a little worried... my back

[OuchThatHurts]

I was doing deads hard yesterday (plus a few BO's). I mean, i was really going at 'em. I'm on supplements (plus an additional supp) that is making me especially fiesty this time. At the gym my low back was pumped and I felt some pressure but during my dry sauna it turned into pain. And I mean PAIN! This morning... nothing big. Soreness and some pressure but nothing excruciating. At first I thought I'd torn or ruptured something. Now I'm not so sure. Anyone know what happened? Could this be an injury? And can I do anything to prevent that pain from occurring again? Either I'm going to be crippled or get huge.

Lot a questions huh?

Anyways, thanks bros.

Doc

 

[Kaiser]

I was doing deads hard yesterday (plus a few BO's). I mean, i was really going at 'em. I'm on supplements (plus an additional supp) that is making me especially fiesty this time. At the gym my low back was pumped and I felt some pressure but during my dry sauna it turned into pain. And I mean PAIN! This morning... nothing big. Soreness and some pressure but nothing excruciating. At first I thought I'd torn or ruptured something. Now I'm not so sure. Anyone know what happened? Could this be an injury? And can I do anything to prevent that pain from occurring again? Either I'm going to be crippled or get huge.

Lot a questions huh?

Anyways, thanks bros.

Doc

The problem I found with my back is this: I never really know where the pain derives from. It usually takes a specialist to point it out to me and find it. Just when I think it's another bulging disc, it turns out to be a muscle and vice-versa. Even though it feels like it's coming from my spine. Point is, it is hard for a non specialist to tell you what is wrong because you are talking about one of the most complicated areas of the body since your spine is involved. Trusting a judgement in here would almost be useless or a roll of the dice to say the least, but that is just my opinion. I am lucky to have found a med student who is a massage therapist. She knows how to find the culprit. Good luck brother.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

The problem I found with my back is this: I never really know where the pain derives from. It usually takes a specialist to point it out to me and find it. Just when I think it's another bulging disc, it turns out to be a muscle and vice-versa. Even though it feels like it's coming from my spine. Point is, it is hard for a non specialist to tell you what is wrong because you are talking about one of the most complicated areas of the body since your spine is involved. Trusting a judgement in here would almost be useless or a roll of the dice to say the least, but that is just my opinion. I am lucky to have found a med student who is a massage therapist. She knows how to find the culprit. Good luck brother.

Thanks H,

I think I know what happened after calling my chiro... I've just never had that much blood in those muscles before. Since the muscles were overly swolen, he believes it was putting pressure on my lower back nerves. My back has always been good (no bad disks or pulls). I just did waaaay too many set I think. Nevertheless those spinal erectors are starting to like a couple of pipes...

yea

 

[Kaiser]

Great glad to hear you are doing better. I blew mine out 2 weeks ago and had to go to that masage therapist I meantioned. I felt 80% better right after the deep tissue massage where she broke it up for me. I have to go back this week for a follow up and I should be ready to go.

 

[Dad]

OUCH,

I'd take your chiro's "eplaination" with a real grain of salt.

I think chiro's have a place in health care, and have used them regularly for years, but their "explainations," in general, are the goofiest bunch of non-scientific, unsupported nonsense I've ever heard (and they wonder why they're not taken seriously LOL!).

Since you're "on," it's likely that your muscles are gaining strength faster than the connective tissue. This is a VERY common occurence when using AAS, and a real danger when doing heavy weight and/or greater numbers of reps than ever before.

It sounds, from what you've said, like you dodged a bullet here. The pain is likely from microtrauma to the muscle (and possibly the connective tissue), and the release of things like bradykinin, NOT the fact that you had "more blood than ever before in the muscle." Ask your chiro how an arteriole, capillary, or venule would be able to acutely hold "more blood than ever before." What's the mechanism? I'm especially led to think inflammation when you say heating it up in the sauna made it worse.

I could, of course, be wrong, but I think this explaination makes sense.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

dad

I'm beginning to start to see what you mean. I would have liked him to do more than just give me quick explanation over the phone. It's kind of a coindence that you posted what you did when you did. I haven't done dead lifts since that day. I usually only do them heavy every other week but today when I was doing seated dumbell flys, I always lean forward a bit to hit the rear delt and I felt a tug like a rope in my lower back. When I got back from the gym, I did some stretches. One that felt good was the one on your hands and knees where you arch your back up high and then go low. It may not look very masculine bu it's a good stretch. Anyways, doing them I notice that those muscles aren't just sore, but they're tight.

I've decided to skip deads for a session which gives me four weeks and instead do some higher rep, low back extensions. I'm sticking to leg presses and hacks until I feel totally safe too. I've seen too many friends with low back injuries. Puts you out for a year! Does this seem good to you? Should I, can I, add or take away anything to make certain all is well that you can see?

Thanks

Kaiser was right. I think I should have done more than call my chiro and post a question on the board... It's just that the next day that intense pain was just gone. Just achiness. I think I'm gonna have to start accepting the fact that I'm not 25 anymore. I'm just going to avoid serious stress on the area but keep the blood flowing.

 

[Dad]

Just coast for a few weeks...

OUCH,

Glad to hear you're feeling better!

I'd suggest just some GENTLE stretching, walking, and keeping away from really heavy weights and training to failure for a few weeks, and you should be fine.

And, don't feel bad, brother, many of us are no longer 25 LOL!