I hurt my back last weekend moving my futon mattress. It was one of those bent over at the waist and lifting something too far away from my body. It feels like a pulled/spasming muscle in my back, but it keeps getting worse even though I'm doing alternating heat/ice and taking muscle relaxers and pain killers.

just a few minutes ago I tried to sit up in my chair and I nearly passed out from the pain.


should I give it a few more days, or should I go to the doctor today?

It still just feels like a muscle, I don't have any pinched nerve type of pain going on, and it doesn't feel out of alignment at all.

 

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If you go to a Dr they will tell you to take 800MG of advil or maybe give you some flexoril.

 

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considering your already self medicating it and its getting worse your past time to get it checked. you could have a torn muscle or a herniated disk.

 

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Take some advil or aleve to ease the pain and slowly try to resume normal activity. Do some some leg stretches, etc. Don't just lay in bed, that's the slowest way to recover. Get up, walk around for as much as you can handle without pain.

1 bag of frozen peas wrapped in some paper towel and lay on the peas, preferably while on the floor, helps align things up.

 

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And this, yeah. Lie on the floor, not on a mattress.

physical therapists will tell you that after the first 48 hours, use moist heat (read: wet hot towel) to help loosen things up

 

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There are so many things that could be wrong. And, what you're already doing would be adequate for a mild spasm but not a major spasm. You should be checked out I think. I have been there. They had to actually put me on a stretcher and take me to ER. They did X Rays and decided it was a muscle spasm. Gave me a shot of Dimerol and a half hour later I was able to walk very slowly with assistance to the car and go home.

The problem is not all the pain goes to your brain. Some is routed to other parts of your back, the sympathetic system I think, and your back tried to adjust for it and makes it worse. Only strong paid meds will overcome this and allow it to heal up. But once again, I am not a doctor and can only speak for my own experiences.

 

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It's lupus. The only treatment is to put bread on it.


(translated: time to go see a doctor!!)

 

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I have been active everyday since I hurt it, standing feels ok for the most part, bending and getting to sitting and then standing again is the difficult part.

it's definitely not a disk, the pain is to the right side of the spine in the middle back, not directly in the spinal column.

I'm using an ice pack, actually it's a ziploc of liquid laundry detergent that has been frozen.... its a cheap person version of those ice packs that don't get hard when you freeze them, it just gets slushy. I've also been using he massage function on my chair, but that's really just a vibration, not a real massage. I have one of those shiatsu massage cushions but it's kinda brutal, so I was afraid of using it on an injury.

I've also been using a heating pad, and using a lumbar support cushion.

Oh, and I'm taking Tramadol, which is stronger than Advil/Motrin, it's like a weaker version of Hydrocodone.

 

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