Last weekend I managed to give myself a sacroiliac joint sprain. I knew I needed a rest day, but I went to the gym instead - half way through the workout I tweaked my sacroiliac joint (SIJ), and my lower back completely seized up.
I've done something similar before, but not for years and never this bad! I was in a lot of pain unable to bend forwards at all, unable to pick anything up off the ground, barely able to get on the couch, barely able to get off the couch... it was not good!
The silver lining is, you can learn from my mistakes, and from what I then did to fix the problem!
The first thing with any injury is working out what's possibly gone wrong. We call this our differential diagnosis - a list of possible diagnoses for the problem.
At Cable Beach Chiropractic, when you come in with an injury I'll perform a whole set of tests on you, ranging from general range of motion tests to very specific 'orthopaedic tests'. These are sets of tests which help me narrow down to either the exact diagnosis, or if it's unclear I'll have a set of differential diagnosis, from which the most likely option is called the working diagnosis.
When my back seized up, I had a few differentials. I could have herniated a disc (not the best option), sprained a muscle, sprained a joint, simply spasmed the muscles, or any combination.
As my back had completely locked, it was all I could do to get myself home, get some ice (tip: don't store your ice packs right at the bottom of the freezer, it's impossible to get to when you need them), and attempt to get onto the couch! So I couldn't figure out a diagnosis immediately.
It took me 3 days of solid rest (relative rest), ice packs, anti-inflammatories, and some good friends helping me out with some treatment before I was able to move again.
Thankfully, I haven't hurt a disc. As I became more mobile it was clear it was "just" a bad sprain. As I've often said to patients in the practice, these can be incredibly painful, but they'll heal. If you're lucky they'll heal fairly quickly - I was lucky, being able to be back at work fully functional for last week!
Although I was back at work, I was certainly taking it easy and conserving my energy, making sure I heal properly. When injury strikes, we've got to take care of it where we can - for me, making sure I could care for my patients at work came first, so I still spent plenty of time on the couch, stretching and gently walking (no gym!) last week.
Today I was back in the gym, going slow but able to work out again, 10 days after the initial injury.
If the same ever happens to you, here's my top advice, which comes from my education, my years of clinical experience, and now from very recent personal experience!!
6 Top Tips
1. Get a diagnosis, or at least a working diagnosis. Not knowing what the problem is is very stressful and I feel makes the pain worse. Once you know what's going on, you can make a solid plan for healing. See your health professional (me, a physio, your GP, depending on what's happened) as soon as you can.
2. Relative rest. You need to stop and allow your body to heal! But this isn't a complete stop. Too long just lying down and you'll seize up. I would lie down for half an hour, then get up and walk around for a few minutes. As I got better, I moved more, always within the limits of pain.
3. Stay within the limits of pain. It's important not to push the tissues too fast - the body is doing its job getting on with the task of repair, and we need to work within its limits while it does so. Be careful if you've taken painkillers and antiinflammatories - although they can help speed up healing (and I was very grateful for them last week!) you don't want to push too far too early.
4. Painkillers, antiinflamms, and supplements. For me I stuck with just some anti-inflammatories and lots of magnesium. This was because I knew exactly what the problem was and what I was targeting - I wanted to help the inflammation in the SIJ go down, and I wanted the magnesium to help my muscles relax and heal. It's best to get personalised advice.
5. Movement. Yes it can seem odd having both rest and movement as top advice! But blood flow brings healing, and movement helps blood flow. Gentle movement within the limits of pain is important. This can simply be stretching whilst lying down and a little walking around at the start. Build up slowly as your capacity improves.
6. Get care. I had a gentle adjustments, some dry needling, gentle massage and cupping within the first 3 days, as well as doing some gentle adjustments on myself with my activator and my blocks. I'm very fortunate to be able to access care quickly, but I also prioritised it. Make sure you get cared for!
Ideally though, we wouldn't get injured! So, here's my top tips for preventing injury!
5 Prevention Tips
1. Get some form of body work, like chiropractic care. Making sure your spine is well aligned and functioning well is important for optimal body function.
2. Rest days are as important as exercise days. The body needs time to rebuild. Listen to it when it does.
3. Strength training. Building muscle is incredible important for prevention of injury, strong healthy bones, even a well functioning immune system. I was incredible grateful I had plenty of upper body strength to lever myself around when my lower body didn't want to work!
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