Pulled muscle in lower back

Hi guys
I stupidly pulled a muscle in my lower back from doing squats on Sunday morning. Bad technique as I went to stand and so my own stupid fault and the worst part is I have no idea why I stood up the way I did so am kicking myself.
Anyway, I've been using deep heat, hot showers and wheat bags which is helping a lot and I'm not feeling anywhere near as stiff and sore as I was, but I'm definately not back to normal.
I am the type of person who gets straight back into it rather than taking any time off and I finished the rest of my workout on Sunday even after I hurt myself, just being a bit more careful. That said, my back didnt really start to hurt until about 5 hours after I did it....
Anyway, I would normally do some weight training at the gym tomorrow and I'm dying to go. I dont like missing a session because its always so much harder when you skip a few days and get back into it.
Is it ok to go do you think and just be a bit careful about the amount of weight I use where my back is involved?
Or would you not go for a week or so until its totally back to normal?

Just give the squats a miss. You can substitute for another leg exercise such as leg press until your back is better.

No its not ok ...

Imo u need to address the issue...

Physio is the first place to start... Self myofacial release and mobility excercises is what you need atm... Alternatively you may have something more severe that requires rest... Best to get it checked...

One thing PLers are really good at is self dagnosing mobility issues and rectifying them... Allows them to train harder for longer...

+1 on see a physio

Did a similar thing with deadlifts two months back and taken a bit to recover.

Why is it so many people are ignorant of or do not follow simple RICER principles. Even though I do not suggest people self diagnose themselves using google, even a simple internet search wil give you how to deal with a muscle strain and guess what it is... RICER.

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Referral

Why the hell are you applying heat to a muscle injury after training and less than 48 hours after an injury?

And rest. For gods sake rest. You don't have to become a couch potato, but at least avoid exercises that involve whatever you have injured.

And yes that referral part. Depending on the severity and whether you make it worse by continuing to train as usual you may need to see a good physio.

Riddles said:

Why is it so many people are ignorant of or do not follow simple RICER principles. Even though I do not suggest people self diagnose themselves using google, even a simple internet search wil give you how to deal with a muscle strain and guess what it is... RICER.

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Referral

Why the hell are you applying heat to a muscle injury after training and less than 48 hours after an injury?

And rest. For gods sake rest. You don't have to become a couch potato, but at least avoid exercises that involve whatever you have injured.

And yes that referral part. Depending on the severity and whether you make it worse by continuing to train as usual you may need to see a good physio.

Click to expand...

All of this is true... However I can also empathise with Oilucy. Especially if the person has not been training that long as seems to be the case here.

The psychological side of things comes into play... I know I could never be told otherwise when I had injries and trained through them years ago.

Most likely why I am paying for it now.

I regret not making myself more of a regular at a good physio's office earlier than i have now.

Oilucy, I recommend you shop around for a good physio the next time you have an injury.

They are like any other service provider though e.g. mechanic, doctor, plumber... you may have to shop around until you find one that you feel is a good fit for you.

Thanks guys.
Have to admit I've never heard of RICER and that's the reason I posted here for some advice (I'm still an 'L' plater in the gym).
A Physio once previously recommended a Heat Pack which worked and this was the reason I used one together with Deep Heat cream this time round. They both really relaxed my muscles and took the pain away.
Thankfully I'm feeling much better today and am 95% back to normal.
Kat

As far as a bit of temp relief, anica rubs (some herbal shit from the chemist) and anti inflamtories get me through the day when something hurts a bit more than it should.

It its worse than that then +1 to a physio.

Anica is 2x as good as deep heat.

I just recovered from the same thing pretty much. RICER is a must. Time rested is not time wasted if you consider the potential for the injury to get worse if you aggravate it. For me that meant taking a week off, and then resuming exercises like squats gradually and stopping immediately if there is any sign of the back feeling tender or sore (bad sore as opposed to the good sore.. you know the difference!)
I saw a physio and osteo. I personally think an osteopath is better because they look at both skeletal and muscular aspects of the injury. Just two treatments and I'm back to normal with all inflammation and tightness virtually gone. Your mileage may vary of course, lol.
It's nice getting back into a workout once you get the all clear from a professional. the last thing you want is to make the matter worse and then have to go into surgery for a bulged disc!!

i had a lower back injury, saw a doctor told me to lay off the weight training for 3 weeks but i can do cardio. i didn't go running because i thought the impact would still affect the lower back so i went on the eliptical for 3 weeks. used deep heat and so on and it recovered. u need the rest to recover.

Riddles said:

Why is it so many people are ignorant of or do not follow simple RICER principles. Even though I do not suggest people self diagnose themselves using google, even a simple internet search wil give you how to deal with a muscle strain and guess what it is... RICER.

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Referral

Why the hell are you applying heat to a muscle injury after training and less than 48 hours after an injury?

And rest. For gods sake rest. You don't have to become a couch potato, but at least avoid exercises that involve whatever you have injured.

And yes that referral part. Depending on the severity and whether you make it worse by continuing to train as usual you may need to see a good physio.

Click to expand...

Interesting Riddles...

Actually there is a bit of contention around this... Goes a bit something like this...

The application of ice is to stop swelling...

However the application of ice also constricts blood flow and there fore makes no sense on the basis of recovery.... It's the blood flow that flushes away toxins and delivers nutrients into the damaged area...

Couldn't be bothered looking for supporting docs... Just putting it out there...

The recommendations I have seen are:
Ice for the first couple of days to reduce acute inflammation.
Heat after that to promote blood flow and healing.