I’m posting on behalf of my boyfriend, who’s been dealing with severe lower back pain since Saturday evening. No acute injury. Pain came on slowly - he had been doing heavy squats and deadlift, and lots of slippery trail running this week (with high elevation). He is very active, between Olympic lifting, BJJ, ultra marathons and body building.
The pain is located right above the buttocks, in the center of the lower spine. On Sunday morning, the area became so stiff that he could barely move. It feels like a strong, deep pressure on the bone but it doesn’t radiate into the legs. He is currently unable to walk at all, can barely use the bathroom, and is unable to slip out of the mindset that he will be permanently disabled.
He has a known issue with wear and tear in the facet joints of his lower spine, and a previous injury to the iliacus muscle that caused scar tissue (recently confirmed via ultrasound).
Interestingly, this is the third time this has happened, but normally a deep massage from a physiotherapist makes it better, and he typically goes from unable to walk to pain free within 2-3 days. Now, he’s on the end of the second day, not getting any better (despite seeing the physio), and is now going through it. He’s not sure what caused it - heavy lifting? Slipping on the trail? The last few times, he was doing a lot of running (on flat roads) and olympic weightlifting. Potentially the problem is axial loading?
I’m trying to get him to stay positive. He has an MRI on Thursday and an appointment with a sports dr on Wednesday. Not sure how to get him out of this headspace - is his history of jumping back super quickly relevant here? He says the pain feels different and walking was never this hard.
Any tips of any capacity woudl be lovely!! I know rest is not recommended, but even standing is painful.