Please help...hurt my back.

When I injured my back (at work) I ended up with PT, Traction, the works..

One thing my Dr told me - dont ever take so much pain meds, you can't feel the pain, because you need to feel if you start to overdo things

They also had me do this "cat" exercise, even when freshly injured, on all fours, slowly rase your back (like a cat arching its back) - only as far as you can go, then slowly let it drop, past horizontal so your belly hamgs down, rinse, repeat.. only as much as you can deal with - it strengthens the basic muscles

BUT that said, go see a Dr, like.. now?

lifting rule no. 2 lifiting; strengthen the core (abs)
ignore your limbs for at least 8 months and f'n strengthen your core.

get a personal trainer since you have no idea what you are doing and can't seem to exercise without serious pain and now have a possible life altering or serious injury.

that's my professional "help" for you.

ps, ICE not heat. heat causes inflamation and pain. Duh.
go the the ER if you can't walk.

One day last October, I slipped getting into the shower and caught myself in a strange twisted position. Like you, I had to crawl around for days in agony. Here is what I've learned from my experience.

1) Hurting your back is nothing to take lightly. I'd get an MRI and see a real doctor before letting chiro twist on it. Nothing against chiro's, but I went to one first and made mine worse. When the back is inflamed, you don't want to go jerking it around more. Chiro's are great for that nagging "catch" we sometimes get from sleeping wrong.. not so good when you've really hurt yourself IMHO.

2) ICE! no heat! .... heat brings blood to the affected area and increases inflammation, which squeezes those tender nerves. Get a reusable ice pack from the store, and lay on it religiously for 15 min intervals. I had 3 docs tell me this and found they were right.

3) Stretch slowly as much as possible. There are a handful of them I do every day now to keep the pain at bay.

4) Aleve or Ibuprofen work ok, but they tore up my stomach. Doc gave me an RX for a coated naproxen tablet that I keep on me at all times. Like 3x the over the counter dosage, without the tummy trouble. It may take something stronger to reduce the inflammation which causes the pain.

Here are some stretches to "try".....don't do anything that makes it worse.

Knee sway -- Lie on the back, knees up and together. Slowly rock the knees from side to side. Only as far as you can go without pain. Keep back firm against the floor while you do this. It loosens up the hip and lower back.

Pelvic tilt -- lie on back in same position as above. Knees up. Slowly rock your pelvis up and towards the rib cage while tightening your tummy. Do NOT raise up the butt. Hold and release down. Keep low back firm against floor. Do a few of these.

Knee hug -- now that you are looser and still on your back with knees, slowly take one knee up and grab with your hands. Hug your knee gently towards your core, Hold and release. Do other knee. That stretches out lower back too.

Those 3 with ice got me to standing upright again. After that physical therapy got me straight. With that said, you should avoid working out until you are healed.

For me, I rushed it and jumped on the elliptical and put myself back at square one for another month. Even now, the elliptical is not my friend and will cause a flare up (I avoid it now). You never realize how precious your back is until you mess it up.

Take care and see a doc sooner than later.

I had no back problems ....until one day I bent over to pick up a bucket of paint and something went terribly wrong. Like you. I had to crawl around. I was in bed for several days...crawling to the bathroom was agony! I finally got well enough to lay in a reclining chair. Took 2 weeks till I felt well enough to walk around and STILL the pain wasnt gone.

BABY your back! To heck with the exercising right now. If you aggravate it, you may end up a LOT worse. When I had sciatica last year, I couldn't exercise for a month....I survived. You will too.

ETA - I would suggest an MRI. DONT let anyone manipulate your back until you know what actually happened. If you ruptured a disc, you don't want to make it worse.

Medically, everyone is blowing the oxy thing out of proportion. Dosages are available online to prevent accidental overdose, and so long as you use them only when in pain and only until seeing a doctor, you should be fine assuming it is for the short term. However, when you do see him/her, you should indicate that you have taken them, how much, and how often. It might be embarrassing, but any prescriber should know of past use of narcotics, opiates, and opioids when diagnosing a new injury.

Legally, use of a prescription that does not belong to you is quite bad. Keep your ear to the ground and mind that you do not drive or operate heavy machinery as this is most often how people get caught doing such things if you feel that you can't make it until you see your doctor without the meds.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor a registered nurse, nor a pharmacologist. The above does not constitute medical nor legal advice.

Additionally, ice is suggested for the first 24 hours, as is compression and (in the case of extremities) elevation. After the first 24 hours, heat is suggested to increase blood flow and allow nutrients to reach the site to heal it.

P.S. See a damn doctor, love.

Be healthy, be safe, swift recovery.