"I felt a pop in my back" (case report)
Here’s a case report highlighting that when you hurt your back, you need to get moving ASAP
I got a friend of mine back into barbell training.
(the barbell training👇🏽)
So of course I get a phone call on Monday morning and he says
“I was squatting and felt something pop in my low back”
At first I just felt bad since I’m the one that got him into this mess.
He explained how it happened and what he was feeling. It sounded muscular so I did a few things to confirm.
I had him send me a pick of the location of the pain:
I had him tell me what movements hurt:
bending to touch his toes hurt.
He felt pain Immediately.
He also had pain with walking when his right leg was forward, and he figured out could make the pain less if he marched (high knees) instead.
We did another toe touch test variation I learned in my SFMA course 10 years ago. I haven’t done it in awhile (haven’t needed it).
I had him bend his right knee and touch his toes again.
Less pain, more motion.
What does this mean?
Whatever was stopping him from moving was more related to his right hip and not his actual spine.
So what now?
Motion is lotion
When you have a painful movement, the goal is to restore THAT movement.
The key is to find the TRUE restriction.
Since it was a hip limitation, we worked hip movements using the 90/90 hip switch.
He struggles with this movement when he’s pain free, so it was fine that he used his hands. We didn’t need perfection.
He stood up, rechecked toe touch and
range of motion improved about 25%.
I instruct him to do this exercise every 2-3 hours.
Tuesday morning 50% better. Wednesday, continues to improve. Used his push mower and cut his grass without any problems.
What’s next?
The most likely outcome is he will get back to 80-90% recovered relatively quick.
The last 10-20% will take longer than he wants (always does)
Friday we are meeting up to get back under the barbell. We will still do the same movements
squat
press
deadlift
At a tolerable weight. I assume it’ll be 20-30% less than his previous workouts. I would not be shocked if it was 50% less.
As long as we get back to moving.
If you’re tired of being injured and tired of not getting results, set up your free discovery call with us.
You plan to recovery is a phone call away