# Muscle Strain-Lower Back



## Qball

I strained a muscle in my neck about a week ago. The pain was terrible! It would bring me to the floor if I even tried to turn my turn my head to the left. I gradually gained more range of motion each day until it was totally gone after about 4 days. I'm only 21 so I probably heal a little quicker, but I would give it a good week of rest.


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## BurtonAvenger

4 to 6 days is what I'm usually out when I tweak something like that. Tiger balm, heating pads, hot tubs, and ice.


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## Milo303

Biofreeze and icy hot patches work great..... 


Just make sure to be conscious to stretch before you do weird things like that ( =


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## Krug

*Thanks*

Thanks for the responses. I am feeling considerably better and hope to be at or close to 100% by the weekend. I guess the lesson I learned here is to be sure and have better or the right posture for doing certain things. The Oxycodon and Flexerol have been an interesting perk

Krug


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## JeffreyCH

Oxycodon and Flexerol  I'm surprised you can even post :laugh:


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## slyder

Chiropractor, Buldging disc pressing against the nerve. I couldn't even use the head, a sneeze was like giving birth the pain was so intense.
Ice it a lot to take the swelling down. Pain killers just cover the pain allowing you to move and inflame the damaged area more.

Been here and I don't wish this injury on anyone.
Rest and ice, speedy recovery
-Slyder


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## earl_je

slyder said:


> Chiropractor, Buldging disc pressing against the nerve. I couldn't even use the head, a sneeze was like giving birth the pain was so intense.
> Ice it a lot to take the swelling down. Pain killers just cover the pain allowing you to move and inflame the damaged area more.
> 
> Been here and I don't wish this injury on anyone.
> Rest and ice, speedy recovery
> -Slyder



DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT see a chiropractor if you have a bulging disc. Any good chiropractor would still treat you (most likely just have you lay on your stomach and use their 'clicker' or muscle stimulators) but if you happen to see an inexperienced/negligent/aggressive chiro that might pop your back, you'll risk rupturing your disc or worse, damage a nerve.

Having said that, it wouldn't matter if you saw a chiro or not for a simple muscle strain. Also, an anti-inflammatory (aleve/naproxen is a more potent anti-inf than ibuprofen) would most likely do you better than Vicodin. Vicodin gets rid of the pain, but doesn't get rid of the inflammation/irritation on the muscle. You're looking at around a week before it quits hurting completely.

STRETCH, stretch and do even more stretches morning, noon, and night. Yes, it hurts more while stretching, but it helps it more than it hurts it. Avoid lifting anything heavy for a few days, minimize lifting at all for a few weeks. Your muscles are the primary support for any joint in your body, and ineffective muscle means more strain and eventually damage to the secondary supporting structures (disc, ligaments, joints).


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## slyder

earl_je

all valid points, I didn't go into great detail, but my point was, anytime there is that much pain. Shooting pain into legs or torso, it is usually more than a strain. 

I had a buldge betweeen L3-L4 and my chiro was able to get me back into shape and working in a very physical job. This was a month of recovery, PT, xray's, MRI, Orthopedic and my Chiro.
Internet diagnosis from us, hahaha, I was just stating a Chiropractor can help to keep the back structure sound and a good Chiro or PT and help to strengthen the core muscles and proper stretching techniques.

I was picking up a computer mouse box off the floor when mine went, yes that was the final straw as years of bad lifting practices lead to that.

My companies doctor and my regualar doctor just wanted to fill me up with drugs and send me back to work, again paraphase, but he didn't take the time to find the root cause, again my point.

Either way get good doctors and get those core muscles back in shape.

-Slyder


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## Krug

Yeah, my wife could've poured me into a glass this weekend after taking this concoction. Pretty wicked dreams too!

Krug



JeffreyCH said:


> Oxycodon and Flexerol  I'm surprised you can even post :laugh:


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## AlxStat

i hate back injures, last season i hit a jump and landed super awkward and strained a muscle in my back, all i can say is that they hurt really bad


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## JustLove

Same problem here, but all I did was go for a one-mile run. Staying active is very important! I will never stop again. The pain was in my lower back and it prevented me from looking down towards my toes. The recovery took approx 15 days and I'm 27. Hope you're back 100% soon, but I'm still around 85%. I'm nervous about hitting the pow but that's not gonna stop me lol.


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## Krug

Snowolf,

I hear you. After getting tired of being couped up this weekend, I mowed the yard and did other misc. things, even took a drive in the Lotus, which is like getting in and out of a go cart, and my back felt better than ever. Left side is still sore, especially when sitting in an office chair, but hopefully that too will pass!

Andy


Snowolf said:


> Stay active! As soon as you can get around, get walking and don`t stop moving. I have chronic pain in my lower and mid back. Driving makes it hurt the most. The only time my back does not hurt is when I am hiking and riding.


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## lisevolution

I have 2 herniated discs L4,L5 I believe and have been fed the percoset, flexaril, Naproxen, Valium concoction for a while. I actually just had to go for my second epidural on Wednesday too. Injury ended my season early last year but I refuse to let it ruin this year. I'm a super big dude too at 6'3 265 so I'm trying to drop down some weight and resume yoga starting this weekend. For me this is an injury I'm going to deal with for the rest of my life as in addition to the herniation I also have a degeneration issue with the discs causing significant sciatica pain when I'm not active at all. I'm 30 so I'm somewhere in the middle age wise as far injury recovery goes. Fortunately I have a high pain tolerance and enough refills on my prescriptions to make it through the season.


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## JapanBigFoot

*Daaaaang. Herniated Discs Suck.*

Hey all,

So I herniated a disc about a month ago and didn't exactly know it. I was doing squats improperly and hurt my lower back. I went to a Bone Setter (Japanese translation) close to the school I work at because I was having some serioius back pain. He worked me over with some electric pads and slight twisting. Leaving there I felt worse than I had before.
The next day I was rushed to the hospital with debilitating pain that forced me to collapse on my kitchen floor.
a week later I was diagnosed with a herniated disc by my MRI results. My doctor told me not to snowboard for at least one month.
I cancelled two trips to Nagano for December and have shifted them to January.
I have healed considerably. I can walk and get out of bed no problems and don't need any pain killers. But I do still have this dull pain if I bend at the hip to my right. Like, if I slide my right hand down my right leg. I get a little shot of pain.

I'm just hoping that my back will be able to handle the twisting that snowboarding will put it through.

Any stretches I should do? Anything I should avoid while snowboarding. I know no one is a doctor (maybe) and I have read A LOT online, but I really want to hear from a snowboarders perspective...

Thanks!

-JBF


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## pauljackson

I had the same problem so went to a chiropractor and it worked These newer correction methods are even safer, more comfortable and more effective than ever before.
one should consult an expert.


Chiropractor Lawrenceville GA


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## Psi-Man

I did Physical Therapy for a back problem as a result of a head on collsion in 05 that damn near killed me. The therapist recommended the McKenzie Method and it worked quite well. I later picked up the book on Amazon and it was pretty much exactly the therapy I went through.


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## JapanBigFoot

Hey Psi! Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna check it out today and see if I can't find something that works for me. How long did it take you to recover? Just curious.
Thanks,
-JBF


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## MistahTaki

Is it really good to stretch a strained muscle when it's recovering? Wouldn't it hinder the healing of the muscle when the cause of it was over stretching? I strained my leg about 4 days ago snowboarding and the pain won;t go away. I have been icing it, keeping it elevated, drinking ibuprofen, using icy hot patches, salonpas patches, epsom salf in warm water, arnica gel and also been compressing it with ace self-adhesive bandages. It's getting a little less tender but it's still so painful i can barely bare weight on it. Hurts by even by barely moving it.I believe it's a grade 2 strain but is it suppose to be this painful? There is a possibility that it's a stress fracture but all I did was over stretch it when I was buttering. It's stressing me out because this is when I have break from school and work and I was also planning on going on a snowboarding trip after new years.


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