Dr.NS advice?

yourthemannowdog

Active member
Hello DR.NS, this is my first time visiting your office but let me get to the question. This isn't anything serious but more a matter of quick recovery.

Today i had a high school Saturday meet, i participate in the triple and long jump. On my second jump in triple jump i impacted way to hard on my second drive(first step after jump) and hurt my back. I thought very little of it and stretched hoping it would go away and it would affect my next jump.

On my third jump i knew it wasn't going to end well. 2/3 of my sprint to the line my back had this really deep painful in the left side of my back. When i landed in the pit i couldn't breath for a good ten seconds. Breathing was painful for an hour after that.

Once i made it home i took a bath to help with the pain. I made my first attempt to stretch after that. I stretched by leaning to my right and touching my right foot with my right hand, no twisting. The pain was VERY sharp, i felt extremely nauseated and found myself with my head over the toilet for 10 minutes.

I have taken 600mg of ibuprofen, and i helped slightly with the pain. The only reason why this is of concern for me at the moment is because i have sectionals coming up in a few days. Right now i couldn't jog 400m if my life depended on it. I am asking NS if anyone has had this happen to them before and could help me out. Should i ice it? massage it? anything specific things that will help me be ready for sectionals. I know if the pain deteriorates at this rate now i won't be able to run sectionals and this is REALLY important to me.

+k for any advice
 
Go to real doctor to get pro opinion as to whether or not you can compete again soon. Probably better not to risk further injury.
 
I won't go to a doctor for something this minor. This happened to me last year towards the end of the year, i wasn't qualifying for sectionals then though. I know the risk of further injury and i can be a better judge of that than my doctor, i am the one who is feeling the pain. If i am not feeling well come time to jump i just won't.
 
You definitely want to ice/heat the muscle as much as possible until your selections. If and when your able to start stretching, approach with caution. Use your judgement to decide your flexibility, I have dislocated my shoulder and re-irritated it while trying to do stretches, this is the last thing you want. After stretching put a hot compress on the injured area, if the area is sore after stretching then ice it. If it doesnt get better then you should talk to a physiotherapist, they will know whats best for getting your back in shape.
 
No heat, ice ice ice for the first 48 hours. Rule of thumb after any injury ice is almost always what you want to do in the first 48 hours. Taking a hot shower or bath, may give you some temporary relief but it is actually just increasing the blood flow to the area which is what you don't want to do. So pretty much you cant really hurt yourself by icing, but heat can actually make the situation worse. Also don't stretch for awhile.
Ice it and if your getting worse within the next day or two see a doctor.

 
I agree with icing it.
Also, if you don't want to talk to a doctor definitely discuss it with your coach. I often found my coach was more knowledgeable about sports injuries than my doctor was anyways.
 
Got RICE bitch, got RICE?
Rice stands for Rest, Immobility (a lack thereof, so mobility), Compression and Elevation. And ICE. The back is obviously awkward but do what you can.
 
Well my friend, you are at the defining moment of all track athletes careers. Injury before high school end of year events. We all have been there. Theres two roads to take. If your racing next year, my advice would be to do your RICE, and be conservative. Back injuries can get sticky if not taken care of properly. BUT if your not racing again and this race is very important Ice it big time and stretch it out. Then when you want to compete alternate with heat. The day of the race heat it up, DO NOT USE ICE after you heat it this time, the heat will loosen the muscles and allow you to get the motion your looking for. Its probably gonna hurt big time still. You will probably will have to have taken a few extra IBprof then usual. If you take 2 like normal people throw in a third for good measure. (If your like some people I know and live on 5-10 IBprof a day you may want to go get your kidneys and liver checked.) I had the same thing, I yanked a muscle in my neck the day before states. I ended up having my neck taped immobile and throwing back a bunch of pain meds. Ran a great time.Sometimes you just have to man up and run.Good Luck
 
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