What should i do for my lower back?

Question

I play lacrosse and i dance. I haven't experienced any serious injury to my back that I can recall. For about 3 or 4 months my lower back has been hurting extremely bad. The pain travels from my lower back down my right leg and sometimes even reaches my ankle. Some days it is worse than others. When I bend to touch my toes it hurts the most. I asked my doctor about this about 1 month ago and he told me to do crunches everyday. I have been doing crunches but they don't seem to help at all. I was wondering if this could be more serious then my doctor thought, since it has been going on this long, and if there are certain stretches i should be doing to get rid of this pain in my back. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Shooting pains starting in the lower back and traveling down the leg or legs can be a sign of sciatica.  This is when the sciatic nerve gets pinched, compressed or irritated.  Check with a local massage therapist.  We are not allowed to diagnose, however, what you are describing sounds like sciatica, and by massaging and lengthening the muscles and tendons in your lower back and hip areas the pain can be decreased.

www.massagetherapy.com can help you find a local massage therapist that is a member of the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP).

Answer 2

Oh man, that sounds like what I had. My lacrosse coach thought I had spinal meningitis but it was not that (thank god) it turned out that I had pulled the muscle covering my lumbar spine. Which caused serious pain where I couldn't move. I then took physical therapy for 8 months and I was cured :)

So to me that might be your problem also. See if your doctor could refer you to a sports specialist and see what kinds of exercises you should do to relax that muscle.

I did stretches like using a exercise ball and stuff, it was like a yoga thing with my therapist. But it worked big time. Avoid carrying things with this pain, you'll put more stress on the muscles and make it worst. Oh and crunches I was told to avoid. I made the bone and muscle worst. Seriously take this up with a sports specialist.  

Answer 3

Sound like you have tight hamstrings!

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybert...

Answer 4

I suffer from chronic pain. If the pain goes down your leg and into your foot it usually is your sciatica nerve and that is very painful. Crunches are not going to help that. You could also have pinch nerves but either one there is a lot of pain with that kind of pain.