Backpain & Recovery

A topical discussion today given that Sundays Paddle Boarding left me immobile today due to back pain.  I knew I had strained muscle in my back but it was not until I woke up at 2am in pain that I realized the extent of it.  It seems I needed to experience it to share with you my thoughts with a little bit of authority.

Background

I am no stranger to back pain, first experiencing it in 2004 after lifting a heavy object when I herniated a disc in my lower back.  I recovered from that experience after a spinal injection and Physical Therapy.  I did not think any more of it until 2011 whilst recovering from a knee injury (another story) I stood up and felt a sharp sensation in my back, I was concerned but after a visit from the doctor I was assured it would likely clear up in a couple of days and it did.  Only about 3 weeks later I made a small movement and again the sharp sensation only this time it did not recover but got worse and worse.  I will not lie to you when I say it was the worst pain I have ever experienced and even prescribed narcotic pain killers did not help much.  If you have ever experienced nerve pain you will know what I am talking about, if you have not I wish with my whole heart that you never have to.

I learnt a great deal from the last injury of which the most important and most scary was that the specialists don't really know a whole lot about the back.  Outside of the spinal injection the next options are surgical.  The answer I received is that the lower back is the prime site for injury especially as we get older given our lifestyle and the fulcrum point of pressure for the body due to the fact we stand on two feet.  I can tell you it shakes your confidence when you are looking for solutions and the answers are not exact. 

Thankfully I recovered following the spinal injections and I attribute a lot of my post injection recovery to spending time strengthening my back muscles or what I have come to understand as my posterior chain and learning to move correctly.  Put simply bending from the hips and not the lower back which most of us spend our lives doing.

An interesting fact that I found out was that during the MRI for the latest herniation they found no evidence of the early herniation from 2004.  The human body is a marvelous biological machine and we should never forget that.

Strength Matters

Regardless of the type of exercise you do or don't do I have come to realize that keeping my back muscles strong is very important.  The muscles stabilize the nerves and keep them from being pinched or knocked which would seem to be the cause of most radiated pain often in the buttocks and down the leg sometimes referred to as sciatica.  

To strengthen my back I practice the techniques outlined in DR Eric Goodman and Peter Parks book "Foundation, Redefine your core, conquer back pain, and move with confidence".  It provides both an overview of the causes and techniques.  I have found it to be so successful for me that I have signed up to attend a certified training course to get deeper and understand more.  BTW I am not a fitness instructor or in the fitness industry, I just have a passion for the outdoors and for living a long, healthy and fit life.

What Happened to Me and What am I doing about it.

On Sunday I paddled for 2 hours, about 1 hour into the journey I felt a slight discomfort in my hip.  This was the first indication that I was getting muscle fatigue.  It is important to listen to our bodies as they will tell us what is going on.  If however you are like me ignoring the message leads to consequences.  I believe it was compounded by the motion of the board as I had to deal with a fair amount of boat wake which was working my legs and lower body hard.  When I get muscle pain now I am very cautious as it is the muscles that are protecting the nerves and ligaments, when they are fatigued it is then really easy to go beyond a muscle pain and do something far more damaging.  Active rest is the path I have taken for this injury, that is to say small and gentle movement combined with heat and icing to bring down inflammation.  I also drink a lot of water as water also helps with inflammation.  It is going to be slow but tonight it feels a whole lot better than it did at 2am.  I use the foundation techniques to help work the muscles without putting strain on them.  Once the pain subsides I will resume my regular back strengthening to ensure I maintain a strong back especially since Paddle Boarding puts such a demand on the lower body.

If you are interested in the book here is a link to there site: http://foundationtraining.com/

Here are a couple of pictures taken today to show both the founder and the chest lift techniques that have worked particularly well for me.  I should also point out that the techniques have also considerably improved my posture as well as strength.