All-Star Mystery Back Pain, Not In Spine

[CrossoverMom]

And his general attitude was "motion is lotion" for this...obviously to stop strenuous exercising but not to sit around either. I also used Ben gay / Tiger Balm on it.

Love it

 

[SmileyRyleigh]

I had 2 knots in my lower back and my pain wasn't directly in my spine either. I had x-rays and it showed nothing but when I had an MRI done it showed a bulging/herniated disc in my l4/l5 and just bulging discs in the ones lower than l4/l5. My disc is herniated in a vertical way instead of a horizontal way if that makes any sense, and she said that's why i don't feel my pain directly on my spine. I had steroid injections on both sides and i don't think they've helped any. Physical therapy helps ALOT though. I go twice a week and the first day they do the tens unit and then massage the knots out, and then the second day we started off with abs (mostly breathing techniques to not put a strain on my back-my abs felt like i had just done 438246834087 crunches though) but that was when I was just recovering. Now since it's starting to feel better we're doing the bike and working on leg strength and more "physical" things.
But then again she's 10 so it might not be a herniated disc, but what you described is exactly how I felt!

 

[Cheerforme]

Cheerforme No, not specifically a sports doctor. She's 10. Her only tumbling is walkovers and handsprings. The physical therapist that said they were spasms thinks they were caused in part by her bone structure changing due to impending puberty and her hips spreading which contributed to her pelvis tilting out of alignment and causing the spasms. It made sense to me at the time but the doctor thought that was nuts and definitely not it. She has a follow up in 2 months and I think I will request an MRI.

Cheer Dad, I've talked to her many times about lifting with her legs when she bases but never thought about technique in tumbling. I will talk to her coach tmrw. Thank you!

CoachKelly, Early January when her back was really hurting she started doing Gabi Butler's stretch video. The pain has not returned since but the knots are still there. The doc gave us stretching exercises yesterday and tonight I will add the ones notyourcheermom suggested. Thanks.

I dont think it is crazy to consider hip alignment in all this - I have back issues from when I was a cheerleader (a hundered moons ago) and when it acts up, I get spasms that cause me to favor my one side and this causes a misalignment of my hips which then causes a spasm in my upper back - vicious cycle- every time I go into the physical therapist with spasms, they measure a full inch misalignment of my hip. The spasms is the reason though, so getting to the underlying issue for the spasm is essential. Good luck.

 

[IloveSeniorElite]

I'm still googling, but yes! This is definitely a possibility. That's exactly where her knots are and the pain described in the wiki page is on par. Thanks! Can I ask if your pain was caused by bad technique or a weakness in your core? And how do you treat it? I'm still holding on to maybe it's nothing and will work itself out with strengthening and proper technique (I worry about everything way to much) but now I have something I can bring to her appointment to discuss.

It's been awhile so I am trying to think back here, I've seen orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine doctors, physical therapists, athletic trainers, you name it. I've heard different things: that I have short, tight hamstrings that cause me to have a sway back. That causes my pelvis to tip forward because my hamstrings are too short to reach that puts stress on my SI joints. I was asked if I have ever been told I have a leg length discrepancy, I hadn't ever been told that and never had follow-up on that. Been told that my pelvis tilts to the right when I tumble. And definitely been told about a weak core although I have never found this be the problem.

I think it was probably poor backhandspring technique since that's what really exacerbated the pain. Although with weak hamstrings, a tilted pelvis, and being too flexible in the back and on the left side of my body compared to the right. I did physical therapy and rest. I can say it is my personal belief that physical therapy caused more pain (both in my knee during another injury, and my back). I was also told by different doctors that it would never get better until I stopped doing what I was doing, i.e. cheering. And unfortunately now that I am an adult who hasn't tumbled in years and am no longer cheering, I can say that my back is definitely better. Goodluck to your daughter!

 

[Cheer Dad]

They're not her sacroiliac joints are they? They're a couple inches on either side of the spine and part of the pelvis and feel like a knot. I had the same pain and it could be so excruciating that I couldn't turn over in bed, walk, or lift my foot from the peddle when driving. Maybe looking around about it a little bit, couldn't hurt? But that's what your post reminded me of!

Good call.

 

[alexamarysouza]

Last year I was involved in a tumbling accident, and I was the one that received the injury...needless to say, we went to the pediatrician, and they sent us to a specialist. Specialist told us we needed a bone scan. Bone scan was negative. Then I got xrays. They were all fine too. So they finally sent me to PT after being out of cheer (I even had to sit out at tryouts) for several months, and the therapist told me my muscles were 'hard' on my back, which meant muscle spasms..and later also diagnosed pulled muscles. They gave me weird stretches to do, but they helped a lot. It was stuff like seal stretches and stuff of the sort.
and they also did shock therapy, and that was literally the greatest thing ever. It's not what it sounds like if you've never experienced it. It's very relaxing and helped SO much.

 

[ShoWStoppeR]

well, the back is tricky like that... personally, when I see a back or shoulder injury that needs an eval, I want to run away like a dog with their tail in between their legs lol there's just so much there, that sometimes it's hard to narrow down.
has she been consistently going to PT? what all have they done with her there? Did they try stim? stim is very helpful in decreasing muscle spasms, along with stretching.
everyone experiences lower back pain at some point in their life. whether from poor posture, poor technique, over use, etc, there's lots of causes and lots of things that could go wrong. It could be something as simple as a muscle imbalance. does she stretch on a daily basis? and better question,is she stretching properly? lower back pain can be caused by something called an anterior pelvic tilt. It's when your hip flexors are tight, and it causes the muscle to pull down on the hip, "tilting" it anteriorly. there are two hip flexors, the psoas major and the rectus femoris. the psoas actually originates on the spine, which is how/why it affects the back as well. people with anterior pelvic tilts may seem like their butt "sticks out" because of the tilt.
what actions bother her the most? extension, flexion, bending, twisting, sitting, standing? when is her pain the worst, and what alleviates the pain?
a herniated disk is definitely a possibility. often times muscle spasms will accompany injuries like this because they are "muscle guarding" to try and protect the injured area. I would say spondylolysis or spondylolithesis are a possibility, except those are normally detected with an xray. but they occur most commonly in the L5-S1 and L4-L5 regions. depending on the severity though, maybe the xray didn't detect it.
and of couse, SI joint dysfunction is always a possibility. spasms happen alot with this type of injury.
I can't exactly narrow things down over the internet lol but just giving you some things to think about. These are overuse injuries that we see alot. the type of pain and what causes the pain helps narrow things down tremendously.
sorry to ramble, hopefully this helps in some way.

 

[Hannahbanana418]

I had a similar issue a couple months ago. They weren't sure if i strained my back or tore ligaments/tendons but i did physical therapy and when they massaged it, it felt a lot better.

 

[CrossoverMom]

ShoWStoppeR A physical therapist that works at a hospital by day was giving massages at fundraiser. I paid her ten bucks to rub my cp's knot out. When she couldn't is when she had her lay down and checked her out and said it was her pelvic bone/muscle spasms/etc. She was very knowledgeable and had been a cheerleader herself. When she did somethings that "realigned her pelvis" she had her tumble and cp said it felt better. She recommended the tens unit (electrical stimulation) but orthopedic doc said no because she doesn't want her to become dependent on it. She does stretch everyday and I assume it's correctly. Back walkovers and back handsprings seems to aggravate the most. Thank you so much for your reply, super informative!

I told her I was going to ask her tumbling coach about her technique and she admitted she wasn't doing her robhs correctly. Every time her coach gives her corrections and she struggles but is trying. (She just started doing them late Nov.)

She had a few weeks of pain in the fall and then again even worse in Jan. The knots still being there concerns me even though she's not in pain currently. This thread has been amazing at helping me understand. Fierceboard + Google > docs who I don't understand :) Thank you!!