Lower Back Muscle Spasms

[sailorboy1]

Hope you get better, both physically and from the mental pain this event has resulted in!

[rebel heart]

Deadlifts and deep squats.

Until my late 20's I had lower back pain since about 18 (including ruptured discs). I started doing quasi-competitive weight lifting and have never had any problems since. Stronger muscles are less prone to injury. I'm in my mid 30's and deadlift about 400 pounds right now. From lifting real weight you get used to what proper mechanics are and you know what you can and can't do safely.

The thing about getting older is horseshit. There are guys lifting as much as me who are literally twice my age. They have to work a lot smarter to manage the longer recovery times but they are some tough ass men who have a lifetime of hardwork under their belts.

Yoga and stretching are great, but go talk to serious weight lifters about injuries they're sustaining. You'll find a much higher percentage in the regular deconditioned population.

[rebel heart]

This guy is 53.

[delmarrey]

Here's what happened to mine after bending over to dry my feet after a shower. The spine is supposed to be like the one in the upper LH corner. When I bent over the disk popped inward, severing part of the cord, putting my right leg in to a massive rigamortis or whatever you call it.

The pain brought tears to my eyes and all I could do was lay on my back and moan while rolling back and forth. It was over 2 days before I could bend my leg again, and then not very much. The muscles finally started to relax. And it took surgery to get the ruptured disk out of my spine.

Anyway, It's a long story and after 5 years I have learned things that I try to pass on to others for prevention.

If you want to talk, PM me and I can pass on some info that is very useful for recovery.


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[cat man do]

All quite timely seeing as I am laid up with stabbing lower back pains at the moment.

Can sleep on my left but not my right and can hobble to the fridge for cold beer but thats about it.

What time can I start taking my brown medicine Dr?

[downunder]

As a younster tall and thin I had significant problems always visiting chiropractors as did my father all his life.

In my early twenties started diving as a sport spearfishing, underwater hockey, fin swimming and midweek training was pool swimming and underwater hockey through till age over 40..

As an adult I can only put down my lack of back problems to the extensive swimming i did which exercises and builds muscles around the spine without heavy load.

Not always easy to do but swimming even with fins up to an hour/day could be the answer to managing your back problems.

[Capt Phil]

Backs are a bitch when they go bad and once they do they are prone to go bad again and again. My heart goes out to Skprjohn and cat man do who are clearly suffering. My advice is to go slow towards the 'knife'. Personally, I went through Physical Therapy, a specific workout program for back strengthing, graduated to Epidural injections and when they finally wouldn't work any longer, opted for surgery from which I'm now 3 months into an 8-12 month recovery. A 5 vertebrae fusion will work, I hope, but no guarantees. Remember, this is the only body we have and spare parts are not always readily available so we need to take care of what we have. The suggestions to stay fit and healthy are truly words of wisdom... Capt Phil

[capngeo]

If it is truly a spasm, and not a disc/nerve/stenosis issue, heat will abate the symptoms.. they may return when cool. So if you get no relief from heat, go see a cutter

[delmarrey]

I read thru the whole thread now and I see some really bad advice already.

First, it takes 6 weeks for a disk to heal. That's if you stay laid out flat on your back. Any extreme movement will aggravate the disk making it swell.

Cold packs on the lower back, along with anti-inflamatory meds, is what works!!! And muscle relaxers to relax the muscle, which relieves the pain. Only use pain killers for extreme pain. If aspirin works, use that. BTW Aspirin is also an anti-inflamitory. I've been using Excedrin extra strength which is my godsend. But I have Etodolac ER 400mg that I take with a muscle relaxer, if I screw up.

And NEVER work while on pain killers, even aspirin. All you do is hurt the disk even more. Ask me how I know.......

Second, bending and twisting is the worse thing you can do until that disk is has shrunken down, which takes time, and meds sometimes.

Get an MRI... That will show you whats really going on. Screw the doctors. Take charge of yourself. The doc's will give you pain meds and send you back to work before your back is healed. And when you blow out a disk, if you haven't already, they get to do $urgery, and send you back to work again. Then another surgery.

It's all down hill unless you change you work habits.

[Therapy]

Lots of good 2cents's here. Heat pad-ice..... great.....Perfect forum here!

I experienced your shock myself once. Got up to pee at night, sat for it,and could not get up. Fell and crawled back to bed. Pain unless lying on my back with pillow under knees. Muscle relaxants and rest. Took months. The physical therapy made things worse. Rest (and drugs). It self heals.

Of course I was working 12-14 hour days (missed 5 initially) so was taking 4-5 Flexoril a day (1-2 = normal) Thank goodness coworkers helped me out.

It takes x-rays (yes you can see disk space abnormalities on them) but MRI is much better. Once you know it is muscle rather than disk you can decide (with your doc) what the next course is.

For me? Exercise did not help in the acute phase. Only rest. Then LIGHT stuff at first but stretches have been my savior. The only thing that has helped.

I have had three more "injuries" since then. One moderate and two less sever than the first. I have found that stretches help me keep going.

What happens though is that as you recover you learn what movements cause pain and what movements don't. You will learn what those are. When you forget you will attain another bout and will have to relearn all over again. Depending on how dull you are you will end up learning your (backs) limitations soon, or over and over like me.

That initial paralyzing pain and fear are pretty awful huh? Heh! Welcome to the club.

You will probably be given a pamphlet with exercises and stretches. I use only two. Most of the rest just re-injure me. I won't comment on extreme weight lifting as a cure for ruptured disks.

PM if you want details.

I wonder if there is a backpaingroup.com

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Therapy

I wonder if there is a backpaingroup.com

back pain group - Google Search

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by downunder

As a younster tall and thin I had significant problems always visiting chiropractors as did my father all his life.

In my early twenties started diving as a sport spearfishing, underwater hockey, fin swimming and midweek training was pool swimming and underwater hockey through till age over 40..

As an adult I can only put down my lack of back problems to the extensive swimming i did which exercises and builds muscles around the spine without heavy load.

Not always easy to do but swimming even with fins up to an hour/day could be the answer to managing your back problems.

Yep.

Regular strenuous exercise on a near daily basis throughout your life. Too bad that most people just don't prioritize it enough or come up with reasons (cough cough, excuses) to avoid it.

The human body is designed to work hard including when recovering from injuries. Barring the first few days around inflammation, you will heal quicker and more permanently if you do proper strength training with solid form.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by cat man do

back pain group - Google Search

Cool,

Quit this sailing stuff and get some "real" help.......

[capngeo]

anyone else smell wintergreen in the room?

[Cat36]

After reading this entire thread the best advice I see is from sailagain. I have had the same symptoms as you, for years the doctors said it was just muscle spasms. In my previous life I rode lifeboats along the Pacific Northwest coast rescuing people. After many years of taking flexeril (cyclobenzaprene) a doctor finally ordered an MRI. Turns out I have two adjacent protuding discs L4-L5, L5-S1, each protuding the opposite way which has caused spinal stenosis. When it was finally discovered I was running 6 miles a day, that had to stop along with the mountain biking. I was sent to multiple physical therapists which was of little help. Surgery was an option but I was told I would loose some mobility. The best thing I have found is to be extra careful of my back, don't lift heavy items, have an adjustable bed (select comfort) and good pain medications (tramadol) when it does act up, in addition keeping my weight down helps. I was lucky that I didn't severe my spinal cord during the time the doctors were telling me it was just muscle spasms. Get an MRI it is the only way to tell if it is a serious disc issue.