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Have you ever thrown out your back? Tip: Don't throw out your back.
- Thread starter Metanoia Prime
- Start date
I threw out my back a couple years ago and it was so bad that I took up yoga after getting better. I missed a week of work.
When I was about 12, I used to use a lot of pillows at night. One day I woke up and honestly thought my neck was broken. Couldn't move my head even slightly without unbearable pain. Turns out the funny angle of my neck displaced one of the bones in my neck. Osteopath clicked it back into place.
Not quite back but it's the best I can do.
Not quite back but it's the best I can do.
I said out of shape and I SHOULD correct that. Being out of shape contributes, but mostly because we/you just aren't moving your body in the most optimal way it should move. A big part of functional fitness, as I described, is understanding how your body moves. So if I reach for something, beyond being in shape, I also know where my center of gravity needs to be my muscle groups have the muscle memory to support me extending my body out, and if I have to stretch I know how to transfer power from the start of the stretch to the reach, etc.
Mostly that is all just a detailed and fancy way to describe what most people think is "being in shape".. but it's important I feel to point out. Going to the gym and training in functional fitness (usually not machines) is more than just lifting weight. It's teaching your body how to move properly.
Yes this is an ad (though I don't actually know the gym) and yes it's on Facebook but when I describe this to people this is exactly what I'm talking about.
https://www.facebook.com/110661345768597/posts/1199934280174626?sfns=mo
I tremendous trainer once said to me "people who have terrible form in the gym are more likely to hurt themselves reaching for something in the cupboard at home than they are to hurt themselves lifting weight at the gym". This FLOORED me.. but it's true. We live lives of extreme convenience where we never have to squat down, never have to put our arms above our heads for any strenuous work, never have to jump, etc. These are things that every animal knows naturally from birth, us included, and by age 5-8 we lose virtually all of it because we've eliminated the need for it from our lives (and most importantly from our children's lives)
A large muscle under my left shoulder blade will seize up, about once a year. There is a lot of scar tissue there, so it gets worse as I get older. I have a crooked spine, so sometimes when I try do something in an awkward position, the muscle will seize up and I can't move.
Only thing to do is rest, hydrate, maybe take some muscle relaxants. My doctor recommended weight lifting to strengthen the back.
Only thing to do is rest, hydrate, maybe take some muscle relaxants. My doctor recommended weight lifting to strengthen the back.
Yes, I did it on Monday. It still hurts when I sit down. I was lifting bags at work and then my back started hurting, and it was near the beginning of my shift, so it was a long day at work. It was really bad when I dropped a huge pile of papers on the floor and had to pick them all up.
OP
OP
Pain Friends š¤
Still recovering. Last night was the worst night of my life. A solid 10/10 on the pain scale. I probably slept a hour and a half altogether. Getting into the car this morning brought tears and yelps out of me, and every bump in the road (as my wife drove me to Kaiser) made me feel like I was getting stabbed. They gave me a shot and prescribed an alternating schedule of ibuprofen and Tylenol plus some muscle relaxants. We'll see how this thing is tomorrow.
I seriously wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. It's excruciating.
Yes, I literally couldn't get out of bed for 5 hours, and when I could finally move a bit; every step and every moment standing up was unrelenting agony. Needed those hard opiods to get me right. They were fucking wonderful. Drugs are awesome.
I couldn't get out of bed for several days after a bad workout with kettle bell weights. It took all the strength I could muster just to get in the car and get to the doctor who then sent me to get an xray. The technician lady gives me a gown to change into and leads me to a changing room. I'm trying to take my clothes off while every movement sends searing agony through my back. She comes back several minutes later asking if everything is okay. I'm thinking "Did this woman not see how I was moving minutes earlier? Everything is not OK!" but I told her yes and i eventually did manage to undress myself.
The only other people at this particular MRI lab were a bunch of senior citizens which did not fill me with any pride. The MRI didn't show anything that warranted extreme treatment. I got some muscle relaxers and had to suffer through it. I thought for sure I was going to be paralyzed or suffer permanent damage from the ordeal. I'd not felt annything quite like it.
The only other people at this particular MRI lab were a bunch of senior citizens which did not fill me with any pride. The MRI didn't show anything that warranted extreme treatment. I got some muscle relaxers and had to suffer through it. I thought for sure I was going to be paralyzed or suffer permanent damage from the ordeal. I'd not felt annything quite like it.
Basically, under load but with bad form your body will employ "fight or flight" to coordinate all muscle groups by any means necessary to make it through. It's why we kick our legs during a pull-up, bend our backs (because our hips shoot up) during a deadlift, etc. This puts incredible strain on and even damages our muscles, but then we often don't use that same group for a week (a cyclical program) giving it time to rest. The problem is then... while not under intense load, out body still doesn't move the way it should because we never trained it to. We extend our body all the way, it's not properly supporting what we're doing and because it's not under intense load "fight or flight" doesn't kick in (or we are actually damaged) and bam.. throw our back out.
One of the best fitness books I've ever come across was Convict Conditioning. It is all calisthenic movements. It starts with movements that virtually everyone can do (barring injury or handicap) and progresses to the top end of body weight movements. I love it because unlike weight training, you will never be able to progress with bad form. Our body won't let us. When we are progressing through these significantly more demanding movements, our body's muscle and support groups all have to be moving efficiently well together for things like one legged squats, one armed pull-ups, handstand push-ups, etc. and even if we never get to those top level skills, we've reinforced our body moving correctly just to get as far in the program as we have.
OP
OP
Doctor's appointment lined up this morning. I'll update after if anyone cares to know how it's progressed.
This morning, the pain is down to a 2/10 while sitting. Standing is ok, too, but taking a step is impossible to do normally. I have to kind of walk by swinging my legs forward by doing a slight pivot on the planted foot. Looks goofy as hell, but it works. I'm hoping there's no disc damage and it's simply a pulled muscle or something. We'll know soon enough!
This morning, the pain is down to a 2/10 while sitting. Standing is ok, too, but taking a step is impossible to do normally. I have to kind of walk by swinging my legs forward by doing a slight pivot on the planted foot. Looks goofy as hell, but it works. I'm hoping there's no disc damage and it's simply a pulled muscle or something. We'll know soon enough!