He actually recommended a gym in LA. Must not be the one you're referring to. I might eventually try the two hour consult. I'm going to try to do what I can on my own but if injury recurs I will seriously think about it.
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10 Myths About Lower Back Pain (LBP)
- Thread starter VonMeister
- Start date
You're a stud. I've never done any weight training. Ran marathons until I got the myocardial bridge diagnosis last year. So you can imagine my physique...and I've always surfed. All I really want to do is keep surfing. Been doing it for 46 years now. Can't imagine giving it up.
One thing that sucks is that health insurance never covers anything preventative.
Is there some kind of accreditation to look for when seeking out strength trainers to insure they are qualified?
My Bad. I thought you were in OC. If Havoc is recommending Paul Horn, there is no one better.
There's a ton of accreditation's out there, all are achieved by something as simple as filling out an online form and paying your dues to sitting through a weekend seminar at a CrossFit affiliate and paying 1200 bucks at the end for your certificate.
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I hope that's not the case.
Anywho, you seem to be the expert round these parts when it comes to back injuries. So I'd be remiss if I didn't get your opinion on recovering from a grade 3 SI joint sprain. So far the best medicine has been doing absolutely nothing.
It is the case.
Nothing works, but it doesn't address the root cause....and while I know you said yours was an impact injury, there are ways to heal quickly and improve your bodies defense to future injuries.
In the mid 90's I fractured two vertebrae in my lower back slamming into the reef. Doc said I was going to be dealing with it forever due to the soft tissue damage that was present as well (herniated discs from L3 through S1 with two sequestered fragments impinging on nerve roots. I gained 25 pounds and suffered through it for 10+ years following the doctors orders of ice and Motrin when it hurts, never lift anything heavy or run..... finally opting for surgery when there were more bad days than good and the sciatica in my right leg was so bad it felt like a had knives in it from thigh to foot. Through a lucky circumstance I had to cancel my back surgery to get my collarbone fixed and the surgeon mentioned a colleague of his that I should see before I get surgery. This was probably around 2012 or so. I've been pain free since. Sure ill get a little niggle from time to time but I know what it is and how to get through it in a matter of days, not weeks. In the meantime I've deadlifted just shy of 500 pounds and squatted over 400 after the age of 50. Take that doc. I will say that medicine and pain management has changed radically in the last 10-15 years and I doubt that doc would make the same recommendation today. I tried a lot of different things similar to what you posted and it just passed the time between flareups. The human musculoskeletal system is fairly simple in the way it works and it doesn't require a bunch of random movements and positions to work correctly. Muscle fibers contract one way at a speed gifted to you by genetics.......you can't change it and aside from a serious neurological issue you don't have trouble with them "firing" or "activating". They don't need weird angles or balancing acts to work.
I don't know your specifics or your age but when you go through an injury like yours a lot of times if you don't make changes it can mess with you forever.
Nothing works, but it doesn't address the root cause....and while I know you said yours was an impact injury, there are ways to heal quickly and improve your bodies defense to future injuries.
In the mid 90's I fractured two vertebrae in my lower back slamming into the reef. Doc said I was going to be dealing with it forever due to the soft tissue damage that was present as well (herniated discs from L3 through S1 with two sequestered fragments impinging on nerve roots. I gained 25 pounds and suffered through it for 10+ years following the doctors orders of ice and Motrin when it hurts, never lift anything heavy or run..... finally opting for surgery when there were more bad days than good and the sciatica in my right leg was so bad it felt like a had knives in it from thigh to foot. Through a lucky circumstance I had to cancel my back surgery to get my collarbone fixed and the surgeon mentioned a colleague of his that I should see before I get surgery. This was probably around 2012 or so. I've been pain free since. Sure ill get a little niggle from time to time but I know what it is and how to get through it in a matter of days, not weeks. In the meantime I've deadlifted just shy of 500 pounds and squatted over 400 after the age of 50. Take that doc. I will say that medicine and pain management has changed radically in the last 10-15 years and I doubt that doc would make the same recommendation today. I tried a lot of different things similar to what you posted and it just passed the time between flareups. The human musculoskeletal system is fairly simple in the way it works and it doesn't require a bunch of random movements and positions to work correctly. Muscle fibers contract one way at a speed gifted to you by genetics.......you can't change it and aside from a serious neurological issue you don't have trouble with them "firing" or "activating". They don't need weird angles or balancing acts to work.
I don't know your specifics or your age but when you go through an injury like yours a lot of times if you don't make changes it can mess with you forever.
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Definitely doing the right thing now, because i've seen relatively linear progression in healing since the injury 4 months ago. I was told that an impact injury like this usually takes 6-8 months and I'm on track for that. Got an MRI and didn't do any disc damage so it's likely the grade 3 sprain of the SI joint and some tissue damage around the pelvis (i like to think of it like I sprained an ankle, because that's what it feels like) .
I've made quite a few changes by increasing flexibility in the hips and hamstrings, and intend to start Ming Chew's permanent pain cure workout once the joint is healed (lots of fascia stretching, spinal decompression, and then mostly deadlifts + squats.). The SI joint is a weight bearing joint, so I don't see weights helping at the moment. The only thing that set me back (about a month) was trying some deadlifts, but that's before I found out it was the SI joint I injured.
Those sound like the kinda changes you're talking about?
If the SI joint is a weight bearing joint, I would say getting it used to bearing weight would be pretty important for recovery. Ligaments adapt to loading, and squats/deadlifts, presses would be the best thing to force this, in my opinion.
The SI joint is not a mobile joint (unless there is a ligament rupture) and sacrum movement is so minuscule that there’s no realistic way for someone to feel it upon palpation. If you don't have a rupture than there's no reason to do nothing. I find that squatting tends to quiet it down and "put things back into place" to use a colloquial term.
Again, not knowing you or your condition, I would start with very low weight and high rep ranges, trying to limit stress on the joint while allowing the joint to work through full range of motion. A good coach would help here because form is important when recovering from injury.
It takes awhile to get comfortable with the idea that you could experience repeated flare ups and still be making progress. We can spent too long pining for the day that we will be “cured” and never experience low back pain again. And each time we tweak our backs, we feel disappointed, like we're jolted back to square one. Keep it simple and play the long game.
The SI joint is not a mobile joint (unless there is a ligament rupture) and sacrum movement is so minuscule that there’s no realistic way for someone to feel it upon palpation. If you don't have a rupture than there's no reason to do nothing. I find that squatting tends to quiet it down and "put things back into place" to use a colloquial term.
Again, not knowing you or your condition, I would start with very low weight and high rep ranges, trying to limit stress on the joint while allowing the joint to work through full range of motion. A good coach would help here because form is important when recovering from injury.
It takes awhile to get comfortable with the idea that you could experience repeated flare ups and still be making progress. We can spent too long pining for the day that we will be “cured” and never experience low back pain again. And each time we tweak our backs, we feel disappointed, like we're jolted back to square one. Keep it simple and play the long game.
Sounds about right and thanks for the serious reply. Doc said best thing for me is getting back in the water, riding my carver board, stretching, and swimming... then moving to the weights. Like I said, I've seen linear improvement so I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing. Movement is medicine.
anyone here use those "TENS" machines.. My PT used to hook me up to one every other session and i liked the way it felt - not sure if it helped my issue but was like a nice deep concentrated massage.. Saw there relatively cheap online - if anyone hasa good brand in particular they like?
Activation and palpation seem to universally provide everyone temporary relief, even if just momentarily. A person I train had a recurring issue with his SI joint and he would use a hard ball and really dig it in the joint. It provided him a few hours relief every time. TENS, massage, lacrosse ball are all versions of the same thing. Keep in mind though that this is relief and if there is a recurring issue you need to do something different.