Back pain

Anyone had experience with back pain/pulled muscles?

Two weeks ago Sunday, I hauled an old microwave down to the dumpster at the other end of my apartment complex. During said hauling, I put the microwave up over my left shoulder while I was trying to get a better grip.

Since then, I have had mild to nearly-knock-you-down back pain. It started off feeling like a muscle pull on the right side at the small of my back but has since become a full-blown lower back issue. Most of the time it's just stiff and a little sore, but occasionally, when I lean over to brush my teeth for instance, there are moment of shooting, fiery hot pain that starts just to the right of the small of my back but radiates all over my lower back. The shooting pain never lasts long - perhaps a second or two - before settling back into the dull ache.

I've tried to be careful with lifting and things that might make me twist, but I'm concerned because it doesn't seem to be getting better with time. Anyone got helpful tips on what it might be causing it to hurt and how to make it stop?

And before anyone asks...

 

I would recommend spending more time in bed, laying flat on your back. But that's assuming you've got the time to do that.

 

Back pain is the worse. I hurt my back in high school and it hasn't been the same since. Rest and not straining is about the only thing I'd suggest.

 

Rest, really. I get back spasms all the time. There's nothing I hate worse. Had a particularly bad outbreak (lasted about two weeks :-\) after dollying my refrigerator up the steps to my new apartment back in September. That was pretty painful.

For Christmas, I got a back rest car massager (that straps onto the driver's seat of my truck and plugs into the cigarette lighter) that helps ease the strain on my commute to work.

 

Stop trying to impress the woman in Apartment 3C.

Seriously, back pain is nothing to joke about. I had two Titanium steel rods inserted in my lower back, holding my L5 and S1 vertebrae together.

Sounds like a pulled muscle. Sounds bad enough to have it checked out. An MRI would be my next step.

 

Yeah, once you hurt your back, it'll never be the same

 

Sorry about the back pain. No fun at all.

With non traumatic low back pain, the diagnosis is usually muscle or ligament strain. The worrisome symptoms that might suggest inflammation of the sciatic nerve include numbness in the leg or foot and pain in the buttock radiating down the leg.

There is little indication for an MRI initially unless there numbness occurs near the penis or rectum or there is an inability ot urinate or loss of bowel control. Thesw of symptoms of cauda equina syndrome and potential compromise of the spinal cord.

Treatment of low back pain starts with bed rest but only for the first 24 hours. studies suggest that more rest does little good. Instead, activity should progress as tolerated. Medications shold include ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory and occasionally muscle relaxants are prescribed. Other stretching and core muscle stregthening are key to treatment and future prevention. A physical therapist or chiropractor may be good resources to use.

 

I fell on my ass while showing the kid how to roller skate about a month ago - she was really impressed :

Anyway, my entire lower back was puffy and sore to the point my wife forced me to go to the doctor to make sure my schiatic thing Doctalk was referring to wasn't badly injured. Turns out it wasn't, just bruising. Still hurts like a bitch every now and then.

 

Did she laugh?

 

Nah, I popped right back up and acted like the floor had knocked the breath out of me. I just made it part of the lesson plan: "See honey, you fall down and get back up."

 

I fell down not too long ago with my boy in my arms. It hurt like a MFer, but he didn't budge. I guess a 1-year-old is much tougher than his 30-year-old dad.

 

What's really sad is that before I fell, my back was already in searing pain because I had been leaning over with the kid skating in front of me. We'd go around the rink once and sit, around the rink and sit. When I finally could skate without holding on to her, I totally did a slippery banana right on my ass.