lower back...ouch!

emtink

so i was stupid and (probably) hyper extended my lower back during dance class. then i aggravated it by not resting, and after 2 hours of class last night, i'm not doing so good! other than rest and mild stretching, does anyone have suggestions on helping me get rid of the pain? will icing help? a hot bath? i have 2 gigs this weekend so i'm freaking out a little...

thanks:flowerforyou:

em

emtink

so i was stupid and (probably) hyper extended my lower back during dance class. then i aggravated it by not resting, and after 2 hours of class last night, i'm not doing so good! other than rest and mild stretching, does anyone have suggestions on helping me get rid of the pain? will icing help? a hot bath? i have 2 gigs this weekend so i'm freaking out a little...

thanks:flowerforyou:

em

Phoenix_Rising

Yoga?

Feel better! :flowerforyou:

3babybeans

Soak in a warm epsom salt bath. Those things are amazing for sore muscles. Try doing some gentle back stretches, too. Like Lauryn said, yoga is great for that.

Here's a great link that shows some good back stretches for you:

http://www.lower-back-pain-answers.com/lower-back-stretches.html

TudorRose

A few tricks my osteopath taught me: blast it with cool water, then hot and repeat.
Lie on a flat surface and hug your knees to your chest, then gently rock from side to side.
Lie with your knees bent up and feet flat to the floor and gently drop your knees to one side. Return to start position and repeat on the other side.
Nurofen/ibuprofen will help with any pain and inflamation but only take if you're going to be resting whilst they're in effect, else you risk masking the pain and doing further damage.
Hope it gets better soon

emtink

wow, thanks for all the great advice! tonight will be a night of healing!

em

rstarks54

for the first 24 hours, the best advise is rest... use ice packs, 20 minutes at a time, after 24 hrs alternate heat and ice. Light stretching is advisable after the first 24 hours, I would take Ibuprofen 3 times a day to decrease swelling, pain control.

Iceprincessk25

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT USE HEAT!!!!

Heat is NEVER advised for acute injuries. Ice is the best thing to use when injuries first happen.

I'm a certified athletic trainer and I teach sports medicine.

Heat is only used if you have sub-acute or chronic injuries (injuries that happen over time)

You can take some sort of anti-inflammatory like Advil, Motrin, Aleve (NOT Tylenol) if your stomach is okay with it to help relieve your pain. You need to take it constantly for atleast three days for it's anti-inflamm effects to take place though. You just can't pop two and then be done with it.

Ice often for up to 20-30 minutes

Keep moving though, light stretching is fine.