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Back Pain and Training
Hi everybody! I’m hoping you can help me with an issue I’ve been having for years: Back pain.
After barely doing anything active during my childhood I discovered sports to be my absolutely favorite thing to do when I started university. Unfortunately not knowing much about over training, the importance of rest or biomechanics at that time it just so happened that I overdid it. However, because I was so enthusiastic I ignored many of my the warning signs my body sent me. I was doing a lot of acrobatics at the time and one day I had an unfortunate landing. I didn’t fall or anything – but something happened to my back and I was in such severe pain that I could barely breath. You know what my reaction was? Ignore it. Looking back at it I have no idea how I managed to do that but I waited at least a month before seeing a doctor. I was then told that I had a herniated disk however the doctor claimed that the injury was so small that it couldn’t actually cause me any pain. He speculated that it had recovered to some degree as some time had passed since the accident. This theory was in good agreement with the fact that my pain had subsided quite a bit by then. Sadly my back has never been the same ever since and it forced me to give up on acrobatics completely. I’ve been to a number of different doctors over time and they all agreed that my back looked fine, suggesting physical therapy as they suspected the pain being caused by weak muscles.
Being a good patient I did the therapy and afterwards, when I started trusting my body again, continued doing strength training. After a few years I was yearning to do sports. I felt like my back was a lot better albeit still causing me pain. Doing acrobatics the way I used to was out of the question but I decided to take up pole dancing, which I had been fascinated by for years. I’ve been at it for about a year now and feel like I’ve avoided the mistakes I used to make. I train no more than 2-3x/week and try to listen to my body and let it rest even more when I’m tired or sore. My strength level is pretty good and I only ever worked through controlled movements, no jumping into tricks or throwing myself into positions I could not hold or stabilize. In spite of all my efforts the back pain got worse again very shortly after I started pole dancing. I suspect that it only ever got better because I only used a severely limited my range of motion and feel any kind of backbending aggravates my back. Unfortunately pole dancing is pretty much impossible with an entirely straight back. Also the pain frequently only starts to increase after the training session so it’s really hard to figure out what range of motion it can deal with and what movements I should avoid. I feel I’m once again at a cross road in my life where I have to make a decision and would greatly appreciate any thoughts or insights you might be able to offer.
Does anyone have any tips as to what I should do? Do you guys think I need to give up on pole dancing entirely? I’m a very driven and ambitious person so just sticking to very basic tricks is not an option that would make me happy in the long run. I need to be able to challenge myself – but chronic pain is something I’ve been experiencing for too long to be willing to do something that makes my condition worse. I really don’t want to lose another sport that I love but at this point I hardly ever manage to train without being in much more pain afterwards. If you can think of any treatment or type of training that might help please let me know!
TL;DR: I’ve had chronic back pain for a couple of years now. It started after a slight training accidents but multiple doctors have assured me my back is fine. I did physical therapy and strength training but this didn’t help much. It appears that my back can’t handle some type of movement (presumably back bending) which occurs in pole dancing. If you have any idea of what might help me to get rid of the back issues or at least make pole dancing less of a problem please let me know!
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8 Replies
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You mentioned seeing multiple doctors but you didn’t say what types…are we talking general practitioners? Chiropractors? RMT’s? Sports medicine specialists?
Maybe you just need to try a different type of doctor? Anyway, keep looking for a solution, the doctors say your back is fine but you are the one living with it. Keep telling them it’s not and hopefully you will eventually find a solution. ☺ -
@dustbunny: I’ve mostly been to orthopedists but also sports medicine specialists, chiropractors and osteopaths. It gets tiring to hear you’re fine when you’re clearly not so I’ve given up on going to doctors for a while now. Might give it another try. Anyhow, thanks for the encouraging words!
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Back pain sucks! I’m dealing with some myself. I can’t arch my back without pain. Sometimes bending down or straightening up hurts. Walking can hurt. Ugh! Then there are days it feels normal…until I move a certain way and boom…oh hello pain. Add a frozen shoulder…yep, me. I have been battling with my Dr for ages! I finally saw a sports medicine physician and am getting a shoulder MRI Fri. Hoping they’ll add on the low back at the same time! Have you had soft tissue imaging? Ultrasound or MRI? CT scan? X-ray images won’t show enough. Keep fighting! You have to be your own advocate for health. I have seen so many therapists…spent a lot of money…it is so frustrating! I’m off the pole because of all this and it sucks! Seek out a specialist and keep pushing for proper images and diagnosis! Good luck!!
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I’m so sorry to hear about your troubles! Did you hurt your back in some sort of accident or did the pain start gradually? It sounds like a real bummer and reminds me a lot of the way I felt in the year after my accident (except there were no days off). I even had a matching injured shoulder! It’s frustrating when injuries pile up like that – as if one wasn’t enough! I have no clue how this is handled in Canada but where I live chances of someone just throwing in an additional shoulder MRI would be pretty much nil. But even if they don’t, just getting imaging of the back surely would be most helpful already. I’m not quite sure how bad the issue with your shoulder is but if you can still move it to some extent without pain take a look at Veenas lessons for scapula control and external/internal rotation! Those are classic exercises you would get in physical therapy and they are most helpful with many shoulder issues.
I got an X-ray of the entire back in multiple positions but as you suggested this was only of limited help. The (supposedly harmless) slipped disk was then confirmed in an MRI of the lumbar spine. Other than that unfortunately they couldn’t find much – but obviously all imaging techniques have their limitations. Now I’m wondering if a CT might show something that remains hidden in an MRI. Maybe I’ll ask for a CT when I can muster up the energy to go to yet another physician.
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Is there really nobody with any kind of advice? I can hardly believe I’m such a medical wonder that no one here has made any similar experiences. I would really greatly appreciate any suggestions or ideas, no matter how small!
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I have no great medical knowledge but I had a herniated disc last year. I couldn’t move for several months and went seeing one physical therapist after another (I didn’t want to have surgery or injections) but noone could help me. UNTIL I found the right one. An osteopath. And after the first appointment the pain was almost gone. What I understood from his explanations was that our bodies are such miracles in the way everything is connected to some other part, everything like a ‘net’ so you pull on one end and it has multiple effects on all other ends, that you can injure a part of your spine (a herniated disk, for instance) and the muscles and the tissue surrounding this disk will try to ‘compensate your loss’, start doing work they are not supposed to do, tense in consequence, and hurt. And they can stay tense and continue hurting even if the original injury is fully healed because they got used to all the compensating. So this is what my osteopath did. He found the tissue and the muscles that had shortened and tensed in reaction to my injury (and also some disks and ribs and lots of other litte things I don’ know the name of that had moved a bit due all the compensating) and taught them how to behave properly.
So, maybe your problem is similar. And what I actually want to say is: don’t give up looking for a good therapist. They are few, I know, but you will find one who can help you. Because if you are in pain, it cannot be the case that everything is fine with your back. This is bullshit.
I wish you luck! -
I had several ruptured discs and a compressed spinal cord. I had surgery. I suffered for a long time to recover and I have permanent damage from my injury but I’m better now. Or atleast I don’t have pain. I have worked very hard to regain flexibility and strength. There is no ONE answer for your problems. You have herniated disc. There are many ways to treat that. Therapy. Surgery. Injections. I have had lower back pain since I was a child. I have worked hard to strengthen my back and core to correct my lordosis in my lower back. I train in contortion now. I am able to do this because of strengthening my body . Gradual smart flexibility training and self education. I recommend starting with a physical therapist and/or Pilates to correct – but I can’t really recommend that because I’m not a doctor and do t know the extent of your herniated disc. You may need surgery for all I know
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Thank you for sharing your stories and for the encouragement, it really lifted my spirit! I will just need to get over my frustration and try to find a capable doctor or therapist while I keep pushing to improve my strength and posture. If you managed to then there’s no reason I can’t too. 🙂
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