"oh, my aching back!": an update

Four months and three doctors later, I think I finally have some answers on what's causing all my low back & hip pain (beyond just a pat, "you're out of alignment")...as well as beginning to make a bit of (painful & painfully slow) recovery progress! It's definitely been an educational experience, though. So from that standpoint, sure wish I had my Anatomy & Physiology books from college here, rather than up in WA in storage! Oh well. At least there's internet.

So here's the latest diagnosis: I've injured my psoas muscles (most severely on the right) and my piriformis muscles (most severely on the left).

The psoas is a flexor muscle responsible for lifting the leg. It connects to the spinal column, the bottom rib, the pelvis, and runs down to the top of the femur bone. When the right psoas becomes injured and tight (short), it pulls the spinal column down to the right, tips the pelvis forward, and brings the femur up - effectively shortening one side of the body. The surrounding muscle groups compensate by engaging as stabalizers, even if that's not their primary function. This, coupled with a tight left piriformis (which can pull the sacrum out of position and impact the right side) puts pressures on the spinal column and nerves, creates pain through the low back, hips, and down the thigh. The imbalance also creates pain in the knees and tightens up the muscles in the neck, which explains a lot as to why my whole body has felt like a wreck since (improperly) moving heavy boxes at the end of December!




Apparently the psoas muscle is as big as your forearm, but is highly overlooked when it comes to stretching and exercising - and is easily damaged through strenuous action or "repetitive motion"...such as lifting heavy boxes to move myself to a desk job where I sit all day. (Great.)

To help my back heal, I have to do the most PAINFUL stretches ever. And Mom can attest - I'm a tough girl with a high pain tolerance. But this makes me want to cry it hurts so bad. I think I'm now trying to undo years of overlooked injury, dating back to the time in college when someone under the influence hit our parked car.


(psoas stretch)

(piriformis stretch)

The version of the psoas stretch the doctor performs on me, however, makes me want to black out from the pain. He has me lay on my back, bring my left knee to my chest, and drape my right leg off the side of the table. He pushes down on my right knee while pushing my left knee even further to my chest...and I just want to beg for anesthesia to get through it. He promises it will get better.

So far, I've seen hints at progress, which is encouraging. But the stretches are so hard to get motivated to do, simply because they are so brutal with the tight condition of my psoas. He tells me I will get back to normal, though, if I just keep at it.

I wish I would have known about this muscle back in high school, when I was as limber as a wet noodle. I spend a painful hour of nearly every day stretching now, just trying to get my hips to cooperate. If only I had been stretching religiously since I was young...maybe this injury wouldn't be so bad.

Soooo...to anyone out there looking to increase the current (& preventative) health of their bodies, I HIGHLY recommend spending even just 20 minutes a day stretching. I dream of the day I can get back into yoga, and just be able to bend over and touch my toes without pain...or better yet - wouldn't it fantastic to be able to do the pigeon pose?


http://www.yogamazing.com/asanas/pigeonpose.html

Don't let a psoas or piriformis injury sneak up on you like it did to me!