Just got back from Emergency room for lower back pain

DOMOkun

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So yeah I never thought it could happen to me. I have a strong lower back, Ive deadlifted 365X5 never really treid to max out but my back is stronger than your average joe.

So Im taking a shower at the end of the dya and Im bent over scrubbing the footsies when I feel a razor sharp pain in my lower back. My lower body goes numb and I get on my knees paralyzed. I couldnt move my lower back at all. I sat knees on the ground face down for about 10 minutes in the shower before I could regain consciousness on what was happening because the pain was so intense.

I crawl out the shower slowly and it takes me about 10 minutes to put on clothes. I could not stand I could only crawl any movement of my lower back would put me in intense pain.

Scared and nervous, I call for an ambulance to go to the emergency room. There they shoot me with some trenadol? and prescribe me Cyclobenzaprine and Ibuprofen. The Doc says its just a muscle strain. It sure felt a hell lot worse than that.

What do you guys think? Bad position at the wrong time or should I stop deadlifting?
 
suncloud

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so the muscle strained when you weren't using it?

sounds like you may need to stretch more, and do the hanging stretches (think hanging on a pullup bar with a 45 pound weighted belt) to decompress your spine.

not that i'm a doctor. in fact, clear everything i said with your doctor when you get a follow up.
 

Filthy McNast

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Pay attention to your feet. If you start getting prickly sensations on the bottoms of either of your feet, numbness, or start having "foot drop" (walking like quasimodo), you did more than pull a muscle. I wouldn't personally think a pulled muscle in your lower back would have laid you out in the shower quite like that with what you described as "paralysis" and a feeling of numbness. If you start having problems with your legs and feet you can guarantee it is a bulging or herniated disc. I hope for your sake it a simple muscle strain though. Good luck, I would take a break from Deadlifting for awhile.
 

stxnas

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I had a similar experience and it turned out to be a herniated disc.

It's actually happened twice and I fully recovered without any issues after the first incident. I've never been the same after the second incident though.
 
Aggravated

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Just out of curiosity, what type of DLs do you do? Rack, regular, stiff legged, etc...?
 

DOMOkun

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I do regular deads and use a belt on weights past 315. Ive been doing deads for years now
 

Filthy McNast

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You may want to rethink at what weight you start pulling out the belt since you appear to have overdone it somewhat. If it were me I probably would lay off DL's for awhile altogether. Hope you heal up soon.
 
b unit

b unit

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i'd definitly give deadlifting a miss for a while, look into some beginneers yoga or something else to strengthen the core and stretch the hammies
 
Enigma76

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Similar experience here, happened to me in the shower after a deadlift day. For me, I couldn't bend down at all, I laid on my bed wet and without clothes until my back stopped spasming enough to put on clothing. I couldnt reach my feet or even my legs to towel off.

Took me 3-4 weeks to get to normal. I havent really deadlifted since, its been 6 mo. Every once in awhile I get a heavy DL day in, but I've prolly done DLs a handful of times since then. It was the 4th time I've hurt myself DLing (2x pulled erector spinae, 1x torn hammy, 1x the back thing).

Definitely got some nasty referred pain around my L1-L2 dermatome, so I had a pretty good guess that it was a muscle spasm compressing the L1-ish nerve root.

Just because you might get peripheral parasthesias or other neuro related Sx doesn't mean its necessarily a compressed disc. It could, like my injury, be a muscle pull and consequent spasm that compresses and injures the nerve root as it exits the vertebrae. Similar effect to a compressed disc but more localized.
 

DOMOkun

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Thanks for all the replies guys. I feel a lot better now, taking muscle relaxers and Ibuprofen. I got a shot of Solumedrol which is suppose to be a steroid?? Hopefully I will heal up soon Im gonnna give up deads for at least 6 months. I might do rack pulls.

Do you guys think I should give up squats too?
 
tmachovec

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From my own experiences and talking to some of the older guys I work with, once you mess up your lower back its never the same again. Please take it easy.
 

Bench Champ

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Dont get to excited about that steroid. Its not the kind that is going to make you grow muscle.

You need to get looked at by a qualified medical profesional. Don't rely on board advice for an issue such as this.

That being said..........you don't need to stop deadlifting or squatting permenantly. Not from a "muscle strain". You most likely do need to change the way you do them and your training approach.
 
jminis

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DL's are too much for my lower back. To me movements like DL's and Deep squats are just too much of a risk anymore. I did them at one point but have have lower back issues and knee issues so it's not worth it. I go to the gym to feel and look healthy not get hurt. I would lay off the DL's
 

DOMOkun

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Yeah I stopped deads altogether. And I dont do Zercher Squats or ATG squats or heavy squats in particular. I modifed my leg routine to hacksquats, DB lunges, and leg curls
 
BodyWizard

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You really should avoid exercises that vertically compress the spine until you've had an adequate recovery period as a rough estimate, I'd say AT LEAST while you're on anti-inflammatories and pain-killers - and I think it would be wise to double that (think of it as a form of PCT: if you want to keep the gains you made in recovery, you need to be off as long as you were in recovery...)
 
AdelV

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i'd definitly give deadlifting a miss for a while, look into some beginneers yoga or something else to strengthen the core and stretch the hammies
I notice if i get massage, he works on my hamstrings alot & i seem to be lower back pain free for a few days!
 
asooneyeonig

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so the muscle strained when you weren't using it?

sounds like you may need to stretch more, and do the hanging stretches (think hanging on a pullup bar with a 45 pound weighted belt) to decompress your spine.

not that i'm a doctor. in fact, clear everything i said with your doctor when you get a follow up.
good god please do NOT stretch the spinal muscles. mobility work on the hips will do you wonders. but as dr stuart mcgill once put it, a flexible spine is an injured spine.
 
Doss

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I'm with Ozzie here. Don't try and overly stretch those spine muscles. I've heard many coaches talk about a stiff spine being a strong one, and anecdotally I've noticed that if I do a ton of stretching of the lower back after squatting or DL'ing, almost always the following squat/DL workout has me feeling weak in the lower back.

I'm not saying you shouldn't work on mobility (glute, hamstring, abductor work) by increasing ROM in those areas, but I wouldn't recommend trying to stretch and relax the muscles that are responsible for keeping your spine from breaking under heavy loads, especially if you're still trying to progress in the big lifts.
 

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