L5-S1 issues from paddling

VonMeister

Duke status
Apr 26, 2013
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JOE BIDENS RAPE FINGER
Try a ball medicine ball on your lower abs to release trigger points
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Passive modalities are placebo at best. Generally they raise the persons threat response which keeps them hyper sensitive to benign nerve inputs. We have large groups of people that now sit around in pain because they haven't had their myofascil release yet, and that dependency is as bad as opiates if the goal is to get a person out of pain.
 

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Michael Peterson status
Jan 11, 2002
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question to OP, would u rather have a weak and injured back or a strong and injured back?
Kind of moot, as it appears I don't have an injured back at all. It's muscles in the core and pelvic floor locking up, as well as the piriformis mentioned earlier. The PT is helping, but I'm taking things very very slowly. Unfortunately, bracing for squats/DLs is a major trigger, but believe me, I would love to get back into the gym.
 
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Chocki

Phil Edwards status
Feb 18, 2007
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Never heard of it.


Just realized I should of first asked if you’ve ever had a postural assessment done during PT?
 
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Michael Peterson status
Jan 11, 2002
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Just realized I should of first asked if you’ve ever had a postural assessment done during PT?
I think I had both postural and gait analysis for PT, which are informing the current treatment protocol. I also had a "postural analysis" done for free at an event booth by a chiropractor I didn't really trust, who told me (shockingly) I was horrendously crooked and in dire need of chiropractic care.
 

Chocki

Phil Edwards status
Feb 18, 2007
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I think I had both postural and gait analysis for PT, which are informing the current treatment protocol. I also had a "postural analysis" done for free at an event booth by a chiropractor I didn't really trust, who told me (shockingly) I was horrendously crooked and in dire need of chiropractic care.
Not a fan of chiros.
I think I had both postural and gait analysis for PT, which are informing the current treatment protocol. I also had a "postural analysis" done for free at an event booth by a chiropractor I didn't really trust, who told me (shockingly) I was horrendously crooked and in dire need of chiropractic care.
The postural assessment is a good starting point. Leg length discrepancy in particular along with whatever else is jacked up from injuries, age, or just poor posture.

These guys are super legit (like for real backgrounds and credentials). I don’t know why I didn’t think of them sooner. Their stuff in general has been a part of my life for a long time. I’m a firm believer in “Correct exercise is corrective exercise”.

 

emmohl80

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Oct 17, 2010
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Don't raise your head, neck, and shoulders so much when you paddle. Keep your head lower. Always do stretching before and after a session.
Been having some back pain the last month or so when I ride my new fish.Thought it was from riding as a twin but maybe i'm raising my head more? Pretty good in regards to keeping head down.To the point of getting pressures from chin. No pain when on my shortboards.
 

VonMeister

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Apr 26, 2013
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Kind of moot, as it appears I don't have an injured back at all. It's muscles in the core and pelvic floor locking up, as well as the piriformis mentioned earlier. The PT is helping, but I'm taking things very very slowly. Unfortunately, bracing for squats/DLs is a major trigger, but believe me, I would love to get back into the gym.
Your muscles aren't locking up and your piriformis is fine. Your PT is shaking you down to keep you coming back.
 

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Michael Peterson status
Jan 11, 2002
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Your muscles aren't locking up and your piriformis is fine. Your PT is shaking you down to keep you coming back.
Yeah... given that I had months of excruciating pain before going to PT that got worse with trips to the gym and now the pain is absent most days and far diminished when it does come back, they can keep taking my $25 copay.
 

VonMeister

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Apr 26, 2013
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was it the pt or the time that allowed it to heal?
Activity.

As you found out, a well programmed strength and conditioning program works. Random gym type stuff doesn't.

Any PT that says a muscle is locked up, or not firing....or really even mentions piriformis should be quickly ignored. Lets just entertain for a moment that any or this is true (it's not). What do you gain by telling a person who is in pain, yeah, you're broken. It's criminal that douchebags like that make up sh!t in order to nod in agreement with a patient who is suffering to some degree.
 

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Michael Peterson status
Jan 11, 2002
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Activity.

As you found out, a well programmed strength and conditioning program works. Random gym type stuff doesn't.

Any PT that says a muscle is locked up, or not firing....or really even mentions piriformis should be quickly ignored. Lets just entertain for a moment that any or this is true (it's not). What do you gain by telling a person who is in pain, yeah, you're broken. It's criminal that douchebags like that make up sh!t in order to nod in agreement with a patient who is suffering to some degree.
It was the PT.

I've been lifting on and off for about 10 years. I originally injured myself during an on phase, in which I was deadlifting, squatting, and cleaning multiple times per week doing the Candito linear strength/power program. The pain goes away when I'm sedentary and comes back with activity, not the other way around. Core loading and hamstring loading, along with abdominal bracing, trigger it. It has gone away a few times and come back after I've tried to lift again, so it's either a reinjury issue or other faulty patterns.

Let's be more specific here. The PT is not telling me the muscle is locked up or not firing, nor is she telling me I'm broken. What she's saying is that I'm exhibiting certain symptoms, probably caused by overuse of some muscles that are overloading because other major muscles are too weak, and prescribing strength and stretching exercises to counteract that. In fact, she's not really mentioning or treating the piriformis at all; I keep bringing it up, because I keep getting a lot of soreness and swelling there during flareups. Her prescribed exercises are my current well-programmed gym routine. They are working. My ultimate goal is to get back under the bar and squat and deadlift again, but only without pain. She's on board with that, and wants me to surf as much as possible as well.
 

hgsouth

OTF status
Apr 15, 2006
182
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Tennis balls won't do shat if its a disc issue, which you probably can't figure out without an MRI. I have 4 discs in my lumbar with significant bulges. I have permanent numbness on the inside of one of my calves and other issues associated with it. I had pain so bad that I couldn't walk for almost a month about 2 years ago.

I use stretches from a book called The Permanent Pain Cure by Ming Chew. You can get it off Amazon for about $10. The guy is a PT who has worked on pro athletes. A friend of mine went to see him in New York and he was able to avoid shoulder surgery and fixed his back up as well.

I wake up with a stiff back most every morning and the stretches get rid of the pain. The book has a series of stretches for the back along with specific stretch routines for things such as sciatica. I've turned other people on to the book who have said it changed their life. It takes a while to learn the stretches properly. He also has a section on food and supplements aimed at reducing inflammation and getting rid of scar tissue caused by injuries.

One of the things that helped me when I was in agonizing pain is I hydrated myself, which is what the book recommends before starting the stretches. I started drinking about a gallon of water a day instead of dehydrating with wine and coffee. Lots of disc issues can be caused by dehydration. The disc shrinks and then slips out.

That's my 2 cents. Otherwise, there is always dead lifts, cutting gluten and going no carb.
Hot yoga about 5x a week has kept everything in check for me ever since.

I just picked up a copy. Hoping it helps with my chronic neck issues.
 

Bob Dobbalina

Miki Dora status
Feb 23, 2016
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I'm dealing with it now. I have issues in the same zone. Mine flares up pretty bad once or twice a year. It's at its worst after a prolonged absence from surfing/exercise then going in cold.

This time, I hadn't surfed in a few weeks, I started back at work (2-3 hour round trip commute), tried to jump out and surf in the afternoon after sitting in meetings all day. Stretched for 4-5 minutes before (which doesn't do all that much), paddled for 30 minutes, stood up on my first wave and did the infamous "bottom turn- to grabbing the small of my back- to go straight in".

Laid me up for a week, rested, iced, anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer at night, travelled to Portugal feeling pretty good, and the day we were going to head to the coast I reached onto the floor for a napkin and BOOM. locked up again.

Now we are in the season for waves at my local and I'm on the IR.

Lacrosse ball to the muscles in my back, glutes, PF, hip flexors, etc, stretching the hammies every which way, bridges when I can, gradually increasing activity, and avoiding a seated position as much as possible has been the only way I get past it. Upping your core fitness routine is the only real way to deal with it. I've worked with PTs and Chiros. Good ones are worth their weight in gold, but most of them are average or less. Finding one that surfs or is active with athletes is a game changer. I'm still on the hunt for one in SF.

and yes, underlying disc issues are often a problem.