Help! Injured my back with deads!

[Peckz]

I injured my back yesterday while doing deadlifts.
While doing my second set my back snapped and i had this intense backpain. I could hardly make it home in my car because of the pain.
Today my back feels a little bit better and i can walk and sit but only if i keep my abs flexed and concentrate on not letting my lower back arch even an inch.

The pain is located just between my buttocks where the lowerback and glutes meet. When i move the wrong way i have this sharp intense pain that is almost unbearable. I'm pretty sure that its not a disc injury as the pain is local and is not radiating.


You guys have any idea what it can be? Should i see a doctor or a chiropractor?

Could there be some kind of nerve damage?
Should i try and walk around as much as possible or should i lie down and rest?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gettinlarger]

Bro, that sucks. I've done that a couple times myself. Not that bad, but it was almost there. You might want to take some Advil or Aleve. Rest. A lot. Alternate applying ice and heat (heating pad or something like it) every half hour. Well, I do ice, heat, nothing, ice, heat, etc. You get it. If you can do it without pain, stretch. Sit with one leg straight out. Your other leg, put over your lying leg, with your knee up, and use your elbow to turn your body. Do it both side. Gives a very nice stretch to your back. Reverse hyperextensions are also worth trying. Good luck man. If it's not better soon, I'd go to a doctor. But, if he tells you not to deadlift anymore ... tell him he's an idiot.

 

[T-Rage]

Dude, sorry to hear this man. I've been dealing with a similar injury now for 6 months from going to deep with squats while not being warmed up. As a result I have come researched a ton on information but here is a summary.

Rest for 3 days doing what gettinlarger says about the ice, heat, etc. After 3 days or so is when you should start some kind of active recovery (something I unfortuneatlely didn't do) even something as simple as just walking. The walking or cardio is excellent as it gets much needed blood to the area of the injury which can remove bad stuff and supply good stuff to aid in healing. Regarding stretching...Yes it is key to start stretching to avoid losing your range of motion but I would be careful about stretching too soon. You could possibly damage it worse depending on how severe the injury is. That's why 3 days is key. After 3 days have passed you will know how serious the injury was and can then determine whether to start stretching or see a doctor, etc.

The injury sounds like a lower back strain right around the illiac crest. This is where all the muscle and tendons tie into the bones and stuff right on you waist line on your back. Also, these injuries tend to favor one side or another. For instance my injury was mainly on my right side (most acute pain) but I did have pain all over the area.

One final thing...Can you please post the weight you were using and on what rep the injury occured?

Thanks and good luck!

 

[Peckz]

Thanks for the reply guys. I went to see my physician thirty minutes ago just to be sure. He did all the usual stuff and came to the conclusion that i had just torn my muscle a little bit. I asked him about the deadlifts to which he replied that there where no need to cut them out of the workout. I credit the injury toward bad warm-up and i feel i have learned a valuable lesson.

Amazingly i do feel much better after doing a short walk and some stretching and i feel confident that i can resume lifting pretty soon.

I was only doing a 220 lbs deadlift so i was pretty surprised that i hurt myself. I can usually do that amount cold without any problems.

If feel much better mentally now that i believe there wont be any long term damage, heh i cant believe how little it takes to get me depressed.

 

[The Red Dragon]

Congrats on the clean bill of health