Strange Pain After Deadlifts

[quikky]

I'm not a doctor and I don't know anything about your pain or what to do about it. What I'm saying is that you may not have the back awareness that you think you do, which is why I suggested getting video. What you perceive as "usually straight, then bent a little on the last two reps" might really be "usually bent, then bent a LOT on the last two reps".

I understand why you're asking. I will try to get a video up, but not sure how soon. The key thing I want to make clear is: I know I let my back round a bit, I am not asking why this injury happened - I just want to know what the injury is.

What was the weight you were going for when this happened?

295lb

You probably just pissed off the spinal erector or other ab muscle. This is a pretty common injury around here. It happens. In this case it sounds like it's not bad at all. Try some moderate to high rep light to moderate weight RDLs. And read some of the other threads around here on this.


(i'm not a doctor, don't listen to me, etc.)

It could be that, I'm trying to figure out what's happening. It seems like it might be spinal, but the pain is dull, gets better with stretching (and worse in the morning), and it's kind of on the right side off the spine, not in the direct center. I also only feel it if I really bend over. It feels fine lying around, sitting, standing, pressing, squatting, etc. The only time I noticed anything during exercise is sometimes during squatting it hurts just a bit, like one out of 10 reps.

Sounds similar to what I have and I just got over my pain. From your post I would say it's nerve irritation in the SI region and pain may or may not go to your leg. Do a slump test and see what happens.

Not 100% sure if I did the slump test correctly, but the only time I noticed some discomfort is when trying to pull my forehead way down (i.e. max bending). Lifting the legs and feet felt fine.

[richardhawk]

Yes, chin touching your chest while slumping and each individual leg raised.

I went to a PT after 2 months of chiro work and 3 months of self research. I would recommend you seek professional help but this is what worked for ME based on my PT's diagnosis.

* No exercises using the lower back. I probably could have gotten away with this but I had that nagging pain for so long I would did whatever she asked.

* She made me do 3 stretches once a day while doing spinal manipulation on my back.
Knee to chest stretch (30sec x 3), Hamstring stretch (30sec x 3), and quadruped leg raise stretch (2 x 20 each leg).

* After a while she had me doing in addition: sitting slump stretch (15 secs x 5), Cat and camel stretch (20 reps), planks and side planks (15 secs x 3), pelvic tilts (20 reps), laying back extension, and I think that's it.

The exercise she said that helped me the most was the slump stretch. You perform it by sitting on the ground with your feet flat against the wall. You put your chin on your chest and put your hands very lightly behind your head.

I did each stretch set religiously everyday once and within 4 weeks I am 99% pain free.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

I did each stretch set religiously everyday once and within 4 weeks I am 99% pain free.

You might consider that it was the 4 weeks and not the PT exercises that deserve the credit for making you pain-free. Unless you were severely detrained/completely sedentary/an elderly frail person, I can't see the exercises you described doing much of anything. The spinal manipulation and any massage you received would probably have been a help, though.

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OP, you're not going to get a diagnosis over the Internet. Back injuries are notoriously hard to pin down, anyway. If you don't want to shell out for a visit to a doctor and an MRI, then your options are limited.

It seems you're not in great amounts of pain and appear to be recovering well. Ask yourself what a doctor will do, other than tell you not to lift (which may not actually be in your best interests) and/or send you to a PT who will take lots of your money and make you do dinky exercises that aren't 1/10th as effective as barbell-based rehab program and then claim that he cured you when it was actually the 2 months of healing time that did all of the work.

Search Rip's Q&A for back injury threads and do some reading. You'll find lots of information there and many suggestions for rehab protocols.

[quikky]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'm just going to keep going with the training as planned, and do a big deload on deadlifts and proceed with caution. I did about 60% of my deadlift weight yesterday, and today back feels okay. I think I'll gradually increase the weight and back off if anything doesn't feel right.

The going to the doc idea I don't think will yield much result. I am not in pain, unless I *really* bend my spine, and even then it's nothing too bad. I can't imagine the doc being able to do anything except tell me to take ibuprofen if I am in pain, and to not deadlift for 3 months. The MRI might not even be useful either. I read most people have some spinal irregularities/problems naturally, so even if they find something, it will be hard to pin it to the pain and we might just end up going after something I've had all along.

[gbates]

Hate to resurrect a dead thread, but I'm curious about the outcome of your training modifications. I'm having nearly the same symptoms as you, with small variations (pain on the left side, I feel pain when sitting slouched, etc). I can do all of my lifts without pain except for heavy deadlifts, and this has been a persistent issue for months in my case. Was curious to know (if you can remember back to this random injury in 2012) how you overcame it, if at all? What did your rehab protocol look like? Did you ever confirm a diagnosis?

I went to two different PTs, and one told me to strengthen my core while the other told me to stretch my hamstrings. Not exactly great insight into my pain.

[JakeWasHere]

Really dead thread. Check that you aren’t rounding your back on the way down, I was having this problem for a while and then i figured out that I was sloppy going down, rounding your back on the descent is just as bad as it is on the ascent.

[Arlene Dukes]

I think that even if you could still do some exercises, you should probably take time to check what's really going on. Don't self-medicate, because things like these really need intervention. One day you're strong and buff, the next - you'd have a hard time walking. Just concerned, mate!