I injured myself in a way I never knew possible today and I was wondering if anyone else has ever done this.
It all started on Friday morning when I was doing legs with a friend who is 3 weeks out from his first contest. We started with squats and the intensity was up a few notches above normal with a contest looming. The last set of squats was a torture test starting with four plates a side and dropping down to 2. After 12 reps I felt something give in my upper neck/base of skull area. I dropped to a bench but recovered a few seconds later to finish the drop set.
I forgot about it until the next day and was reminded on my very first set of preacher curls when the pain shot through the back of my head like I got punched. I was alarmed but the pain subsided after a few minutes and fell into a dull pain. I finished the workout as planned.
Sunday was a rest day, but just so I could be geared up for back on Monday. I started with deadlifts and got up to 405 for 6 reps. I still had 2 sets to go when the pain became too much.
After a trip to the ER, a CT scan and 5 ex-rays I found out I have what they call a coal diggers fracture. Its when the connective tissue pulls a section of bone away from the vertebra. Its just a tiny peice of bone and not a big worry, but its hurts to do it. On a side note I also had bone spurs on my skull where the tendons attach from years of lifting heavy. I am a T-man and with the Dr's OK I will be doing a higher rep workout tommorow of push exercises. The only thing to hold me back is a possible call from the Dr who will look more closely at my CT scan in the morning.
Bottom line, has anyone else ever had this horrible pain on the back of their head? Is it common? And plaese, don't lecture me about pushing myself too far. I learned my lesson and this was my first real injury after years of training.