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My backs blown!!

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mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

I was bouldering this evening at the gym. Got to the top of a wall and jumped off like I have done hundereds of times. I landed a little funny I guess because I got a extreamly intense and sharp pain in my lower back immediately. I went straight to the ground and laid flat on my back. I made sure everything was still operable and tried to get up. The pain was preventing me from standing up. I rolled into my stomach and did some lower back stretches and managed to pull myself to my feet using the holds. I stretched some more and managed to walk to the car and drive home but the pain is still real intense if I move a certain way while walking or if I try to bend at all.

What's the professional mountain project prognosis and treatment for this lovely Injury?

Allen Sanderson · · On the road to perdition · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 1,203

Could be just a muscle strain or possibly blown / compressed disk ??? I see yer orthopedic doc for an evaluation which might include a MRI.

FWIW ... purposely jumping from the wall is plain damn stupid. Down climb until you can step down. Adds to the pump and saves yer back.

Tom-onator · · trollfreesociety · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 790

Sorry your hurt mr. tiger but...

Yer gunna die

Drink plenty of water

Keep off the trans fats

Watch endless loops of Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit for stoke

mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

I'm icing it and taking some aleve. Dinner is halibut and a mushroom. If I haven't improved tomorrow then I'll head to the doc.

Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974
Allen Sanderson wrote: purposely jumping from the wall is plain damn stupid .
Do you climb much at bouldering gyms? Because jumping down is pretty much SOP.
mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

I have been doing it for about four years. I downclimb everything where my feet are more then four feet off the ground. This is a real short wall. No more then fifteen feet.

Benjamin Chapman · · Small Town, USA · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 18,818

Mark E. Dixon....SOP...Operating, as in spinal surgery may be the key word in your too causal attitutde..Although jumping off in the gym might be the routine, that doesn't make it good for you...as mustardtiger found out. Ever hear of John Gill...the greatest boulderer ever. John talks about his silly habit of jumping down off 20 ft boulders until he realized how damaging it was.
Mustardtiger....get some ice on the quick!!!! And have that MRI ASAP. Likely, a compressed or herniated disk. Good luck!

Wilson On The Drums · · Woodbury, MN · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 940

hopefully it was just a muscle strain. i did the exact thing about 2 months ago; dropped from the top of a boulder problem like i've done a million times before. i received a steroid shot about 2 days later and some muscle relaxers and a lower back brace. the xrays were all good. the Dr recommended AGAINST stretching until the muscle had enough time to heal. for me it has been about 6 weeks... give it a lot of rest. it's been about 8 weeks now and on a recent long car ride i noticed some stiffness.

Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974
Benjamin Chapman wrote:Mark E. Dixon....SOP...Operating, as in spinal surgery may be the key word in your too causal attitutde..Although jumping off in the gym might be the routine, that doesn't make it good for you...as mustardtiger found out. Ever hear of John Gill...the greatest boulderer ever. John talks about his silly habit of jumping down off 20 ft boulders until he realized how damaging it was.
Kind of a big difference between jumping down onto a padded floor and jumping 20 feet onto the ground.

Jump or climb down, whatever you want, I don't care. But 99% of the folks I notice bouldering at gyms in Boulder jump down.

Do you climb down outside too?
Jeff G · · Colorado · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,098

Not a herniated or bulged disc unless you are having numbness/pain into your legs or you've lost bowel/bladder control.
Probably a facet joint injury.
Ice and take some drugs and be careful for a few days. Go see the Doctor after a week or two if it's not better.
Waste of money and time to get an MRI if you are only having back pain and not having leg pain or loss of bowel/bladder control.

William Sonoma · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 3,550

Regardless your dx, if its reasonable (meaning not going to further your injury) make sure you try and maintain a solid core and keep active.

I threw my back out years ago, thought I was done with anything athletic and stopped doing most everything. Come to find out (from personal experience) that my back feels 110% better when I am active (but lifting everything with proper technique/posture) and maintain a solid core.

I hope your back ends up being no big deal dude!

mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

Now I'm worried I'll pee the bed if I go to sleep!

Bill Shubert · · Lexington, MA · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 55

Could be a pulled muscle in your back, which can make walking impossible for a few days but usually heals up fairly easily. Or it could be the disk problems etc. that others mention.

If you know a good chiropractor, that is who I would see. A doctor will be able to tell you if your injury is major or minor, but in my experience a good chiropractor can solve a pulled muscle in your back faster than a doctor can.

Mathias · · Loveland, CO · Joined Jun 2014 · Points: 306

I injured my back at 15 trying to LIFT the back of a small trailer. 16 years later I still "tweak" it once or twice a year, resulting in pain and lack of mobility for a week or two. The pain you've described sounds a lot like that. They weight of the upper body coming down and forward from a jump is a huge amount of stress to put on your lower back. Your story should be a reminder of that to all of us. Could it be more than a serious muscle strain? Yeah, maybe. Judge based on pain and mobility when or if you should see a doctor. I've had a lot of injuries in my past (sure to have more in my future) and rarely see a doctor. But that's just my choice.

Alan Doak · · boulder, co · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 120

I'll commit to the top of gym boulder problems, with little regard to the fall; but I still always walk off or downclimb. At 39, why risk it?

mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

Maybe someone should start a thread discussing bouldering dismounts. Anyways I'm noticing improvement after I walked around a bit. If I wake up to a urine soaked mattress I'm going to head to the docs office.

Erik Pohlman · · Westminster, CO · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 4,035

See your physical therapist. Keep in mind that even if it was one of those evil disc bulges, they typically heal on their own. Jeez, they are often even completely asymptomatic, so even if one was found, it may have been there before. I have 4 in my neck that were discovered due to an unrelated issue... never had a day of neck pain in my life. There is likely no real need for any imaging, let alone an expensive MRI. Again, see your physical therapist for an examination to determine what to do next, but backs are actually pretty tough (in spite of what the first page or two of google searching will tell you). Oh, and your're probably gonna die.

Allen Sanderson · · On the road to perdition · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 1,203
Mark E Dixon wrote: Do you climb much at bouldering gyms? Because jumping down is pretty much SOP.
Maybe for you and where you climb but considering I have been going to gyms off and on for over 20 years I hope to be going for another 20 years. The other day in talking to the route setters they purposely put up "escape routes" some of which are just two to three rings for exactly so one can down climb and not jump.

BTW mustardtiget when I blew disks I did not have sciatic nerve issues immediately. It was until later on after the injury. For that matter I saw my ortho doc and while the MRI showed the bulged disks he cleared me to do some diving a week or so later. His only concern was the boat rides. Then came the sciatic nerve issues.

Finally, when it comes to blown disks it is not always a single incident, but in many cases years of abuse with one last incident that "breaks the camel back." So if ya can get it checked out - that way you at least know whether buy a package of depends or not.
Em Cos · · Boulder, CO · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 5

If the pain was that serious please consider getting an X-ray at the very least.

Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974
Allen Sanderson wrote: Maybe for you and where you climb but considering I have been going to gyms off and on for over 20 years I hope to be going for another 20 years. The other day in talking to the route setters they purposely put up "escape routes" some of which are just two to three rings for exactly so one can down climb and not jump.
Agreed, it depends on the gym. At one of our local gyms I prefer to down climb, as the pads are hard and I asked for down climbs to be set back when they opened. At two of the other gyms, I usually jump, as the pads are soft enough that I rarely have back issues. I have to admit that I won't make too many attempts at a problem if I'm falling off the last move though.

Just don't agree that purposely jumping off the wall is necessarily plain damn stupid. At least not any more stupid than climbing up the wall in the first place.
Chris Rice · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 55
backfitpro.com/

Dr McGill is the man to read (you can get his books through the library. Don't get too scared just yet but don't be stupid either. Most spinal issues will resolve within a couple months unless you continue to aggravate things. A chiropractor can often offer nearly instant relief but isn't the magic many want you to believe.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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