to be improving.

do I need to go to the doctor for this, or should I give it a few days?

[BigPoppa99]

Ice your lower back. You might have pulled a muscle. It happend to me in Feburary but I fell to the floor and couldnt get up. I could not stand on my own or sit up. Lying flat on my back ease the pain. I ende up have two herniated disks in the lower lumbar region. 1 cm and 6 mm disk herniation.

If your legs or toes feel tingly or numb get checked out by a chiropractor. If you go to the er they will have you lie down and put on pain killers.

Thank God I didnt need surgery. I went to a chiropractor and its helping.

[miajag]

you need protein, eat some meat

[guids]

Ice pack it, sleep on the floor on your back tonight, stretch for 30 minutes (toe touches) in the morning, take a hot shower, and keep stretching in the shower. Rest it for a few days.

[Utah]

Be VERY careful with this. It is most likely just muscular. However, if it is a disk further strain (e.g., lifting) can really damage things.

I should know. I had muscle pain in my back a few years ago from lifting. I went to a chiro and did PT to help it. It started to feel great and I thought it was muscular. So, I went to the gym and did deadlifts. I was doing a moderate weight for deads (360) and blew the disk completely and totally F'd up my back. I was in the ER within a few hours and had surgery a few days later.

To make things worse, the disk never healed and I could never quite lift again. I also had the broken disk slip a bit last week and I am again going in for surgery this wednesday.

My advice is dont mess around with anything related to the back or you can screw yourself up long term. Again, your pain is likely nothing, but dont take a big chance with it. Dont lift for a few days and if there is still pain go to a doctor who specializes in backs - dont go to a generalist.

[ScottieK]

My dad and I are notorious for throwing our backs out. Threw mine out three months ago, bad one. Doctor told me to keep moving it, try to walk as much as I could, but no lifting...don't lie down in the same position for very long. Gave me some muscle relaxants that helped a lot. Time is about all that can help...but if it's really bad, you should go see a chiropractor. GL man.

ScottieK

[Los Feliz Slim]

I have two herniated disks in my lower back and degenerative disk disease, all of which I think is Doctor-speak for "you have a bad back". If it started feeling better that quickly, I'm inclined to think it's more of a muscular problem.

Ice is good, ibuprofen is good, rest is good, stretching is good. When you stretch make sure you stretch your legs well, they are key to keeping the whole system down there sound.

If you go to the doctor, please send me the Vicodin he's going to give you.

[Emmitt2222]

pray its not your facet joints [although it probably isn't]

[Warik]

Disclaimer: I speak from experience - not from a medical degree.

OK - either you have normal weightlifting related back pain that will go away by itself OR you have caused some damage to a disc.

If it's normal pain (i.e. soreness), it will go away within a week. I've had it dozens of times in the past few years and my back was strong enough to deadlift almost 400lbs.

However... if the pain persists after a week, you may have damaged a disc. Your spine is composed of several bones, muscles, and "jelly-filled" discs between each vertebrae so that the vertebrae don't scrape against each other when you move. It doesn't sound like you did anything serious that would cause a hernia (disc rupturing and fluid leaking out), so worst case scenario is that you would have a bulging disc (disc out of place, but still intact).

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. We have no reason to believe it's any more serious than strain/soreness yet. (Even if it is a bulging disc, though, you can repair it without surgery or visiting a chiropractor... PM me if your condition ends up being more serious and I will tell you what steps I've taken for mine. I have a bulging L4-L5 disc and have totally pwned my doctor).

Is it in your upper back or lower back?

Treatment for the week should be:

- Icy Hot
- Massages
- Motrin or uber strength Tylenol
- Stretch several times a day

You should start feeling better after 3 days and if it's not serious you should be good to go after a week.

You can keep lifting as long as the lift does not cause pain in the back. Don't go squatting or deadlifting with back pain or anything.

[turnipmonster]

this is exactly what I'm worried about. like, "3 years ago I pulled a muscle, and it ended up being a facet lumbar rupture and they eventually removed my spine". I am worried it will be something worse than a pulled muscle, however I hate going to doctors.