so frustrated with my injury - encouragement please

[renee mcfar]

sjazz78: hope your back feels better soon. Leslie is a good idea! My back is a mess and when its killing me, Leslie really helps. Feel better soon.

I am working my way back from a 2 year health induced exercise break. Its so hard and some days I want to give up and cry. Like today, I finished my workout and my asthma is taking all my breath away. My back is all flared up,despite muscle relaxers,pain meds and stretching.

See, we all have good days and bad day. We get thru them. There are 24 hours in a day. Get thru one and see how to get thru the next and hope for a better 24 hours the next day.

God Bless all of us.

[darbyndoug]

Originally Posted by JackieB

I'm sorry you are injured! Not much more to add but take your time, and try to heal. If you need to see another practitioner, do it!

I'm constantly dealing with some injury since I'm a broken gymnast. It's hard, but just give your body time to heal and you will be fine.

Jackie

Just wanted to pipe in and add that my daughter was a former competitive gymnast... and it got to the point where something was always hurting... eventually she ended her gymnastics career. But I'm happy to report that she now takes lots of classes at the gym, and has even done one of my Cathe dvds!
And to the original poster... take time to heal... your workouts will be there for you when your body is ready. : )

[bfit]

Thanks so much to everyone for listening and for your encouragement. I am even worse today. I absolutely can't walk. I spend hours in bed under the influence of the muscle relaxants, when I get up I feel OK, and after literally 30 steps I'm in pain again and have to get back in bed. I couldn't even go out on the front walk today to pick up the newspaper, and it's still laying there. The doctor's office called today and said there was nothing else to do but what I'm already doing. When I asked why this wasn't improving she said that it "just takes time", but it's been well over a week, and I'm actually getting worse instead of better. They said they would try to speed up the PT referral, but I find it hard to believe that I'll even be able to do any PT if I can't even walk. The doctor also said not to spend the whole day in bed and to get up and do "light activity", but I don't see how I can do that if I can't walk! The doctor also said there was no point in coming to see her because there was nothing else she could do. Should I ask for a referral to a back specialist?

[hdw]

(((HUGS))) I don't have the answers. I wish your dr would do/say something more encouraging/helpful. Referring to a spine specialist might help?

[bfit]

A nurse practitioner from the doctor's office called me this evening to follow up. I told her about all of the problems I was still having, and she said it wasn't unusual. She thinks the main problem now is that the original injury is slowly healing, but the muscles around it cramp up to protect it, and the cramping is causing most of the pain. Also, laying in bed is probably just making things worse because everything gets tighter in bed - there's a fine line between rest and too much rest. I really do have to go back to work tomorrow and Th so that will get me and up about, and PT will probably start on Friday. She assured me that the initial PT would just be about loosening and stretching the muscles. She thinks this is still a relatively short term problem. I'm cautiously optimistic. Thanks again to everyone for your kind thoughts. I know that there are people in the world with much worse problems than this, and I should be grateful for my general good health.

[Vee]

bfit, A sports doctor may be able to give you treatments like ultrasound for the pain and to promote faster healing before they start you on PT. He/she will also be able to come to the right diagnosis faster. I hope the PT referral comes fast. I am not sure how things work in your country and whether a PT referral means seeing a sports doctor. Is there some way you can consult a sports doctor on you own for an opinion before the PT referral comes through?

I very much doubt this is permanent or anywhere close to the end of the road for you on exercise. I have seen many people heal from serious injuries that confined them to bed. The body is remarkable in its ability to heal. 55 is not old at all. And if you have been exercising regulalry until this incident, your body will heal faster.

I think the best thing you can do meanwhile is rest and relax. I think stress delays healing. What helps you with de-stressing? Guided meditation audio programs? Listening to music?

[toaster]

bfit, so sorry that you are dealing with this! I've never had a glute injury, but I've recently been recovering from a low back problem, and there are some things about my story that you might find helpful (sjazz, you may want to take a look too).

My low back started to hurt out of the blue a few days after Christmas. I assumed I had somehow strained it while exercising that morning, although it wasn't bothering me then. Anyway, I'd had a previous episode of a low back strain in August 2010 which gradually got better in 1-3 weeks through stretching, gentle yoga, etc., so I thought that this would be the same. And by around New Years, it did seem to be improving, but then the following week, just like you, I must have re-strained it, because then it felt worse then.

After that, it continued to bother me for the next month. It was actually worse than the previous episode in that I couldn't stand for longer than about 5 minutes without my low back really aching--the longer I was on my feet, the more pain/pressure that would build up. (At least I felt okay sitting.) I couldn't decide whether to go to my PCP or what, but then my friend mentioned her great chiropractor, so I decided to try him. Unfortunately, I went 3 times within just over a week, but I got NO relief.

So, again like you, I was extremely frustrated and not sure what to do next. During this whole time, I was continuing self-care--using both ice & heat, doing yoga daily, trying other therapeutic exercises, using massage balls, etc.--but nothing seemed to be working.

Finally, I remembered that during my prior back pain episode, I had gone to see a massage therapist--she is also an Anusara yoga instructor, and I really like her. So, I finally went to see her last Wednesday. She thought that the probably was likely related to my psoas tightening up from too much sitting.

The first night I came back from the massage, I was able to stand for much longer without pain! And since last week, I am SO much better; I still get a teeny bit of tightness in the mornings, but it's been like a miracle. My LMT also gave me some tips on my yoga practice, including recommending that I practice malasana, squat pose (see this article for info if you are interested). I am going back for another massage next week.

Hope that maybe this helps someone else!

[michl43]

I recently pulled a muscle in my back and it took a full 1.5 weeks to heal, so compare just that to your more serious injury, and it will probably take quite a bit longer. Somehow I slept better when my back was sore, so i kind of look back on the injury fondly

[bfit]

The PT place I will be going to does do massage and also some kind of procedure with electrodes (I know it sounds terrible) to loosen stiff muscles. The one other time I was there they were able to give me all sorts of sports and fitness advice so hopefully their advice will do, and I won't need to fight for a referral to a sports medicine doctor. I am also starting to realize that maybe the strain is not in a glute muscle after all. I've spent some time looking at muscle diagrams online and paying attention to what hurts and what doesn't, and I think what I'm actually feeling is the very lowest portion of the erector spinae where it goes along the sacrum and almost down to the tailbone. When everything cramps up it goes into my glute area, but I think the original pain is on or along the sacrum. One thing I know for sure is that I'm never ever doing another dead lift!

[toaster]

bfit, good luck with the PT! I actually had a referral for PT but couldn't decide if that was the right course of action (for me); however, if you know that yours incorporates massage too, sounds like you are all set.

In the meantime, you might want to try gentle stretches for the psoas, piriformas, and quads, all of which should help release the area around your glutes. Good luck!