Back pain keeping me from running??
Not sure what happened, but my back has really gone out on me. I was able to complete the FTP intervals on the bike yesterday, and it actually made me feel better. Running is out of the question - can't even stand up straight. My guess is that I'll be able to run again by next week, but not before. Feels like muscle spasms in my lower back. I tend to get these every so often, but this is much worse than usual (had to resort to percocet to sleep last night - better this morning). Pain is just left of the middle of my back about l4/l5 height. I do have a herneated disk in that location, but this is different. Applying heat/ice and doing my exercises as directed by my chiropractor. I guess my choices are to do more biking, substitute the elliptical, or just rest the extra days. Any suggestions?
Comments
When I started working out my core, it helped tremendously and I only have pain every once in a whlie.
Personally, I know from my experience and that of my dad (seriously f'd up back problems as long as I can remember), unless you know what's going on INSIDE, I wouldn't just try to substitute workouts, I'd try to figure out what the actual problem is.
bob:
the fact that you are considering alternatives to running, implies the pain is not debilitating. this is a good sign. for example, pain resulting from a herniated disk impinging a nerve would be pretty hard to ignore.
however, the fact that you can't sleep without pain meds is not something to dismiss.
disk herniations on MRI are actually not uncommon. as long as the bulging disk does not impinge on a nerve, we will not even know we have a herniated disk. as you can see in the other response here, you can even have fractured vertabrae and be ok, as long as the nerve space is free and clear.
your symptoms suggest that there is enough inflammation in your lower back area, especially under the load of running, that perhaps now there is some irritation of the nerve. this does not have to be only physical contact of bulge on nerve, but can also be inflammatory molecules signaling to nerve. on the bike, the bending of the spine and the lack of load on the spine, likely relieve the pressure in the area where your inflammation is the greatest. this helps you get through the workout, but once you get upright and put load on tha back, the pain returns or gets worse subsequently.
i suggest you limit the stress in that area, to allow for the inflammation to subside. swimming or water running will help. an appointment with an M.D. for determining an effective anti-inflammatory dosage for you would be good as well. Ice and careful stretching. if this does not improve, then a new MRI of the area would be useful to see how the pathology has progressed, if at all.
i would not recommend chiropractic manipulations at this point. once the inflammation subsides, then it is up to you.
you can absolutely make this worse. so be careful!
drgh