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..
Yea, I have a common story actually. Four years ago I sprained my ankle badly. I just let it heal on it's own and never got it checked out. I couldn't put any weight at all on the ankle for a straight month. Anyhow, 2 months in, was finally able to put weight on it, and I got back to playing intensively again. Couple months later I sprain it again, this time the pain was so fucking bad, I was screaming my ass off. This time around I went to the doctor, and he told me that the sprain I had couple months ago actually tore through all my liagaments in my ankle, and that even though they did slightly recover, they were weak, and I re-tore them even more.
So now, I have special shoe inserts that I have to place into every shoe I were otherwise my ankle bends completely inwards and inflames further on.
Doctor said that if I had came that first week when I had gotten that bad sprain, then he would have wrapped it in a caste, and had it heal properly for 3 months; instead now I have a fuck load of scar tissue that's going to keep hindering me until I get surgery.
I fucked up my back pretty badly nearly 2 years ago.. Was stupid and went too heavy into deadlifts too quickly.. Didn't hurt myself until 5 days after I was doing a warmup set of squats (135 lbs, light shit) and 2nd rep in something got fucked up in my lower back.. put the bar down, had to walk out of the gym bent over cause standing straight hurt so bad..
I could barely get out of bed, crawling my way out cause it hurt so bad for 3 days.. SUCKED MAJOR ASS.
Yea, as soon as I felt my muscles spasm, I got stuck in the fetal position for a good 10 minutes, before I had my coach and a trainer start stretching me out. Had to be carried home though.
How long did the back pain last?
I play competitive tennis as well, and you should definitely sit out.
If you absolutely can't, what you need to do is hit up a doctor or your local pill dealer for some etodolac which is a heavy duty anti-inflammatory and also get some flexeril which is a muscle relaxant. With this combo you'll be fine to get through your matches.
If you can't get your hands on those, some motrin and valium will help - just not nearly as much.
Hopefully you don't have any other matches for awhile, because you really do need to just wait it out (once it's been determined that nothing is seriously wrong)
Hope the rest of your game is solid because your serve is gonna suck even with the meds!
After reading a bunch of replies here, there is a high chance I'll sit out unless somehow I have at least a 90% recovery by the end of Thursday. I still do really want to play, since I'm really competitive, but at the same time don't want it to come back to haunt me years later down the line.
Majority of the time, I serve a kick-serve for both my 1st and 2nd serve with the occasional flat first serve depending how comfortable I am. Pretty sure that the constant tossing of the ball slightly behind me has led to my back being put under distress. But yea, I just need to be able to just spin my serve in right now, since either way the majority of the rallies I win are from the baseline.
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.
Basically, if I don't feel almost fully healthy in the next 48 hours, I'm not going to come to the games, and will go see a doctor instead. If I feel in good shape, and on Friday morning when I go out to hit a few practice serves, and everything feels fine; then I'll probably play but take it easy.
Sit the match out. No game is worth risking your long term health for.
If you do anything to properly injure your spine now, you will permanently change the biomechanics of it. This leads to further problems, inflammation and eventually degeneration as you get older. Then you could end up be crippled with disc problems + osteoarthritis.
Rest up, then when you're better, add some yoga to your training mix. Find a yoga teacher who knows how to deal with back injuries, and they'll give you some exercises to balance out your body and help avoid shit like this in the future.
I started getting sciatica from back strain when I used to powerlift. I quit completely for 12 months and switched to yoga. Am just starting to lift again now.
Oh, and don't take painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs so that you can play... that will just damage your body more.
Ironically, 2 hours ago at my last treatment, I was given Addaprin for pain relieve and anti-inflammatory. Just took 1 dose, and have to say that it's working wonders so far. I can actually sit right now in a chair without feeling discomfort. Plus I could finally bend a few more inches forward before reaching the point of pain.
