Have I ruined my back, again?

Filthy McNast

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I'm 41 years old. 5'9 and 185 lbs. I've been back into weight lifting (more for aesthetics than strength) for about 3 years now after having stopped in my late 20's. About 5 days ago, I was doing seated calf raises with a barbell with about 225 lbs across my knees. First two sets were fine. When I bent over to pick up the barbell and get it up on my knees for the 3rd set, I felt a distintive popping on the left side of my lower back but no immediate pain. The next day, I began to notice that my spine (in the lower thoracic region) felt bruised and was sensitive to touch. The area where I am now getting the pain is a bit higher than the area where I felt the pop when picking up the weight. When I arch my back backwards (like a prone cobra move) I get an excruciating pain right in the tender spot on my spine. It feels like a bruise right on my spine, but there is no visible bruising. Anybody ever had this issue come up and does it sound like it is related to a muscle, a ligament, a tendon, or a disc. Thus far, I'm not noticing any radiating pain to upper or lower extremities, just a pain in the middle of my back. Any input would be appreciated. I have previously had a disc rupture at L5-S1 that was surgically repaired in 2000 and that one was more obvious because the pain radiated right down my buttock, my leg, and my foot causing severe sciatica. The pain would seem this time to around what I would guess would be T-9, T10 or T12 in the Thoracic region.
 
PublicEnemy

PublicEnemy

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Considering I have absolutely no knowledge concerning spinal column issues, I'd say go see a doctor.
 

slacker86

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You could have injured a disc in your back very easily depending on the form you had while picking up the weights. As far as for where the pain and the location of the pop are that is common with injuries to the spine because the spine is part of the CNS and sends all signals (well not all sigals but most of them) to the brain. The pop could have happened where the pain is now because during injuries to the back sometimes theres an immediate loss of feeling/numbness because of a sensory neuron being cut off. The result is a confusion in 2 point descrimination (you cannot tell weather where exactly or how many points of stimulus there are in an area). As far as anything going on with the spine there really is nothing you can do on your own, you should see a Spine expert and maybe a neurologist depending on the severity of the injury. DO NOT GO TO A CHIROPRACTER OR ANYTHING LESS THAN AN MD, as anyone not specialized in the spinal cord can cause irreversible damage.
 

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