Lower Back "pop"

**Jfew44** · 01-02-2009, 02:37 PM

Here's my situation. My lower back has been aching for awhile, mainly when I get up after long periods of sitting, or when I wake up in the morning. It tends to loosen up a little after walking around, but still hurts. I stopped doing all heavy exercises that involve my back (squats, deads, ect) until my doc appt (next week).

Yesterday I was doing shrugs, lifted the weight up about 2 inches and heard a pop. I dropped the weight and pain shot up my spine from my lower back to the upper middle part. I know this is something I need to get checked out with my doc, but my question is this:

Is it ok for me to still go to the gym and do, say, pullups, lat pulldowns, basically exercises that put no pressure on my spine? Am I doing more harm than good, or should I just stay out of the gym until my appointment?

Anyone with any knowledge about lower back pain (particularly with the spine as I doubt it is muscle-related) feel free to chime in because as much as I really want to get to the gym, I'm not sure if its worth it or not.

Thanks

**Jfew44** · 01-02-2009, 02:50 PM

Little too soon, but I'm bumping because I wanna go to the gym! Anyone?

**Jfew44** · 01-02-2009, 10:05 PM

Come on guys. No one has had this problem or knows anyone who has? Im done bumpin it Im just gonna work out tomorrow.

**ottomaddox** · 01-02-2009, 10:09 PM

If you miss a few workouts because of your injury its not the end of the world. I'd rather take a couple of days off to rest, than having to take a month off because you fvcked up your back. Train smart.

**Jfew44** · 01-02-2009, 10:17 PM

Thanks for posting lol. I realize I need to be smart about it but it's really hard when on cycle to not want to get to the gym.

**youngNhungry** · 01-03-2009, 11:17 AM

I just had a microdiscectomy on m L4 and L5. I ignored the pain and kept training by using dmso and taking fist fulls of loratab 10's. Do Not Do What I Did. If I would have gotten to a Doc. sooner I would have had much less pain and torture and a less complicated surgery. I got lucky though, and had and awesome surgen and, I have made what I believe to be a 75-80% recovery in just two months. Go to a doc and you can skip out on extra complications and painkiller dependency. Just a suggestion.

**Kratos** · 01-03-2009, 01:21 PM

done similar to my back. The pop is kinda like cracking your knuckles, but comes from the facet joint. Not likely a disc related problem you're having. No doubt you need to rest from the gym. I'm guessing you damaged some muscle, and the inflamation is causing the pain. I would start by taking a high dose of ibuprofen and 4-6 weeks off from any heavy load on your back and see how you feel. The ibuprofen should reduce the pain quite a bit within a few days if it's muscle related.