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Thread: Back Muscle Pull

  1. #1
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    Default Back Muscle Pull

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    Opening a coffee filter this weekend my back went out. Opening as in separating the sides to put in the coffee maker. I am seriously Kinesiology clueless, so the best I can describe this is about 4 inches down below my right shoulder blade and a few inches in from my spin. Latissimus Dorsi, Erector Spinae, hell if I know. What I do know is that later that night I moved my arm and it went off again. It’s pretty paralyzing when this happens. It fires off, dense everything up from like one little “spot” and I can hardly hold myself up. First time this happen was 10 years ago I was carrying two light boxes as if I was bear hugging them. Fully expanded reach I turned them sideways to get through a door. And bang….. A few incidents every so many years. Now it’s a few days after the incident and I feel like a “knot” in that spot?

    Pretty shitty info but any idea what where?
    Generally is it safe to do some light lifting and keep moving?
    Roller?
    This is the first time this injury has popped up since I’ve been lifting and not sure how to work or not work around it.

  2. #2
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    That sucks, sorry to hear it.

    I've had good results from very light deadlifts (i.e. 135 x5) for settling down crampy back issues. I usually feel better afterwards, and it seems to heal faster.
    But be careful, your back problem might be different from mine.

  3. #3
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    Okay, so Thursday I am fine. No gym Thursday, just work. Don't know what I did but Thursday night it starts (maybe it was when I got the coffee machine ready for Friday morning; I set it up the night before). I feel a little twinge in the lower right side of my back. Wake up in the middle of the night to pee and can hardly move to get out of bed. Friday morning, excruciating pain.

    Well, I reason that I did nothing heavy to cause this so I will just ignore it (turns out to be the right call). Go to the gym Friday (it's bench + other crap day) and it goes okay although it is painful to get on and off the bench. Saturday is squat day. Guess what, no problem.

    By Sunday it is gone. I've had this happen before. Usually if it starts from some crappy little thing like pulling open a coffee filter it is safe to just work through it. Even at 61 I try not to treat myself like I am fragile.

    YMMV

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Culican View Post
    Okay, so Thursday I am fine. No gym Thursday, just work. Don't know what I did but Thursday night it starts (maybe it was when I got the coffee machine ready for Friday morning; I set it up the night before). I feel a little twinge in the lower right side of my back. Wake up in the middle of the night to pee and can hardly move to get out of bed. Friday morning, excruciating pain.

    Well, I reason that I did nothing heavy to cause this so I will just ignore it (turns out to be the right call). Go to the gym Friday (it's bench + other crap day) and it goes okay although it is painful to get on and off the bench. Saturday is squat day. Guess what, no problem.

    By Sunday it is gone. I've had this happen before. Usually if it starts from some crappy little thing like pulling open a coffee filter it is safe to just work through it. Even at 61 I try not to treat myself like I am fragile.

    YMMV
    OK,. so carry on is the message here? I could not tell if you were spoofing me or. The "dig" is that it feel like a "knot" or something is still there but yes I get about trying not to treat myself as being fragile. Even though in my case I'm 58, and I'm not sure about the fragile part. I was reading Dan John's book "Never Let Go" and he describes versus people and their potential with some being "Oaks" and some being "Spruce" and "some are bonsai trees, and for that I'm very sorry" I found myself thinking I'm probably a bonasi that needs to diet.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Strega View Post
    OK,. so carry on is the message here? I could not tell if you were spoofing me or. The "dig" is that it feel like a "knot" or something is still there but yes I get about trying not to treat myself as being fragile. Even though in my case I'm 58, and I'm not sure about the fragile part. I was reading Dan John's book "Never Let Go" and he describes versus people and their potential with some being "Oaks" and some being "Spruce" and "some are bonsai trees, and for that I'm very sorry" I found myself thinking I'm probably a bonasi that needs to diet.
    I'm not spoofing. It came out of nowhere last Thursday nigh, hurt like hell, and, as I type this, is 90% gone. I didn't skip any of my scheduled workouts. I have learned that some back pains can hurt vastly out of proportion to what their actual seriousness is.

    I wasn't trying to call you "fragile" it was more of a general comment. Lots of guys at work mid 40's and above who get a mild ache or pain and say, "Oh, I'd better not lift this bag any more" or something along those lines. I believe that kind of attitude leads to a rapid decline.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Culican View Post
    I'm not spoofing. It came out of nowhere last Thursday nigh, hurt like hell, and, as I type this, is 90% gone. I didn't skip any of my scheduled workouts. I have learned that some back pains can hurt vastly out of proportion to what their actual seriousness is.

    I wasn't trying to call you "fragile" it was more of a general comment. Lots of guys at work mid 40's and above who get a mild ache or pain and say, "Oh, I'd better not lift this bag any more" or something along those lines. I believe that kind of attitude leads to a rapid decline.
    Thanks for the clarification and advice. No worries on "fragile" I was more or less calling myself that. I could make a hell of a lot more progress if my parents had given me better DNA.

  7. #7
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    So, just as a point of reference on this: I did my regularly scheduled deadlifts today and had no problems with my back at all.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Culican View Post
    So, just as a point of reference on this: I did my regularly scheduled deadlifts today and had no problems with my back at all.
    Ironically I tried to do "light lifting" and felt worse. Yesterday I did just assistance stuff feel about the same. Putting my foot up and tying my right shoe is a bitch. One the plus side it dispels the myth my wife has about my dancing which is that I have two left feet.

  9. #9
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    Oh, that area. I think there's a bunch of nerves there or something. I've had a couple of occasions when I've felt injured below the point of the shoulder blade. It comes on suddenly and locks me up.

    I know that if you get struck there with the point of an elbow it can knock the breath out of you and hurt like the blazes and the pain is way out of proportion to the force of the impact.

    I figure that when I feel injured there I've irritated some tissue near the nerves, so rolling and stretching are out. It usually resolves in a day or two.

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