After a visit to the osteopath it seems I've been diagnosed with low back strain/sprain. After a couple of massages it's getting better and I can so some short runs but it seems frustratingly slow to recover. Just wondered if anyone could recommend any stretches (or anything else) I could do to speed up the recovery?
Last time I lift a heavy kayak on and off the roof of the car on my own.......
to be honest Greg, thats going to depend on which bit of your back was strained...
Lower Back Pain/strain is notorious because of the large number of different muscles that can cause the pain- it might be the muscles in your back, it could be the glutes, it could be referred pain from your legs, or maybe higher up the back...
Sorry this isnt quite the response you probably want to hear.
To be perfectly honest, rest is the way forward. Has your osteo not recommended any homecare exercises?
My issue is disc related and I find that hanging from the stairs balcony helps me, but if your problem is muscular any advise we on here could give could be wrong for your problem.
My physio did make one important point though - heat is great for the back - it doesn't respond well to ice like other areas of the body, so sitting with a hot water bottle behind you should help aid recovery and ease any discomfort.
If your problem persists get to a physio and let them do some work on it and they are best placed to give you some specific stretches.
heat should only be applied to muscle strains once the acute stage has passed. Ice application is what's needed initially. The cold constricts blood vessels, preventing further inflammation - which is what you need in the period immediately following injury/strain; heat encourages fresh blood to flow to the area which can add to swelling and put extra stress on the inflamed area. The acute stage can last anything up to a week, depending on severity of the strain.
These might be worth a read
http://globaltherapies.blogspot.com/...treatment.html
http://globaltherapies.blogspot.com/...ries-rice.html
wishing you a speedy recovery,
regards, Lynne
Thanks Lynne/WP. It's 9 weeks since I did it and the recovery seems slow. I saw a physio, who gave me some exercises to do (knee highs, clams, hamstring stretches) but afer a while I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere so went to see an ostopath a guy at my running club recommended. It's improved since having two massage sessions there, but he didn't gve me exercises, apart from recommending knee-highs. I saw him 2 and 3 weeks ago and had provisionally booked for Wednesday, but he's said to cancel if I don't need it. I'd like to avoid shelling out another £33, so I'll see how I go on tomorrow first. It's well past the acute phase and I can at least now run, so maybe I should be trying some heat on the affected area? I did a load of bridges/planks last week in an attempt to improve core strength but just made it worse, so I best give them a miss till it's fully recovered!
Greg,
you're definitely past the acute stage so you can apply heat - maybe alternate heat and cold, this can be effective.
do you know exactly which part of your back you've injured? If I know this I can perhaps suggest some stretching.
You've done right in stopping the exercises which make it worse - pain is the body's way of saying stop! best to listen to it
Thanks Lynne. The osteopath just said it was damaged muscles and ligaments. The main area of massage was the soft area either side of the base of the spine, just above the glutes (I think!), particularly the left hand side which is the side I originally had the fairly severe pain in the back and left hip. The pain is in the low back and upper buttock. I've noticed that the glutes feel really tight now while running. Sorry, the description is pretty rubbish! The massage has made a big difference and it's improving. Recently aching seems to be relieved by standing up, rather than sitting down.
Would hot baths help?
Sitting on a spinning bike for an hour last week didn't help either - gave me low back ache, though strangely on the other (right) side. The spinning bike seats just don't agree with me - right cheek was really sore for a few days :-o
Have had back problems on and off for years. It's why I took up yoga, and it really helps with flexibility, abdominal strength and stamina.
Strengthening the abs in particular can help to take the strain off lower back muscles, and ultimately ease the pain.
Greg,Originally Posted by Greg Carns
It's still difficult to know what exactly you've injured - get the osteo to tell you exactly what it is otherwise you'll not really know what to avoid doing. If for example you've got strained QL (quadratus lumborum) which is in the lower back, in the gap between your spine, lower rib and top of your pelvis, then you would need to avoid excessive lateral flexion and maybe extension. a different muscle would require a different approach.
but what to avoid, what to strengthen etc really does depend on what is injured. part of a good rehab programme is knowing what's wrong, then you can start to put it right. sorry to be vague again!
Lynne
ps. forum diagnosis should also be avoided - nothing beats someone who is good at what they do giving you a diagnosis, treatment and good homecare advice - a good practitioner will take the time to write down what they diagnose so you can take it away and digest it, get you involved in your recovery etc
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