I’m not sure if this is a great place to post this (I’m sure their Facebook group gets more traffic, but I don’t have a FB account), but here goes.
TL;DR: Back pain for 9 months. Found BBM Rehab Coaching. Great experience, would recommend!
History:
Roughly 1 year ago, I started having some minor low back pain during squats. Nothing bad, but it just wouldn’t go away, and it had me concerned. Initially I tried just reducing my loading. This did not help at all. RoM modifications didn’t help either, since the pain was at the initial part of the descent. I continued a cycle of reducing the weight, more and more. If anything, the pain just got worse as this went on.
Eventually I tried a local PT. Weeks and weeks of ‘core strengthening’ routines. The result of this was pain even doing body weight squats, which led me to my GP. Got X-rayed which showed some oddities that my GP said didn’t seem alarming but couldn’t rule on whether or not it was causing my pain. He referred me to a PT who ‘specializes in back issues’, and prescribed some muscle relaxers that did nothing.
PT # 2 was a dud as well. Hours and hours of core strengthening, again. Still hurt to do body weight movements. By the end of this one, I couldn’t even unload the dishwasher without hurting. I mean, I’m sure PT is good for something, but it wasn’t for me.
After this I saw a spine specialist who sent me on for an MRI. Reviewing this with him, again, showed some oddities but nothing alarming. Interesting to note: this was at the very top of my MRI report:
The following findings are so common in normal, pain-free volunteers that while we report their presence, they must be interpreted with caution
and in the context of the clinical situation. Among people under the age of 40 who do not have back pain, an MRI will find that about:
- 5 in 10 have disk degeneration
- 3 in 10 have disk signal loss (desiccation)
- 3 in 10 have disk height loss
- 4 in 10 have a bulging disk
- 3 in 10 have a disk protrusion Note that even 3 in 10 means that the finding is quite common in people without back pain.
(AJNR 2015; 6:811-6)
The spine doc encouraged me to return to my normal exercise movements (within reason). I was nervous about this after what I’d already tried, so I decided to go for BBM’s Rehab Coaching.
The Coaching:
I was paired up with Dr. Charlie Dickson. The process started with a video consultation to go over what’s been happening and what to expect in the process. I left the consult feeling good about things. Within a couple of hours, Dr. Dickson had programmed my first couple of weeks. Very early in the process, he noticed some issues with my squats and gave me some cues to address them. Things felt better very quickly - I was able to squat pain free for the first time in about 9 months! And I gotta say - the programmed workouts were fun!
Of course, the entire process wasn’t pain free. I occasionally had flare-ups, and deadlifts/RDL’s were a big problem for me throughout the process. Dr. Dickson was always responsive to these issues - Sometimes he’d adjust the loading, and eventually swap out a problematic movement if it continued to be an issue, such as replacing conventional deadlifts with sumo. He also helped me address some other issues that cropped up during the process (elbow and shoulder pain). Every workout had prompt feedback from my coach.
By the end of my subscription, I’d estimate I was squatting somewhere between 60% and 75% of my pre-injury loads. It’s hard to say for sure since I’m still doing tempo work. But more crucially, I now know how to train DESPITE my back pain. Thanks to Dr. Dickson, I now understand the difference between hurt and harm. I know what pain is acceptable and can be trained through. I also know what to do when things get out of hand. I still have flare-ups but they are getting shorter in duration and longer in between, and I understand that they’re nothing to worry about. It can be a long process but I’m definitely seeing a pattern of symptom reduction. I’ve even been pulling conventional the last couple of weeks pain free! RDL’s are feeling much better, too!
So overall, I’m very happy I (eventually) went down this road. If you lift and can’t shake an injury, don’t bother with PT. Talk to BBM!