Have you had persistent lower back pain before? How did you remedy it?
Lifting heavy things = 8+
Sitting = 5
Getting up = 5 to 6
BJJ = 0 to 6
Walking = 0
Laying on my side = 2
Laying on my stomach = 4
Employing a little hyperbole myself, it hurts to exist.
The pain also seems to be migrating. It's slowwwwwly...creeeeping...down...into my butt...and slowwwwly creeeeeping..around..into my hip flexors. Who knows where it's headed next. I read that back pain can result in leg pain but that hasn't quite happened yet.
It all started after deadlifts. I felt great (AWESOME, in fact) during the set and afterwards. My low back typically has acute pain for two days after deadlifts - and even sometimes right after. It usually hurt to bend over at the waist, so I would hold my back and squat down like a pregnant lady if I needed to pick something up. Regardless, it was always the good sort of pain!
But this time it was different. Doing body weight squats in BJJ for warm-up the next day killed. I could not go very low and I had to do them really slowly.
I decided to take about a week off from lifting. Everything was hunky-doory until I started warming up for squats on Tuesday:
With a bar -- oh, this doesn't feel right.
"This is bizarre..." I think to myself.
Add some warm up weight -- Ouch!
"Hmmm, I don't like this..."
Add more warm up weight -- OH MAN!!!
"Maybe this isn't such a good idea."
So I stopped and just did what I could, which wasn't a whole heck of a lot.
The bad thing was, my back continued to hurt a lot after that. I self-medicated but nothing seemed to help. I went to BJJ that night and some actions during light flow rolling really hurt.
I have been doing yoga, and I rolled on Thursday at a normal pace for one short round and it didn't hurt at all during. However, it seemed to be in worse shape the next day.
I'm going to go to open mat today and play it by ear. But I am also going to be calling up a doctor on Monday, because my gut is telling me that this pain isn't going to go away on its own. My guess is that I need massage therapy. Active Release Therapy is also an option. Does anyone have any experience with this, or is it just a name brand version of massage therapy?
Oh my gosh that sucks. I have never had Active Release Therapy, although it was recommended to me by my doctor a few years back. He was a long distance bicyclist and told me the ART helps get rid of scar tissue that might hinder a complete healing process.
ReplyDeleteI have practiced Bikram yoga, and I can tell you it does help keep the needling aches and pains at bay.
Take care, back pain is no joke.
my back is crap so i feel your pain. when i first started training i was so flexible that i would contort like a pretzel and could stay with someone stacking me for an entire round..il thought i was superwoman...WRONG. Now i'm paying for it and it BLOWS. I've been going to the chiropractor a couple times a week and as skeptical as i was and stil am it has helped a ton, one big thing that i love is that he gives me free visits to the massage therapist once a week so i'd recommend incorporating some yoga stretches into your routine, maybe getting a good deal or experience boyrfriend with very anly hands to rub on ya otherwise take it really easy. One time when I kept training on my crap back it caused me to have painful back spasms for days...oh and i've found that fish oil has helped osme.
ReplyDeletegood luck, hope you feel better
Super belated, but thanks for your input, guys. After going to a family doctor, I am now doing physio. He said I was okay to train through BJJ but to not push through any pain. I am still considering doing ART for the heck of it. It sounds like it could be beneficial with nothing to lose except for maybe dolla bills.
ReplyDelete@ Shakia: Funny you should mention that stacking thing. I have heard of that happening to a couple people I know -- where they are fine rolling, but hurt later! Even before my back hurt, I have always been terrified of that position!
Active release techniques, more commonly referred to as ART, is a method of deep tissue massage to reduce adhesion build-up, muscle cramping and nerve compression, as well as return the muscles to their natural length and flexibility.Click to get the services of Chiropractor For Shoulder Pain, Active Release Chiropractic and Denver Colorado Chiropractors.
ReplyDelete