Lower Back Popped After Twisting

My lower back popped after twisting to pick up a laptop on the floor. For the next two days I couldn’t bend, sit, or get up from a position without a sharp pain. After a short massage, my back no longer hurts. Anybody have any idea what this was?

Minor strain?

You probably just moved a vertebra slightly out of place that caused the lower back muscles to spasm (the sharp pain). The massage likely relaxed the muscles and allowed the vertebra to slide back into place. This happens to me a couple of times a year. Some Advil and ice, heat and rest usually resolve it within a day.

DB

No reason for alarm then? =) i hope so cause i don’t want to stop deadlifting and squatting! Thanks for the replies

The problem (for me) lies in you using a word like ‘popped’, which denotes a sound, yet I suspect you meen it as in ‘popped: snapped or broke or damaged’.

Backs make popping noises ALL the time (usually when twisting) and this simply signifies cavitation of one of the facet joints (or possibly costovertebral or costo-transverse joints) and is not in any way accompanied by loss of function.

The very fact that you did have a marked loss of function indicates that your experience was far more than just a ‘pop’.

The more details you provide, the more chance of a some sort of accurate diagnosis - as far as the internet will allow :wink:

BBB

There was no ‘sound’, it was more like a popping feeling you get when you crack your knuckles. The motion I made was a twisting of the waist following by a bend downwards and kind of reaching to my lower leg. I ended up with a sharp pain everytime I used my core to move, such as sitting up when I was lying down or sitting from a standing position. Pretty much anytime I moved my midsection. This happened at night and lasted throughout the night till the next day, then I got a massage in the afternoon and the pain pretty much disappeared and now I can move in any direction without any pain.

Do not bend at the hip and twist, the back is not meant to do this movement.

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Do not bend at the hip and twist, the back is not meant to do this movement. [/quote]

Why do you say that? Do you mean under load? Because it is not an unnatural movement in and of itself. Have you never done opposite toe touches?

DB

pop and lock. you dont choose to be a dancer. dancing. chooses. you.

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Do not bend at the hip and twist, the back is not meant to do this movement. [/quote]

Why do you say that? Do you mean under load? Because it is not an unnatural movement in and of itself. Have you never done opposite toe touches?

DB[/quote]

The IVD is at its weakest when the vertebra are forward flexed and rotated.

It is due to the structure and orientation of the collagen fibres in the laminae of the outer IVD.

BBB

[quote]bushidobadboy2 wrote:

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Do not bend at the hip and twist, the back is not meant to do this movement. [/quote]

Why do you say that? Do you mean under load? Because it is not an unnatural movement in and of itself. Have you never done opposite toe touches?

DB[/quote]

The IVD is at its weakest when the vertebra are forward flexed and rotated.

It is due to the structure and orientation of the collagen fibres in the laminae of the outer IVD.

BBB[/quote]
I understand that you shouldn’t bend and twist and pick something up, but bending and twisting in and of itself is a natural movement, is it not? Otherwise, I wouldn’t think I would be able to do it voluntarily.

DB