The Sacked Back Support Group

Hey everyone, I wanted to post an inquiry to you all and see if maybe we could swap some information… I know there are a lot of us out there with various back injuries, and I’m sure there are a lot of methods that people have used to combat those injuries, some successful and others not so much. I’m curious as to how people have dealt with those injuries.

I suppose I’ll start it off… A few years ago I found out I had multiple herniated discs in my lumbar back. The docs couldn’t tell me exactly how I had managed that, the symptoms grew very gradually so I can’t pinpoint one specific incident. I had epidural injections and physical therapy. Both helped a bit, but after a few months of therapy I got lazy and stopped doing my exercises.

So now my symptoms are relatively minor, but constant… tightness and weakness in the lower back, the same in my hamstrings, occasional shooting pain in my legs. I’ve done little to alter my lifting, although I don’t do heavy deadlifts or back squats. I’m now searching for a good method to strengthen my back instead of ignoring it. Anyone have any similar experiences?

Good idea for a thread; 80% of Americans deal with lower back pain at some point. In a broad sense, most lower back injuries can be attributed to one of three causes:

  1. Overuse
  2. Disuse
  3. Misuse

Things for which you should watch out:

  1. Glute dormancy (and the related lumbar hyperextension compensation pattern)

  2. Tight hamstrings, hip flexors, lumbar erectors, piriformis, and ITB

  3. Rotated pelvis

  4. Vertebral subluxation

  5. Weak abdominals

  6. Excessive reliance on a belt

  7. Occupational exposure to repetitive stresses