Any lower back professionals around here?

[Wolf_22]

I posted this here (and on a few other boards) because I have no insurance at the moment nor do I completely understand what I may be experiencing in general (whether it's a pulled muscle or something worse)... So, I thought it would be a good idea to see what all you people think about my predicament before I make official moves to do anything beyond this.


Here's what's going on: last Thursday night, I decided to crash on the couch with my laptop. I usually surf the net and tinker around with things online before I go to bed, so I did this (played some computer games, read some news, etc.) In the middle of doing this, I began to notice a slight pain in my lower back area (approximately 3 or 4 vertebrae above the "sacrum"?) The pain was pretty slight, so I figured it was just the way I was laying down on the couch. After readjusting myself, I continued to do what I was doing on the computer and after another 15 or 20 minutes, the pain got worse. That's when I decided to get a hot shower and go to bed thinking that I might have pulled my back out through some jogging I did a day or two beforehand or else maybe a spasm of some sort...


That next Friday morning, I could hardly walk. I mean I was really struggling. After calling in sick to the office, I decided to go back to bed. That entire day consisted of fumbling around the house trying to brace myself with various pieces of furniture throughout the house.


That next Saturday and Sunday, I began to notice that the pain wasn't as bad, but it was definitely still present. Fast-forward to today, and I'm able to be at work and do light stuff (sit in a chair all day, lift small things, walk around, etc.), but again, it's still pretty present with the main brunt of the pain occurring when I reach a certain pivot angle of bending over (but note that once I get past this point of the pivot, which might be at or around 45-degrees of angle or so, I feel relatively fine; even good sometimes because when I bend all the way down, I feel some of that area "stretch" a bit). I hope that makes sense... Basically, it hurts when I bend over to a certain point and then I feel some relief once I get past that point.


The inflicted area is pretty stiff in the morning and hot showers / the heating pad seems to help. By no means does it completely resolve the pain, but it does reduce it by many degrees.


My grandmother--an at-home armchair doctor, bless her heart--has cognitively suggested to me that it could be a bone issue. Personally, my gut tells me that were it so, I wouldn't be able to walk at all. Maybe I'm wrong? I've done a tiny bit of research myself and have come to the conclusion that it's either something to do with some cartilage / tendons or else it's just a really bad pulled muscle (the latter of which I hope it to be for obvious reasons).


All before this happened Thursday night, everything was perfectly fine. Not to brag, but I am very athletic and I often jog between 2.5 to 3 miles at least 6-7 times each month (sometimes more, work-life and other activities permitting). I'm 28, approximately 6'2" and I'm holding at around 210 lbs. I guess it could be a herniated disc? I suppose it could be, and yes, my family does have a history of back *issues*--all of which being the males in the family (i.e. - my father had a pinched nerve a long time ago when he was around 45 years of age and my oldest brother recently had a slipped disc situation, but it was sparked by his work environments [he's a union electrician and crawls around in lots of hard-to-traverse spaces in hot and cold environments]). I'm also a male.



Any ideas are welcomed here because this has me freaking out. My grandmother thinks it's best to just wait about 2 weeks and see what happens because in her eyes, there's not much that can be done in any event. Personally, I'm more eager to get past this right here and right now (ha) and want to only wait about 1 week. (I'm a very impatient person when it comes to medical issues! You should see how I am with sunburns...)



This really has me worried... If this is a pulled muscle, it's by far the worst of any pulled back muscle that I've ever had. But that's just it: it's almost impossible to tell what it is without seeing a doctor and getting some MRI or X-RAY...

[jamdls]

Hi Wolf, I'm certainly no professional but have had back problems for about 30 yrs (mild scoliosis. herniated then ruptured disc, bulging disc, degenerate disc disease), have had back surgery (due to ruptured disc), steroid injections, etc. Your problem could be a pulled muscle or it could be a herniated, slipped, or bulging disc or something entirely different. What has helped my back issues more than anything else is regular and proper stretching and breathing which I learned through yoga. being a runner, or dancer, or weight lifter or whatever does not guarantee that someone is physically fit, if you do not stretch properly and regulary you can do a lot of damage, and since you have a family history of back problems you are a prime candidate. You can google yoga stretches and even watch how-to videos online for free to learn good technique. 3 months after my back surgery I was told I needed to have the surgery done again because the disc had regenerated itself and was again herniated, I declined the surgery even though I was in a lot of pain, I received steroid injections and regularly took pain pills and muscle relaxors; about 4 months after that I stated taking a yoga class and within 1 month of only weekly classes I was pain free and didn't even need to take advil for pain. 10 years later I continue to regularly do the yoga stretches and very very rarely (pretty much only when I mop a floor...) do I need to take an anti-inflammatory.
Alternating ice and heat on the back also generally gives some relief.

[Wolf_22]

I would not doubt it if this is all caused from not properly stretching. I hardly ever stretch like I should and I mean to change that now. I did notice today that it seemed as if my back began to regain *some* normality after I heard it pop (after twisting it in a slow fashion from clockwise and then back to counter-clockwise).

But I'm sorry to hear about YOUR back issues. That had to be rough... Out of everything you experienced, which would you say was the worst? I would imagine the surgery...

[jamdls]

I felt nothing during the surgery and felt pretty good the day after, and the recovery wasn't bad either; the steroid injections were the most difficult as they inject a very long needle directly into the bad disc and the steroid is slowly released, it's very painful and is not done at a doctors office, I couldn't walk for at least 30 minutes after the injection as my entire lower body would go numb, it was not fun. After the first 2 injections, which were about 2 mths apart, they told me I could have 'twilight sleep' during the injections to alleviate the pain, and I chose that.

[Wolf_22]

That's pretty scary, Judy. I can only imagine what that must be like. It's good to know that your back issues have been alleviated somewhat, though.

[Dee74]

Hi Wolf

As you say you really need someone to look at you to work out whats going on.
Not sure where you live but have you thought going to a free or low cost clinic?

Free/Low-Cost/Sliding-Scale Clinics

D

[Wolf_22]

Actually, D, it turns out that our HR people gave me a heads-up about a local hospital clinic that I can take advantage of if it comes down to it. So I do have some options.

I actually managed to pop my back awhile ago and now it's feeling a lot better--I actually have some leverage to it now. I'm going to lay light on it for awhile and take it easy, but I think it's a stretching issue now. LOL. I'll give it a week and see what happens.