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Munchlet
21-02-19, 09:18
I just felt the need to post as I'm slowly driving myself mad worrying about low back pain.

There's a bit of a story to this, basically two years ago I was doing some decorating and crouched in a position for too long which resulted in a very painful back spasm. The injury never really healed properly and in the end I self referred to physio who said I had locked my sacroiliac joint on one side. I had physio and managed to start going to the gym and pretty much remained pain free apart from the odd twinge here and there if I overdid it.

Fast forward to the last few weeks I've not been able to get into the gym as work as been really busy and I've been travelling a lot to different places. I could start to feel the odd twinge creeping back and on Sunday when I was walking the dog I could feel really painful spasms in my lower back that radiated to my hips and down into my buttocks.

I'm very overweight and I know this is an issue with back problems but I really struggle to lose weight with dieting and I'm undergoing tests for sleep apnea as they think I may have this and this is also impacting my inability to shift the weight.

The thing is I'm really worrying about my back. It starts shortly after getting up in the morning and just feels sore/stiff and like it is about to go into spasm. I have to take it really easy for the first couple of hours and then as the day goes on it feels ok and I can do most things including exercise, I've been back to the gym this week and did a light session and yesterday I went swimming plus I've been doing dog walks every day.

However I've been reading stories about multiple myeloma ( I know Dr google) and it seems that it quite often presents with back/pelvic pain which I have. When I'm in pain it seems to radiate all around the lower back and into the hip bones.

I can't bring myself to go to the doctor as I'm sure they'll want to do tests and I'm convinced its something sinister.

My husband thinks I'm mad, he said as I've had similar before it wouldn't disappear for months and he believes it's come back because I've not been able to exercise and the muscles/tendons around the area are weak again and need strengthening. He also said it wouldn't go away as I get more mobile and that's a classic symptom of it being an injury where it improves once blood flood gets to the area and it starts to loosen up but then sleeping all night and then getting up and having weight put straight on the weak area is why it hurts first thing.

I think I'm worried because the pain/stiffness feels all over my lower back/hips and almost into my groin and it feels so intense first thing. Admittedly by the time I go to bed it's almost pain free until the next morning when the cycle starts again.

Does anyone have any experience of low back pain and can it radiate to such a large area?

Also any tips for stopping the stiffness in the morning?

Thanks for reading.

Darksky
21-02-19, 15:46
Back pain can certainly radiate in large areas. When mine plays up, it's in my hips and down my leg in the form of sciatica. It also gets into my lower stomach.
Some soft gentle stretching first thing in the morning should help. Make sure you're warmed up when you do it. Nothing too strenuous in case you pull a muscle.
The biggest tip I've got is, to stay away from Dr.Google but you already know this one don't you:winks:

Munchlet
22-02-19, 09:16
Thanks Darksky

I went to the gym yesterday and although I'm stiff this morning I don't think it's quite as bad, so I think I'm just going to start the exercising again and hopefully that will resolve the issue. If not then I think I'll book to see one of the physios at the gym as they come highly recommended!