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OT: hurt my lower back, seeking advice (or better yet a damn miracle!)

Long Tom

Stainless
Joined
Aug 21, 2011
Location
Fiddlefart, Oregon
I was splitting wood several days ago and reached down to pick up a chunk I’d just split and ka-POW.... shooting hot pain in my lower back. I had to use the splitting maul like a cane just to get back to the house.

For reference, I’m mid-50’s and have been splitting wood in large quantity for 30 years as it’s how we heat our house. But, it appears it finally got me.

If I get up and move around it gets very sore and spasms within an hour or so. If I’m flat on my back I can feel it but no spasms.

I know this is impossible to diagnose on the internet but still, I know a lot of you have hurt your backs, and any words of wisdom you learned would be greatly appreciated. Hell, I’ll settle for words of pity. This sucks.

The pain is very low, mainly on one side. However lying here it feels like the injury is a few vertebrae up from where the spasms/pain are happening, if that makes sense? Maybe not. Hard to tell.

Should I bother with a doctor? Are they just gonna want to do expensive imaging then tell me rest it and take ibuprofen? Should I consider a chiropractor? Never been to one.
 
I was splitting wood several days ago and reached down to pick up a chunk I’d just split and ka-POW.... shooting hot pain in my lower back. I had to use the splitting maul like a cane just to get back to the house.

For reference, I’m mid-50’s and have been splitting wood in large quantity for 30 years as it’s how we heat our house. But, it appears it finally got me.

If I get up and move around it gets very sore and spasms within an hour or so. If I’m flat on my back I can feel it but no spasms.

I know this is impossible to diagnose on the internet but still, I know a lot of you have hurt your backs, and any words of wisdom you learned would be greatly appreciated. Hell, I’ll settle for words of pity. This sucks.

The pain is very low, mainly on one side. However lying here it feels like the injury is a few vertebrae up from where the spasms/pain are happening, if that makes sense? Maybe not. Hard to tell.

Should I bother with a doctor? Are they just gonna want to do expensive imaging then tell me rest it and take ibuprofen? Should I consider a chiropractor? Never been to one.


I'm not a doctor, and I don't recall staying at a holiday hotel, but I do split wood to heat the house. (just moved the wood shed, wish it would have been empty prior)

But....

There is a lacross ball on the floor here in the front room. It's always around ..'somewhere". When kinks krinks and spasms rear up, both the wife and I make use of that ball.

Just put the ball on the rug and lay down on it. seek the spot that gives YOU the most discomfort. Rest yourself there, rolling slowly back and forth, nurturing the trouble spot. It can be rough! but in only a few minutes (<10) if you can relax, That ball will push away a good deal of your troubles.

My wife was crippled up early spring for no obvious reason. It took a week (only a week) and she bounced back with no troubles. I get the krinks most every week. I use that ball a lot. Try it. Oh! It won't work if you won't let it. No pain, no gain.

It works for me.

N.B. a kitten ball, a soft ball or a base ball works fine !
 
Get to a doctor and hope you get better before you get worse. Drink lots of water and take some anti-inflammatory medicine (ibuprofen). Don’t do any heavy lifting. Chiropractor is not a bad alternative. Imaging won’t solve the problem, but it can tell you how severe it is. Might be a good first step if they can get you in in a timely manner.
 
dislike the above approach with a passion! There will be a never ending series of referrals and PT that ultimately leads to a DIY result. Doctors get paid for keeping you as patients!
 
I have the anomaly that my lowest vertebra is grown together with the sacrum on both sides. The vertebrae up have to move more when I twist my body and hence the spinal disc 5-4 suffers from time to time. From that I hate VMCs with long Y travels and the covers over which I have to stoop.

What can be in play also are the sacroiliac joints. These hurt. Find a good physiotherapist. Better still: listen to what your body tells you. It makes you do perfectly what it needs.
 
I'm not a doctor, and I don't recall staying at a holiday hotel, but I do split wood to heat the house. (just moved the wood shed, wish it would have been empty prior)

But....

There is a lacross ball on the floor here in the front room. It's always around ..'somewhere". When kinks krinks and spasms rear up, both the wife and I make use of that ball.

Just put the ball on the rug and lay down on it. seek the spot that gives YOU the most discomfort. Rest yourself there, rolling slowly back and forth, nurturing the trouble spot. It can be rough! but in only a few minutes (<10) if you can relax, That ball will push away a good deal of your troubles.

My wife was crippled up early spring for no obvious reason. It took a week (only a week) and she bounced back with no troubles. I get the krinks most every week. I use that ball a lot. Try it. Oh! It won't work if you won't let it. No pain, no gain.

It works for me.

N.B. a kitten ball, a soft ball or a base ball works fine !

I’m into long distance backpacking (because it’s the only way to take vacations with my obsessed wife, haha) and I carry a cork ball about the size of a tennis ball so I know of what you speak. It has saved my bacon several times from foot/leg kinks. I gotta say I’m a bit Leary about rolling this. It seems so “acute”. But shit, maybe I’ll try later tonight.
 
Try ice and Advil first. Heating pads might help, but are pretty useless these days as they don't get that hot because of people getting burned from falling asleep on them. Also if your issue is caused by inflammation heat can make it temporarily worse. A doctor these days isn't likely to prescribe muscle relaxers or pain meds because of the "opioid crisis". A decompression device could help like a Dr Ho belt or a Teeter hang up.
 
Oh, Just a perspective.

I once was a friend with a "crack-yer-back tic."

He was a pretty good fellow, and could do wonders with simple things like door knobs and grabbing ones knees across the torso.

He did let slip one day, "That if everyone did the "sun salutation" hatha yoga sequence every morning, it would put all the chiropractics out of business.

Stretching is good!
 
Try ice and Advil first. Heating pads might help, but are pretty useless these days as they don't get that hot because of people getting burned from falling asleep on them. Also if your issue is caused by inflammation heat can make it temporarily worse. A doctor these days isn't likely to prescribe muscle relaxers or pain meds because of the "opioid crisis". A decompression device could help like a Dr Ho belt or a Teeter hang up.

I’m lying on a heating pad right now. It feels good but indeed, seems to make things worse. I’ll switch to ice later tonight. Icing my back just seemed weird, but, I’m generally a believer.
 
My experiences with chiropractors is that they temporarily relieve the pain, but do nothing to actually fix the problem. Maybe find a good sports doctor.
 
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I've had this issue, and for long years now. Had a ruptured disc at L4/L5 and had an artificial disc replacement. Didn't help me a whole lot, still hurting every single day, all day long. I make do with what I've got, no real improvement in sight.

I would recommend going to a doc and getting things checked out to make sure you know as well as you can exactly what is wrong. Trying to continue the wrong activity could make things far worse. Until then it's kind of tough to speculate on what you should or shouldn't do. I do recommend to avoid surgery if at all possible. It may be that you just need some physical therapy or something to nudge a disc back into proper position.

If you're like I was and it's hurting so bad that you can't take it, then consider surgery. I lost about 70 pounds due to the pain and not even wanting to eat because I hurt so much. Lost all desire to do anything but lay down and try to find a position that didn't hurt like hell. So I went ahead with the surgery. Got mild improvement but at least it was something.
 
I’m lying on a heating pad right now. It feels good but indeed, seems to make things worse. I’ll switch to ice later tonight. Icing my back just seemed weird, but, I’m generally a believer.


Ice numbs the area so MOTION can work it's magic. There is no benefit in just removing the discomfort by icing. Well, a little benefit if it allows you to relax.

The back is one big bundle of tension. Most of our discomforts is your natural protection response to potential injuries to the spine. Those preservation mechanisms WILL NOT LET GO until, they experience "no harm, no foul".

You need to provide that "alternate experience" drugs won't do it. ICE included

Ice let's you do things you would not do warm.
 
Off chance it's a muscle spasm, very painful like a knife twisting. Had one years ago first 24 hours were horrible. someone recommended I try a valium the next night. I woke the next day as if I had healed a month.

I've never been a huge advocate of pills but that was the closest to a miracle I've ever experienced. I realize it's a nerve pill but it allowed the muscles to relax.

I'm not a doctor so this advice is only worth what ya paid. Good luck with this.

Hodge
 
Another sufferer here. I did my back in my early 30’s and I still have problems 40 years later. The first time I did it I just bent over to pick up a 1/4” drill from off the floor. It felt like a elastic band snapping in my back. No sharp pain, just a constant dull ache. The second time I was lifting up the arm of a reciprocating saw and it felt like I’d been stabbed in the lower back with a red hot knife. I was working in a senior school at the time and I was sawing up some bar for a male student. I let out an involuntary “ FUCK “ and then said to the kid “ You never heard that “.

I found no two people have exactly the same story regarding symptoms etc and no two people have the same cure or treatment that helps. Guys have told me to try manipulation, exercise, acupuncture, traction, hypnosis etc you name it, they recommended it.

I found traction worked best for me but it wasn’t a cure, it just helped.

Good luck with it, I hope you haven’t got “ a friend for life “.

Regards Tyrone.
 
herniated disk? dont always assume the worst. what usually happens is that some muscle you didnt even know you had starts contracting (continous spasm). its not clear if heat or cold helps (thats what a specialist told me). however exercise does. go and work in the garden, even if its painfull. i got myself a contraption for a few bucks from a tv-promotion, where you lie on you back and hang you legs over the thing. it moves up and down and helps relax the muscles. if you want go get outside help, go and see a shiatsu practitioner.

btw, you are lucky, you dont have any pain when on your back. at least you can sleep.
 
You are ok- "mainly on the side"

I leaned way over to pick up a transmission gear box when I was about 16.
Damn thing look small but.. Pain in spine to some degree ever since and an odd lump in spinal column.
I would hate to see imaging.

But- I pull flanking muscles in back often enough.
The rule of thumb I heard was the degree of danger to spine goes way up the closer to center the injury is.
If within a fist width of spine- take real care as you may be in spinal column injury territory.
Otherwise I am betting you pulled or tore a muscle and well- loosen it up and you will knit up.

The worse I did was a 200 pound bin being lifted into a truck- I bent over and twisted to get a hold an lifted- wow- on the ground with pain on flank of lower back- thought I was done for and had a major disk injury.

I stayed on the ground till I could get in the house and stayed down for a while- it stetted out in a few days.
Look into a tear in the latissimus dorsi and don't panic about having done in your spine.


Note the causes...:

Latissimus Dorsi Pain: Symptoms, Causes, and Exercises
 
In my 20's I injured my back lifting weights; I am 63 now. Over the years it flairs up every now and then but I try to stay pretty active (I still run and lift weights and build stuff and work on cars etc). I had an xray years ago that showed a couple of compressed discs. I have not had surgery and don't intend to. I try to stretch often, and the ball thing under the sore area, and heat and ice, and ibuprofen as needed.

Every so often it flairs up pretty bad if I have been reckless. It seems to take anywhere from several days - to several weeks - to get better. I am intent on not being one of those guys that say, "sorry - I can't help you - I have a bad back". I have an injury that will never go away till I get my new body back at the Resurrection.

Last year my wife had a flair up of sciatica. She is no wimp - birthed five children with no pain meds. She was in bed for two weeks and in constant pain. Finally went to a DO. He probed the area with his fingers and in like two seconds could describe her symptoms to her as if he was experiencing them. He gave her a couple of options; do nothing and it would likely resolve in a few weeks. He could giver her a shot of cortisone and she would feel better by the time she got in the car. She opted for the shot. Sure enough. By the time she was in the car she was feeling relief. By the time we got home (about 20 minutes) she was substantially improved. By the next day 80-90% improved. From there she never looked back. It has been 7 months for her and not another episode.

That's my story. Let us know how it goes for you so the community here can use it as an accumulated knowledge base. I think that accumulation give us the ability to make the most informed decisions on these issues. Thanks for sharing your personal pain.
 
I was splitting wood several days ago and reached down to pick up a chunk I’d just split and ka-POW.... shooting hot pain in my lower back. I had to use the splitting maul like a cane just to get back to the house.

For reference, I’m mid-50’s and have been splitting wood in large quantity for 30 years as it’s how we heat our house. But, it appears it finally got me.

If I get up and move around it gets very sore and spasms within an hour or so. If I’m flat on my back I can feel it but no spasms.

I know this is impossible to diagnose on the internet but still, I know a lot of you have hurt your backs, and any words of wisdom you learned would be greatly appreciated. Hell, I’ll settle for words of pity. This sucks.

The pain is very low, mainly on one side. However lying here it feels like the injury is a few vertebrae up from where the spasms/pain are happening, if that makes sense? Maybe not. Hard to tell.

Should I bother with a doctor? Are they just gonna want to do expensive imaging then tell me rest it and take ibuprofen? Should I consider a chiropractor? Never been to one.

Sounds like a Herniated disc. I had one. Had to have surgery which was called a discectomy I believe. Outpatient, they just make a very small incision and snip off the budging portion that is pressing against the nerves.
If you're lucky, that will be it & it will heal nicely
If your unlucky like me, (1 in every 100) you'll have scar buildup and the scar will replace the bulge and still cause you pain.
In the end it was trying different epidural injections till they found the right one that worked. Now I only get the pain if I gain too much weight...so in a way it is a blessing forcing me to diet at certain times...I'm a glass half full kind of guy...:) Best of luck, back spasms are the worst, so I would seek medical advice from a professional ASAP.
 








 
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