Sick of being a "delicate flower"

Pinkranger626 · May 2016

So I'm injured... again. This time its the left side of my lower back. Ended up in the ER since the pain came on suddenly and kept getting worse (I was sitting in the car.... not even driving). This is the second time that pain has come on with no warning while I was sitting down, doing nothing. I'm a runner, so every time I get hurt running is the first thing that people blame and they jump down my throat about it.

Here's the thing, two of my injuries were my fault- form and technique in the weight room (when you're tired, don't try and bang out two more reps because you have a number in your head... especially when doing deadlifts). But my hip injury and this current lower back issue seemingly came out of nowhere. My hip injury was finally diagnosed with idiopathic bone spurs that caused a gluteal tendinopathy. I've been adamant about hip strengtheners and haven't had much of an issue since. The hospital doctor ordered a CT scan to rule out kidney stones this time around, and noted some degenerative changes in my spine. I'm going to the doctor's next week to follow up and hopefully get some answers. She said it could be the beginnings of arthritis in my spine.... I'm not even 30 yet.

I try to eat right, I stretch and foam roll regularly, I go to yoga once a week, I do cardio, I lift weights, I average 7-8 hours of sleep a night, I drink lots of water, I get regular massage.... I don't know what else to do to try and prevent this stuff from happening. I've had people tell me I need to slow down, but I've cut way back from what I used to do exercise wise, and I pay attention to programming and balancing out muscle groups etc. I have at least one rest day a week, most of the time two. The thought of arthritis this young scares me a lot.

Is there anyone around my age that's dealing with arthritis? Or even if you're older, I'd love to hear how you cope. Is there anything I can try to help? I just want to be able to keep running and live my life to the best of my ability.

sllm1 · May 2016

Don't let it worry you - I was told that all adults have some level of arthritis - it's not always crippling. Hopefully it's nothing serious. I was told years ago that I have arthritis in my neck from an MRI, but it causes me no symptoms.

Do you warm up? Like, really warm up? The older I get, the more I realize that I need to focus on making sure my body is ready for the challenge.

I also think that working out hard and being an athlete inherently comes with some risk of injury.

Did they rule out the kidney stone? That's what I thought of when you mentioned your sudden onset pain while driving.

williammuney · May 2016

I have a whole host of issues

I don't care it will not stop me period.

Pinkranger626 · May 2016

I did not have any kidney stones. They diagnosed me with muscle spasms in the lower back. So basically rest, pain killers, anti inflammatories, and muscle relaxers. Back pain is debilitating, right now the only thing that I can do without pain is sit and lay down, although I was able to do some light stretching today.

I know being an athlete comes with risk of injury, but it's just so frustrating to have these things come on with seemingly no reason for it to be triggered. I didn't bend over funny, or lift anything heavy, just sitting in a car.

I do warm up. I've been working with a coach for my marathon training this time around and she has a whole warm up routine that I do in my driveway before heading out for a run. I also warm up before lifting sessions, light cardio and dynamic warm up stuff.

sarahrbraun · May 2016

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

So I'm injured... again. This time its the left side of my lower back. Ended up in the ER since the pain came on suddenly and kept getting worse (I was sitting in the car.... not even driving). This is the second time that pain has come on with no warning while I was sitting down, doing nothing. I'm a runner, so every time I get hurt running is the first thing that people blame and they jump down my throat about it.

Here's the thing, two of my injuries were my fault- form and technique in the weight room (when you're tired, don't try and bang out two more reps because you have a number in your head... especially when doing deadlifts). But my hip injury and this current lower back issue seemingly came out of nowhere. My hip injury was finally diagnosed with idiopathic bone spurs that caused a gluteal tendinopathy. I've been adamant about hip strengtheners and haven't had much of an issue since. The hospital doctor ordered a CT scan to rule out kidney stones this time around, and noted some degenerative changes in my spine. I'm going to the doctor's next week to follow up and hopefully get some answers. She said it could be the beginnings of arthritis in my spine.... I'm not even 30 yet.

I try to eat right, I stretch and foam roll regularly, I go to yoga once a week, I do cardio, I lift weights, I average 7-8 hours of sleep a night, I drink lots of water, I get regular massage.... I don't know what else to do to try and prevent this stuff from happening. I've had people tell me I need to slow down, but I've cut way back from what I used to do exercise wise, and I pay attention to programming and balancing out muscle groups etc. I have at least one rest day a week, most of the time two. The thought of arthritis this young scares me a lot.

Is there anyone around my age that's dealing with arthritis? Or even if you're older, I'd love to hear how you cope. Is there anything I can try to help? I just want to be able to keep running and live my life to the best of my ability.

Sometimes this stuff just happens. It's not necessarily anything you're doimg wrong. I'm 42 years old and in the last 2 years I've had elbow tendinitis 3 times. The second time was REALLY bad, and required physical therapy. Two months ago I got a chiropractic adjustment, and a few days later my back was in spasm. I could barely walk for almost a week. I had to baby it for about 3 weeks (no lifts without lumbar support, no deadlifts, heavy squats, etc)

Sick of being a "delicate flower"

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