My back is driving me insane, I`ve been out of all training apart from swimming (and that hurt a bit) for the last 3 weeks now. Approximately 3 weeks ago I was at my TKD class, we were doing; Jogging/Sprinting, Sit ups, Press Ups, Downward kicks up and down a massive hall, Jumping Split Kicks againsed held pads. During this 2 hour routine I`ve managed to damage the lower part of my back, just above my bum at the base of the spine. for the first week it ache`d like hell, I couldnt walk fast without pain. Now it feels stiff, but if i do anything that jurks it at all (so basically anything physical) it gives me a sharp reminder by a stabbing pain in my lower back. I`ve started using frozen pee`s on it for 20 mins twice a day but so far nothings changed. Has anyone had this happen to them? How long did it take to go? What did you do to help it heal apart from rest? Thanks guys for your reply, I`m going insane in the membrane doing nothing but college work :bang:
Plenty of ice packs, stretching and light exercise. Dont fall into the trap of just sitting around as this often makes the situation worse. Get the doctor to prescribe you some anti inflamitories(spelling?). Hope you recover soon.
I got a hamstring strain Grade 2 about four months ago, couldnt join in for 2 months, it bloody drove me mad. I recieved physo on it, only done exercises prescribed to me, and every now and again it still gives me some grief, but thats because i made the mistake of not going to the doctors straight away.
I have had huge lower back problems for about six years (i'm 24) in the same area as what you have descibed and found that you will learn the best way to deal with it through experimentation. For me, more activity = less back pain. Often it is referred pain when talking about lower backs, ie. tight or imbalanced hamstrings or calves. Also, lack of endurance in the back muscles is a huge cause as the muscles have to support your back all day long and when the muscles tire the tend to spasm giving you all kinds of problems. This means that core strengthening and making sure that all the surrounding muscles are in order as well. I see an osteopath for my back, not so much these days, and they deal with referred pain really well. Also, just a quick note when stretching your back, try to avoid stretching you ligaments and tendons as much as possible when stretching your back and focus on the muscles as loose tendons and ligaments will cause you major problems that you don't need. This has worked for me but it took a bit of trial and error. Good luck.
lol.... i get the same problem now and again, particularly after a really hard training session...I buy a big can of deep freeze, it helps a lot and cut training out for about a week, while i do my stretches/warm up routine twice - four times a day, using spray when needed.
chiropractor? dunno, whenever i injure myself, i go to this really good chirporactor i've been seeing since i was a kid (she's really old now, i think over 70) and the pain is always gone after 2 days or 3 no matter how bad the swelling is. (hurts like bloody hell while she's doing her thing though)
I just experienced the same problems that you are describing, right at the very base of my spine above my bum. It started about a month ago and has been getting worse. My doctor prescribed me anti-inflamatories but they did no good at all. Today I went to see an Osteopath and he checked my back over and said that some of the bones in my lower back were badly out of place. He said that this could have been caused by anything at all, even as trivial as stepping off the sidewalk slightly wrong. It will only get worse if you leave it so get it looked at asap.
I had pain in my lower back after restarting excercise after a long illness. My doctor recommended swimming (really emphasised the swimming), 3 times a week, 15 minutes or so. My local gym added to that back extensions on the fitball, though I'm told I need to do crunches as well to balance that. The last two increase the load on the back, but have really helped me. I noticed the difference very quickly, a week or so and no pain. If I stop karate, my doctor asks why. Once it was to train for a cycling event - but I was told that as soon as I'd done the event, I must go back to karate. (Its so fun though)
Looks like a whole lot of people have suffered or are suffering from a variety of back aches and pains. Since I've had the misfortune of suffering a variety of back and knee injuries (and treatments) over the years, I'd like to share what I've learned about how to recuperate more quickly with all of you. Here's a number of tips to prevent things from getting worse, and then get things back to normal: 1. If the pain comes on suddenly and can be traced to a specific event, get ye to a doctor specializing in sports medicine, chiropracty, or osteopathy immediately. They can verify whether you have new structural problems (disks, vertebrae or ribs out of place) and start doing something about it. This may or may not require an invasive prodedure. No internet diagnosis can determine this for you. 2. If the pain comes on gradually and you aren't sure whether it can be traced to a specific event, get ye to a health professional specializing in applied kinesiology, sports medicine, chiropracty, massage, or possibly oriental medicine. Most problems that come on gradually are the result of minor injuries that cause muscular tension imbalances that irradiate into surrounding tissues and result in weird aches and pains in other parts of your body. (Example: my buddy had a weird shoulder issue that resulted in chronic problems with his opposite foot.) A professional that focuses on balancing the internal tensions of your body can do a lot without invasive procedures. 3. Use cold packs for no more than 20 minutes at a time for the first few days. Swelling can be addressed most effectively with Bromelain supplements (take more than what the bottle recommends for daily use - and only take it until the swelling goes down) and lots of water. I recommend avoiding high doses of ibuprofen for joint injuries, as this retards the regeneration of cartilage and other joint tissues. 4. Do not try to stretch the connective tissues of any joints involved in the known (or suspected) injury. You can tear stuff, and that sucks big time. 5. Do not immobilize the injury completely unless your medical professional requires it. If you want to regain your mobility, immobilization is usually not the first thing to do. 6. Stop all resistance training of any kind. Training with resistance when you are injured will not speed up the healing process. Worse, it can reinjure you or cause new problems with muscle tension imbalances that will be harder to eliminate than the ones you already have. Training "through the pain" is pure idiocy and belongs back in the 1950s, where it came from. 7. Instead of static stretching or isometric stretching, focus on gentle dynamic movements. Rate your pain on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being none and 10 the worst you've ever felt. Don't let the movements you use exceed a 3-4 on this scale. 8. If your back is the site of the injury, start by doing gentle circles with your wrists and ankles, your elbows and knees, then your neck and shoulders, then ease into your upper body, upper legs, hips, and so forth. If you start exceeding a 3-4 before you get to the injury, back off, slow down, and work your way in again. Don't force it. 9. I personally use Scott Sonnon's "Warrior Wellness", which I strongly recommend. However, you can get by with simple circles of each joint to begin with. When doing circles of the leg and hip joints, balance on one leg (hold something if you need to) and do the circles without weight on those joints. For circles of the back joints, you can get down on all fours to minimize the load on your vertebrae. To work up to neck circles, start by sliding your neck forward and backward, side-to-side, and tilting and turning it to either side. Work up to sliding your neck forward, then going directly to one side, then all the way back, then the other side, and back to front. Smooth it out. To work up to back circles, work on slowly tilting to both sides, front and back, sliding side-to-side (keep shoulders even), and collapsing then hyperextending your back. Develop the ability to do hip circles smoothly. Then work to smoothly collapse your back into a hunched position, shift to one side (with shoulders even), then to hyperextended position, then to the other side, and so on. It will look like the middle of your back is undulating in a circle around its normal center. A few people with significant back issues are currently using the methods discussed above. Here's links to some of those discussions: http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3874 http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4031 http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4061 10. Once you regain the ability to move normally pain-free, take some time to build the ability to move pain-free outside your normal range of motion. This does not mean static stretching, but going further with the recommendations listed above. Taking this time will pay off big over the long run, as it will reduce the likelihood of a reinjury and give your body the extra time it needs to finish knitting itself back together after an injury. The absence of pain only means your body has accomplished the most critical part of the repair, not that the repairs are finished. Take at least an extra week for increasing the unweighted mobility of all your joints before getting back into resistance training or hard practice. 11. If you follow steps 9-10 prior to injuring yourself, you may never have the injury. These steps are excellent for warmups, cooldowns, and for off-days. Daily practice will eventually result in being able to train regularly without the usual DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) that most people bitch about. Good luck to all of you with the injuries, I hope this information is useful to you. If you want more information, please feel free to contact me. My site www.ClubbellTrainer.com has links to too many excellent articles on this topic to list here, so you'll have to explore that the hard way. Good training to you all!
I've had lower back problems in the same place as well over the past year and a half (at times, I wasn't even able to stand up straight without stabbing pain). A sports masseur I was recommended by my instructor diagnosed it as being due to my front quads being too strong in relation to my hamstrings, so they're constantly trying to fold me over. The lower back muscles having to oppose this motion was causing the pain. He showed me a relaxation posture, which is simply to lie with my knees up, or even better, with my feet propped up on a stool or chair, for about 20 minutes at a time (longer if possible - he suggested I try to sleep with my knees propped up, but physically I find I have to stretch out straight). This means the quads have nothing to do, so they relax, and sorts out my lower back stiffness/pain. I also visited an osteopath to check it wasn't a problem with vertebrae alignment or a slipped disc, which it wasn't. Osteopathic manipulation has helped release things a little too (although my lower back is still generally quite stiff), but the osteo didn't diagnose the muscle imbalance which appears to have been the main source of my problem.
Thanks alot for your replys, I went to a Physio Therapist 2 days ago, he told me that I had done the same as you E30Adam. Says I had a bone in the lower back out of place. After some intense 'clicking' I got up and felt great. He said it would be a day at max until it was fine again to do Thai Boxing again (he does Martial Arts himself). So now 2 days on it hurts exactly the same as before. 30 quid well spent Going back to him to see if this is normal or if its gone crooked again or what! Its driving me crazy
Ah CubellTrainer,you are a genius! Just did your prescribed Dynamic stretching, never going about 3~4 pain scale. Then went straight into the Muay Thai warm up we do at class, had a maxiumum of 0~1 in the pain, woo! Im going to give this another go tonight, then Ice it, then see what happens. The pain has moved now tho! its not actually in my back (my back just feels stiff) its in the region on the right hand side of my body. Ive booked another Physio so i`ll see what happens. Cheers mate
It sounds like you are pushing yourself too hard. If you are throwing kicks past a comfortable extension point then it would give you pain. If you push yourself too much during stretching, the same thing could happen. Don't throw everything into the kicks or stretches or whatever and see if things change.
You must have the exact same problem as me because after my visit to the Osteopath, the paint went away and now (4 days on) it's back to how it was again. I'm going to book another session with him and see what he says. I get mine free though on the NHS, have you tried going through your doctor, mine has an onsite Osteopatch which I didn't realise until my GP referred me to him. I see that you've had some luck with the excersises that CubellTrainer recommends, I'm going to try these so will keep you posted of my progress. Let me know how you're getting on and what's working for you.
i've been having lower back pain recently...very painful when i stand up and seems to be very stiff....even clicks sometimes. I don't know why this happens. :cry:
