Lower back pain - can't tell if it's muscle soreness or an injury

[RexusTu]

I put my lower back through what I feel is a lot of punishment...heavy squats, bent-over rows, push-presses, etc. To top it off, I'm a fairly tall guy (6 feet), and thin as well.

Most of the time, I am walking around with a mild pain in that area. I also feel it when I lie down face-up. I am having trouble figuring out whether this is just normal muscle soreness or whether something bad is going on down there. How can I distinguish between the two? Someone scared me into thinking that I'm on my way to giving myself a slipped/bulging disc.

[CaptConservativ]

id also like to know the answer to this

[USMC1997]

I may get shot over this one but I would suggest that you take about a week off of training period. If the pain gets worse or if it does not reside, then you know you have a potential for a serious problem. Even not working your back, you still put stress on it as you know with every other movement weather it is moving plates from one bar to the next or picking up DB's for some sets. For years I had a deep dull pain in my lower back right where the arch starts and to the end of my tail bone. This pain was real dull and at times it would just thump almost like a pulse. I started taking oycontin over 2 years and unfortionatly the VA told me my MRI came back negative and they said it was all in my head. Upon being PO'd about being told that I was basically a liar I seen a real doctor who sent me to a neuro surgon within 3 weeks of having an MRI done "if you know anything about the medical field this step usually takes several weeks, not 3" Once I seen the neuro guy he said that I either had to have surgurey ASAP or I would not be walking within 3-5 years. I found out my L5-S1 was crushed into little peices and it was floating around in the muscle tissue. My L3 was torn into 2 pieces as well. So from experiance, it is better to stay away from the gym and sacrifice 1 week and know if you have a major problem rather than keep working out and cause it to become an incodent that requiers you to be out of the gym for 2 years as in my case. Trust me, 85lbs of fat later I wish that I would have seen a real doctor in the first place rather than a med school drop out that is employed by our government.

[Fresch]

I may get shot over this one but I would suggest that you take about a week off of training period. If the pain gets worse or if it does not reside, then you know you have a potential for a serious problem. Even not working your back, you still put stress on it as you know with every other movement weather it is moving plates from one bar to the next or picking up DB's for some sets. For years I had a deep dull pain in my lower back right where the arch starts and to the end of my tail bone. This pain was real dull and at times it would just thump almost like a pulse. I started taking oycontin over 2 years and unfortionatly the VA told me my MRI came back negative and they said it was all in my head. Upon being PO'd about being told that I was basically a liar I seen a real doctor who sent me to a neuro surgon within 3 weeks of having an MRI done "if you know anything about the medical field this step usually takes several weeks, not 3" Once I seen the neuro guy he said that I either had to have surgurey ASAP or I would not be walking within 3-5 years. I found out my L5-S1 was crushed into little peices and it was floating around in the muscle tissue. My L3 was torn into 2 pieces as well. So from experiance, it is better to stay away from the gym and sacrifice 1 week and know if you have a major problem rather than keep working out and cause it to become an incodent that requiers you to be out of the gym for 2 years as in my case. Trust me, 85lbs of fat later I wish that I would have seen a real doctor in the first place rather than a med school drop out that is employed by our government.

It is hard to believe that your MRI did not detect such serious disc issues.

Most mild back pains do not turn into the disaster that you had.

OP:
Where exactly is the pain?
What does it feel like?
Do you feel pain doing any particular exercsies / activites / movements?
Had anyone look at it?
How is your form on the exercises?