Following a trip to the osteopath to reset and treat a lower back (L5 / S1) problem, i'm totally off training for at least 3 weeks. Anything that involves twisting, lifting, stretching, or wiping my bum too vigorously is out.

So, any ideas on how to stop putting on 10kg in the next month, short of wiring up my jaw?





When thinking of witty replies that make light of my predicament, bear in mind that I do karate, and as admin have access to your ip address...and I will hunt you down....

Sorry to hear about your back Mark, im afraid i cant help you, i cant even think of a witty reply

I don't really have much useful insight to offer regarding the short term, other than to remind you that - as you're starting to get better - as well as rest you need to engage in some degree of movement. Otherwise your back muscles will seize up and the excess tension will significantly slow down your recovery. Of course, how much movement you should do depends on the exact nature of your injury, so you'll need to discuss this aspect of your recovery with the osteopath.

You might also benefit from some soft tissue massage (shiatsu, swedish, aromatherapy, whatever floats your boat) in conjunction with the osteopathy. Just make sure you go to a compentent fully qualified practitioner who can properly take your injury into account.

Whatever you do, statistics demonstrate that you'll most likely experience significant improvement over time. But the same stats also demonstrate that most people with back problems have a relapse within a few years. So the real key is to continue working in the future to prevent a reoccurence. There are lots of ways you can this, watching your weight, exercise etc. but the one thing I'd really recommnd is pilates. The core stability that results from pilates training has been shown to significantly reduce the likelihood of reoccurring back problems.

IMO Everyone should do pilates (or something similar) whether they have a back problem or not.

Mike

These were going to be my suggestions.

I suffered a back injury at the begining of this year, instead of seeking medical attention immediately, I just got on with things thinking that it would get better on its own. It didn't, it stiffened up even more and got to the point I could barely walk.

As a result of the soreness and stiffness in my back, I altered the way I moved and sat, as a result I know have to sit with a rolled up towel at the top of my back to stop me from rolling my pelvis.

Pilates is brilliant not just from the relief from the injury, and the increased mobility it gave me but it also helped with making me more aware of the way I moved around.

After seeking help from a physio who specialised in pilates and remedial massage, I am back to normal now.

I would also suggest a wheat pack is a good investment, it was good in the early days, now I just use it to heat the cats bed on a cold winter's night.

Sorry to hear about the back Mark. Not good at all.

I get some small back injuries out here where i work usually brought on by RSI, manual handling, or sitting for long times in the truck...

Fortunately BHP supply us with medical practitioners to aide in recovery (even if it isn't a work injury).

To help with my problem (which is soft tissue problems) they suggested i see their myotherapist.
I didnt even know what one was until i went.

He did deep tissue manipulation and dry needling (similar to acupuncture) he also showed me some simple stretches and exercises to do to assist in strengthening the muscles to avoid further damage.

As far as weight gain goes...... can't help with that. Unless of course you want to put it on. THAT I can help you with.

sorry to hear about the back mate!
as far as the weight gain goes you should carry on with some low impact exercises like swmming, cycling, etc to keep that exercise up.
avoid running, jogging anything that will put pressure on your back

Follow up trip today. Recovery is about 80% there. I've got the ok to start swimming now; cycling in about another 7 - 10 days and running in 2 - 3 weeks. Weight training is ok too as long as it's not involving back leverage. Dojo training - easy and progressive - I can start in 7 days.

I've introduced swiss ball core work from 3 - 4 days ago as an intro back into rehabilitating the area. In a few days I'll be able to introduce a bit more stress into the exercises.

The L5/S1 problem is an old athletics injury from 20 yrs ago - I 'slipped' whilst doing squats with 320kg on the bar and popped the vertebrae. This is the first time it's been bad enough to require it to need traction to realign it and not just straight forward manipulation.

I've put on about 3kg so far since I did it about a month ago...