Upper back "pop" while squatting. Now in pain. What do?

Aloha,

Yesterday, while performing 2ct paused highbar back squats IAW The Bridge prescription, I felt a “pop” in my upper/mid spine during the descent of my 3rd rep on a working set. It felt like my spine compressed or shifted. I have had back spasms that wrap around my torso and make movement and breathing difficult. I got x-rays and they came back negative and was prescribed ibuprofen. It has been 24 hours now. I am able to move/twist slightly more without getting pain/spasms.

What caused this pop? I think it could have been a lack of upper back tightness when setting up, even though I did perform a valsalva maneuver.

Would a chiropractic readjustment help or hinder my recovery? Should I just take it easy and slowly work back into my programming?​

Cheers!

Sorry to hear about this, I know it can be frustrating.

No one can give you a confident answer on a specific cause.

Our recommendations are outlined in these resources:

Dr. Baraki,

Here is a late update.

So basically you recommendation is, “Man up!” :sunglasses:

When I watched your recommended videos I realized I had seen the first two videos before (found out about BBM through Alan Thralls videos actually). How quickly we forget!

I went in the gym later that week and set a deadlift PR even with slight discomfort around the “popped” upper back area.

Thank you for the reassurance that I was not dying and just needed a two days for 90% and two weeks for 100%

Still interested on your opinion about chiropractic though.

Cheers

Adam