Another Lower Back/Hip pain

[SMC]

First post here, so background on my back

A year ago when i was an ignorant lifter who had no idea what form was, i hurt my back doing squats/deads. The pain was central in the lower back, eventually went a way several months later. Then in April, i was squatting about my BW and i felt a sensation on the right side of my lower back/hip area, felt like a packet of fluid burst or something.

From here on, i had issues bending forward with locked knees. I continued to deadlift as it didnt seem to hurt, but eventually i went to a doctor, got X-rayed and MRI'd, which showed i had a medium bulge in the L5/S1(this was in june).

So i took a month off completely from squats, and 2 off from deadlifts(issues getting into position without pain), did PT, came back and started completely over on squats at an empty bar and added 5lbs each workout.

The pain is still there today(and im only at 195lbs for squat), mostly when i bend over, but if i unlock my knees and do so, there's nothing. So i have it in my head that this pain is NOT directly related to the disc. It also flares up if i try leg swings on the right leg. I've been foam rolling, using a lacrosse ball, and stretching my hamstrings daily, plus spinal decompression. Also based on the last week, i would say that power cleans leave it irritated the most.

Anyone else have a similar pain or advice?

Thanks

[Tom Campitelli]

The pain is still there today(and im only at 195lbs for squat), mostly when i bend over, but if i unlock my knees and do so, there's nothing. So i have it in my head that this pain is NOT directly related to the disc.

Why would you have that in your head? You have a bulging disc. This is a very likely cause of your pain. By unlocking the knees, you slacken the hamstrings, which takes some of the pull off of the hips/low back, which results in less pain. I would still bet it is your disc that is bothering you.


Anyone else have a similar pain or advice?

You are going to need to be careful. Squats and deads are good, but you have less room for slop in those movements than someone without a disc injury. You may not be able to push them as quickly as you would like. Louie Simmons herniated several discs and rehabbed them using a reverse hyper machine. Do you have access to one anywhere? It could be of use. Stretching, foam rolling, and lacrosse balls are great, but unlikely to make the bulge go away. You also did not do this very long ago. The pain from injuries involving discs can last a while, sometimes a liftetime. However, barbell work is a good choice for rehab. I would also suggest lifting with a good belt.

[Tom Campitelli]

Also, Rip has talked about related matters on a few occasions:

http://www.google.com/search?q=herniated+disc+site%3Astartingstrength.co m
http://www.google.com/search?q=bulging+disc+site%3Astartingstrength.com

[SMC]

Why would you have that in your head? You have a bulging disc. This is a very likely cause of your pain. By unlocking the knees, you slacken the hamstrings, which takes some of the pull off of the hips/low back, which results in less pain. I would still bet it is your disc that is bothering you.



You are going to need to be careful. Squats and deads are good, but you have less room for slop in those movements than someone without a disc injury. You may not be able to push them as quickly as you would like. Louie Simmons herniated several discs and rehabbed them using a reverse hyper machine. Do you have access to one anywhere? It could be of use. Stretching, foam rolling, and lacrosse balls are great, but unlikely to make the bulge go away. You also did not do this very long ago. The pain from injuries involving discs can last a while, sometimes a liftetime. However, barbell work is a good choice for rehab. I would also suggest lifting with a good belt.

For the first part, primarily because the physical therapist made it out this way, and also because when there is pain, its not felt at the same location as the disc(which i know means little). Also a month of going to the chiropractor really didnt do shit. Plus time spent researching this, a bunch of sources state that often times pain felt is unrelated to the existence of a bulging disc.

I've been pushin the major exercises very slowly anyway, i do have access to a reverse hyper machine at my school gym which i use once a week. Other days where im in my garage, i do some bodyweight reverse hypers.

As for a belt, i have one on the way