lower back issues.

[trofius]

ok it happens from time to time at first i thought it was just mild back strain, and on some occasions it probably was. But after a few reoccuring issues, and the current one i went and got it checked out properly. Because untill you know exactally what is wrong, you cant fix it.

first time I ever starined my back was 18 years ago, swinging 20kg bags of spuds up onto a bench

Then I aggravted it about 10 years ago while working in a coal lab, lugging 30kg drums of coal around.

Then maybe 6 years ago i got shooting pains in my back, hips, while I was sitting on a boat fishing, this was diagnosed as a muscle spasm, and for a while everytime i exercised those muscles they would spasm again.

last year i had a few back niggles, a few laid me up for a day or two, before christmas i was shatted by back pain could not move for 3 days, 4th days i could stand and walk kinda, by day 7 all the discomfort was gone. This was domne by leaning forward during a 140kg squat, and mongreling it up rather than yeilding to poor form.

Now the current issue, maybe 2 months after the last, again with a 140 squat, and poor form leaning to far forward. The common thing here apart from the weight was that they were both earlyish morning sessions, ~9-10.. A week earlier i easily did a 150 squat no worries at all. at a night traing session

so maybe its a warmup, limber, stretched thingy, i allways feel piss week in the mornings.

Anyways back to the point.

My current issue was at first thought to be an SI injury, x-rays show a slight abnormality on the r side, but to be sure doc had get a CT aswell.

Ct report showed I have degerative changes, in my SI joint that are normal for my age group.

The more serious issue, was that between my L3, L4, L5, S1 vertabrae I have buldging disks, my sacrum angle is a bit out, and i have degenerative changes, to the surfaces of my lower lumber vertabrae.

The disks in the L4 to L5, and L5 to S1, spaces, are protruding more on the right hand side, placeing pressure on the nerves leaving my spine, and causing a lot of referred lower back pain..

It has been two weeks, i still cant bend forward very much, cant load up my lower back, or stretch my hammies, .

SOOOOOO

has anyone else had a buldging disk?
what treatments were you given?
Could you squat or deadlift ever again?
how long did your recovery take?

Does anyone in the Brisbane area know a good sports orientated spinal / orthopaedic specialist.

 

[Brick]

That sucks mate. I feel your pain. It was 6 years ago I got severe protrusions on L4/5 & S1 in a work accident. I did the whole ct guided cortisone shot straight into the disc 3 times in total all with the same results fine for a month than back to agony with every step and cough. I was a fourth year apprentice at the time and we were a single income family so I couldn't stop working which in hindsight hindered recovery badly. It was a dark time for me personally and I battled some serious depression and workcover were absolute pricks to deal with.

The CT guided shots shoot the cortisol straight into the area of the disc/nerves and makes the nerve less receptive to the irritation of the disc constantly rubbing against them thus relieving the contraction of the spine and giving the protrusion a chance to heal.

The worst part is you will feel great after the shot but you need to not do anything for at least 3 months while the disc recovers. It is amazing you hobble in like a cripple and then walk out like a normal person.

6 years later I am lifting heaps but am unable to do repetitve tasks in loaded positions all day so will never work on the tools again. I dead 190, squat 130 atg, bench 110.

If you want the name of a great specialist/surgeon let me know the guy I saw was awesome and did alot of professional league/union players. He is located on the Gold Coast. A real straight shooter to. I opted not to get surgery at the time but have had two colleagues get a fusion/disc replacement with the same surgeon and both returned to manual jobs within 12 weeks but one reckons his golf swing is fucked cause he lost flexibility.

 

[trofius]

thanks mate I have read about the injections, and cuttting the protusion off, but have also read that it will permanantly weaken the disk ( more than it is), it does however mean the pain goes away. I have also read they do stem cell injections, that can repair the herniated areas, I think mine at this stage is just a buldge, the inners of the disk havent busted out (herniated)

I also have for the past 6-8 years not been able to do things like digging, shoveling etc for any extended time, also sitting in the car for extended time can be quite uncomfortable. holding my kids for more than 10minutes also hurts.

i get alsorts of "but you can lift hundreds of kilos, but complain it hurts to hold your 7 kg daughter" *insert looks of your BSing me here.*

at the moment braking in the car from any speed is nuts..

 

[Brick]

Hey mate the injections are more a way to stop the pain/inflamation and give you a chance to let the disc repair itself. When the 'bulge' touches the nerves your muscles spasm & contract causing more compression meaning the bulge is worse and more radiated pain. The idea been you get the shot when you have an episode and the disc returns to it's normal shape. However it always remains weaker at the point of the protrusion.

Cutting the protrusion off (disectomy) is the cheapest option and pushed by public health system for that reason, nearly everyone that has it done ends up getting a fusion or disc replacement down the track.

Fusion is when they graft bone either side of the disc to eliviate the pressure on the disc. It effectively fuses your spine rigid at that joint. They can also do disc replacement which is much less invasive then a fusion they cut the disc out completely and replace it with a solid acrylic disc.

Do some research on disc replacement if you decide to get it fixed permanently this is the way to go. Spend a bit time googling and you will see shitloads of athletes get them. Personally I just chose to live with my fucked back but I am just delaying the inevitable, I work hard to keep my core strong and I seem to recover alot quicker but same problems as you - driving, standing in one place too long, flying overseas, working around the house inevitably results in me beign laid up for a week or two.

 

[Brick]

Should mention other things that suck when your back is fucked-
putting on underwear
putting on socks
dropping something on the floor (not worth the pain to get it back)
getting stuff from bottom shelf/draw
trying to shoulder check
it goes on and on

 

[trofius]

Lol, oh and bending forward to lift the shitter lid

 

[nazzysmith]

I would never do any kind of heavy squats or deadlifts in the morning. Intradiscal pressure in spinal discs is 240% higher in the morning than normal due to hydration and it can take 3 hours from rising for discs to return to normal function. Spinal ligaments are also significantly stiffer. This significantly increases the risk of spinal disc and ligament injury when putting compressive load on your spine (ie even if your form is perfect).

Hey mate... Interesting comment from one of the other threads... I note that you indicated both times you got injured was in the morning...

 

[trofius]

We do the squats on a Sunday morning as it is closer to the time that you would actually be competing, ie squats are the first lift of a comp, comps usually start around 10 or 11.

I doubt i will be hitting squats or deads before noon in the future.. It just doesnt agree with me.

 

[D-Man]

I was diagnosed with a bulging disc a few years ago - posterior bulge to be exact. Went to a physio who made the diagnosis. Gave me the usual back extension exercises that seems to be the common treatment for a posterior bulge. Didn't do anything for me - in fact I think it made it worse.

I've had a bit of a struggle ever since. I even bought a trap bar because I thought I would never squat or deadlift with a straight bar again.

Anyhow, I've managed to get it under control now such that I feel confident enough to start squatting and deadlifting with REALLY light weight. So far so good and I'm going to slowly build from there. Even though the weight is pissweak I am just stoked to be able to squat and deadlift again.

One thing that has really helped me is trigger point therapy. I highly recommend Clair Davies' Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, especially if you have referred pain like me. Whenever I start feeling tight in the back or the sciatica starts playing up, I hit the usual spots over the course of a few days and that has prevented any major recurrences.

I'm also giving yoga a go to improve my strength and flexibility. It seems to be working because I am a few centimetres from touching my toes instead of being lucky to reach my knees like before I started.

 

[duckeo]

Previously had L4/L5 bulging discs - physio for about 4 weeks sorted me right now.

Since then my routine has included far more core work, squats, dead lifts and I regularly repeat some of the back excercises the physio taught me.

It rarely causes me any problem now, but if it did I'd be able to manage it.

My biggest tip - find a good physio and let them work you out, and teach you to manage it.

 

[cunniff1981]

I have had a lot of back issues too and one thing that I have found recently that has really helped is foam rolling my hips (spent a lot of time on these), quads, glutes (and these), IT bands. All that stuff. I have found that I no longer hurt to bend over and I am lifting better than ever (pain free). Worth a try as it can't hurt, can only help or not.

 

[Rugby88]

I have had major back issues in the past and honestly the best thing I have done is let go of the ego and train because I enjoy it...I know it may sound pussy but I have stopped doing any exercises that may re-injure my back...I made sure recovery was good and still did things to "strengthen" my lower back but things such as squats, deadlifts, sldl, leg press etc are now totally out...its not worth getting injured again for nothing...since stopping these exercises and stretching etc I have not re-injured my back..it has been over a yr now (touch wood) and honestly my results over the last yr have prob been the best ever...because I have been able to train with no worry of injuring myself....

Sometimes my back does get tight and I need to stretch etc but it normally passes within a day or 2...

My advice would be let go of the ego...train because you enjoy it and really think about the pros and cons about doing diff exercises...

 

[Goosey]

ok it happens from time to time at first i thought it was just mild back strain, and on some occasions it probably was. But after a few reoccuring issues, and the current one i went and got it checked out properly. Because untill you know exactally what is wrong, you cant fix it.

first time I ever starined my back was 18 years ago, swinging 20kg bags of spuds up onto a bench

Then I aggravted it about 10 years ago while working in a coal lab, lugging 30kg drums of coal around.

Then maybe 6 years ago i got shooting pains in my back, hips, while I was sitting on a boat fishing, this was diagnosed as a muscle spasm, and for a while everytime i exercised those muscles they would spasm again.

last year i had a few back niggles, a few laid me up for a day or two, before christmas i was shatted by back pain could not move for 3 days, 4th days i could stand and walk kinda, by day 7 all the discomfort was gone. This was domne by leaning forward during a 140kg squat, and mongreling it up rather than yeilding to poor form.

Now the current issue, maybe 2 months after the last, again with a 140 squat, and poor form leaning to far forward. The common thing here apart from the weight was that they were both earlyish morning sessions, ~9-10.. A week earlier i easily did a 150 squat no worries at all. at a night traing session

so maybe its a warmup, limber, stretched thingy, i allways feel piss week in the mornings.

Anyways back to the point.

My current issue was at first thought to be an SI injury, x-rays show a slight abnormality on the r side, but to be sure doc had get a CT aswell.

Ct report showed I have degerative changes, in my SI joint that are normal for my age group.

The more serious issue, was that between my L3, L4, L5, S1 vertabrae I have buldging disks, my sacrum angle is a bit out, and i have degenerative changes, to the surfaces of my lower lumber vertabrae.

The disks in the L4 to L5, and L5 to S1, spaces, are protruding more on the right hand side, placeing pressure on the nerves leaving my spine, and causing a lot of referred lower back pain..

It has been two weeks, i still cant bend forward very much, cant load up my lower back, or stretch my hammies, .

SOOOOOO

has anyone else had a buldging disk?
what treatments were you given?
Could you squat or deadlift ever again?
how long did your recovery take?

Does anyone in the Brisbane area know a good sports orientated spinal / orthopaedic specialist.

MXS Australia Spine Care by MedX

 

[RedDog]

I damaged my L4/L5 disc about 11 years ago playing footy. From the MRT scans the surgeon said I had bulge in my disc and had disc fragments floating around rubbing up against my root nerves on the spine.
I had the pain shooting down the leg and in the lower back and walked real funny to compensate for the pain.

I was only 18 when I did it so wasn't too keen for surgury that young so i tried bowen therapy which worked really well and got me walking straight again with much less pain but a couple months after I stopped the bowen therapy the pain returned.

I ended up getting the surgery to remove the disc fragments and haven't looked back. It took me a few months to return to work and i gave up footy and other contact sport to reduce the risk of re-injuring my back. Still get pain when sitting too long or im in a static position too long but it is no where near the pain I used to get.



I hope you can get your back issue sorted out sooner later than later mate !

Good luck !