Back Spasms

mGrunin

mGrunin

New member
Jul 18, 2009
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NY, US
Need some help on a lower back spasm. I play tennis competitively, for my D1 college and for my own tournaments. Two days ago, during a practice match, I was serving and during a serve I felt a shift in my spine, and when I landed on my feet, felt my whole back collapse.

From that point, I have extremely limited flexibility in my back. I can't lean more than an inch forward, sitting down is very fucking painful, I can't turn my upperbody to the sides; I feel paralyzed overall.

Since the injury, I've had a chiropractor take a look at the injury, have had several hours of exercises done on the spine & muscles, and have gone into half a dozen treatments at my college medicine office already.

Problem is that there has been no improvement, I just feel stiffer after every treatment. Worst part is that we have 3 games this weekend, so I'll be playing 6 matches. So about 8 - 12 hours of playing. I could just skip and not compete this weekend, but then our team will definitely lose since I win almost all my matches(whenever we actually beat the other school, we win 4-3 at best), and our substitute is garbage.

I need to recover by Friday evening, since that's when the first game is. I'm sure a couple of you here have gone through back spasms; especially if you're body builders. Is there anything I could do to accelerate the recovery process? I've been applying as much heat as possible to the area.

Thanks...
 


Since you aren't getting better after the exercises, you might look into "bulging disks". It'd require some tests/imaging.

Sometimes the fluid in your spine is pushed out and starts causing issues. My father had that happen, though over a long period of time. It eventually started pushing against his nerves and it wasn't until he lost all feeling in his leg that he got it looked into. It's much easier to fix if caught early.
 
lower back pain = bengay

lol jk... seewhatididthar?

if it's only been 2 days, you are just going to need some time to recover. any treatments you try won't work that fast. if you absolutely have to play this weekend, I would prescribe lines of meth
 
My advice is probably useless, but you neeeed to skip this weekend.
Maybe it is just sprain or maybe its already worse. But if it not worse, it will get worse if you don't skip.

Consult your non-college doctor.
 
Is your chiropractor smoking something? A spasm occurs when the muscles actually are contracting. I spoke to a good friend who also happens to be a chiropractor and said you could have a bulging disk or your lower back muscles could just be severely inflamed.
 
jeffrey said:
Is your chiropractor smoking something? A spasm occurs when the muscles actually are contracting. I spoke to a good friend who also happens to be a chiropractor and said you could have a bulging disk or your lower back muscles could just be severely inflamed.
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I'm sure it has to do with my disk bulging real quick which put my muscles into a spasm. Because when I tossed the ball up, and right when I made contact with the ball, I felt my spin literally shift to the side. Then when I landed on my feet, I dropped straight to the ground since I had no muscle support in my back.
The chiropractor looked at my spin, and said everything is fine with it right now, and I don't feel any pain when something is pushing up against my spine. The muscles on the sides of the spine on the other hand are rock solid and inflammed.
 
You should probably refrain from the tennis or you may make it worse and have to deal with this shit your whole life while doing every day shit like picking up a piece of paper. Trust me those games of tennis won't be worth it when you're older and your back feels like shit.
 
kingfish said:
You should probably refrain from the tennis or you may make it worse and have to deal with this shit your whole life while doing every day shit like picking up a piece of paper. Trust me those games of tennis won't be worth it when you're older and your back feels like shit.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was going to post.
 
mGrunin said:
I could just skip and not compete this weekend, but then our team will definitely lose since I win almost all my matches
Click to expand...

I think it's best if you skip and rest. That's something you definitely DO NOT want to aggravate further. Back injuries tend to stick around for life.
 
Let defelice be on the bottom for the next few weeks the back spasms should subside.

I would start doing yoga that would probably fix it.
 
I've had a similar problem ever since I did a marathon. The only thing that has worked for me is swimming, stretching, and yoga. It could take weeks to get better. I couldn't imagine playing tennis in that situation.
 
lol chiropractor chiropractor lol



Go see a real doctor. Chiropractor could be fucking up your back even worse.

.
 
def consult another doctor and be sure to stretch as much as you can (if you can at all)

if your mobility is that limited and your in that much pain you may want to unfortunately sit the match out.. sucks i know I played rugby in college and after stiff arming a guy in a game my hand got bent back pretty hard.. I finished the game and after a week off felt better taped it up and then went and played in a tournament that weekend... first hit felt a POP snapped it and was done for the season now i have a screw in my wrist.

if i'd of just went and got the damn x-ray i would of seen that I had fractured my wrist would of been able to get a cast and possibly played at the end of the season. Instead i had to get surgery, spend MONTHs in a damn splint and several more months of PT..

moral of the story is if your not sure whats wrong don't just assume its fine and continue playing i've played with a lot of injuries but i knew the risk and most of the time it wound up costing me way more than it should of..
 
Pain - Your doctor will probably prescribe naproxen. If it's more severe, they might go for vicodin. If you can't get a prescription, pick up some Aleve. It's over the counter and uses naproxen as the core ingredient.

Pain 2 - lie down on your back. You can also elevate your legs on a chair, bed, etc.

Disc vs muscle - The best way to determine this is with an MRI.

Chiropractor - I've never been. Some are great (focus on pelvis position, alignment of spine, etc). Others will try to move your spine around.

Acupuncture - Awesome. 2 sessions (2 days apart) gave me 90% relief from pain.

Tennis (& other impact sports) - hold off until the pain is better.

Weights - If it is indeed a disc issue - avoid exercises that put pressure on the disc - essentially anything where the weight is above your head (e.g. shoulder press)

Yoga and pilates - These will definitely help, but do these AFTER the pain subsides.
 
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