stupid stupid me...deadlifts... HELP

[wakefib]

i am ashamed of the fact that this happened to me, because i know better... acouple of months ago i was deadlifting and my back felt soar, so i decided to stretch it by not flexing my back when sldl the bar... i was confident that my back would be fine because relative to my max it wasn't alot of weight (max is 400lb and i was lifting around 240lb). when i lifted the bar with poor form i felt something pop in my back... ever since the injury hyperextension of the back hurts and if pressure is applied to my lumbar area( L4 L5 area).
i have been going to physio and it really isn't helping any more.. i have been to three different physiotherapiest and two chiropractors.. i can still train but my back gets inflammed and hurts in the morning...
if anyone has any advice i would really appriciate it...
thanks for reading

 

[lardo5150]

you are EXACTLY like me. I have been training through it for like 7 years. Most like a ruptured disc. They tell me the only way to fix it is fuse it together.
I try to avoid excercises that will really put stress on that area, and if I have to, I use a belt, and KEEP GOOD FORM as BEST as possible.

 

[wakefib]

i got x rays my disc levels are all normal... the pictures looked normal... the thing is i am training for football... i need to do a lot of functional work... so i am always twisting and squating...
thanks for the input.

 

[cyrex]

have you given it some Rest and RICE?

 

[lardo5150]

yes, give it some rest.

 

[wakefib]

how much rest is enough? i have been off training intense for awhile... and there have been times where i didn't train for up to a month

 

[super_rice]

eat, sleep, ice cold, hot packs, salt baths, eat, sleep

 

[cyrex]

eat, sleep, ice cold, hot packs, salt baths, eat, sleep

Do not use hot packs if it's been swollen within the last 3 days.. Heat + swelling = MORE SWELLING!

when in doubt use an ice pack...
ICE almost never hurts (as long as you do it in a short timespan to prevent frostbite)
Heat, however can cause more damage if used at the wrong time. Heat is good to get blood flowing in an area that needs more circulation. It's good for cramping WITHOUT swelling.

 

[wakefib]

yeah, i am not suppost to use heat. the chiropractor told me to use ice. before it was helping, now it's not...

 

[super_rice]

i didn't know i was going to get burned for that. allow me to clarify: when the swelling has subsided, i've found that a combination of hot/cold treatments help to circulate blood in the area, and it feels great. kind of like a contrast shower.

 

[cyrex]

i didn't know i was going to get burned for that. allow me to clarify: when the swelling has subsided, i've found that a combination of hot/cold treatments help to circulate blood in the area, and it feels great. kind of like a contrast shower.

yep ;-)

hot can be good, just be carefull with it I used to work as a physical therapy assistant and had to administer hotpacks and cold packs and things like that.

Speaking of PT... have you had any ultra sound massages? those helped me quite a bit when I strained my back a few years ago

 

[wakefib]

yeah, the first therapy i took they gave me ultra sound massages... it helped a bit. but the pain still hasn't gone away... i am so scared that it wont go away and i will never be where i was or better... like i said i was deadlifting 400lb and i was squating 3 plates and a 25 for 7 reps and now i am doing like a plate and a 25

 

[Madcow2]

No consolation but it's the light weight that always hurts people as they get careless. Unfortunately a bad position can magnify the forces at work far beyond a linear pound for pound basis and this is what nails people (i.e. a bit of twist/angle and all of a sudden the force acting on a specific area can be multiples of the actual weight).

You've had XRays and therapy for a number of months. I'd go see your doc again. I'm not sure at this stage what it might reveal but someone really needs to take a look, maybe MRI, contact a specialist. Mainly, you want to get the problem clearly identified as you are feeling around in the dark right now.

 

[blut wump]

There are many stretches you can perform to ease out the area. Take a google and do them every day. Don't do any that actually hurt but if you find one that hurts then that can be good info to take to the chiro or doctor. Hamstring stretches almost always help to ease tension in the lower back.

See a doctor.

 

[wakefib]

well right now we are going to start acupunction, but with a western twist to it. they are going to hook my up to a machine while the needles are in. i think its called an ICU machine. its like an internal massage. i have been using the machine by itself so far and it helps alot.. but if this doesn't work, my therapiest said the next step is an mri.
blut wump, i have been stretching alot. and you are right. it has helped so much. and stretching the hamstrings really helps alot. also the glutes. thank you all for your input. im just looking everywhere i can for info.. every specialist i went to said the problem was something different. it has made me realize how every doctor is different and i need to keep getting a second opinion.
thank you all again

 

[blut wump]

Good luck with the treatment. There comes a point when you begin to think that you are, essentially, your own doctor with this kind of situation. I hope they find a specific problem so that you can focus on it otherwise all you can really do is to attempt to keep yourself reasonably fit and supple and work to strengthen your posterior chain.

 

[biglee2007]

dude dont worry i know what ure gowing through happened to me last year during offseason i thought i had really f'd up my back it took about a month or 2 to get back to full health but i think u will b alright

 

[wakefib]

thanks alot guys, all the doctors i go to are positive about my recovery... i am getting better and better slowly.. it is just really really frustrating which i am sure all of you can understand.. training has been my life for as long as i can remember... but hopefully my youth will get me trhough this.. thanks alot again

 

[Illuminati]

x-rays dont show the entire possibilities of what can be wrong with a back. in my situation, i screwed my back up, and was in a lot of pain (march of last year.) they did x-rays and it showed that everything was normal. the pain persisted for about 2 more months, and I finally got an MRI done. the MRI showed that i had a bulging L5-S1.

do you get a shooting pain all the way down your leg, that ends just behind your ankle? if you do, go get an MRI done, as this would be a good indicator that you have a bulging disk. what happens, is you get a protrusion in your disk that pushes on a nerve and causes a lot of pain. if the protrusion is big enough, it will cause numbness in your leg. i got numb from my glute all the way down to mid calf.

my advise, this coming from my own personal experience, is to take time off from working out. i know how hard it is to do, but it will be the best thing for you. you said you are in off season for football, so your coaches should understand. on thing you should know, is that if it is your disk that is screwed up, it weakens the other disks around it, and can cause problems with other disks in your back. at which point, your back problem will become very serious.

get an MRI done. if you do have a bulging disk, talk to your trainer, coach, or find a physical therapist, and try to get traction done for it. it helped with my back.

i got x rays my disc levels are all normal... the pictures looked normal... the thing is i am training for football... i need to do a lot of functional work... so i am always twisting and squating...
thanks for the input.

 

[wakefib]

yesterday my therapist wrote a note to my doctor for me to get an mri... as far as training goes it has been awhile since the injury started and there have been times where i took time off... for the next week or so i am going to stop the hard core functional training with alot of twisting motions and do more controlled movements such as back extentions...i don't get pain when i work out. its more in the morning now and when i hyper extend my back. so i will see how this goes... hopefully these exercises will help... if not i iwll have to stop training the area...
thanks alot for your opinion