I Hurt My Back...Again!
3+ years ago, I hurt my back and wrote this blog as to how I got better:
Last week, I managed to tweak it again. I was backpacking in Yellowstone, and bent over to adjust my shoe and felt a twinge (I wasn’t even wearing my heavy pack!!). Typically, this mechanism of injury (sudden onset in a forward-flexed position) indicates a small tear in one of the discs in the back.(otherwise known as an ‘annular tear’). They are VERY painful but resolved quickly, if you do the right things.
I followed my same program as 2018 but added a few tweaks:
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I took high dose fish oil (4 g) and a supplement, turmeric, to help with inflammation. I took these supplements for about a week.
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I had some muscle soreness in one of my back muscles (quadratus lumborum) and so I saw a trusted spine physical therapist, Nate Hunsaker at Rehab Authority, who did some dry needling in my back muscles. This is a technique similar to acupuncture and involves inserting small needles into tight/spasmed back muscles.
Again, full resolution of pain within a week.
Keep moving! MOTION IS LOTION!!
~ DR. V