[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Lower back strain (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 1/26/2017 11:06:33 AM EDT
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I've got this sprain/strain in my lower back. I can't even stand up straight. Hurt it last week. Was getting better but then I did work in the garage and I guess Irritated it. Now it's worse than ever.
Is it worth going to urgent care or something? Will I get some muscle relaxers or something other than the Tylenol/Advil combo I've been taking? |
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Lay on the floor with a rolled up towel under your lower back, just above your pelvis. Accentuate the natural spinal curve. Lay there for several minutes. Alternate hot and cold on your lower back and if you can get a TENS unit or similar electro stimulus use it for about 1/2 hour several times through the day.
If the pain doesn't go away or it goes down your legs, you have a different kind of problem and it doesn't have a good outcome. |
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I feel for you OP, hope it gets better
My wife is having back problems. Tonight we go for a second MRI. She goes to the chiropractor almost every day, has taken muscle relaxers, ices her back, nothing helps. She did get a shot that made her feel better for about a week, not sure what that was. She walks like a 90 yr old lady 
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Lay on the floor with a rolled up towel under your lower back, just above your pelvis. Accentuate the natural spinal curve. Lay there for several minutes. Alternate hot and cold on your lower back and if you can get a TENS unit or similar electro stimulus use it for about 1/2 hour several times through the day. If the pain doesn't go away or it goes down your legs, you have a different kind of problem and it doesn't have a good outcome. Could you elaborate? I posted above about my wife, her pain goes into her legs |
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It doesn't go down my legs. I did this once before. The doctor put these little needles in my back that were hooked up to electricity or something. It got instantly better.
I don't have a doctor here though so that's why I was thinking urgent care to get some help now. I figure if I find a doc with my insurance and schedule an appointment it'll be a week at least. |
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Could you elaborate? I posted above about my wife, her pain goes into her legs It means something, likely a disc, is compressing her sciatic nerve which can send pain down a leg, sometimes all the way to the foot She needs to take action or it will get worse. I made the mistake of ignoring it when I'd get it after weight lifting and it would go from my lower back down my butt to my hamstring on my right side. Eventually it got so bad it went to my foot and had to go in the ambulance because I couldn't move. Took a year to recover. My right foot still is numb in the toes. Stretching/physical therapy/muscle relaxer before bad |
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Could you elaborate? I posted above about my wife, her pain goes into her legs When I had my back go out over the years, resulting in 5 different surgeries, the sure sign of a disc blowing out was the pain down one of my legs and in that hip as well. if you lay on your back and raise the leg that has pain and it hurts like hell in your lower back, that is an indication of a disc problem. Ifyou raise the other leg; the side that doesn't have pain going down it, and it results in pain in the other side and lower back, it's a sure thing that the disc is blown. At least in my case it was that way. Five different tomes the same indications each time. that's a pretty good indicator in my opinion. Surgery fixed it every time. Four laminectomies and finally a fusion. I haven't had an issue since the fusion and that was about 10 years ago. I can split wood, work on my vehicles, work in my shop, everything I need or want to do except run. I can't rum because of my knees though. |
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Quoted:
Lay on the floor with a rolled up towel under your lower back, just above your pelvis. Accentuate the natural spinal curve. Lay there for several minutes. Alternate hot and cold on your lower back and if you can get a TENS unit or similar electro stimulus use it for about 1/2 hour several times through the day. If the pain doesn't go away or it goes down your legs, you have a different kind of problem and it doesn't have a good outcome. I did this yesterday. I was off so I iced it off and on for most of the day. Figured it'd be a lot better today. I'm at work today so I'm stuck in a chair but when I get up it's pretty bad. I look retarded walking around lol. |
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I actually broke my spine once and have a disk slippage.
I had back pain every single day for over a year. Then I started going to the gym and doing back exercises. Nothing extreme, just the standard sort of workout, a warm up set and then three sets of ten or so hyperextensions, wide grip pullups, dips, cable rows, shrugs haven't had a day of pain since if your muscles aren't strong enough to do their job, you will have spasms and pain exactly zero people who read the above will take it seriously. but I tried |
| I have some serious lower back issues from 20+ years of being a roofing contractor. One of the best pieces of medical advice I ever got was to get a book called BackRX. The first week was like heaven for my lower back. The improvement in my pain level was amazing. My lower back issues have since progressed and now are much worse but the info on stretches in this book are very good. Some of the best money I ever spent. |
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I actually broke my spine once and have a disk slippage. I had back pain every single day for over a year. Then I started going to the gym and doing back exercises. Nothing extreme, just the standard sort of workout, a warm up set and then three sets of ten or so hyperextensions, wide grip pullups, dips, cable rows, shrugs haven't had a day of pain since if your muscles aren't strong enough to do their job, you will have spasms and pain exactly zero people who read the above will take it seriously. but I tried TPNI! |
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Could you elaborate? I posted above about my wife, her pain goes into her legs Quoted:
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Lay on the floor with a rolled up towel under your lower back, just above your pelvis. Accentuate the natural spinal curve. Lay there for several minutes. Alternate hot and cold on your lower back and if you can get a TENS unit or similar electro stimulus use it for about 1/2 hour several times through the day. If the pain doesn't go away or it goes down your legs, you have a different kind of problem and it doesn't have a good outcome. Could you elaborate? I posted above about my wife, her pain goes into her legs My pain from about a year ago was lifting and dragging logs. I went to my knees from instant pain from my lower back with a tingling sensation all the way from my left leg to my toes. The ER folks took X-rays. They said I probably have permanent nerve damage. I could hardly walk for about a month. Excruciating pain. My back and leg healed, but I still have tingling in my left foot. |
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My pain from about a year ago was lifting and dragging logs. I went to my knees from instant pain from my lower back with a tingling sensation all the way from my left leg to my toes. The ER folks took X-rays. They said I probably have permanent nerve damage. I could hardly walk for about a month. Excruciating pain. My back and leg healed, but I still have tingling in my left foot. Sounds like we had the same thing. I'm guessing I have nerve damage too. I'm fully healed, pain free, and can do all the weight lifting I used to do but still have tingling/numbness in my right toes that sometimes gets worse or better. Kind of serves as a warning sign to me. If it gets more numb it means I need to take it easy. |
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Lay on the floor with a rolled up towel under your lower back, just above your pelvis. Accentuate the natural spinal curve. Lay there for several minutes. Alternate hot and cold on your lower back and if you can get a TENS unit or similar electro stimulus use it for about 1/2 hour several times through the day. If the pain doesn't go away or it goes down your legs, you have a different kind of problem and it doesn't have a good outcome. Highly recommend the TENS unit. Walmart typically carries the Aleve brand TENS unit, about $50. Looks like a butterfly, goes over the spine. 1/2hr cycle. I use it on occasion along with some gentle stretching if my back is giving me some issues. I'm young, but had a couple of one-off weird twists or falls in my early 20's that sometimes act up. ETA: Would like to note that this isn't a permanent solution, you should also work on strengthening your core and making sure your hamstrings are adequately stretched. As noted by the other posters. |
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If u have pain radiating down into your hips and/or your legs or are having any problem going #1 or #2, or, any numbness in hips/legs, I would go to a doc ASAP.
If none of above, I would consider trying Doans pills (many have told me they work better than Advil/Tylenol) and alternate with ice/heat and lightly stretch as others said. Strains can take weeks to heal. I am not a doctor. |
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Aleve (naproxen) seems to work better for me than Advil or Tylenol when it comes to lower back pain.
Rest and ice as much as possible for the first 48 hours after injury / re-injury. Then, you can move to heat pad. Go easy on it, be gentle with your movements until it's feeling much better. One of those electro-stim devices you can get off Amazon now for less than $100 also work great in conjunction with the heat. Once healed, get into a regiment of doing plank exercises (work up to being able to do a 5-minute plank each day), and get a foam roller to stretch out your lower back and hamstrings each day. Get into a habit of staying hydrated and drinking water each day; shoot for at least 96 ounces of water a day. Proper hydration has many health benefits, including reduced muscle spasms and tightness. |
| I have chronic lower back issues. Carrying close 300 lbs of mostly gut for close to 15 years really messed me up and being 45 is no help. The thing that has helped me the most is core and posterior chain exercises--squat, deadlift, kettlebell swings, etc. It takes a few weeks to take affect, but every time I workout consistently my back stops hurting. When I travel for work and stop working out the pain returns. It also gets worse before it gets better. I take an anti-inflammatory every now and then when it gets really bad. But, like I said, eventually the pain stops altogether. |
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I've got this sprain/strain in my lower back. I can't even stand up straight. Hurt it last week. Was getting better but then I did work in the garage and I guess Irritated it. Now it's worse than ever. Is it worth going to urgent care or something? Will I get some muscle relaxers or something other than the Tylenol/Advil combo I've been taking? Get a pen where the pen cap comes to a point or a pointy object that can't pierce through skin but won't break, like a phillips screwdriver. The tighter the muscles are, the more the pain is going to be. You might be able to get someone to help you, but you can also do this on your own. Lie down or you can stand. What you want to do is massage the muscles with the tip of the pen cap (still attached to the pen, and do not use the ball-point tip because you will write on yourself and you don't want to do that) starting from the left butt and work your way down the thigh, and then do the same thing on the right side. Starting below the belt line at the far left side of the top of the gluteus maximus, press the tip down until you can feel you are pressing deep past the fat and are touching the muscle. Then, press a bit more and start making circles and do that for about ten seconds. Count it out loud. This should be very painful. After ten seconds, take the pen tip, lift up, move it about a half inch away, press in and repeat. Repeat this until you have covered the top area of the butt. Now go down a half inch and repeat. It's going to be like you are making a grid of dots on your butt. This is to get blood flow going and release tension. When you get to the thigh, do the same thing. Repeat on the other leg. If you pressed hard enough, you should feel some release. Go through it all again. You may feel it doesn't hurt like a spike anymore in some spots. That's when you know you've released the knot. You may wonder why you don't need to massage above the belt line, its because it was the muscles below causing the problems. This is a ghetto solution to paying for a massage therapist. YMMV |
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I actually broke my spine once and have a disk slippage. I had back pain every single day for over a year. Then I started going to the gym and doing back exercises. Nothing extreme, just the standard sort of workout, a warm up set and then three sets of ten or so hyperextensions, wide grip pullups, dips, cable rows, shrugs haven't had a day of pain since if your muscles aren't strong enough to do their job, you will have spasms and pain exactly zero people who read the above will take it seriously. but I tried This is absolutely true. You still run the risk of straining a muscle and/or other injury but you reduce that risk by strengthening the muscles. Strength also helps with chronic conditions by stabilizing the spine. |
| When I had bad lower back pain I'd put one of those pool noodles under my back and roll around on top of it. It really help to stretch muscles that were hard to access with normal stretching and eventually after a few weeks of doing it daily my lower back was alot better. They also make thicker / heavier ones used in yoga... |
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Take a ball(tennis or Lacrosse) and stand against a wall.
Place the ball against your hip muscles and press your weight against it, kind of rolling it between wall and muscle. When you find a tender spot, hang out there and gradually sink your weight onto the ball. make sure you breathe and relax. Then move around some more, relaxing on each sore spot for a minute or so. A lot of lower back pain is referred from the hips. |
| There is a ton of information and plenty of genuine well wishers on the internet. GO TO A DOCTOR AND GET IT CHECKED OUT. It might be muscular, it might be skeletal, it might be nerve related and it might be a combination of all three or something else entirely. Back problems are not something to mess with and self diagnosis and treatment is stupid. Find out, from a professional, what is going on and get professional recommendations for treatment. |
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Piratepast40 nailed it, in that you first need to figure out just what is wrong. There are some conditions that are easily fixed with exercise, while in some cases mild exercise can turn a minor problem into a horrible injury.
Just as with a car, you can't fix it until you first know what is wrong. Go see a back specialist orthopedist, or neurologist for an evaluation and treatment plan. That way you are not just guessing and hoping. Otherwise, you might as well buy snake oil and pray to voodoo gods and forest fairies for relief. I did Japanese jujutsu for 20 years throwing people, and getting thrown around the room. I never once threw my back out doing anything "manly". I threw it out picking up a pair of socks, sneezing in a Safeway store, and bending down to pick up a piece of kindling. People who have not had their back go out just don't understand how debilitating it can be. |
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You need to stretch and take it easy with your lower back. You don't want it to turn into a herniated disc that compresses your sciatic nerve. It's the worst pain you can ever experience. QFT stretching my lower body always helps have had L4-L5 bulging disk and still have L5-S1 bulging a little |
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Genin, Let me rearrange that a little for you:
People who have not had their back go out just don't understand how debilitating it can be. 
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Every bit of this. |
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I've got this sprain/strain in my lower back. I can't even stand up straight. Hurt it last week. Was getting better but then I did work in the garage and I guess Irritated it. Now it's worse than ever. Is it worth going to urgent care or something? Will I get some muscle relaxers or something other than the Tylenol/Advil combo I've been taking? Tylenol is a pain killer but does nothing for the damage. Focus on ibuprofen and lots of water. Lots of rest and ice up/heat up the affected area a couple times a day if you can (I put a thin pillow on the back of my recliner). After a few days you will probably be able to do light stretching and eventually start rehabbing it. Look on YouTube for exercises to fix your back but don't do them until you stop having spasms and stop doing them before it hurts. |
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I actually broke my spine once and have a disk slippage. I had back pain every single day for over a year. Then I started going to the gym and doing back exercises. Nothing extreme, just the standard sort of workout, a warm up set and then three sets of ten or so hyperextensions, wide grip pullups, dips, cable rows, shrugs haven't had a day of pain since if your muscles aren't strong enough to do their job, you will have spasms and pain exactly zero people who read the above will take it seriously. but I tried 100% agree, I have had trouble getting out of bed in the AM and finally started working out for the cardio but soon realized that getting my back stronger is helping. I do use a muscle pulse / tens unit for the pulsing and it helps with the soreness and stiffening over night after a work out. Here are some reviews. I use the pulser at bedtime, putting the tabs on the muscles on either side of the spine above and below the sore spot. Same polarity on top, opposite polarity wires on the bottom. HTH |
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See your Chiro. You need to work on your core muscle strength. Not everyone benefits from Chiro. I grew up 20 miles from Palmer and everyone in my family talks abut how great it is to get an adjustment. I've never benefited at all. Have had all the x-rays and adjustments but always hurt worse after treatments. Quit going about 20 years ago. Core strength has been the issue with me and it has to be a lifetime habit to keep working on it. If I let it slide for about a month, the pain starts to settle back in. Start working out again and you're in for another 2 weeks of pain until strength starts building back up again. During that time, it's very easy to cause another episode of over stressing your muscles. At least that's the way it's been with me. My lower back is unforgiving. Ignore it for just a little while and it'll let you know that it wants attention. |
| Doctor felt my muscles and said they felt like rocks and were spasming like crazy. Offfered a steroid shot but said she wouldn't do it. Have me a prescription for an anti inflammatory and a muscle relaxer. Should have said the pain was higher because it's real bad and a pain prescription would be nice right now. |
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The doctor is treating the symptoms, it will be up to you to treat the cause. See if you can find a place that will do therapeutic massage or call the doctors office for a referral to physical therapy. They will know how to find the spasming and cramped muscles and how to work on them. Just as important, they will know what exercises to work those muscles. If the doc gave you flexeril, it's a start, but one of the lowest on the pain relief scale.
It's going to be up to you to work on stretching and warming up the affected muscle groups if you want real relief. |
| Had the same problem just the other week from a long long day of yard work. Went to the chiro got adjusted and he said to ice it 20 min on 20 min off, 3 sets. I thought to myself "hmm icing, didn't think of that". Well I'll be damned after the second night of icing I was feeling a ton better. Give it a try, worked for me. |
There are some great Yoga Stretches take a hot shower/use heating pad then inhale and do the cat pose then exhale and slowly and completely while dropping down the midsection. Do this about 10x then lie on your back and put legs at 90 with feet supported kinda like this
But only heals touching deep breath in, drive heals down and activate hamstrings without lifting but off ground, relax and complete exhale out and do this a few times. Always works for me if I tweak something. To prevent in the future start moving a barbell to strengthen core. ETA: if you look at inflammation response to stimulus you will find doctors haven't caught up with science. Finding more and more that muscular inflammation response is a vital part of a proper healing process and that things like ice/Advil/certain steroids hinder that repair. |
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I just got back from a visit to the Spine Institute in Shreveport Thursday after my local doctor told me that MRI shows 4 ruptured discs
in my lower back. I was told these were old injuries  . I have no idea from where as I've had a rough 45 years. I went to physical therapy for 5 days
before the visit, getting TENS, heat, traction, and stretches/exercises. I have, since August, been getting episodes where my back will "slip" and I go into a session of ungodly, excruciating, breathtaking pain where I can't move for a minute or two. Muscle spasms leave me disabled for another day or two while I struggle with ice and heat to get the soreness out and get on my feet walking again. It is important to get on your feet as much as possible and keep moving if you can. Otherwise you'll weaken your muscles. See a doctor. |
| Get yourself checked out first to make sure you didn't seriously injure yourself. After that you can try pt, exercises, etc. On a really good day I move close to normal, on the bad days I cannot get out of bed. Take care of it before it becomes a permanent issue. |
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I actually broke my spine once and have a disk slippage. I had back pain every single day for over a year. Then I started going to the gym and doing back exercises. Nothing extreme, just the standard sort of workout, a warm up set and then three sets of ten or so hyperextensions, wide grip pullups, dips, cable rows, shrugs haven't had a day of pain since if your muscles aren't strong enough to do their job, you will have spasms and pain exactly zero people who read the above will take it seriously. but I tried You're right. My back is far too gone to completely alleviate the pain, but it's much more tolerable. Keep the weight down, lots and lots of core ab/oblique exercises. That reminds me, I need to go do something productive. |